This past week produced some very good fishing with catches or 12 to 23 fish per trip. We found that there are two groups of fish; one group in 135 to 180 foot of water and the other group is in 210 to 250 foot of water. The group in the deeper water consisted in somewhat larger fish (and more steel head) while the shallower group consisted mainly of salmon in the 2 to 6 pound range. The creel consisted of a mix of Chinook salmon and steel head with a few coho and lake trout mixed in. The water out in the deeper region is 48 degrees on the surface and it drops to 41 degrees 80 foot down and this temperature break is outside of 230 foot. We found that on some days the fish would be on the cold side of the break but then (like today) the fish were on the inside of the break.
We used 3 color and 5 color lead core, 100 foot copper and 200 foot copper behind the inline planner boards. The best colors combinations where: green and blue dolphin Stingrays, natural born killer Stinger and Stingray, hitman Dreamweaver, jawbreaker Stinger, and sunburst Pro King. Dipsy divers occasionally produced at 60 and 40 foot of line and also at 200 and 150 foot of line. Lures on the divers varied every day and also during the day. Down riggers produced very poorly only yielding (on average) 5 to 7 hits per day and the hits changed on different lures every day.
If there is no drastic change in the weather, we should hold our fish and the good fishing should continue. Feel free to contact me for fishing updates and/or reservations at toll free 888-253-8372 or email captron@chartermichigan.com.