9/17/11
We fished with first time Decoy customers Tad, Mark, Kaz & Krys. We had very nice people who laughed easily and seemed to really enjoy life. We started the morning turned right like yesterday out of the river and looked at a fish graph that was today empty. We spent 20 minutes in front of the river but had no strikes and saw no fish on the graph. We picked up lines and ran out to 90 feet and headed west to 375 feet with no hits and very few fish on the graph. We finally ran into our first hits a double in 225 feet at 8:30. We were able to get both fish and 2 more for a total of 4. The guys did a great job bringing in the fish. We hit fish on spoons and meat.
We fished with Mel Gaw and Jim Simons this morning.
What a morning. Cold, 38 degrees, overcast and calm seas. I turned right out of the river and in 20 feet of water there were fish everywhere. We set lines immediately and the fish started biting immediately. We were 6 for 7 at 7:15 and 10 for 13 and headed back at 9:28. All but 1 fish was a large 4 year old. We used magnum & medium spoons but I do not think it would have mattered. The fish were just hungry or irritated.
9/12/2011
We had the honor of having long time customers John & Mike Wojciechowski and first time customer, John’s daughter, Julia. We went 5 for 8 and Julia went 2 for 2 on fish. I do not remember who missed fish but I did request that Julia take some time over Christmas and help her dad and uncle with their fishing technique. The weather was again very good with calm seas and decent temperatures. The fish were straight out with spoons, meat and flies doing the damage. I will be pulling the boat at the end of September. There are still days left this year and I now know my available open dates for next year if you want to lock in a good date for 2012. You can reserve it now and send your deposit in April.
There was still 47 degree water near shore but warm water, 60 degrees, had moved in to 230 feet. We fished with new customers Jim & Ryan Dannemiller, Mike & Kyle Brown and Eric Frank. We entered Lake Michigan with clear skies and calm seas. The water remained calm but heavy fog moved in. We spent the morning dodging other boats that showed up on our radar. We told our group about going 10 for 10 the day before. They were undaunted and went 5 for 8 with medium size wonder bread and mixed vegetables spoons working best from 40-75 feet down over 250 feet of water.
9/10
It was one great day on the water. We spent a perfectly calm clear morning on the water with repeat customers Mark & Andy Parzych and Spencer Kuhn. They went an incredible 10 for 10 on fish. I do not remember the last time that happened. I could not even get all 10 fish into the picture. We started out running through 46 degree water to over 400 feet to get to 52 degree water. All our fish came on spoons from 22-75 feet down as we fished out to 685 feet and 60 degrees.
9/4/2011 Cancelled for wind. All dates this coming week open until Saturday
9/3/ 2011
What a morning, we fished with long time customer Dick Chase, Bill Barnes, Ben Kudaw & John & Brian Rice. We were met by pleasant temperatures, big rains, big fish, lightning and very nice people. The weather and fish could have been better but not the people. We started off in the 5s & 6s 9 miles south on a calm lake. There was no early bite. 7:15am brought the first bite a beautiful, hard fighting 22 pounder. We caught 2 more Kings in the next hour but lighting forced us to pull lines and head back towards Manistee. We stopped in the 11s and caught a Coho and King and had a few more bites and played a King for 10 minutes before he got off. Big Black & White flashers and meat did the trick. Our 5 fish came from 70 -141 feet down.
9/2 Day off
9/1/2011
We started in the dark with lines set by 6am. The winds and water were calm and no clouds. We got our first hit at 6:30 a 17 or 18 pound King that hit a spoon 60 back on a Dipsey. In the next hour we had 5 more fish and missed a few. Over the next hour or so we missed more fish than we caught with Jim Sheldon showing us over the course of the trip how conservation minded he is. Vicky Perry only lost one fish, I lost one, my mate Jim lost two and in total we were around 7 for 17. Vicky did a lot better job on the fish than the rest of us. A few of the fish we had on for quite a while before they got off. Glow spoons down 20-55 feet worked the best in water 50-95 deep. There are still going to be some great fishing over the next 10- 15 days. Book a charter yet this year. Call, 231 889 3644, for available dates.
8/30/2011
We fished a multi boat charter with a Lutheran men’s church group. We had 3 fine gentlemen on our boat. Joe Lujan, Matt Keillor & Bill Schwartz. We had lots of laughs and lots of hits but only 5 large Kings stayed hooked up. We ran south 8 miles and fished 60-250 feet of water. Spoons, meat and flashers all worked with the first fish coming at 6:25 and the second at 6:30. The fish were all in the top 45 feet of water.
8/29/2011
A day off.
8/28/2011
We spent a wonderful morning with, first time customers, Brad & Dawn Pagratis and Brads father John. We had 2-4 foot waves that we comfortably rode south most of the morning. There was an early bite for the second day in a row. The first fish hit at 6:15 over 100 FOW on Flashers, Plugs and Spoons. We went 6 for 10 or 11 and Dawn, Brad and John all did a great job on the very large Kings. Dawn did a great job working a large King headed for the inline boards back to the middle of the boat. We lost a couple fish because they were all too polite (i.e. no you take it). Fishing was good up to the time Dawn brought Bananas out of the cabin to eat. I am trying not to be superstitious but no bites after the Bananas? The Pagratis family are holding the day for next year.
We fished 2 boats and had a great time with the Murphy group and ended up with 13 for 23. The temperature was in the 70s and the wave’s 2-4 footers. We fished from 90-256 feet and the fish remained deep coming on Large White flashers and Aqua glow flies down 90 feet, Small Black flasher and the same fly off Dipseys 125 back and regular size spoons down 65 & 90 feet. The Murphy group are holding thier day for next year.
We finally were able to get back out on the water and celebrated Ted Guzaneks’ birthday with his son Rob and grandson Mitch. We were 4 for 7 and caught 4 large Salmon. The fish have moved down and were caught 90-120 feet down over 100 – 130 feet of water in the 13’s & 14’s. Meat and attractor worked best this morning.
We fished with new customers David Yearyean his sons Ron & Jason and his nephew Brad M. Powell. David called and said he had never caught a Salmon and it was on his list of things he wanted to accomplish. The water was calm, the sun coming over the sand dunes beautiful but like yesterday, no early bite. David had to wait until 6:29 am before he reached his goal with a very large King Salmon. The boys followed David and all caught a Salmon. We ended up with 6 for 10 on Meat, Spoons and flashers. The goal for this group was not to miss a fish which was working out through the first four. They did not keep their day but said they would be back next year. The day had a customer waiting in line for it so Doug Hammond is taking Monday the 20th next year which opens up Monday 8/13/2012.
8/21/2011
We had another wonderful day on the water. We had first timers on Decoy Lynn Gruber his son Ryan & Ryan’s girlfriend Brianne Smith. They were fun to have on the boat. We fished north of the Harbor in 80-375 feet of water and went 4 for 10. The fish were all 4 year old Salmon. We had 3 large Kings and a large Coho. Ryan was as generous at building self confidence in people as we have had on the boat. He refused to catch a fish until Brianne had caught two fish and his dad had also caught the largest Salmon of the day. He did early catch and release until he felt confident that his dad and Brianne were completely self confident. Way to go Ryan. The Gruber’s are taking the same day next year.
We fished with longtime customer Doug Salva and his 9th grade son Taylor. We had 1 foot waves overcast and it should have been perfect for an early bite, so we thought. Almost an hour went by before our first bite. The first bite was a 22 pound King that fought hard and was worth waiting for. The fish hit about every half hour. We went 4 for 8, all large fish ranging from 17-22 pounds. We may have done a little better if Doug was learning from Taylor. We fished from 11.7-12.7 and caught fish 60-70’ down over 180-350 feet of water. It was a fun morning and Doug and Taylor asked that we hold the same date for next year.
