Where did the summer go ???

It seems like it happens every year, we wait and wait….then bam ! its gone. I am finishing up my last week on the big lake this week and will be moving my business to the PM river to target King salmon on the smaller waters. I will miss the big water for sure, but also will be looking forward to late fall and winter steelhead fishing.

I still have a morning opening this coming Friday Sept 4

The fishing the past week has been decent, with mature kings staging for their fall run. Pretty typical rigs, meat rigs and plugs early. Even a few spoon bites as of late.

If you fish meat, these are the ones to run. www.familiarbite.com, perfect right out of the package.

If you are looking for the Familiar Bite Herring strips, you can get them at Tangled Tackle in Manistee, and The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison.

We still have a few morning openings this month and a few in the first week of September. Give us a call to get in on the action.

Looks like a couple of blow days this week will keep the fleet on shore.

The fishing is much improved this month compared to last year at this time, decent catches of 12-18 lb Kings with a few larger are being taken daily. There are fish scattered from little point and big point and beyond. The keys have been location and water depth. The morning bite has been better than the evening bite for the most part, with evening fish coming right at sundown.

The water is warming up and the fish will most likely be deep until we get some cooler temps after this big blow.

Hot tip– Dramamine works best if taken the evening before, then again in the am before the trip. Use the non-drowsy formula or you will get very sleepy on the water.

Hot baits– UV flashers and meatrigs in the am and cloudy days. Brighter color flashers when its been bright. (mountain dew and chromes have been good in the high sun) 11′ flashers with flies fished deep off riggers. Plugs are catching fish early and late. Green flashers and teasers are getting hotter this week.

Dodgers and spin and glos are taking lake trout daily. It has paid off with a extra fish or two to run a rigger way down deep after the morning bite slows down.

If you fish meat, these are the ones to run. www.familiarbite.com, perfect right out of the package.

If you are looking for the Familiar Bite Herring strips, you can get them at Tangled Tackle in Manistee, and The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison.

We still have open charters, so give us a call to get in on the action!!

Last weekends big winds and storms spread the fish out a bit. There was good fishing from Pentwater to the point and north this week.

The fishing this week was pretty typical for this time of year. A good mix of Kings, steelhead, lake trout and a few coho’s are starting to show. The fish do seem to be in pockets though. If you hit a couple it has paid to circle the area and cover it from different angles. The water is warming up and the fish are coming 50′-to the bottom.

Hot tip– Dramamine works best if taken the evening before, then again in the am before the trip. Use the non-drowsy formula or you will get very sleepy on the water.

Hot baits– UV flashers and meatrigs in the am and cloudy days. Brighter color flashers when its been bright. (mountain dew and chromes have been good in the high sun) 11′ flashers with flies fished deep off riggers. Plugs are catching fish early and late.

Dodgers and spin and glos are taking lake trout daily.

If you fish meat, these are the ones to run. www.familiarbite.com

If you are looking for the Familiar Bite Herring strips, you can get them at Tangled Tackle in Manistee, and The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison.

Time for a quick update….

Aug 15 am charter (Saturday) is open due to schedule change

Plenty of other open charters, summers flying by….its big fish season!!!

The fishing last week was pretty good to great. A decent number of Kings around, a few Coho, Steelhead and Lake trout in the mix as well. Calm seas were also a plus….but the negative is with calm seas…come the biting flies…argh!

Most boats are fishing north 100′-120′ early then spreading out to deeper water after sunrise. The bait that was in the area has thinned out. Friday and Saturday the fish seemed to spread out, rough seas 2-5′ waves made it tougher to fish and tougher on our customers, both trips were short due to some seasick fishermen.

Hot tip– Dramamine works best if taken the evening before, then again in the am before the trip. Use the non-drowsy formula or you will get very sleepy on the water.

Hot baits– UV flashers and meatrigs in the am and cloudy days. Brighter color flashers when its been bright. (mountain dew and chromes have been good in the high sun) 11′ flashers with flies fished deep off riggers. Plugs are catching fish early and late.

