Lion Den

I fished for a bit Tuesday night out of Muskegon. Fishing continues to be very up and down depending on water movement/temps. The water that we fished in the pm had warmed 5-7 degrees from a report on the same water at noon. The water was cooling rapidly as we finished up Tuesday night. My down temps in 55fow were 68 when I set and 60 when we pulled. If I were to guess fishing could be good this am. I would be lying to say anything was hot, but we took fish on Stinger Stingray Steelie Stomper on 175'copper, White Tomic on 200' copper, Wild Fern/Green Stryper Hot chip on diver back 75', and Rosemary's Baby on full core. There were a LOT of fish in the upper part of the water column in the hot water, but 3,4,5,6,cores and 100' copper never took hits. Daniel

The water changed significantly from Wed to Sat and the warm water at the pier turned cold. The action heated up again. I am sure that I fished a different program than most on Sat as many boats hovered at the pier, and I didn't. We had solid action throughout the morning. We skipped the early bite and cleared the pier well after 7am. We fished inside 50 fow. 50ft, 100ft copper, 3,4,5, color cores and shallow riggers with long leads took all of the action. With the exception of Pearl Tomics, Stinger Stingeray spoons took all of the action. Blue Dolphin (no tape) and Blue Glo took fish at first, then orange took over. Chip's Shanster (gold back), Steelie Stomper, and orange crush finished us up. 2 solid coho and the rest were Kings 10-16lbs. Daniel

I fished Friday aboard Run N Gun Charters and for fun Monday on my boat out of Muskegon. The Gun boated over 30 fish Friday in short order, and today we boated 15 before quitting. Action continues to be fantastic, and there are several very productive depths available to target. There are fish available from 60ft or closer to 210 fow. Fish are not continuous, but good concetrations are available less than 80ft, 110-150 and 180+. There are a lot of coho in that deeper water. Predominately flies have been the rule, but late morning this am it went to a complete spoon copper bite for us. The big pearl Coyote or 8" hotchip and Oceana, Frosted Fern, Blue No-see-um continue to rule. Hit Man NO-See-Um with the trash can, Hypnotist with green/glo prochip also have been good. For the most part the Hotchips seem to be outperforming the finned Prochip versions the last couple of days. Stinger Stingray Blue Corey, dolphin, Blue Veggie (diver), Steelie Stomper and NBK have been very good. The Blue Glo Stinger has been on fire on the 200' and 300' copper. Riggers 45'-110', Divers 150-230 and lead/copper from 7 color to 15 color have all been excellent. Fishing is just plain HOT.

That list does exist. I think the MSA has it. They distributed it at the Cabelas's Shootout. I can get a copy.

Another fantastic night of fishing. Simular pattern. VERY FAST start, then slowed a bit. Then "out of control." We had multiple hook ups several times. We fished a little deeper Tuesday. (130-150) We caught 4 quick coho off the bat in the top 50 including one on a diver being let back 25ft behind the boat at the start. Then we settled into a king program and boxed some dandys. (up to 17-18lbs) The kings came mostly 55-75 down although at the end the 7 colors with Stinger Stingray's Blue Corey's bait went back to back to back in minutes. Divers 150-200 wire and PP all took fish. Lemon ice, Rosemary's Baby and Orange Crush all in Stinger Stingrays took fish. That said, Rapture flies ruled the evening. 11" Protroll Hot Chip UV Blade w/ Rapture No-See um,(wire diver), White/Pearl Coyote w/Oceania, Hypnotist w/ green/glow Prochip,(best setup (diver))Hypnotist w/mt dew Pro chip, and Last Supper w/ blue glow spinny all produced well. Riggers and divers did the best, but possibly because of the fly bite. I ran only spoons on lead. I only had the "Last Supper" in the last 30 minutes, and it took 3 good kings. No need to fish late as we were entering the pier heads shortly after 8pm. The 2 ten year olds got their workout tuesday night as they netted or fought every fish possible.

Mike, I was out Tuesday night. The nets are on my previous waypoints.

