Fishing Reports

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October 26, 2007

Put the boat in dry-dock and winterized today. Finished fishing Lake Michigan for the season. It was another great year. See you in April 2008.

September 19, 20

Fished Manistee Lake solo again due to high winds and waves on the big pond. Started fishing on the 19th at 5:50 PM and was finished with one man limit by 6:20 PM. 12 and 14 feet down with a fire tiger Rapala size 11 and a green glow J-Plug was the ticket about 35 feet behind the cannonball. Fastest I have ever caught 3 fish and limited out.

Fished Manistee Lake on the 19th and started fishing at 4:30 PM. Caught my first fish at 4:40 PM and second fish at 5:00 PM both on green glow J-Plug. Then trolled and changed baits due to a change in the feeding pattern of the fish and at 7:30 PM caught the third fish on a silver , blue back, red lip magnum sized Hot-N-Tot.

September 7, 12, 14

Fished Manistee Lake each of these three days due to the high winds out on the big pond. Managed to catch 3 Kings on Sept 7, 12 fishing solo each trip. North end of lake and small number three J-Plugs in silver, green glow ladder back and gray ghost worked well. Only took about 1 hour to catch my limit of three each evening between 7-8pm. 35 feet back and 12 feet down was the right combo on the riggers.

Fished with two others on Sept 14 and we managed 7 fish between 3pm and 8pm. Same depths and lures as Sept. 7 and 12 but fire tiger Rapalas size 11 and 13 worked also on this trip. Casters and jiggers anchored really have been slaying the fish big time since August 25.

September 2, 2007

Fished the morning from 6am till 9:30 when the wind and waves drove us off the lake. Landed 6 Kings and 3 Coho. Same lures and depths as Sept 1. and August 30. Did ride north with the waves and in the 16's and 17's the temperature break was deeper by about 15 feet due to SW wind and Aug 30. Fished the usual 80-100 foot early and then slid out to 120-160 foot of water.

September 1, 2007

Fished this morning from 6am till 10:30 am and the fish bite was on fire. We landed 15 out of 15 fish and had 9 Kings and six Coho. Same area, baits and lures and depths on all as August 30 report. Fished 1-2 miles south in 80-120 feet of water.

August 30, 2007

Fished this morning and we did very well. 10 Kings out of 12 hits. Dipseys 150 back on 3 setting with the blue Spin Doctor and KRW blue dynamite fly and white Spin Doctor with blue bubble tape and KRW aqua gold fly worked well. Riggers 45 to 65 feet down were hot with Mandarin Orange Moonshine lure, wonder bread J-Plug and the chrome Spin Doctor with blue bubble tape and blue dynamite fly. A white Hoochie with KRW aqua gold fly also too some fish. Like usual the fish hit strong till about 8:30 and then just 2-3 fish from 9:30 am till noon. Did not have much action on lead core and copper later in the day. Fished early in 80-100 foot of water and found a few out in 250 feet of water when the sun was up high in the sky at 9:30 am.

August 25, 2007

Fishing remains very good at Manistee. We have fished about every day except for Aug. 18-19. We have ended up each time at limits or within one fish of limits. We had some east wind and warm water pushed to Wisconsin and the result was cold water made it to the harbor and August 18-23 was hot fishing at the harbor. Glow J-plugs and Silver Hordes at the harbor and J-plugs, hoochies and Spin Doctors have worked at the shelf. Moonshine glow spoons have been taking fish also in Mandarin Orange color. Yellow NBK Stinger spoon has also taken fish. Fishing has slowed from the insane pace around August 10 but it has been very good throughout this entire period. I think we have 3-5 weeks of great fishing yet as this was the first big run of fish at the harbor this year. Most years we have had 2-4 runs to the river by this time frame in the year so lots of fish out there to come in yet.