Today was a very special day. Jim & I had the pleasure of taking Jims son Kevin, my son Jason and Granddaughter Becca on a charter. We did not leave as early as usual but still ended up with 5 for 9. 3 Kings, 1 Steelhead and a Lake trout. The weather was great, 1 foot seas and around 70 degrees. We fished over 400 feet of water, used spoons and fished 12-40 feet down. We are both taking tomorrow off to visit with our families.
We had a first on the boat. Four, count them four, generations and each generation caught at least 2 fish. We were fishing with long time customers John Kerchkof, Dave Vinson, Warren and new comers Dan & son Tristan. We fished 100 feet early with no takers and pulled lines and ran out to the 27-29 line and went 9 for 12 with 6 kings & 3 Coho. The weather was pleasant with 2-3 foot seas and a comfortable 65-70 degrees. John & Dave asked us to hold the date for next year.
8/16/2011
The fish showed up everywhere. I talked to boats out 12, 6 & 2 miles and they all had lots of large fish. Where have they been the last few weeks? I took the day off to visit grandchildren.
I hope they are there tomorrow.
8/15/2011
Fishing continues good compared to the last two weeks. The water was dead calm and the air temperature in the 60’s.The cold water moved in close yesterday. Doug & Cody Hammond and friends Dick & Mark Bretz went 5 for 9 on some large Salmon all in the 17-20 pound plus range. The fish were caught in 15-30 feet of water south of the river on plugs. Doug & Cody reserved the same day next year.
Well, I am holding my breath that today is the beginning of all our fish showing up in Manistee. We had the Larabee family Rick, Beth, Nick and his friend Jeremy on board and they went 6 for 10 with all but 1 fish a 4 year old King. The largest was 22 Pounds and 39 inches. There was a good early bite with the first fish hitting at 6:10. They like so many of my customers were very nice. Rick & Nick have fished with me in Florida. Rich has rebooked for next year.
We fished this morning with Shawn & Ann Sweeney of Ionia celebrating Ann’s birthday along with the 2 nicest boys you could ever meet. You heard it right boys, Ann loves fishing. Ann started us off at 6:30 with a 38 inch King on 5 color lead, Happy Birthday Ann. Shawn followed that up with a 33 inch King at 7:15 and not to be undone Owen (11) caught a King and Keegan rounded out the action with a Lake Trout. The seas were 2-4 feet and Owen tried to help the fishing by chumming but decided that was not working so he stopped. This was a very nice family.
8/11 Maintenance on boat
8/10 Cancelled weather
8/9
We fished with the Walters family Gary, Leonard, Darrell and David. The seas were calm and the temperatures in the high 60’s. We ran 10 miles south on word the day before there were large fish in that area. We caught 4 large Kings Salmon on Plugs and only missed 1 with 3 stand-ups and nobody home. I do not remember laughing any harder than with this group. They were first timers and that meant I could tell any of my stories. They had a good enough time to rebook the same day next year.
8/8
Repeat customer Brian Sandon, Steve Fooy and Rick Davison spent the morning catching 3 Kings and a Lake Trout, all on Spoons. They rebooked for next year. This has been the toughest catching week I have had over the 26 years I have fished these waters. I am not sure if it’s the warm weather or the fish are just not out in the Lake. Time will tell. People must be enjoying the experience. Most everyone has rebooked for next year.
We enjoyed the company of Dave Wick, Gary Townsend, Phil Chambers and Brian Sandon caught 5 fish all on Spoons, 3 Kings a Lake Trout and a Steelhead. We were able to pull 2 fish from 100 feet of water and then pulled lines at 8am and headed out to 700 feet where we found 3 more dumb fish willing to bite. The group rebooked for next year.
8/6
Jeff Janish, John Mulky and Brian Sandon caught 2 Kings and 1 Lake Trout on Spoons. We had calm seas and fishing remained challenging to say the least. We enjoyed the beauty of the sun coming over the sand dunes and the Laughs. The group is taking the same day next year.
We fished with the long time customers Trenkamp group, Ace, Dave, Tom & Mike. Lots of laughs like always with this group. Wow we went 6 \ 9 on fish this morning 5 Kings and a Lake Trout. Some were in the 16 and 18 pound range. Finally we had a somewhat busy morning. They rebooked the same day for next year.
8/4
A wonderful day with the Sharbels, now repeat customers and new friends. The water was calm and the temperatures were great according to the Sharbel family who reside in Tennessee, Georgia and Washington DC. They enjoyed themselves enough that they are coming back next year. Fishing remains
8/1
Today’s group wanted to go anyway saying after 25 years you can’t put two bad days together. They were, luckily, correct.
We fished with first timers, the Sharbel family, Charlie, Matt & Aliphia, Chuck, Dan and Duane Davis who has Salmon fished, a wonderful family, from Nashville. The seas were calm and the fishing was much better than the day before for us, 4Kings and a Steelhead, although it was still tough for the rest of the boats in our Marina with 3 fish the average catch. I have a day off tomorrow and cancelled Wednesday because of a 6-8 foot sea forecast.
Fishing report 7/31
We fished with long time customers the Wojciechowski’s out 12 miles and on the same gps track as the two previous trips. We followed our 8 & 9 fish days the two days before by duplicating the record breaking performance of 7/23. I am not sure why our fishing has been so inconsistent but it sure has been. I talked to captains from Ludington point to Onekama today and found one- three fish were average. I will try and get tomorrow’s group to delay their trip a few days.
Fishing Report 7/30
We fished today with longtime customer Dave Murphy and first time customer his wife Kristen. It was another great day on the water calm and lots of fish. We stopped after 9 fish when Dave said they had all their cooler would hold. You could tell Dave had given Kristen lots of pointers she handled the fish like a pro. We fished from the 31-34 line and caught all steelhead and 1 Lake Trout. 5, 6, 9&10 color leads worked on the Steelies. Sister Sledge, Mixed Vegetables, Green Hornet and Ludington Mellon were some of the top producer spoons in Medium and Magnum.
Fishing Report 7/28
We had a wonderful day on the water with first time customers Chris & Lisa Sienkiewicz and Lisa’s Mom & Dad, Bob & Gloria Melton. We caught a combination of 8 fish both Steel head and Kings. The water was calm and the day overcast. We fished offshore from the 29-35 line. The whole group has a great sense of humor.
.
July Fishing recap report through July 23rd: The first half of July: fishing has been very good on full day charters from 12-20 miles out down 8-50 feet. All colors seemed to work on regular size spoons and the fish box has been a mixture of Steelhead to 8 pounds, Lake Trout to 6 pounds, and Coho to 6 pounds and an occasional King to 17 pounds.
Third week of July: Inshore Fishing is starting to pick up as Lake Michigan is in the process of turning over. That means the King Salmon are moving in with a 27 1/2 pound king caught on Tuesday in 80 feet of water. Regular size spoons in Blue & Green and mixed vegetable color have worked well from 7:30am on with Glows working well the first
Couple hours. July 21st. Fish were from 35-100 feet deep with medium spoons on Copper and Lead doing the trick. Some boats came in with 15-20 fish, Kings & Steelies ranging from 6-21 pounds.
July 21st & 22nd. Fish are large but hard to catch the last couple days. Thermo cline is 55-70 down. The fish are from the 13s- 18s over 100-230fow.
It looks like July, for the third year in a row will have been a very good fishing month and great weather.
7/23/2011
It finally happened today. After 26 years the Wittbrodt/Graves group broke the record by going 0 for 0. They were celebrating Cliffs 50th birthday and tried everything including chumming. Scott did the color commentary while the rest of the group just shook
their heads. Happy Birthday Cliff. Sorry.
