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Scott, Kim, Ron
& Steve |
Ben, Jeff, Al & Ben Jr. |
Andy, Don, Heather & Lorne 8/30/02 |
Jimmy, Linda & Jim 8/31/02 |
August 2002 Results
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Scott, Kim, Ron
& Steve |
Ben, Jeff, Al & Ben Jr. |
Andy, Don, Heather & Lorne 8/30/02 |
Jimmy, Linda & Jim 8/31/02 |
Below contains the "reel truth" about every charter during August of 2002. Unlike some other websites, I furnish the exact story and not a bunch of promises I can't back up! Capt. John's Log for August 2002 8/31/02 Linda, Jimmy and Jim Russell Sr. were the combatants in today's Salmon War. Both Jimmy and Jim controlled the fish and made my netting job a whole lot easier. While I was worried about the intense pressure from the "Labor Day Weekend," we were able to sneak away by ourselves and have a pretty fair day. The catch included 7 Kings to 23 pounds and 4 feisty Cohos. The Russell's' exhibited preservation of our Salmon resource by quitting just after 11am. Besides, they had a dandy cooler of fish anyways! This was a wise group of anglers who are welcome to fish with me anytime! Click here for the Russell's dockside catch 8/30/02 Limped out the Salmon grounds
on one motor and had to fish in the pack on the Don Brown
trip. Don was accompanied by Andy, Heather and Lorne and
everyone did a good job on the rods, boating almost every hooked-up
fish. This was a very pleasant, easy-going group and they made
my day trouble-free by the way they fished. Plus, Don was more
than affable enough to quit a little bit early, because they had a
full box of fish and decided leave a few for seed. The death
toll on today's skirmish was 9 chunky Cohos, a Laker and 6
lunker-sized Kings to way over 20 pounds. Click
here for a great team and a bunch of fish 8/29/02 The theme for today's story with
Al, Steve, Ted and David is total mayhem. We were under attack and
being held hostage by hoards of Salmon. We boxed 13 fish by, about
8am. Sheer chaos best describes the non-stop action we
experienced. According to Al, who said, "we boxed 7 fish
before you could say poop." Now today's anglers were a
tremendous asset during the heat of our battle with the fish. The
showed the eager willingness to accept instructions and help out in
every imaginable way....my kudos goes out to each one of you too! Click here
for Al, Ted, Dave and Steve's substantial "meat catch" 8/28/02 Henry and Tonya Kenneweg were
my guests for today's event on Lake Michigan. They were a very
pleasant couple to spend the day with and everything went quite
smoothly. The lake was calm and the fishing was OK, but not
red hot for us. We boated 10 fish, including 6 Kings to about
20 pounds and 4 Cohos. The Kenneweg's pulled their limit by
1:30pm. A few fish fell off, but most hooked-up fish went in
the cooler. Thanks to Henry and Tonya, I had an easy, no
pressure wonderful day! 8/27/02 Tony Samurkas booked this
adventure with Michelle, Andy and David. To best describe
today's event, it would be some where's between being thrown into
the crucible, or a baptism of fire. When the first rod down, a
yellow #4 glo J-Plug took off for parts unknown, we knew the
bite was on! Michelle whipped the initial nasty brute of the
morning and we boxed her "bad boy" King pushing 25
lbs. Fish after fish slashed at our baits. We were under
a multi-dimensional attack by Mr. King Salmon himself. 8/26/02 Mark Totten booked today's
trip, and was accompanied by Lisa, Ray (aka double "B")
and Bev. Before for I go into the fish report part, these
folks have taken the award for the most enjoyable charter guests for
2002 season. Laughter and fun predominated all aspects of this
trip. Individuals like this, make the charter business a sheer
pleasure to be in. Click here
for a fantastic group! 8/25/02 Ed Evans along with Kristen, Brian, Gary and Sherry were guests aboard today's aborted adventure. Bad karma was the problem, including missing our first 3 opportunities. Then we had a couple, three fall off on the way to net. This is not a way to build a decent box in crowded conditions. This charter thing only works for me, if we're catching fish! It's not a rewarding experience for anyone if the fish aren't cooperating at least a little bit. So, I cancelled the full-day and headed back to the dock around 11:20am. To put it bluntly, fishing really sucked for me today! Hopefully, my woes should end tomorrow, with less traffic afloat. Click here the total sum of our efforts today. 8/24/02 It was an extreme struggle for me to put quality fish in the boat today on the Fred, Dustin, John and Ron (aka "the stick") charter. Hoards of Salmon crazed anglers descended upon Manistee this Saturday morning (like a plague), leaving few options of open areas of water to fish. Our catch total was 4 Cohos, a Lake Trout and a decent King in the mid-teens. The best thing about today was me knowing next year, "I'm all done with the weekend zoo" and won't be accepting Saturdays, and maybe Sunday bookings in 2003, during this time of the season. To sum it all up, "I had a excellent group of anglers to work with, but the catching was very skimpy!" Click here for today's meager catch photo 8/23/02 Fished with Kerry, Henry, Rich and Sam on a 5 hour
evening cruise. Our catch didn't reflect the amount of action
we experienced. East wind this morning caused a soft bite and
several strikes never hooked up. Normally, I never do an
evening followed by a morning charter, however Kerry had 3 previous
weather cancellations and I had no choice in the matter, but get him
into a few fish. Never the less, it was a good time, with an excellent
group of anglers!
