Mark and I caught an 8 lb Steelhead and a 16 lb king on Thursday night in 100 FOW.  There were all kinds of people out fishing so it was important to stay by the wheel.  The King came on a white mirage fly on dipsy on 1 back 185 and the steelhead on greasy chicken wing spoon on full core.   We were feeling ok about our short outing where we fished from 7 to 9, except that when we got back to the Z-dock, we spoke Jeff who just got back in and he and his wife caught 10 fish.  They said that they were out a bit deeper in 150 or 160.

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 We have our big Shipyard Labor Day party coming up and I needed to get a few more fillets for the grill so I headed out on a solo trip from 5-8 pm last night.  It was a windy bouncy evening on the lake and mostly trolled S and N.  I ended 3-4 with a 10, 12, and 16 lb king and the big fish tested my driving, fishing, and netting all-in-one capabilities.  Disappointingly, the one that got away broke the backing line behind the full core.  It was probably the biggest yet as it was ripping the line off the reel - where the backing line broke probably hadn't seen the light of day in quite some time.  I was mostly in 95-110 feet of water.   The 16 pounder came on a meet rig 70 down.  The other 2 were on a full core with a greasy chicken wing spoon.  They fish provided some great fillets for the grill on Sunday!

Mark and I are going out for trip tonight too...details to come.

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Saturday morning I headed out with Mark (D-23) and we fished from 7 to 10:30.  We ended up 3 of 4 and took 3 nice kings in the 6 to 10 lb range.  The action was good early but we just drove around for the last 2 hours.  We were mostly just South of Holland and in 80-110 FOW.  Back at the dock I talked to few people that did much better than us (8-10 fish) but were fishing further North.  This set the stage for our trip the next day.

I went out again with Mark on Sunday morning and we got up little earlier and fished from 6:30 to 11:00 and ended only 2 of 5.  We headed North and fished mostly half-way between Holland and Port Sheldon from 70 to 130 FOW.  Unfortunately the good advice from the day before didn't turn into more fish.  We did loose 2 fish to broken lines.  One fish came on a meet rig and the other on a blue dolphin spoon.

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I took an afternoon trip on Sunday (I'm a sucker for a calm, sunny day on the water), so I was expecting slow fishing, and unfortunately that is what I got.   I ended up 1 for 2 and caught a 6 lb King on Green dolphin glow on a full core.  But, it was a beautiful day!


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Don from Z-31 was out Sunday Night and reported that he went 3 for 3.  He brought in Two mature female Chinooks and nice steelhead.   40 to 50 foot down in 150 foot of water.  Green Dolphin and that hammered gold and green with the fluorescent tape.

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The Eldean Shipyard Fishing Team (Wade, Mark K, Mark V, Paul, Ken, Shane) helped sponsor and also entered the Big Red Classic this past weekend.  Leading up to the tournament, the Rhino was out of the water for 10 days getting the hull patched from a freak anchor incident.  The boat made it back in the water on Friday afternoon just in time for the tournament.  We had an awful Saturday, with only one small lake trout, just big enough to keep.  It wouldn't have been so bad if we could could have hooked some of the other 8 or 9 hits that got away.  All the misses came in 80 to 180 FOW just North of Holland.

For Day 2, I got a tip from Jeff at the marina (Z-39) that he did pretty well down by Saugatuck so on Sunday we went strait to Saugatuck and set up in about 60 FOW.  We stayed South of Saugatuck all morning and mostly around 100 FOW.  We had action all morning long and ended the day going 9 for 12 with 7 kings, 1 laker, and 1 steelhead.  The kings we got early had some nice weight and we were able to weight in our top 5 fish that totaled 67 lbs.  Meat rigs behind dipsy and paddles took 3 fish.  1 fly took another, and a variety of spoons got the rest.  Sunday was a lot more fun than Saturday and the fishing team is hoping that we can string 2 good days together next year!

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There were storms in the distance and 2-4 foot waves, but it ended up to be a good fishing trip last night.  Paul and I fished from 6:30 to 9 pm in 100 to 135 FOW and ended 3 of 4, with some nice fish!  We took a 12 lb steelhead 55 down on a bloody nose magnum.  Then a nice 15 king on full lead core with Green Dolphin Glow.  The last fish, a 10 lb king came on a slider with a small orange and green spoon.  We didn't run any flies or dypsies.