9/11/2010
This is the last report untill next year. I cancelled the 9/12 and 9/13 trip because of high winds. High winds were an unusually common occurrence this year. A few of the days I cancelled the mornings ended up dead calm. I love the weather forecast.
We have been blessed with lots of wonderful customers over the years and none any better than our group today. Rebe Fischer, Sam Randazzo, Daniel Jaje (JJ), and Wayne Hopkinson spent the morning catching 8 still silver large Salmon. They were caught in the 9's & 10's from 60-95 FOW down 30-40 feet on plugs early and on meat later in the trip of of an attractor. A special thanks to Capt. Mel for using his boat and running the trip with me this morning.
Remember next year that for 2 years running July has produced more fish per trip than August and September and the weather has been nicer. Book early. I can be reached all winter at 941 6620561.
Thanks,
Have a healthy winter, See you next year.
Gary
9/8 & 9/10 Fish were scattered and fishing was slow. There were only a few boats on the lake.
9/4-9\7
And the winds blew and blew
9/3/2010
Gale force winds forecasted for tomorrow through late Saturday, Ouch.
9/2/2010
We fished with first time and experienced customers Mark Parzych along with his boys Andy and Casey and long time friend Rick Wing. Andy and Casey have been busy serving our country. Thank you both. The group went 10 for 13
Bless those days just before a storm. Today’s winds were calm, 1 footers, and the fish were hungry. We fished the 11’s & 12’s and the break was down again, around 85 feet. Old Faithfull’s came into play. The green & the blue splatter plugs down 81 & 91 feet early. Then Meat and flasher and a purple plug on 300 Copper. 
Gale force winds forecasted for tomorrow through late Saturday, Ouch.
8/31/2010
We fished and enjoyed the beautiful morning with Jack Kaufman, Jack Bindes & Otis Cullpepper.
No surprise this morning. Winds 20-25 knots out of the South, wave
s 3-6 foot. The thermo cline remains 70-85 feet down. The program remains the same. Green, Blue and White plugs going early and then the fish changing over to Meat and or Attractor and Fly. Fish are again coming from 125-165FOW and down 65-131 and Dipseys back 210-248 feet. The fish remain spread out over a large span from the Ludington point to the low 20's.
8/30/2010
We fished with long time customers the Dominka’s
John Dominka fished with Grand Daughter Angela her beautiful 8 year old daughter Grace, who caught her first Salmon, John’s grandson Jonathon and Son in law Bill, We caught 6 Kings.
The winds were from the south and the fish were deep. Fish were caught from 60’-130 feet down over 120-250 FOW from the 9’s-18’s with the break around 75 feet. Fish came mostly on Plugs early with attractors and flies and then moving to meat as the morning progressed.
8/24/2010
Fished with Jeremy Finney, Tom & Tom York & Brian Deshano. Caught 7 Kings by 7 Tip fishing 14.4- 12.2.
8/28/08
We fished with long time customers Dave, the wind, Murphy & Rob Murphy and Eric Herrmann. We caught 5 Kings from the 12.9-14.4”s over 145-186 FOW,
Down riggers 50-85’down. Dipsey’s 150 back double glow plugs, Blue and Green Splatter and White Plugs all worked today
White plugs and large black hooch with a riverside fly did the trick.
8/23/2010
Fished with long time customers Doug June, Roger Blackwell, Dennis
Fulbright and Doug’s son Kevin. We caught 3 Kings out of 4 and I netted one with a flasher & fly for a total of 4. We fished from the 10’s -8’s. White plugs worked this morning
8/20/2010
We fished with Mark Lauret and friends Al, Jim & Dave
It was tough fishing we ended up with 3 for 6 all Kings in 50-140FOW
Black Hooch’s and a plug was all we could get going. We fished the 15’s & 16’s
8/19/2010
I don’t think the wind will ever stop. We fished with Bill Schwartz, Carl Yauk, Roger Hammer & Floyd Yeager from Larry Scharichs annual Lutheran men’s group. We ran south 6 miles and fished 4-6 foot waves back. The guys did a great job catching 6 large Salmon and Carl showed true sportsmanship by releasing one just before we netted it. The fish came on large black attractors early with an Aqua Glow fly & white and green splatter plugs. Later we switched to a large white attractor and a KW Gedster Fly
8/18/2010
Another windy day but we made it out to 200 feet and caught 4 Kings before ending the trip early. We had John Kerchkof, Dave Vinson , Tom Webb and Daves father in-law Warren who was the star. Warren is celebrating his 83rd year of enjoying the outdoors and in 6 foot seas landed a large King on a lead line. Pretty impressive.
I need to go exercise now.
8/17/2010
Cancelled due to high winds.8/16/2010
Cancelled due to high winds.
8/15
Joe Wittbrodt celebrated his 50th birthday with family Tom Wittbrodt and Cliff Graves and friend John Hogan. It was their first trip aboard the Decoy, a birthday present from Joes’ wife Audrey, and we ended up with 5 very nice Salmon and lost a few. It was nice to get away from 3 fish days. It was a very nice day on the water we started off with 1-2 foot waves and the trip ended with waves starting to build.
8/14/2010
We had a great time with Ryan and Tony Ellis, Matt Hodgerhydf and Toney’s friend Cal.
Lake Michigan remains warm 76 degrees surface and 68 degrees 80 feet down
and the fish remain in a sluggish mood.
We caught 2 Kings and a Lake trout and missed a few fish this morning but the sunrise was beautiful and the seas calm.
8/13/2010
We did our annual 10 boat Wolverine trip this morning. We had Tim Martin, Mike & Son Joe along with Al Bruder. The seas ran 3-5 feet. The overall catch for this trip was way down compared to the last few years probably due to how warm and clear Lake Michigan is this year. The fishing should improve as soon as we get some strong North West or North East winds to cool the lake down.
8
8/9/2010
Another great day on the water with the Sandon group. (2) Boats and lots of large fish. We fished the 10's & 11's
we fished from 121-155 FOW. Small Black Hooch and Aqua glow fly went 4 times back 150' on the hi Dipsey and a Blue & silver paddle with a River Side fly went twice along with a white plug that also went twice. The fish were down 50 - 92 feet.
8/8/2010
Canceled day 2 of the Sandon trip because of high winds and lightning.
8/7/2010
We fished with another long time customer Brian Sandon. Sandons’ group fished the first of three days fishing. Brian Sandon was accompanied by Bart Williams, Bob Howerton, and Tom Thompson. It was rough again from the south 5-6 footers and we headed south down to the 9 & 10 lines and rode the waves back. We ended up with 9 Kings mostly 4 year olds. They came on Blue splatter and white plugs , a large orange spoon and Large Black attractor and Riverside Fly and our Dipseys’ went 60 back on a meat rig and an Aqua glow 3 fly attractor. A 5 color lead also went with a white ladder back plug.
8/6/2010
We fished a short trip with long time customer John Trentkamps’ group John, Tom, Jim, Gary & Jake. The water was quite rough from the west and we fished East & West on the 16’s & 17 lines and caught 3 fish over 130-190 FOW 83 down using a Large Black attractor, early and a large White one after the sun came up and Riverside Fly on both and our Dipsey went 180 back on a small black attractor and Aqua Gold fly.
8/4 & 5/2010 fishing report
The last few days has produced some large Salmon to 19.8 pounds a. We have fished in the 14’s & 15’s the last two days from 86-245 FOW and 60-80 feet down seems to be the best early with fish going deeper as the sun comes up. Large black attractors with Aqua gold and or River side flies along with light color plugs seems to be working early with the larger white attractors and the same flies being the ticket later. The attached pictures are from Terry Mcleod and Steve Seely on 8/4 and the Gincott & Witchelhouse party on 8/5.