August 10, 2007

Fished this morning and the fishing bite was on fire. Ended with 14 fish in the box and about 29 total decent hits. We only had room in the cooler for about 4 more fish to fill a 162 quart cooler. Early in the morning everything was working till about 9:30 am when the fish started to shut down. The dipseys with white and blue hoochies and KRW aqua gold glow flies worked wonderful 120-150 back on the setting of 3. Riggers at 45-65 were hot with Spin Doctors in blue bubble, chrome blue bubble and white crushed ice glow with KRW aqua gold glow flies. Also the J-Plug wonder bread glow was hot. From about 8am till 11 am 300 ft of 45 lb copper line produced several fish and lead core 10 colors out with the blue glow J-Plug was hot also. An outstanding morning for us. Fished early at 80 foot of water depth and then as the morning progressed ended at about 165 foot of water. Best trip out this year for us and lots more to come as the time is here for the real big catches now. All the boats were doing well. and all week the fish have been on the bite and doing well.

August 5, 2007

Fished the AM and had another tough day fishing. Hit two fish right away while setting up rods and then things went dead and slow. Fish were real active from 4 am to 6 am and then shut down.

August 3, 2007

Fished the morning and had a tough time. Early bite was good but only caught 3 out of the early bite. One fish took nearly 20 minutes to land and was a tough guy. Fish shut down right at about 7 am and couldn't hook up another one. Quit early at 10 am. J-Plugs and Moonshine lures worked best. Wonderbread J-Plug and Flounder Pounder were the two baits that took fish. Had three additional hits but no hookup.

July 30, 2007

Fished the evening solo and ended up with a 1 man limit by 10 pm. Started fishing at 7 pm and slow action till 10 PM. Marked a lot of fish but noth9ing really active. Lost three fish also. A flurry started right at dark like typical.

July 28, 2007

Fished with a charter in the evening and I would say the fishing was tough. We only ended up with 3 for 6 and one was a brown trout with two kings. Not enough hits to say a good program was working. Very calm and full moon might be the issue. Fish did not come up off the bottom at dark like typical.

July 27, 2007

Fished in the evening from 7pm till 10 PM. Ended up with three fish. NBK in Stingray size and hoochies off dipseys at 150 back with white or green hoochie and aqua gold glow fly were the main successful baits.

July 25, 2007

Fished this morning and the fishing was on fire again. It was a cloudy and foggy day and ahead of some storms coming in. We landed our two man limit by 7:30 am with a start time of 6:15 am. Riggers with NBK, magnum Pro King green and white glow, Moonshine flounder pounder and dipseys on 3 setting 150 back with white or green hoochies or pro chips with KRW aqua gold glow fly was the ticket.

July 22, 2007

Fished this morning solo as I had no charter. The fishing slowed down considerably from Saturdays intense bite. Fish were scattered and not so willing to bite but managed a Coho of about 7 lbs and King about 12 lbs. We are starting to see one or two Coho per trip now. Dipseys set on 3 with a big ring and a Pro-Chip flasher with KRW aqua gold glow fly was the ticket this trip. Distance back was 90-100 feet. More good fishing on its way I am sure this week. Sometimes the strong bite one day makes the next day or two a little slower. Most boats were having trouble getting fish but like usual a few boats found a decent catch.

July 21, 2007

Fished this morning and the fishing was on fire. The north blow yesterday brought the thermocline up to 35 feet and lots of fish in the 45-150 foot of water any where from surface to 100 feet down but 35 to 80 was best dept down in riggers. Fishing was non stop until about 9:30 am. Meat rig black mambo, NBK spoon in Stingray size and Rosemary's Baby were hot. Fish on the meat rig on riggers and 5 color lead core were best setups.

July 18, 2007

Fished this morning. Went south to the 6-10's of Manistee. Did well in 70-90 foot of water on Hoochies and flies. White, green and KRW Aqua Gold glow fly was very productive. Also did well on the white and green pro-chip e-chip flashers. Had 13 hits and fish on and landed 5 with one steelhead.

July 16, 2007

Fished Friday night July 13 from 6:30 to 9 pm solo and hit 6 fish. One broke off, two small throwbacks, a Coho about 8 lbs and 2 real nice kings about 16 lbs. Meat rigs 85 and 95 feet down in the black mambo and green glow were doing very well. Stinger spoon in nuclear waste and Hey Baby took fish also.

