Big Chinook Salmon in Saugatuck

May 17, 2009

This past week was another very good week of fishing out of Saugatuck with a mixed bag of Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead and lake trout. The Chinook salmon are running in the mid to high teens in weight, with the largest taken this past week going just over 18 pounds. During the week we caught from 12 to 20 fish per trip with 75% being Chinook salmon. The fish are located in to general areas, 85 to 130 foot of water and out in 160 to 180 foot of water. Most of our fishing was in the inside depth with 110 to 120 foot being the most productive.

Early in the week most of the fish were caught on 5 color lead core, 100 ft. 150 ft and 200 ft. of copper with Stingray lures and magnum Stinger lures. The best color combination was mixed veggie, freakin veggie, coyote ugly, NBK and the reverse Christmas. By the end of the week the best method were the wire slide divers at 100ft and 200 ft. and the downriggers at 50 to 85 foot. On these we pulled flashers and flies in a variety of color combinations. The best colors flashers consisted of Hotchip and Prochip 8 in flashers in the white/glow, green/glow, silver green tape and silver chartreuse tape. The best flies were the Rapture Tolling flies in the green hypnotist, last supper and purple mirage colors.

Early in the week the perch fishing out of Port Sheldon was still producing limit catches, however the winds this weekend may have prevented anchoring for perch. The walleye fishing in the Kalamazoo River was a littile slow, however I did get a report of one walleye that was over 16 pounds. I did not see it however a reliable source said it was the largest he had seen.

The good fishing should continue as long as the bait is in the area and we do not see any drastic changes in the water temperature. For information and or charter reservations, contact me at captron@chartermichigan.com.