8/2/2010
We fished with the Scribner family Dave, Kristy, Skyler and Cole. From the 14's -19's and struggled all morning. We caught 3 Kings and lost a couple more and saw very few fish until we got into the 19's in late morning. Kristy, Skyler and Cole all caught fish. Dad worked the camera. The fish were caught from 125-165 FOW down 60-80 feet on meat, Large black fish catcher and K&W Riverside fly.
9/11/2010
This is the last report untill next year. I cancelled the 9/12 and 9/13 trip because of high winds. High winds were an unusually common occurrence this year. A few of the days I cancelled the mornings ended up dead calm. I love the weather forecast.
We have been blessed with lots of wonderful customers over the years and none any better than our group today. Rebe Fischer, Sam Randazzo, Daniel Jaje (JJ), and Wayne Hopkinson spent the morning catching 8 still silver large Salmon. They were caught in the 9's & 10's from 60-95 FOW down 30-40 feet on plugs early and on meat later in the trip of of an attractor. A special thanks to Capt. Mel for using his boat and running the trip with me this morning.
Remember next year that for 2 years running July has produced more fish per trip than August and September and the weather has been nicer. Book early. I can be reached all winter at 941 6620561.
Thanks,
Have a healthy winter, See you next year.
Gary
9/8 & 9/10 Fish were scattered and fishing was slow. There were only a few boats on the lake.
9/4-9\7
And the winds blew and blew
9/3/2010
Gale force winds forecasted for tomorrow through late Saturday, Ouch.
9/2/2010
We fished with first time and experienced customers Mark Parzych along with his boys Andy and Casey and long time friend Rick Wing. Andy and Casey have been busy serving our country. Thank you both. The group went 10 for 13
Bless those days just before a storm. Today’s winds were calm, 1 footers, and the fish were hungry. We fished the 11’s & 12’s and the break was down again, around 85 feet. Old Faithfull’s came into play. The green & the blue splatter plugs down 81 & 91 feet early. Then Meat and flasher and a purple plug on 300 Copper.
Gale force winds forecasted for tomorrow through late Saturday, Ouch.
We fished and enjoyed the beautiful morning with Jack Kaufman, Jack Bindes & Otis Cullpepper.
No surprise this morning. Winds 20-25 knots out of the South, wave
s 3-6 foot. The thermo cline remains 70-85 feet down. The program remains the same. Green, Blue and White plugs going early and then the fish changing over to Meat and or Attractor and Fly. Fish are again coming from 125-165FOW and down 65-131 and Dipseys back 210-248 feet. The fish remain spread out over a large span from the Ludington point to the low 20's.
8/30/2010
We fished with long time customers the Dominka’s
John Dominka fished with Grand Daughter Angela her beautiful 8 year old daughter Grace, who caught her first Salmon, John’s grandson Jonathon and Son in law Bill, We caught 6 Kings.
The winds were from the south and the fish were deep. Fish were caught from 60’-130 feet down over 120-250 FOW from the 9’s-18’s with the break around 75 feet. Fish came mostly on Plugs early with attractors and flies and then moving to meat as the morning progressed.
8/24/2010
Fished with Jeremy Finney, Tom & Tom York & Brian Deshano. Caught 7 Kings by 7 Tip fishing 14.4- 12.2.
8/28/08
We fished with long time customers Dave, the wind, Murphy & Rob Murphy and Eric Herrmann. We caught 5 Kings from the 12.9-14.4”s over 145-186 FOW,
White plugs and large black hooch with a riverside fly did the trick.
8/23/2010
Fished with long time customers Doug June, Roger Blackwell, Dennis
8/20/2010
We fished with Mark Lauret and friends Al, Jim & Dave
It was tough fishing we ended up with 3 for 6 all Kings in 50-140FOW
Black Hooch’s and a plug was all we could get going. We fished the 15’s & 16’s
8/19/2010
I don’t think the wind will ever stop. We fished with Bill Schwartz, Carl Yauk, Roger Hammer & Floyd Yeager from Larry Scharichs annual Lutheran men’s group. We ran south 6 miles and fished 4-6 foot waves back. The guys did a great job catching 6 large Salmon and Carl showed true sportsmanship by releasing one just before we netted it. The fish came on large black attractors early with an Aqua Glow fly & white and green splatter plugs. Later we switched to a large white attractor and a KW Gedster Fly
Cancelled due to high winds.
8/15
Joe Wittbrodt celebrated his 50th birthday with family Tom Wittbrodt and Cliff Graves and friend John Hogan. It was their first trip aboard the Decoy, a birthday present from Joes’ wife Audrey, and we ended up with 5 very nice Salmon and lost a few. It was nice to get away from 3 fish days. It was a very nice day on the water we started off with 1-2 foot waves and the trip ended with waves starting to build.
8/14/2010
We had a great time with Ryan and Tony Ellis, Matt Hodgerhydf and Toney’s friend Cal.
Lake Michigan remains warm 76 degrees surface and 68 degrees 80 feet down and the fish remain in a sluggish mood.
We caught 2 Kings and a Lake trout and missed a few fish this morning but the sunrise was beautiful and the seas calm.
8/13/2010
We did our annual 10 boat Wolverine trip this morning. We had Tim Martin, Mike & Son Joe along with Al Bruder. The seas ran 3-5 feet. The overall catch for this trip was way down compared to the last few years probably due to how warm and clear Lake Michigan is this year. The fishing should improve as soon as we get some strong North West or North East winds to cool the lake down.
8
8/9/2010
Another great day on the water with the Sandon group. (2) Boats and lots of large fish. We fished the 10's & 11's
we fished from 121-155 FOW. Small Black Hooch and Aqua glow fly went 4 times back 150' on the hi Dipsey and a Blue & silver paddle with a River Side fly went twice along with a white plug that also went twice. The fish were down 50 - 92 feet.
8/8/2010
Canceled day 2 of the Sandon trip because of high winds and lightning.
8/7/2010
We fished with another long time customer Brian Sandon. Sandons’ group fished the first of three days fishing. Brian Sandon was accompanied by Bart Williams, Bob Howerton, and Tom Thompson. It was rough again from the south 5-6 footers and we headed south down to the 9 & 10 lines and rode the waves back. We ended up with 9 Kings mostly 4 year olds. They came on Blue splatter and white plugs , a large orange spoon and Large Black attractor and Riverside Fly and our Dipseys’ went 60 back on a meat rig and an Aqua glow 3 fly attractor. A 5 color lead also went with a white ladder back plug.
8/6/2010
We fished a short trip with long time customer John Trentkamps’ group John, Tom, Jim, Gary & Jake. The water was quite rough from the west and we fished East & West on the 16’s & 17 lines and caught 3 fish over 130-190 FOW 83 down using a Large Black attractor, early and a large White one after the sun came up and Riverside Fly on both and our Dipsey went 180 back on a small black attractor and Aqua Gold fly.
8/4 & 5/2010 fishing report
The last few days has produced some large Salmon to 19.8 pounds a. We have fished in the 14’s & 15’s the last two days from 86-245 FOW and 60-80 feet down seems to be the best early with fish going deeper as the sun comes up. Large black attractors with Aqua gold and or River side flies along with light color plugs seems to be working early with the larger white attractors and the same flies being the ticket later. The attached pictures are from Terry Mcleod and Steve Seely on 8/4 and the Gincott & Witchelhouse party on 8/5.