Fished Sunday July 15 AM and hit 5 fish. Caught 4 Nice Kings and a lake trout. Fished north both Friday and Sunday to avoid the nets. Fish were taken mostly on a hootchie and fly. Meat did not do well. Many boats struggled on this day but the night before the boats reported a strong fish bite.

July 7, 2007

Fishing is decent but you have to travel south to below the 9's to get into fish. Straight out and 3-4 miles north or south is not that productive right now. At Big Sable Point the fishing is very good but it's a 15 mile trip down and back. Better days closer to Manistee will follow soon. We did catch two fish in the harbor Thursday night but only one fish Friday am out at the shelf. Friday evening we caught 3 and lost three fishing the 9's-7.5's.

June 30, 2007

Fishing has been getting better each day with some really good catches of Kings around 10 pounds and steelhead out at the 30-36 line. Spoons have been working the best. Riggers, dipseys and especially lead core has been doing the number on the fish. Things are picking up, time to book your charter while there are still open spots.

June 23, 2007

Fishing has picked up again with good catches. We are catching some steelhead at about 10 miles out and Kings and Lakers also. Things are busy right now with the Budweiser Pro Am tournament but boat traffic will be settling down after Sunday. Good time to book a charter now.

June 8, 2007

Well the May feeding frenzy for the kings is pretty much over. We had our 10-14 days which is typical. Most trips are running 2-5 fish per half day and the fish have moved on to other places. A big thunderstorm has come thru Manistee twice this week and water flow down the Big Manistee river is way up. Can bring some baitfish in close again. Lets see if the scum line will develop and some steelhead will start to show up. This can be fast and furious with many aerial displays once hooked if this develops.

June 4, 2007

The fishing has turned on and limits of fish are being caught. We are catching lots of 4 lb to 14 lb fish right now with most in the 4-7 lb. class. Baits range from NBK, Lemon ice, nuclear waste, sister sledge, hey baby and white hoochies with aqua gold flies all are working. Fish are coming anywhere from 30 to 115 feet down. Lead core full or half core is working and dipsey divers are working also about 150-175 back on 3 setting. Our biggest fish was 14 lbs. on rigger 85 feet down so far.

Call for charters cause its hot fishing right now.

May 26, 2007

Fished the shelf this morning and caught one king at 14 lbs. It hit on a rigger 80 ft. down on magnum Hey Baby. Broke off another on leadcore and the magnum bounty hunter. Had one other release but nobody home. Fish are showing up and hope the May feeding fenzy on Kings will start any time. Boats are catching 1-5 fish per trip now.

May 5, 2007

Fished for Browns May 4-5 and had no luck. First time this year I got skunked. The shore water temperature was around 44-45 degrees. Looks like the main brown trout fishery is about over. Waiting for the Kings to turn on in the harbor or on the shelf in the next 1-2 weeks now.

Doing some work on the boat with stripping old varnish and repainting with Cetol varnish the hand rails and replaced a few boards showing wear and tear.

April 30, 2007

Knot Enough has been launched and is in the water tied up at the dock at Solberg's Marina. Everything seems to be running fine. Ready for trips so call now for your reservations. Fished on 4/27/2007 in the morning and caught two nice browns. One was about 5 lbs and the other about 8 lbs. Caught them right outside the harbor along the south break wall. Size 9 Rapalas in black back gold sides and purple back and silver sides were the ticket this trip.

April 23, 2007

Started working on the boat. The bottom paint is applied, the hull is waxed and the engines have been started. The port engine needs a little tune up and the transmission cable is worn out so it will be a few days till the Knot Enough goes in the water. Did get some brown trout fishing along the shoreline south of the Manistee harbor and caught 3 so far in a couple mornings trolling plus a throw back Lake Trout. Planning on working more on the boat this week and hopefully in the water by the week.

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April 10, 2007
2006 has proven to be one of those fantastic fishing years with the fish very willing to bite.

Lets hope that 2007 will be the same or even better.
It won't be long and we will be trolling again those productive waters.

Hope to put the boat in the water by about April 25 if the weather cooperates.

Talk to you soon.

Captain Ray