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 Paul and I fished from 7 to 9:30 on Saturday night in 80 to 120 FOW and ended 2 for 4.  A 7 lb steelhead on full core came on a green, silver, and orange pro-king spoon.  Then a 6 lb king on full core on a greasy chicken wing.  Only 2 other boats on the water but it was a little bouncy and raining.

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I went ahead and topped off the supply of fish for the today's picnic at our marina.  I took Ryan and is buddy Jeff out last night and we did a lot of driving around, but ended up 3 for 3, and all the fish were trout.  We were all over the place starting in 80 FOW and going out to 205 FOW.  We picked up fish in 135, 185, and 110.  A 11 lb steelhead and a 6 lb lake trout came on a silver/green with orange on back pro-king spoon.  The other 3 lb steelhead hit on a 4 color lead with white pro-king spoon with an orange ladder back.  The lake was pretty shloppy to start but calmed down a little as the night went on.  No Flies!  no bites on flies either...  Boats on the radio weren't having much luck.  One that did OK was 3 of 4 and got there action in 185-210.  Today looks like a great day to be out there.  Happy 4th and good luck!

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 Jim and I went out last night in hopes of topping off my 4th of July supply of fish for the grill.  It was a slow night but we went 2 for 3 on some really nice Steelhead!  The first one and probably the biggest, came on the down rigger and got off the line after putting on a great airshow.  The next two, each about 12 lbs, came on full lead cores.  One spoon was a NBK and the other was the same Green Dolphin glow that has been doing so well this year.  The fish came around 100 FOW.  Surprisingly, there were no other boats on the water last night.  Although it was a windy and wavy afternoon, the lake calmed down after 6pm and there were only 1-2 footers on the lake by the end of the night, and with the nice breeze the flies were gone.

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 Paul, Dave, and I went out from 5:30 to 10:00 and it was a pretty slow evening.  Action seemed a lot slower when you consider I was fishing with 3 poles earlier in the week and last night we had 8 out.  We ended 3 for 4 and got a couple of nice fish.  When setting up the first was a 13 lb king we picked up in 90 FOW 50 down on a magnum green/white spoon with large black dots.  We stayed in that area for a while, but with no luck.  We headed as deep as 210 then turned back around.  We picked up a double in 180 to 190 and landed a nice 12 lb Steelhead on a white pro-king with orange ladderback on 4 color lead. The other half of the double was probably the biggest, but it spit the hook and it was a full core with glow green dolphin.  We took one more as we were pulling lines in 135 FOW on full lead core.  Nothing hit the 2 flies that were out on dipsies.

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I skipped out of work a little early on 6/24 to go fishing as it looked like the fog was clearing.  It was clear for a mile or two, but then I was back in the fog again and it wasn't until much later when I found a clearing North of the channel.  I was alone and fished the same set up as Sunday, but this time from 3:30 to 8:30.  The Green Dolphin glow on lead was hot again and took 3 of the 4 fish as I ended 4 for 4 on the day (2 kings, 1 steelhead, 1 laker).   A orange ladder back on glow spoon took a 4 lb steelhead on a slider.  This steelhead danced around on the top of the water all the way to the cooler where it actually jump right in my net.  I felt pretty good about landing this one after seeing a great airshow!  Once again the fish were on the small side so I am a little worried that I won't have enough for the 4th of July Picnic...

The fog cancelled my fishing trip with Paul and Dave this morning.


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Well, on Saturday too many fish got away so I decided to see if I could put a few of them in the box on Sunday.  I took a solo trip around the same time, 1:30 to 5 in the afternoon.  Again, there was a lot of action, but the bites were light again and I lost several fish and ended 4 for 9 on my 3 rod set up with 2 small kings and 2 steelhead.  Most of this action was around 200 FOW.  Because flies weren't working much on Saturday, I went with 2 riggers down 40 to 60 with 2 sliders and also one full core lead line all with spoons.   The full core with a green dolphin glow was the hottest and went 3 of 4.  I had good action on the sliders too, but couldn't get the fish hooked.  One of them was a half green and half silver pro king that has an orange sticker on the back side.  This spoon's been doing well all year.  So, for this afternoon trip, I'd call it a success, except for the size of the fish.  The best fish was an 8 lb steelhead.  There was a also a lot of fog and small black flies which kept it from being a perfect afternoon.


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Paul and I had a nice afternoon fishing trip on Saturday, June 22nd.  We fished from 1:30 to 5 and ended 2 for 7 in 150 to 200 FOW.  There was enough action to keep us excited, but the bites were light and the fish was usually off the line after the initial strike.  We ended with 9 and 3 lb kings.  A glow green dolphin spoon on lead took 3 hits and a variety of other spoons got hits too.  The 2 dipsy fly set ups were slow and only took one hit.