If you fish meat, these are the ones to run. www.familiarbite.com

If you are looking for the Familiar Bite Herring strips, you can get them at Tangled Tackle in Manistee, and The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison.

The fishing is much improved !!

Open charters this week and this coming Sunday July 26 th

Its amazing what several days of consistent winds from the south- southwest direction can do for the fishing. The water is finally warming up and the kings and bait are sticking around for the time being. Cross your fingers we don’t get a big north or east blow, because this will shuffle the fish around once again.

For the most part we have been targeting the kings with meat rigs, mostly green and UV teasers and bait heads. The flasher colors have been changing daily, glows in the am and brighter colors after sun up. Big flashers with pickled sunshine flies have been good fished deep off riggers and 300 – 400′ coppers.

Steelhead have been coming up high on orange and gold spoons.

If you fish meat, these are the ones to run. www.familiarbite.com

If you are looking for the Familiar Bite Herring strips, you can get them at Captain Chucks in Ludington, and The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison.

It looks like we have turned the corner on the big water!

Weekend Openings

Finally some south winds in Ludington the past few days and the fishing picked up. (but today the wind is from the north….) Good catches of Lake trout, Salmon and Steelhead were had this weekend. The best fishing was from Ludington north to beyond the point. 100-200′. Most fish were taken in the top 80′. Good catches of mixed bag fishing more to the south of Ludington.

Hot baits were mostly meat rigs for the Kings, various flashers in chromes and greens, UV taped flashers are working well, UV meat rigs and green meat rigs were the best. I am running the new Familiar bite herring strips. Awesome strips, perfect cuts. If you fish meat, these are the ones to run. www.familiarbite.com

If you are looking for the Familiar Bite Herring strips, you can get them at Captain Chucks in Ludington, and The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison.

Steelhead are still coming up high in the water column on orange spoons.

Lake trout fishing deep with dodgers rigged with spin glo’s, small flies, and wobble glo’s.

We have weekend openings!

Typical June fishing in Ludington right now. Mixed bag,fish high and cover water.

June is usually a challenging month in Ludington, typically the best fishing is offshore. This has been true for the most part this year as well. Watching the surface temp maps and looking for the colder water is the key. There is still a mix of steelhead,kings and lake trout in the catch. Lakers can also be targeted in closer by fishing the bottom.

Steelhead, mostly orange spoons fished high in the water column.

Kings, glow spoons early and late. Flashers and meat rigs with familiar bite herring strips. Taking a few on spin doctors and flies.

Lake trout…all of the above and ghost,white and chrome dodgers with spin and glows and peanuts.

Summer…or is it???

The fishing in Ludington is gaining ground….Its been mostly an offshore bite for a mixed bag of Steelhead,Kings and Lake Trout. For the most part the most consistent fishing has been about 10 miles plus west of Ludington. Fishing a mix of high lines with brighter spoons for steelhead and a few meat rigs out for Kings. If you hit a couple fish in an area it helps to turn and circle those fish, they have been in smaller groups. Not filling the cooler by any means, but we are getting decent catches.

If we ever get a good solid weather pattern with south- south west winds look for the King fishing to really take off. It seems like we get 1-2 days of decent weather, then followed by some type of front moving through….plenty of rain this year.

Hot spoons….oranges up high on short copper and lead cores.

UV meat rigs and white, chrome and blue flashers baited with the familiar bite herring strips. Fished 50-150′ down.

Slower start in Ludington than most years, but the fishing is gaining traction.

Shifting winds the last 6 weeks have the fish on the move constantly. And the cooler weather has the water a few degrees cooler than average. The good news is that the fishing is picking up. And the fish look very healthy. This time of year it’s a mixed bag out there….Kings,steelhead and lake trout make up the catch.

It’s been mostly a spoon bite for us, but a few fish are coming off meat rigs baited ip with the Familiar Bite herring strips.

Hot spoons have been blue dolphins, double orange crush, sponge bob frozen veggies and mixed veggies. As for meat rigs it’s been a mix of white flashers and chrome flashers with and without teasers.

Its time to get your dates booked….summer will be gone before you know it.