Click for the evening catch photo 8/22/02 Rescheduled today's deal with Kerry Van Dyke. It was a nasty, rainy morning and didn't feel like fighting 3 to 5 foot very lumpy seas. 8/21/02 We had a serious box of Kings on the Ben Nietubitz charter today! Ben was accompanied by Jeff, Al (aka "the Flash") and Ben Jr. We boated 10 Kings to plus 20 pounds and a bonus Laker. Fun was the theme, and several laughs were shared by all. A special thanks goes to Al Smarta for being a great sport and making my day. We had an incredibly heavy box, when you factor in a brisk southeast blow. We didn't miss many strikes, what was hooked, went in the box Click here for a "meat catch" photo
8/20/02pm Trip: Jackie, Becky, Josh and Leo were my
fishing guest on this afternoon's charter. We boxed 5 quality
Kings and a Coho from about 4:00pm, until we pulled lines at 7:30pm.
While I seldom run 2 charters a day, I made a special exception for
the Nifflers, because it's a low stress situation with these folks
and they feed me very well! 8/19/02 Had a reel tough time with
the weather this morning on the Ed, Keith, Phil and George
trip. Scattered thunderstorms caused us to lose the morning
flurry. Then our first spot didn't produce well, so we moved
closer to Manistee and took 2 Cohos, a Lake Trout and 6 Kings to 20
pounds. The heartbreaker on today's deal is that we missed
several strikes, due to a soft, east-wind bite. Respectable,
is the way I'd describe the action. 8/18/02 Had to re-schedule today's trip, because of extremely rough water. 8/17/02 Fished with Tom, Jerry,
Tom, Jim and last, but not least, Scott aka (P.B.) We did fine on
the fish, with a couple of tunas in Master Angler territory, boxing 9
adult Kings from 6:30am until 9:00am. A hard blow from the south,
with winds to plus 40 knots, caused us enter the pier heads at
9:30am. Click here for
catch photo 8/16/02 Had a great group of very patient and practiced
anglers today named Harry, Jesse, Darrel and Roger. Let me
tell you, these fishermen did an outstanding job on the rods,
considering the 4 foot plus, and very lumpy westerly seas, they had
to contend with. This fact is evidenced by; every fish they
had in their "hands on" made it to the fish box. 8/15/02 Scott, Kim, Ron and Steve were my esteemed guests
for today's full-day do. We whacked the Kings, and stacked the
box over-full by 10:15am. Scott, who's fished with since 1977,
did the honors on the "Master Angler" 30.5 pound
"tuna" and
everyone landed their limit of Kings. Kim and Steve who were
new to the extreme sport of King Salmon angling, did a marvelous job
on the rods. Overall, as a group, we only lost one hooked-up
fish, I'd say that was pretty darn good! Click
here for "meat catch" photo
8/14/02 Alicia and her father, Mr. Bill Downey were
my fishing guests for today's lesson in extreme sport of Salmon
catching. We started out with mixed emotions about the
mixed-up condition of the 2' to 4' waves on Lake Michigan. So,
we took our time on the way out and dropped lines on the fish at
7am. Right off the "get-go," we had a quad on adult
Salmon with only 5 rods in. Then we hit a double header, with
not much rest in-between. 8/13/02 Man, do I have a story for you today! I teamed up with Capt. Bud Raskey, along with long time friends of Kings Charter; Russ, Kyle and Dave Bradley. Bud and I put our 60 years of combined charter experience to the test and passed with flying colors. We had 14 strikes from 7am until 12:30pm and boxed a 10 Kings to 24 pounds. Now, throw in a bonus Coho and Lake Trout and that comes to a dozen fish in my book. What helped us today was; that both Kyle and Russ stayed on the fish with the correct amount of pressure and didn't lose any!! Let me add, fishing with Dave has always been a productive event for the past 7, or 8 years. Click here for the Bradley's brag board, "meat catch" photo 8/12/02 Fished with a grand group of anglers today named Joe, Joe B, Randy and my favorite, Jenetta. Why was Jenetta my favorite? Because, this women had the grit and determination to whip a evil King, exceeding 25 pounds. Our action was good, with about 11 hits, 8 hooked-up and 5 made it to the net. I cut today's trip to a half day at 11am, because of distant dark skies and the rumble of thunder. Also, being about 15 miles south of Manistee, I'd rather err on the side of safety, than get caught in a thunderstorm. I know how wicked the Great Lakes can be! As Paul Harvey would say, "click here for the rest of the stories" 8/11/02pm Made out like a reel bandit
on today's multi-charter deal. By the time I arrived at the
pick-up spot, Shipwatch Marina, they'd ran out of people! So,
