June Results thus far

6/30/00am The Brown family consisting of Tiffany, John, Dennis and Deadly Dale met me at the dock at 5:35 and I was running a little late. The cheerful group was ready for some "reel fishing" after an unsuccessful charter on Lake Huron last year. As we pulled off the dock I told them; "this year my worst charter was 4 fish and 22 was my best", trying to reassure them we'd be into fish. Well, today the King Salmon were stacked up off of Manistee in decent numbers, because of 2 days of constant west winds and they caught fish!
         This family performed like a Navy SEAL Team on a Mission, when a rod went, these folks were on it like pro's. We landed a real nice 8 lb. Brown, 1 Laker, 1 Coho and 9 King Salmon to 16 lbs. for a 12 fish total. The Browns and myself spent as much time laughing as we did catching fish and had a thoroughly grand time on Lake Michigan during the morning half day charter. Oh, by the way Tiffany caught the largest Salmon of the trip and young John was an immense asset with boat duties. Click here for trophy board image.

6/29/00 Shirley and Mike Lane were on vacation in Manistee and wanted to catch some fish. Also, this Charter was a make up deal from last January when the winds and frigid temperatures prevented us from Steelhead River Fishing.
      On this evenings trip the fish kind of co-operated, we had 12 to 13 hits, 9 fish hooked up and we boated 7. Although, the fish ran on the small side the quality of the trip was great with an outstanding evening sunset and calm seas to boot!   I'm still determined to get Mike into some winter Steelheading this year when conditions allow us to enjoy ourselves.

6/28/00 Todays Report is coming to you courtesy of Eric Schippa first mate on the Charter Boat Blue Chip, and his dad is Capt. Kevin Schippa. According to Eric fishing was best over 220 feet of water straight out of Saugatuck about 8 miles. Steelhead to the 12 to 14 pound range comprised most of the catch. Best lures were DW's and Stingers in Orange and Green Patterns. The top 40 feet of water produced most of the fish. The total was 13 Steelies, 3 Kings and 3 Lakers.......(19 fish) Good Job Blue Chip!

6/27/00 Todays report won't be about time on the water fishing. It's about computer fishing. I'm spending the day posting the top 10 finishers and money winners at the tournaments link. I just figured out how to use the Nikon Coolpix 950 flash. It sure would have improved the quality of the images I snapped at the weigh in. Never the less their is a learning curve with everything. Anyways, the TV channel 7 news is calling for strong NW wind today.

6/26/00 Reggie West and John Thompson booked a charter for their developmentally handicapped patients Mark and Francis. They thought it would be a great way to introduce Mark and Francis to Lake Michigan fishing and guess what?.....it was! We landed 8 fish, missed 4 hits, had one break the line and lost one just behind the boat. We had very foggy conditions the morning charter with Francis catching the largest fish of the day, a leaping 10 lb. Steelhead that cleared the water at least 7 times. I was more than impressed with the way Reggie and John cared for the special fisherman....really! this was a wonderful charter for me also, because everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves to the max.

6/25/00 7:am Lee Walsh, Leslie, and Andrea Jurasek were in Manistee to attend a wedding and thought it be great to sample some Lake Michigan fishing. We left the dock at 7:00am looking for Salmon and Trout and it didn't take us long to find them. These "two fine" ladies were up to their first search for big fish and Leslie tied into a determined 10 lb. Steelhead as I was setting lines. Before that Steelie could be unhooked and boxed a King Salmon in the 20 bracket decided to put up a spectacular show on for Andrea by running out a 100 yards of line, but patience, skill and determination won out on her part as I slid the net underneath Andrea's "Tuna." We only landed 4 fish, but this great charter group were just plain nice people to be around and that sure makes my job more enjoyable. A special word of thanks goes out to Lee for being a fast learner and handling the deckhand duties like a PRO!

6/24/00 The Dinezio family booked a afternoon charter for Lake Michigan in quest of Steelhead and Salmon and were successful! Dain, Nicole, Laura, Vic and Vince all landed fish. Nicole, a wise young lady of about 9 years landed a nice 10 lb. King and Dain boated a Lake Trout on his third try, he's only 6 and displayed adult behavior through out the charter. We landed 6 fish, had 8 hooked up and we missed a 4 strikes on what best could be described a slow afternoon on the big lake. The conditions were pleasurable as the wind came down to almost flat calm. The missed hits couldn't be helped or we would have had a better box, nevertheless it was a great way to spend a Friday evening.

6/23/00 Today is the Ladies Day Tournament as the men continue to pre-fish for this weekends festivities, the Annual Pro-Am. This tournament attracts close to 150 fishing teams in a fun event on Lake Michigan. The weigh-in is at the Armory close to the public launch. Yesterdays fishing was good with most boats coming in with heavy boxes of Lake Trout with some Salmon and Steelhead as the wind laid down in the afternoon as forecasted.

6/22/00am A light rain continues to fall in the early morning (7:00am) as the tournament teams pre-fish for the upcoming weekend. Everybody is trying to be as sneaky as a F-111 Stealth Fighter about what's going on, trying to gain the edge that will take them to the winners stage at the armory here in Manistee. I don't have a charter until 6/23/00pm and the results of that charter will be on the web as soon as possible with the most trusted and honest fishing information available.....mine!
Todays forecast is: West Wind 15 to 25 knots. Partly sunny. Waves 2 to 4 feet. And it's supposed to lay down either late this afternoon or evening, let's hope for a decent weekend. "Good Luck" to all the ladies in tomorrows tournament.

6/21/00 Bad luck with the weather continues to plague us in the charter business. A WSW wind at 15 to 25 knots going to the west and increasing to 30 knots has caused me to cancel the Steve Shultz Charter for the second time. I tried calling this group at 3:00pm yesterday to save them the trip up north from Flint, Michigan but they'd already left.