After a couple weeks away from Muskegon, I had a chance to get out of Muskegon last night. Fishing continues to be flat out great out of Muskegon as we had 20 something bites in about 3 hours of fishing. The best depth for us was 95-105 fow and 35-75 down. 7 to 13 colors of lead worked, but the riggers and wire divers dominated. Stinger Stingrays in Freakin Blue Veggies, NBK, Lemon Ice, Dolphin, Corey's bait all took fish. Rapture Trolling's Oceania fly w/ pearl white 11" Pro troll continues to rock on the shoot. Hypnotist w/ mountain dew or hypnotist w/green/glo spinny on the wire back 150'-175' took several fish. We never changed a lure and they all took fish. The bigger fish bit early and the the smaller fish seemed to come later. We had a bookend jack and 17lber with several 10-13s between. (We pulled lines at 8:30.) I am guessing the big ones probably bit again late night as the full moon was beautiful last night. I just got back from spending some time in Ludington where fishing overall was also very good. The patterns seemed to be very consistant there with what has worked in Muskegon except the blues were even better up there. The exception to the blues were that Stinger Stingray Rosemary's baby took several fish daily. Blue Corey's bait, and Steelie Stomper were very good too, but flies were dominant. Oceana, Blue Fern, Hypnotist and Wild Fern were very good and in that order.

Fishing continues to be pretty good up and down the coast from any reports that I have heard Saugatuck to Whitehall. 70-130 is a pretty good bet, with some pretty good size. Lead core 7-13 colors and copper in the same zones has been very good. Divers 120-225 back is producing. Riggers for us has been descent early then dead after that. Stinger Stingrays and Regular Stingers in Glo Dolphin, Caremel Dolphin, Lemon Ice, Steelie Stomper (high), Holly Christmas, and Blue Corey's bait has been very good for Spoons. The flies have also gotten bit well. Rapture's Hypnotist w/ mt Dew Pro Troll, Wild Fern/w Chrome Green or Glow Green Pro Troll, and the No-Seeum or Green No-seeum with the new Pro Troll UV blade have all been very good on copper, riggers, and divers. Daniel

I took the kids (4,8,10) out on a brief fishing trip Sat afternoon for a couple of hours. We ended up 5/5. My son landed 4 and my daughters and I shared the 5th. 3 came on the diver back 150 on 3 with Rapture Hit Man No-See-Um and 11" Green/Glow Pro Troll. The last two came on Stinger Stringray Blue Machine on the full core, and Rapture Wild Fern w/ Trash Can on the 13 color. All kings were 14#-17# and the released laker was about 26". All fish were caught 75-120fow. The filets were beautiful as the water was like ice.

I will get exact numbers from my gps tonight, but off my head here are some numbers for you. There are 3 sets north of muskegon this year. They are very well marked. They are aprox 110-138fow. The north numbers are 13.2ish, 13.9ish, 15. The first net to the south of muskegon is 70-90 fow @ 11.126 on the inside pin. The second and third nets as you go south are a little deeper to 140 fow. I am quite sure there is an inside set and outside set. I think there are 9 or 10 sets between Muskegon and Grand Haven. GLF is correct. There is one directly off Mona is same water. Again, they are marked well. All sets north and south are within the 70'-140' zone. Daniel

I fished out of Muskegon Friday night for a couple hours. Didn't explore much or long as I was lower on fuel than I thought. We quit a little early to get fuel. There is a lot of good cold water around. The fish seemed a little scattered. We didn't mark a lot, but did catch several. We basically went on a southeast troll from 130 fow back towards the pier. The best depth was 125-70 fow. Best rigger was 47 down. Most fish came on the cores from 7-13 color or coppers in same zone. I did take 1 fish on the diver 125 back on 3 with a "Last Supper" Rapture fly and blue/glow Pro Troll. Stinger Stingrays in Caramel dolphin, Glo Dolphin, Blue Corey's bait, and steelie stomper were the best spoons. I am hoping to go on a lazy troll with my kids sat during the mid day. The water conditions look favorable for fishing Sat. Daniel

hey mike, those fish resemble the size of the fish on the screen.. We had a few of them ourselves.