the good news is, I didn't have to hit a lick, and still got paid
full-boat for the charter. 8/10/02 Christie, Jason, Mark and dad, Al made up the guest list on today's full-day event. Now, these folks were simply splendiferous, because they took direction well and were a tremendous asset to have aboard. Just between me and you, "I wish, all my guests were this easy to take fishing!" The death toll was 7 quality fish, meaning 5 Kings to 19 pounds, plus a bonus Coho and Lake Trout. While this isn't the heaviest box of the season........it was good to finally see some south wind for a change, as our fishery out of Manistee is definitely on the mend. Click here for their dockside catch photo 8/9/02 Steve, "Hoog" and Adam were my guests aboard for today's 1/2 day event. We started in the harbor and had the leader break on a giant King, then proceeded to deep water and had 5 strikes and boated two Kings to the mid-teens, a Laker and one of the few Coho I've seen this season. The brightest spot on today's horizon was the wonderful attitude the anglers displayed towards Great Lakes fishing. More SE wind has blown out the even more warm water, as the inshore thermocline is very high and holding very few fish. Look for fishing to improve a bunch, as south and southwest winds are predicted for the weekend. Click here for catch photo 8/8/02 On today's 1/2 day charter we took one 19 pound King in the harbor, then had 5 more strikes on the outside of 550 feet of water, had 3 fish hooked-up and boated 2 more Kings. Names and story withheld by request from today's anglers. Deep water did show promise for the limited time we worked it, however! 8/7/02 It
was a reel terrible struggle out of Manistee today for me to put
fish in the boat for Team Hoover. With the lake turning over
again, and a plain lack of fish, I couldn't create any miracles.
We fished in the morning until 11am, boating 2 Kings, with one
pushing the 26 pound mark. Warren Jr. did a masterful job in
harbor traffic putting that big tuna in the net. Warren Sr.
landed one in the high teens and we had another fish fall off the
hooks and missed a solid hit too. Click
for Photo 8/5/02 Just as I said, when I
downgraded the fishing forecast to medium, that's exactly what are
results were. Rex Broome, his son John, plus his John's lovely wife,
Rose made up the guest list for today's event. We boxed 5
"reel good" Kings to 26.8 pounds, and only missed a few
opportunities. No hooked up fish were lost, as a testament the
to the skills of the anglers aboard. Click here for
catch
photo 8/4/02 I was back on the pond today with
a dual, father-son group of Steve and Ben. Dave and Tim made up
the other half. We did not get a break from mother nature this
morning! At 6:30am major T-storm rolled thru and kept us in the
harbor until 7:30am. Finally, made it to deep water by 8am, as the
seas were building from a fairly strong, south blow. A north troll
was in order and we had a hold of 3 good fish on a 5 mile northerly
trek. Both Tim and Ben expertly landed a couple of brawny Kings
pushing, or over the 20 lb. mark. 8/3/02pm An offshore, east wind made things tremendously challenging for us to today. While we had 11, maybe 12 strikes, 5 fish were boated. Missing a double header on big Kings, right off the bat first thing in the morning was our kiss of death. Then things progressed downhill from there and never improved. The brightest spot on this outing was the 5 patient and very skillful anglers aboard named, Jeff, Ray, John, Greg ("BJB") and Glen. Lake Michigan was in no mood to make it easy for anyone today. I spoke with 3 different boats at our marina. While feeling disheartened with only 5, these 3 boats only came back with a couple a piece. It was tough east-wind day for the fleet! Click here for group photo 8/3/02am Gonna be back at it again early this morning on part 2 of the Glen G. ongoing chronicle. Straight out of Manistee (17's to 14's) offered the best chance of success yesterday, but the crowd that close to port will mean a major traffic jam. Check back later to see if the fish whipped our butts, or we kicked theirs. 8/2/02 Rough water on this morning's Glen G. trip made it nearly impossible to show my guests a quality experience. Coupled that with catching fish down at 110 to 135 feet and you see why we were back in the harbor by 8:30am. A late cancellation tomorrow, means Glen will be fishing with me again, and conditions will be on our side. Check back tomorrow to see how Ray, Glen, "BJB," and Jeffery did. 8/1/02
Whew, been busy
lately and a welcomed day off is in store for me today.
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