6/20/00 A strong morning SE wind in the early morning and wind switching to the SW has curtailed fishing activities for today. Plus the rain showers we're experiencing right now adds up to another messed up day in Manistee.

6/18/00 Sundays Charter consisting of Joel Sr. and Joel Struble Jr., Stephanie, Joe Cuellar plus the their two well behaved sons Caleb and Joshua spent Fathers Day on Lake Michigan catching fish. As a matter of fact, this fantastic group boated a nice mixed bag of Salmon, Steelhead and Lake Trout totaling 14 fish in all for about 30 hits or strikes. In the morning the Lake was "Pool Table Flat Calm" and the bites were few and far between, but in the afternoon the action increased to a extraordinary tempo including a triple header. A special thanks goes out to Joel Jr. for the honorary position of First Mate which he earned by assisting with everything that needed to be done. The "Cuellar Clan" is scheduled again for 8/6/00 in Tunaville: Lk. Michigan!

6/17/00am Todays charter fisherman were Han Xiong Xiao (Shell), Rev. David Anderson, Doug Jr. and Doug Hallett Sr. As they boarded the boat at 6:00am I told them: "If we catch any fish today it's up to providence because with the recent blows I have absolutely no plan" and this was said before I knew Rev David was the pastor at the West Bloomfield Bible Church. Well, the fishing gods kind of smiled on us with 9 decent sized fish on the half day trip. Doug Jr. had the largest, a King weighing in at about 17 lbs. and Rev. Dave landed a flashy 10 to 12 lb. Steelhead. Shell fought it out with a 12 lb. Laker in a dogged struggle from 60' down. The overall assessment of this mornings outing is while we only landed 9 fish, it was a heavy box to hoist off the boat. And last, but not least, providence was on our side with because these fisherman never lost a hooked up fish, unbelievable!

6/16/00am at 456 am EDT...National Weather Service doppler radar indicated a line of showers and thunderstorms with wind gusts over 40 knots. The showers and storms were near Mid Lake due east of Ludington and extended north to Mid Lake east of Manistee. They were moving northeast at 45 knots. The storms will reach the coast by 6 am. Thunderstorms pose many threats to marine safety. Strong winds...rough seas...and low visibility in heavy rain can make boat handling very difficult. There is also the threat of lightning.
Winder and rougher (8' to 10' seas in open water) than what I want to fish in what best describes a cool and rainy day in Manistee. However, the lake is supposed to lay down for tomorrow.....let's hope!

6/15/00 Strong southwest winds 15 to 25 knots means no fishing out of Manistee until the lake lays down. We've sure had our share of rough seas in 2000!

6/14/00 Ven Lenkeek, Bob Schafer, and Jim Johnson had looked forward to a great day of fishing on placid Lake Michigan out of the Port of Manistee. Well, today wasn't going to be it! Southeast wind at least 20 knots when we started setting lines, the conditions were tolerable. Then the wind shifted due south and increased to about 30 knots. The seas were running at least 5' when we pulled rods. Incidentally, we boated a small Salmon and a Lake Trout in the few hours we attempted to fish. This is not the kind of charter I wanted to show this group, so it was wisely decided by everyone concerned to rebook for August and we cut this trip short at 9am.

6/12/00pm Bob Rondelez, Ron, and myself hit the "Big Pond" for a short evening fishing trip on a tune up cruise. We boated 5 Kings to 14 lbs. for 7 or 8 strikes. We fished straight out of Manistee towards Guerney Creek.

6/9/00 thru 6/11/00 Capt. Craig Kent says; "The weather in Manistee has been pretty rough this week. A lot of wind and some rain has hampered fishing efforts but steelhead are still being taken along with Lakers and a few kings out 8-12 miles in the top 50 feet of water. The shelf has picked up a little with several small kings taken Saturday and a few larger fish on Sunday. This action also seems to be around the 50' mark in 80-150 feet of water. Best colors on the shelf are the Dolphin patterns run behind riggers, Dipseys or Leadcore while orange is the color of choice. While out deep the same methods and lures are working. Hope the wind stops blowing, the Ladies Classic and the Bud Pro-Am are less than two weeks away." GOOD FISHIN!

6/8/00 Ed Evans, Bob Rondelez, Tom Rassmuson and I were going to hit Lake Michigan at 6:00am but strong south wind cancelled our plans.

6/5/00 Captain Mark Pefley and his little brother Jeffrey decided to hit Lake Michigan for a day on the Big Pond. Their boat the "Sunrise" was headed west in quest of one of the greatest game fish know to man, Steelhead. As they sped across the 30 line when Capt. Mark noticed a 2 degree temperature break just south of the harbor in deep water. As they started setting lines the fish were on the bite, in the next 4 hrs. they had a least 30 hits and nonstop action in spite of a small 4 rod spread. They only kept 9 fish, being selective to release the unharmed Steelhead and Salmon. Capt. Mark and his sidekick bro Jeffrey reports his best lures were DW's in a taped orange and green crush along with a Stinger double orange crush. Team Pefley are well known top notch fish producers in the Manistee area. Incidentally, the fisherman who stayed on the "Shelf" got burned with not many fish being taken even by the charter fleet.

6/3/00 Kate Green "WHO'S THE BOSS" at Fisherman's Center in Manistee at Solberg's Boat Yard reports; "There is a lot of fishing going on and not much catching. Cold water from a recent the north blow has slowed the fishing temporally and the "fleet" hasn't located the mother lode of fish yet. The lake conditions are good, but not ideal." The phone number if you're looking for info or tackle at Fisherman's Center is (231) 723-7718.
"Kate and the crew there are some of the nicest people I've ever dealt with."........Capt. John