We fished with the Scribner family Dave, Kristy, Skyler and Cole. From the 14's -19's and struggled all morning. We caught 3 Kings and lost a couple more and saw very few fish until we got into the 19's in late morning. Kristy, Skyler and Cole all caught fish. Dad worked the camera. The fish were caught from 125-165 FOW down 60-80 feet on meat, Large black fish catcher and K&W Riverside fly.
8/1/2010
Fishing was great today but catching was tough. We had the Garbovitis and Meyer family today. Two Richards, David , Kyle (12) who showed us how to bring in a large Salmon and Joshua (9) who showed all of us how quick you can bring a fish in. Everybody caught a fish, we missed a couple and that was it. The temp moved up a little and there were lots of fish between 70 & 85 down 60 feet but they would not bite. Copper with a White and blue paddle and a Riverside fly went twice and a Blue Splatter Plug a couple times but that was the only double hit baits. We fished the 11’s-7’s and will try straight out and north tomorrow.
7/31/2010
We had another good day of fishing with the Gibbons family. The group consisted of Russell, son Shawn and daughter Dawn along with grandchildren Jacob & Jason and friend John. They went 11 out of 14 all Salmon. We fished south of the harbor in 100-210 FOW. Large Black Fishcatcher and K&W fly’s along with Mag Blue Dolphin spoons did the trick 60-80 feet down.
7/24/2010
Dick Chase, Ben Kudwa, Bill Barnes and John Rice went 12 for 12 on King Salmon. The Salmon were all out of temperature feeding at 62 degrees over 110 feet of water on plugs and KW Aqua glow fly's. It rained hard most of the trip but that many fish helps the day seem brighter.
7/21&7/22
The best of the best Cannon & Humminbird tournament out of Manistee. The format is largest 3 fish over 2 days and you have to quit fishing after you catch 9 fish. A guaranteed $10,000 for first place which was won with a 3 fish total weight of 53 pounds. This is a tournament anyone can win. The cost is a $300 entry fee plus 2 days of charters. If you want to fish in this fun event in 2011 call me. It should be 7/20 & 7/21 next year. Total cost 4 people $1350.00 for 2 days of fishing and a chance to win $10000.
This is the last Michigan report for 2009. We are pulling the boat Tuesday for my 5 year DNR out of water inspection. I am accepting 2010 season charter dates now. You can call 231 889 3644 until mid October and then 941 6620561 through May.
Thanks for your business,
Gary, Jim & Frank
9/8/09
We fished with John & Mike Wojciechowski with long time friends Marty North & Jim Fuerholzer. The first time they fished with us was in 2004. Jim did his part keeping the fish interested and showing a CEO is not always in control. We fished the 15’s going 8 for 12 catching 5 Kings and 3 Lake Trout.
9/7/09
Fished with Mel Gaw & Tom Rasmussen. We fished in the 7’s & 8’s finding 4 kings, 1 Steel Head & 2 Lake Trout in 290-340 feet of water on Spoons 50- 80 feet down.
9/13/09
We spent the morning with new and as enthusiastic a customer as we have had on the boat, Justina VanBelkum . She was joined by her husband Doug, Sister Stacy Jackson and Rick Newman. We ended up, 4 for 6, catching 2 Kings, a Steelhead and a Lake Trout. It was another beautifull calm and sunny day on Lake Michigan. We started off in 40 feet of water and caught 2 fish and then picked up at 8:15 and ran out to 500 feet and caught two and lost two in the deep water. The boats that went deep early seemed to do the best today.
9/12/09
We spent the morning with part of the Dominka family one of our favorites. Grandpa John Dominka fished with his daughter Kathy and her husband Bill, Kathy’s daughter Angela and John’s grandson Jon. We caught 3 Kings, 1 LT and 1 SH and Kathy showed the love she has for her sister Sue and Jons mom, who protects all living creatures, by releasing her fish at the back of the boat. Pretty impresive aye Sue. The weather was again incredible. Fish were caught south of the harbor from 20- 60 feet down over 40-125 feet of water.
9/6/09
We spent the second toughest catching morning ever, 2 Kings and only two hits, with two very nice families. Richard Garbovits and sons Kyle & Josha, pictured, and Grandfather Richard and sons David & Michael Meyer. Kyle and Josha did a great job bringing in the fish.
The day was beautiful starting off with calm seas and a full moon followed 45 minutes later by a great sunrise.
9/5/09
We fished with Frank and son Danny Beck and friends Randy Kenny & Tim Deichert this morning. Another “knocks your socks off morning”. We had a full moon as we left the Harbor and traveled 6 miles south in dead calm seas which lasted all day. The sun eased its way over the sand dunes and from 6:20 – 7am we had non stop action. When the sun got up the fish went to sleep but we ended up with 6 nice Kings 40 down and 100 & 150 back on slide divers over 75 feet of water. We fished in as close as 28 feet and out as far as 175 this morning.
There is still time to book in September call Gary at 231 8893644
9/4
A day off
9/3
Fished with long time customers Terry Fondaw, Vic & Virgil Far, Whitey Porterfield, and new timer Terry Kaminski. Fishing remains tough for us. We went 4 for 5 all Kings. The fishing could not be better. Calm seas a full moon to the west as we left the harbor and a sunrise that was awesome. If the fish had been aggressive it would have been a perfect day on the water. The fish came on Plugs 35 & 75 down a Stinger NBK on a 10 color and a plug on 5 colors.
9/2
We spent the morning field testing a new product from Cannon. We threw some lines in and caught 2 Coho and a very nice size Steelhead over 330 feet of water. # 3 plugs worked three times.
9/1/09
We fished with long time customers John & David Wojciechowski, first timer uncle and Brother Paul and nephew Devin Hill who we have not seen in a few years. Fishing was still on the tough side for all but a couple boats. We ended up with 5 Kings all on plugs. , sizes 3, 4 &5. Our fish came in the 10’s & 11’s down 25-45 feet over 125-290 feet of water.
8/31/09
Two days of high winds and finally back on the water. We fished with a very nice group of guy's. Brian Deshano, Tom & Tom York and Jeremy Finney, who provided the color commentary. The fishing was tough again following two days of high wind. It started great with 6 fish on in the first hour or so and then it stopped till 11: am, when we picked up our 4th fish. Tough fishing was the norm with captains reporting 2-5 fish. We fished from the high 11’s – 13’s and from 50’ – 260 feet of water.
8/30 Wind day
8/29 Wind day
8/28/09
Last Vacation day with Grandchildren this year.
8/27/09
We fished with Gene and Robert Ayers, Jerry Stump & Larry Meyer. The seas were calm and the fishing pretty good. We lost some fish and landed 7 large Salmon. We started off with a double and proceeded to hog tie all the other lines but got both fish to the boat. all the fish were from 50-100 feet down over 165 - 225 feet of water from the 14’s- 11’s. It looks like there are lots of fish out there now and yesterday a 30# plus fish was landed out of Shipwatch Marina.
8/26/09
Vacation day with Grandchildren.
8/25/09
Day off to visit with my Grandchildren.
8/24/09
We spent the morning with Doug June, Roger Blackwell, Dennis Fulbright and first timer Mario Mandujano.
I started in the 10’s and worked to the 9’s with no bites early again. Fishing started off like yesterday.
Oh no not a repeat of yesterday. Finally we got a nice King about 7am a Steelhead at 7:20 and ended up with 4 Kings and a Steelhead for the day.
8/23/09
Finally back on the water. What happened to the dog days of summer?
The winds had really scattered the fish.
We spent a very long morning with brothers Dave, Rick, Bill Van Maele, and friend David Winclechter, a very patient group of fishermen, who came close to seeing the first no fish morning in 25 years for me.
Bill Van Maele kept the record in tack for me, but just barely. 1 large 4 year old King and one bite total.
