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| Saugatuck Fishing Report - 06/06/10 |
The old saying that “fishing slows when the cotton flies” seems to holding true. The fishing has defiantly slowed down this last week with catches of 4 to 8 fish per trip. You can catch some fish in 40 to 50 foot of water, 70 to 90 foot of water, 100 to 115 foot of water and on out to 180 foot. A few fish scattered through out and no big concentration anywhere. We took steelhead and salmon with half core and 100 foot of copper, salmon on 200 and 300 foot of copper and lake trout and a few salmon on downriggers and deep divers. The best lures continue to be orange Corey stingrays and orange crush stingers on the 100 copper and NBK and carmel dolphin stingrays on the 200 and 300 copper. On the low divers we are running some flashers and flies and the best combination continues to be the mountain dew Pro Chip and purple no see um Rapture flies. To catch the lake trout we are using metal flashers and the Rapture green dude and last supper fly. With the rough water and wind today, we may see a change in the water and a grouping of the fish around the bait. Hopefully the fishing will begin to improve. |
| Saugatuck Fishing Report - 05/30/10 |
What a change in fishing this week produced! Boats went from catching 18 to 30 fish on Tuesday (with some lake trout pushing 20 pounds) to only having 12 hits on Weds. The fish moved, the bait moved and the lake started to warm up some what. The rest of the week catches of 4 to 12 fish was considered a good day. Saturday we decided to run out to 300 foot of water after satellite reports showed a temperature change 18 miles out. We found some steelhead on the surface however there was no concentration and no bait. On Saturday a few fish were caught in 40 foot, 70 to 90 foot, 100 foot, 180 foot, and 300 foot, however the best area seemed to be in 130 to 160 foot of water. At this depth there were some reports of chinook salmon pushing 20 pounds--not a lot of fish but 5 to 8 fish per boat. The best method continues to 100, 200 and 300 copper with Stinger and Stingray size spoons that are silver and orange and silver, orange and green. The most productive lures were the orange Corey, orange Natural Born Killer, and orange crush. These same lures produced well when pulled on the sliders on the downriggers at 35 and 45 foot. Most of the lake trout were taken on downriggers on the bottom with either the 11 inch white glow Pro Chip and the Rapture purple no see um fly or the tin can dodger with a Rapture green dude fly. We will be fishing again this PM and will probably be going to the 140 foot of water area. Check back next week and see if the bait returns, because if the bait is in an area, the salmon will be there. |
| Saugatuck Fishing Report - 05/23/10 |
Our fishing in Saugatuck continues to be very good with catches of 10 up to 30 fish being reported during the week. Early in the week we fished primarily in 100 to 130 foot of water and then by the end of the week we were in 160 to 180 foot of water. The best fishing appeared to be in the shallower water and south toward the towers off Glen. On Thursday we did find a little larger fish in the 160 to 170 foot depth with Chinook salmon in the 13- 15 pound range, however, during the weekend the larger fish seemed to located in 110 foot of water. Most of the fish are being caught in the top 50 foot of water with 100, 200 foot of copper producing steelhead and coho and 300 foot of copper producing some nice chinook salmon. The lake trout were caught as deep as 80 foot (with some boats taking fish as deep as 110 foot). The best lures continue to be the stingray orange corey and orange natural born killer and the green NBK. Flashers (white glow and white mountain dew Hot Chip) and flies (Rapture frosted fern, purple noseem and green dude) caught some fish when run on the downriggers and the low divers, however the best lures continue to be the stingray size lures with orange and green. |
| Saugatuck Fishing Report - 05/16/10 |
| Another good week of salmon fishing, however, some days produced better than others for example one day we caught 18 and the next day produced 8 and then 15 on the following day. The chinook salmon are running from 5 to 15 pounds, coho salmon from 2 to 5 pounds and lake trout up to 12 pounds. Early in the week we had very good luck in 130 to 145 foot of water and today we did well in 90 to 100 foot of water. There were some boats that fished all the way out in 200 foot of water, however today there were two general depths that produced the most fish--90 to 100 foot and 150 to 165 foot. Early in the week most of the fish (chinook and coho and an occasional lake trout) hit mainly Stingray spoons (mixed veggie, NBK, green dolphin, glow frog). These were pulled on 100, 200 and 300 foot of copper and high divers at 150 and 160 foot. The downriggers produced with small Stinger lures on sliders at 40 and 50 foot. Today we had success with the same Stingray spoons on 200 and 300 copper and with some flashers and flies on the low divers and the downriggers. The flashers were Hot Chip 8 in. flashers (white glow, green glow, mountain dew) on the divers and the tin can flasher "down the shoot" and on the bottom with Rapture frosted fern and hypnotist flies. |
Spring Fishing Report
Big Lake Outfitters is partnering with the Saugatuck/Holland Area Charter Boat Association (SACA), and will be providing Lake Michigan and Kalamazoo River Charter Fishing reservation services for the area’s finest Charter Fishing fleet. We’re pooling our resources and efforts in order to enhance the Charter Fishing experience for our customers. We are also supporting and involved with SACA’s efforts to protect and enhance the Great Lakes fisheries, including working with local, state, and federal governments and agencies.
SACA is once again working with the Department of Natural Resources to continue the “Net Pen” project for the Kalamazoo River salmon plant at Saugatuck. For the past five years area Charter Captains have been holding and feeding 40,000 Chinook (King) salmon in a pen for about three weeks until they smolt (start to get small scales). Keeping the fish in the river where they are going to be released helps them imprint to the river. The net pen project increases survival rates from 25% for fish planted directly into the river, to 80% for Net Pen fish. Net pens like the one in Saugatuck and other around the lake have really helped make some super salmon fishing! SACA is also working with area schools to provide Great Lakes educational opportunities for students, supporting “salmon in the classroom” projects and Lake Michigan sport fishing outings.