Sorry the report is delayed, but I took the family camping for the weekend following a brief fishing trip Friday night. We fished Muskegon Friday evening. We spent most of our time inside 50ft north of pier and found cold water under the warmer surface temps. We caught quite a few fish, but mostly on the small side other than 1 king in the mid teens and a double digit steelhead that both got off. Diver took one fish on blue bubble spinny with "Last Supper" Rapture fly. 1 rigger fish was the steelhead on 11" Custom fishing products (Pro Chip) Hot tail with Rapture "Sniper". The rest came on various Stinger Stingray spoons on different lengths of lead from 3-10 colors. Hawg Wild, NBK, Jawbreaker, blue thunder, glo dolphin and the new Hot pepper all took fish. I know there were fish caught outside of us as well. In general those fish seemed to be better sized friday night than ours. Daniel

GLF, my guess is that it isn't so much the spinny/fly, but rather the diver. I fish the same port as you, and have had good fly/spinner bites, but only one day of diver bites. And as I think about it, that had Stingers on it. The fly bite for me has been deep. John gives a very good and dependable list above.

Hesperia Sport Shop has the 4 oz and 2 oz. Gander has most or all of the sizes in Grandville.

We got gas at Harbor town last week Thursday May 31 and paid $3.56. This year's gas. Daniel

I should add that all of those spoons were Stingers in Stingray size.

Fishing was excellent out of Muskegon Friday night and Sat am, as I think it has been much of the week. In our area, the fish moved in a little from earlier reports that I had heard. Most of our fish came inside of 190ft and outside 160. I do know some that caught fish outside the 190 mark. Fish are spread throughout the water column 20'-135' down. Riggers 70-110 were best for riggers. Finally got the divers going 175 back on 3 w/Holly Christmas Stinger/Stingray. This took 4 or 5 fish sat. Lead core from 3-15 colors and copper in same zones all took fish. Hawg Wild, Blue Veggie, Mix Veggie, Stop Light (NEW), Spring Chix (NEW) Caramel Dolphin, Blue Dophin, Glo Dolphin, Chips Shanster all took several fish. "Last Supper" from Rapture took several fish Sat on the deep rigger. Grand Haven tournement will put lock-jaw on most fishing reports for the next week, but fishing remains GREAT.

One of the above post suggests that lead core is like other super lines. Lead core is not like power pro or fireline or other spectra lines. It is like dacron. Therefore it also doesn't hold up like the superlines. I have powerpro and fireline that is years old, but lead core does wear out. I have been told that the most damage is done because is gets wet and absorbs water then it is wrapped up and rots, for lack of a better term. I am sure sun does it's damage too. For me lead core replacement is a judgement call based on how much I use it. I have many core rods set up, and they don't all get equal time. I just keep an eye on them through the year, and replace them as needed. As for the backing, I almost never replace my Power Pr backing.

power pro. Yeah, I pulled the the outdrive and motor on my boat last sat for a 5 hour project. 5 days later it was back together. I hope to go in Friday.

I'm guessing 30ft. I didn't measure, just by feel. Mike, I heard a good report from Muskegon Sat with simular info. Were you out?

I fished Sat am in Grand Haven on the Reel Obsession. We caught quality fish just in front of the north pier heads through out the am. The fish were 23-28 foot down in 40ish fow. There weren't a ton of fish there, but the ones present were good ones. A pod of bait was moving around that area, mostly just inside the dirty water as the dirty water trailed to the north. North troll was the ticket. Stinger Stingrays in Mixed Veggie, and the NEW Spring Chicken was the ticket. This is going to be a great spoon. None of the fish were under 10lbs, and we had one that was pushing 17. This fish had several 8in plus alewives freshly swallowed. We ventured north at first, but had all of our action at the pier head. Half cores, divers back 60 on 3, and riggers all took fish.

Rapture trolling flies does make the "No See-um series. Rapture is hands down the best made, most durable fly on the market. Wild Fern, or Hypnotist are my most consistant. If you haven't seen/tried the new coho flies check them out.

Rapture Hypnotist behind White Slick spinny or Mt Dew Spinny, Rapture /Wild Fern behind Green/Green Spinny, Rapture Little Bride behind white luhr jenson or pearl fishscale coyote. I know that is three.

Scorpians, Regular, STINGRAYS, Mags. All Stingers.