I fished from the 16’s- 12’s. There were boats that did well and others that struggled. Hopefully tomorrow is a lot better.
8/22/09 No trip high winds
8/21/09 No trip high winds
8/20/09 No trip high winds
8/19/09
We fished today with long time customers, John Kerchkof, David Vinson they were joined by Tom Webb & Warren, who at 83 showed, the youngsters how to handle large fish.
The fish remain large on average. Everyday we are weighing in fish in the 20 pound class and today was no exception. The season looks like its running a couple weeks late and I would guess September will be very good. I still have days open in September. We fished from the 15’s- 13’s 200-340 feet of water down 90-190 feet and caught 9 Kings and 1 Lake Trout without and early bite. The fish were caught on Large Fish catchers in Black & White with Aqua gold flies early and Amy Flies later.
8/18/09
We spent a delight full morning with Doug Hammond, a friend I have not seen in many years, and his son Cody. They got to see Salmon fishing at its best with 13 solid hook ups by 7:30 and a limit catch by 8:20.We fished the 15’s &14’s from 185-230 feet down 90 & 135 feet. Yesterdays lures worked even better today.
8/17/09
Douglas & Keven June, Kevin Olough & Roger Blackwell kept us laughing all morning between catching. 7 large kings from the 11.9’s-13.3’s 165-260 of water down 80-143 feet using White fish catchers both large and small and Aqua glow flies and Green Plugs.
8/16/09
We spent the day with Jayson Callison and the Sutherland family. Don, Matt, Bill, Patrick (13) and Camden (11) did a great job on their first Salmon. We went down to the 7’s and rode the waves back and caught only 3 Kings out of 5. The Charter captains that set up in the 11’s & 12’s had a good morning. Fish were caught from 35-120’ down.
8/15/09
Customer cancelled trip
8/14/09
We had the pleasure of taking out the Repo family, Jim, Becki, Alex, Tyler and Kendra, this morning and participate in the 13 boat corporate charter. Alex Repo took top honors in the fishing contest with the largest, a 24.5 pound Salmon, out of the 144 brought in.
Fishing was great this morning almost everywhere on Plugs and Fish catchers and flies. Shipwatch Marina put together a 13 boat corporate charter with Manistee Charter Boat Association boats. The group brought in 144 fish weighing a total of 1450 pounds. Manistee fishing does not get any better than it is right now.
8/13/09
We spent the morning with Stuart, Debbie, Katie and Rebecca Freeman along with Barry & Barbara Baumann.
These are people who know how to have fun. They did a great job on 9 large Kings but I think they would have had fun no matter what.
Fishing was very good this morning from the 15’s- 12’s over 125-225 feet of water down 85-100 feet with Plugs doing most of the damage.
8/12/09
We fished with the Ayers, one of our favorite families. All her brothers were easy on Sara this year. I hope she is ok. The fish that were north yesterday moved South and west and were hard to find early. We ended up with 4 good size Salmon out of 8 on. We fished from the 18’s north with fish caught from 85-195 down over 145’-225’ of water. The boats south of us seemed to have had a better morning with 7-12 fish caught being reported.
8/11/09
Genoa’s church men’s group did a 4 boat charter out of Shipwatch Marina. 4 boats brought in a total of 45 fish. There were some big Salmon caught but none matching the 2 - 30 pound plus Salmon caught yesterday off Manistee.
8/10
The Brian Sandon group of Mike Lyerly, Tommy Smith did a great job on the fish.
Things are looking better. We caught 5 Kings from the 16’s- 19’s over 185-220 feet of water down 97-180 feet. Plugs, Large Black Hooch and Green Flys did the trick.
8\9
The Brian Sandon group of Mike Lyerly, Tommy Smith & Steve Fooy were weather delayed 1 ½ hour due to a lightning storm. We caught 1 fish. We were almost skunked for the first time in 23 years.
8\8\09
Cancelled Gale force winds
8/7/09
Fishing slowed for us a bit today and the fish were smaller than yesterday. A 2 boat J.Trentcamp charter produced 12 fish. The fish were caught from the 14’s – 16’s in 100-225 feet of water with lures down 82-140 feet using plugs, large black Fish catchers and Aqua glow fly’s. A steady east wind should bring the temperature and fish up tomorrow.
8/6
Another day just like yesterday except the 7 fish were big. Four of them were in the 20# class. Terry Mcleod & Steve Seely did a great job on the rods. We fished the same water’s as yesterday. Plugs and large hooch, black & white did the trick from 85-150 down.
8/5/09
We spent a wonderful morning with the Lutton family. The people were nice, the weather was calm, the sunrise beautiful and the fishing was good. We caught 5 nice Kings on plugs and bait from 85-110 down over 125-220 feet of water. We worked from the 14’s – 16’s.
8/4/09
We spent the morning with the Chad & Kristy Spencer family Clint & (Ohio State, Casey) and Edward & Mary Shafer. Everyone caught a fish except Mary who displayed her generosity by letting her daughter catch 2. Moms are great!
We caught 6 Kings in 128-220 feet of water from the 15”s- 18’s. The fish came 60-165 feet down on Blue, White Ladder back #4 Plugs and a white Hooch with Aqua gold fly. Captains today seemed to catch from 4-21 fish all fishing from 60 – 160 down with plugs and fishcatchers. The fish are finally here in numbers. Hopefully you can find a captain with an open August or early September date available
8/3 Wind Day
8/2/09
Frank Beck, Tom & Tom Deichert & friend Kevin Nerowski spent the morning bring in 6 of 10 all adult Salmon. It is nice to see the fishing picking up again; there was a very good first bite from 100-180 feet of water down 44-90 feet. Everything seemed to work early with a small white fish catcher and Aqua gold fly fished back 180’ on a large ring slide diver seeming to work the best. Some captains still have a few August dates available if you want to enjoy the 2009 Salmon season you might want to call.
7/31/09
Fishing was good catching terrible. We fished from the 9’s – 12’s from 70-370 feet of water. The break was down 100 feet. I only heard of one captain that had a good catch 12 fish and he was fishing from 200-300 feet of water and north of Manistee. The other captains had 1- 4 fish. The fish are there just not biting during the day. Meat & plugs seemed to be the limited ticket today.
The second day with the Tom Zipf party. Eric & Dan Zipf, Todd Case, Charlie Evans and of course Tom. Fishing was good catching on the other hand was terrible. We ended with two large Salmon and I learned some new stories from a fun group.
7/30/09
We spent the first of two mornings with the Tom Zipf group. We left the dock at 5am and had no early bite. We fished from the 13’s – 18’s in 70-225 feet of water. Large NBK, s took two fish, plugs took two and an Aqua glow fly took the 5th fish. The fish came from 60-109 feet down. I talked to captains from Onekama to the point in Ludington and fishing was slow all over. Most captains had 2-4 fish with one having 7. There has been a number of 18-22 pound fish caught this week. The fish should show up in large quantities any day now.
7/29/09
Fished with Bob & Cheryl Miller and Dan and Jackie Edwards.
Starting to see lots more fish but except for first light it was tough to get them interested in our offerings. Cheryl & Jackie did a great job on their fish. Sorry Dan
7/21/2009 – 7\23
Tough fishing with Ryan Fritzsch , Andrew and Billy Kutsomarkoson on the 21st, The Wojciewski during the Best of the best tournament on the 23rd & 24th and Kirk Minor , Tony Baraco and Jim Schade on the 24th. 2-4 fish each day. There were not many fish or bait fish to be seen on the graph.
7\13\09 David Johnson his son David and grandchildren Jake & Cody found fishing offshore was very good, over 18 hookups and 12 fish, from the 35-39 line in the top 30 feet. Mixed bag of Steelhead, Lake Trout & Salmon. Orange & yellow spoons producing well.