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Hey - I'm sorry the reports have been lacking, but I haven't had the time to fish too much lately.  I did go out twice in the last 2 weeks.  The first time was on June 12 when my family took a trip down to South Haven.  We went 5 for 8 in 85-110 feet of water on our way there.  A bloody nose spoon on lead core took 3 hits while a home made orange mirage fly on green and mirage flasher took 2 fish on a dipsy.  The kings were small but we took a nice 10 lb Steelhead.
Next, on June 18, Shane and I went out after the storms and got skunked and had no bites.  We marked a lot of fish in the 85 - 95 FOW range but couldn't make it happen.  I blame it on the storm (of course its not technique).  Hopefully I'll make it out tonight or this weekend.

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Not much fishing info to report on my trip last night with Dan and Terri last night.  We ended 1 of 1 and took a nice 5 lb Coho.  It was a perfect night on the water.  It was warm, calm, and sunny.  We only saw 1 other boat out fishing.  We were North, South, East, & West and spent most of our time between 60 and 110 and picked up the one fish in 65 FOW on a 8 color lead with a green/silver/orange spoon.  

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Well, I finally got the boat in the water on Saturday and took a trip fishing on Sunday evening from 5 to 8pm.  Ryan and I fished mostly in 40 to 55 FOW.  We started on the South Side of the Channel, but ended up going 2 for 2 just North.  1 Shaker on a 10 color lead with a blue dolphin like spoon and a 7 lb king on dipsy set on 3 back 85' with a white/silver spoon.

I've heard of others catching fish and having good luck including a 20 lb king.

Good luck!


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Mark and I fished last night from 6-8:30ish and ended 2 for 5 in 90 to 115 feet of water.  Beside being happy with the 2 fish we caught, we were also pretty happy to have survived the storm that blew threw while we were on the water.  I knew that there was a small front coming through and thought we might make it through a small clearing that we saw on the radar.  Well, that clearing closed in on us, and we were smack in the middle of it all.  There was 40+ gusts, lightning and thunder, and plenty of hard rain (at times blowing in horizontally).  Anyway, I think Mark wished we stayed at the dock, but immediately after breaking into the clearing we got 2 hits which made things a little better.

We fished 6 rods - 2 down, 2 dipsy, & 2 lead.  We had no action on dipsies with flies.  One hit on a core and a half lead on my favorite black and green ladderback Pro King (which broke off on this big fish).  2 hits and both fish we boated came on a whitish JPlug 55 down.  The other down rigger took two hits on a wonderbread magnum spoon down 85 feet.  The fish were 7 and 9 lb kings.

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Ken and I fished last night from 6 to 9 pm and end the night 2 of 5.  One king was 22 lbs and put on a big fight and a bit of a water show.  It hit on the dipsy with white mirage fly then ripped out 250 feet of line.  It looked like it might be a steelhead at first as it launched itself repeatedly out of the water.  We nearly didn't get it in as it crossed up the other dipsy and a downrigger.  The other 9 lb king came on a whitish jplug, 85 down in 90 feet of water.

It was a pretty slow night for us and we kept on getting stuck between boats and not able to get where we wanted to go; There were a lot ob boats out last night!  Even when we were clear of the fishing boats, it seemed the sailors were there.  After trying to get out of the path of one sailor, we realized, that the sailboat just kept aiming for our us.  At this point, I had now turned my transom in the direction of the sailboat, so if they still intended to come at us, they would eventually land on our swim platform.  Well, they kept coming.  Upon their arrival, just turning away enough to avoid our planer boards, they greeted us with a "Catch Any?"

Good luck to those in the Fishing Tournament this weekend!

Wade


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I fished on Mark's boat (D-23) on Tuesday night from 7-9:30 pm, mostly in 100-135 FOW.  We were 2 for 3 with both fish being small kings, 3 and 7 lbs.  Of course, the one that got away was much bigger!  One hit was on a flasher/fly meat rig 50 feet down on a rigger.  Another was a mirage fly/flasher 60 down. And the other was on magnum orange mirage spoon on lead.

Another marina fisherman was 1 of 5 and they were mostly 80 - 110 FOW.

Zach from the shipstore, had the best report of the year catching 17 fish in the morning in the 130 FOW area!

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