7/14/09 Fish are starting to show up 3 miles from shore in 50-150 feet of water. Fish catchers and fly’s deep and Plugs working well down to 50 feet. Fish are still being caught offshore from the 35-39 line.
6/20/09 Tom, Art, Leroy & James kept Jim and I laughing as we fished the 26-31 line just north of Manistee. We brought in 6 Kings 3 Lake Trout & 2 Steelhead. The famous NBK Stinger size on # 2 lead caught most of the fish today.
9\13\08 and probably last report till June
The boat will be pulled toward the end of September.
We fished this morning with long time (25 years) friend and customer Stan his son Dan along with Dans significant partner Barb and Dan’s friend Amber Blake. Amber not only caught her first fish ever this morning but she also caught the 2 largest fish. The day was very overcast with light winds and turned to liquid throughout most of the morning but it did not dampened this groups spirits. Everyone said they had a great time.
We started out in front and north of the harbor in 18-36 feet of water with out a strike in the first 45 minutes. We pulled lines and ran south to the 9s and set lines in 80 feet of water. We got a quick double on plugs down 25 feet in 62 degree water and picked up four more over the next hour and a half, all plugs. We ended up with 6 Kings and the group did not miss a fish.
I will be chartering for Snook, Redfish, Trout and Tarpon from November through May in the pristine Charlotte Harbor, Mangrove Islands area of Southwest Florida. Visit us at www.westwindfishingcharters.com
Have a great winter! See you in Florida call 941 6620561 for either Florida or Michigan reservations through mid June.
Thanks for the memories,
Gary, Jim & Frank
9/12/08
We fished with Dale & Connie Bollert, two wonderful people from South west Florida who spent their entire lives living all over the world dedicated to protecting us. Thanks!
What a nice morning. A warm breeze from the south, mild seas and except for the first fish, a 21 plus pound Salmon that was foul hooked in the back and forced us to pull all the lines and go back for him, the fishing was good. We went 5 for 8 on 4 year old Salmon. The fish all came on light colored plugs mostly # 4’s, 12-14 feet down, over 25-35 feet of water and Dipseys set at 32.
9\11
We fished with Terry Fondaw,Vic Farr and friend Whitey. Terry & Vic have been fishing with us since 2004. We went 5 for 9. All 4 year old Salmon were caught.The surface water was 59 degrees and the wind was blowing hard out of the S.E.. Some fish were still in the 25-35 foot water. The morning bite started at the hint of sunrise. Plugs 12- 14 foot down and Dipseys set at 3, no ring and 32’ back did the trick. A # 4 green & also a Blue splatered plug plus the # 3 green & yellow bellied J plug all went this morning.
9\7-
We fished with Stan & Dave Kurczynski and first time Salmon fishermen Jim Domagaski. We went 9 for 12. All 4 year old large Salmon were caught.The water warmed a few degrees from yesterday but the fish were still in close. There was a good morning bite 12- 14 foot down with plugs and Dipseys set at 3 no ring and 32’ back. A # 3 green & yellow bellied J plug went 4 times.
We fished with long time customer Al Brown and his friend Tim Watt’s. The coldwater was in close and the bait & fish were also. We went 3 for 7 with plugs and Magnum NBK Stingers doing the damage. We fished south of the Pier head in 20-35 feet of water down 6-8 feet.
9\7-We fished with Stan & Dave Kurczynski and first time Salmon fishermen Jim Domagaski. We went 9 for 12. All 4 year old large Salmon were caught.
The water warmed a few degrees from yesterday but the fish were still in close. There was a good morning bite 12- 14 foot down with plugs and Dipseys set at 3 no ring and 32’ back. A # 3 green & yellow bellied J plug went 4 times.
Bruce Robinson, Jeff Franke, Mike Maxetz, Gary Swank & Glen Keates this morning. There was a very good early bite until a 15 # fish decided to hook himself in the belly. We had to pull all the lines and go back and get the fish. It was no easy task in 6 foot seas. We caught 7 Kings before 8 from the 17’s-15’s in 185-125 feet of water down 90-111 feet. The fish again came on Plugs, Yellow, green & blue and the Hooch’s with the Riverside fly. We pulled lines at 8:30 because of wind.
9/2/08
We fished with Dick Chase and friends Al & Ann Tucker.
The morning bite, the sunrise and seas were great. We had 8 Kings before 8am when Dick suggested we would be done and out to breakfast shortly. The fish must have heard him because we spent the rest of the trip getting 1 bite.
We fished in the 13’s & 14’s with plugs and large white Hooch’s with the Riverside fly from 186-135 feet of water down 111 and back 200 on Dipseys.
9/3/08
Bruce Robinson, Jeff Franke, Mike Maxetz, Gary Swank & Glen Keates this morning. There was a very good earl bite until a 15 # fish decided to hook himself in the belly. We had to pull all the lines and go back and get the fish. It was no easy task in 6 foot seas. We caught 7 Kings before 8 from the 17’s-15’s in 185-125 feet of water down 90-111 feet. The fish again came on Plugs, Yellow, green & blue and the Hooch’s with the Riverside fly.
9/4/08
Called customers and rescheduled because of wind forecast.
9/1 Vacation day
8/31 Vacation day
8/30/08 < xml="true" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" prefix="o" namespace="">
We had a fun morning, for the 4th year, with Dave & Rob Murphy & Eric Herrmann. They got to fish the whole ½ day in water that was calm a temperature that was great and a beautiful sunrise. The fishing was, for the second day, better than the catching.
The guys did great on a triple to start the day but after 7: am the fish were hard to come by for us.
We ended up with 5 nice Kings fishing from the 12.9’s-14.4”s
We fished over 145-186 feet of water with our Down riggers hitting at 50, 70 & 85’down & Dipsey’s 150 back with a large ring.
We had the most hits on a large white hooch at 85’ down the middle with the famous Aqua glow flies and the balance of hits on green splash #4 plug.
8/29/08
We fished for the second time this week with Greg Shay, Rob Yielding, Rick Turigliatto and Mickie Cooper
I thought catching and fishing would be great for us today. I was only half right. The fishing was very nice. Calm seas, warm temperatures and fun people. The catching on the other hand was slow. We ended up 5 Kings and lost about the same. Lost fish were mostly on Dipseys and Lead lines.
We started out in 75-90 feet of water in the 13's and saw lot’s of bait and fish but no takers. We moved out to 155 feet and had a triple. The rest of the trip we worked out to 310 feet and then back in to 145. Our fish all came on plugs even though we ran spoons and Hooch’s. The fish came on Dipseys 140 & 180 back, Down Riggers 71 & 83 back and a 6 color lead with a 4 oz Stinger dive weight.
8/28/08
We fished this morning, for the 4th year in a row, with Bill & his son (I am not getting sick this year) Dillon Ditaker and Bill’s friend Chris Koenig. Missing and missed from last year was Nurse Kelly and Senior Daughter Dena. The fish picture cut off a little of Bills head because he was concerned about his forehead.
We fished from the 11’s to the 14’s and as I reported yesterday there were lots of fish out there and they were hungry this morning.The guys had their 6th King Salmon by 7am. They went 9 for 9 and were done at 9am. All the fish came on plugs from 88-178 feet of water down 44/48 feet early on the down riggers and Dipseys back 100 with a large ring. The fish were down 73 feet on Down riggers after the sun came up
8/27/08
We fished for the forth time with Gene and Gary Ayers and their friends Larry Stumph and Jerry Meyer. There were lots of fish to the north but getting them to eat was not easy. We went 6 for 6 with 5 really nice fish and Gene Ayers fish sandwich.
We fished from the 16’s down to the 12’s with no early bite for the second day in a row. We had 2 on spoons and 4 on white ladder back plugs. The fish came from Dipsey’s 150 back with a ring, Down Rigger 65 down and 10 color leads. When all those fish we saw today decide to bite we will be busy.
8/26/08
Greg Shay, Rob Yielding, Michel Cooper & Aloha Shay fished with us this morning. Greg and friends have been fishing with us twice a season for 4 years. They will be back on Friday.
We fished from the 15’s to the mid 17’s and from 90-230 feet of water. The fish, 8 Kings, came on plugs clean and Aqua gold flies behind a 3 fly teaser. The fish came from riggers 51, 75 & 85 down and Fireline Dipseys with a ring 135 back.
8/25/08
We fished with Chris & Mike Chambers and their friend Kenny Setser, all first timers on a Salmon Charter. We caught 6 Kings with Mike catching the big one at more than 24 pounds. The guys did a good job on the poles.
We went south between the 11’s and 8’s trying to get away from both the smaller fish we caught yesterday and the boat pack but found out the bulk of the fish were straight out and north to the 18’s. Our fish were caught on Aqua Gold flies behind a large white Hooch 114 feet down, on a downrigger 250 back and on a 9 color lead using a green #4 plug.
8/24/08 Fishing Report
We fished with, Decoy first timers, Dave Van Maele, David Winelechter and Mike (Tail gunner)Lathers.
The guys did a great job on the fish. We missed a few which is normal when the fish are that deep. A couple fish tried to get away but Mike hooked 2 of them in the tail. A new Decoy record. Good job Mike!
We ended up with 6 Kings and 1 Steelhead. The fish were deep 100-135 feet down and came on Hooch’s and KRW Flies and Stinger Magnum spoons. The water temp was 71 degrees down 70 feet and the waves around 3 feet. All but two fish were 3 year olds. I don't know where the three year olds we have been catching were hiding this morning.
8-23 A day of rest.
8-22/08
We fished with David & Kristy Scribner 16th year in a row with Decoy Charters. Dave started bringing Christy SaThis was their 16th year in a row.
We went 6 for 8. They caught their 6th King by 8:05 am.
The fish came on 50% Plugs and 50% magnum spoons. We were in the 12’s fishing from 58-118 feet of water with fish hitting the 30 foot rigger and 5 color lead. There are a lot of fish out there.
8/21
We fished with Terry McLeod and friend John Schaefer along with a three boat charter out of Shipwatch Marina and you can tell by the pictures there were happy fishermen. All boats fished south and shallow early with 2 to 4 fish caught per boat and then went out deep over 300 feet to catch the rest. Fish were caught on plugs early and Spin Doctors and KRW flies later in the trip. There seem to be lots of fish out there.
8/20
We fished with the Kerchkof \ Vinson fishing team, David, David, Tom & John went 12 for 12 on Kings a new record for our boat. We have never gone 12 for 12 with out missing one fish. John even decided to net a fish to show how good the team was.
Fishing was really good this morning. We went south and fished in 22 feet of water and had 11 big Kings by 7am. All fish but 1 was caught on plugs. The last one came on a Magnum orange spoon made by Stinger.
8/19
We spent 2 hours fishing with mom and dad Lisa & Brian, Eve (9), Joe (7) and Maya (5) each child caught a Salmon with one lost at the back of the boat. The kids did a great job.
Fishing seems to be getting better each day. Today’s fish came on green hoard plugs on 5 colors and a Dipsey 80 back. The break was at 25 feet.
8/18/08
Fished with Doug & Kevin June, Roger Blackwell & Dennis Fulbright.
We caught 5 Kings and 1 SH Fished 9’s & 10’s. This is Doug & Kevin’s 4th year in a row.
The wind finally has shifted from the North to the south and the waters are warming. We caught fish today from 61 – 160 feet on both Spoons, mid size, and # 4 plugs, white Ladder back..
Hopefully this is the beginning of a big upswing in fish per trip.
8/18/07
We spent the day with Doug, Frank, Jason & colorful Charlie.
Doug Salva and friends fished with us for the 9th year. After bringing the Indians to their knees the night before they were taught humility by the fish. They have averaged over 13 fish a trip over the last 3 years but had to settle for 5 today.
The water is still in the high 40’s and low 50’s with fish scattered from shore to mid lake.
Some fish were in shallow water early but non existent for most of the day. We caught 2 kings in 17 feet of water north and lost one as it was getting light on a spoon and a plug then spent the rest of the trip catching 2 kings in 45 & 83 feet of water and a Steelhead at the end of our trip in 29 feet of water.
We spent a delightful morning with Duffett and Hughes family. The seas were calm and the sky blue.
We fished the shallow water for the third day catching 3 Kings and 3 Lake trout. We caught fish in 14 feet of water early and 270 feet late.
Manistee fishing is pretty good from the 8’s through the 18’s with fish hitting plugs for us and spoons and flies for other captains. Captains had from 4-18 fish dependent on where they were.
8/14/08
Fishing was tough for us this morning but not for all boats. The water was as cold as yesterday there seemed to be more fish in the 25-30 foot level then yesterday but we had trouble getting them to both bite and then hold when they did bite.
Terry Fondaw and Terry’s Grandson Gerald (8) fished with Vic Farr and his friend Jack, They caught 3 Kings fishing in shallow 8-40 feet of water.
The good part of the morning was that 8 year old Gerald caught his first Salmon and it was larger then his Grandpa’s.
8\13
Four of the Ayers family, Jean, Gary, Pat & Sara (not necessarily in that order , I know Sara would say,) had an incredibly beautiful morning. Calm seas and 10 fish, 9 Kings and 1 Lake Trout all caught in less than 20 feet of 47 degree water using mostly Stinger magnum spoons. There was lots of laughter and few boats to bother us.
8\12
The water was very cold 48 degrees in 20 feet of water. The seas were calm and the sunrise was beautiful.
We had newcomers to fishing, Marci & son Nelson Terry and Marci’s long time friend Sue Kroepel.
They missed a few fish but ended up with 5 beautiful King Salmon . They are now experienced fisherpeople. The fish were all caught in 28-37 feet of water using plugs..
8/11/08
Customer cancelled trip
8\9\ & 8\10 Trips cancelled because of wind.
8\8\ 08
It's not always easy.
We fished with a long time customer David Schatzberg who was worried we would catch 6 fish to early in the morning. His fears were unfounded. We went north because of 3-4 foot waves out of the North West. The water was very cold and fishing was tough everywhere we tried. We fished water from 15-260 feet and ended up with just 4 fish. 2 Kings and 2 Lake Trout. The only area I saw fish was in the skinny water, and they would not bite, and also around 140-150 feet late in out trip where we took 2 fish. One on a 5 color and a Blue Dolphin spoon and 1 on an Amy’s Baby fly behind a white Spin doctor down 68 feet. I sure hope tomorrow is better.
8/7/08 Manistee Fishing Report
Fishing slowed for us a little today Terry McLeod, Don, Wayne and Ryan Ropp managed to get 9 nice Kings in the boat this morning using both Plugs and a large White Hooch and Aqua gold fly. The fish were caught from 40-225 feet of water down 35-126 feet between the 10’s and 12’s.
8/6/08
Fishing this morning was very good. Brian Sandon, Steve Fooy, Neil Ott & Pat Williams spent the morning catching 11 King Salmon and 2 Steelhead. (11) Were on Plugs and (2) on KRW Aqua gold flies. We were south of the harbor in 50-125 feet of water. There is 1 day open in August and some prime dates in September.