Hanna Hughes, 10, fights a big chinook salmon with a little help from her grandfather Howard Hughes aboard her dad's boat. Kevin Hughes runs Sandpiper charters out of Onekama. / Photo courtesy of Kevin Hughes
By Eric Sharp
MANISTEE — It sometimes seems unfair that Michigan fishing is so good for so many species. But it also means that unlike outdoors writers who are mostly stuck with bass, catfish and crappies in other states, I can go weeks without getting around to some of the best fishing in America.
That’s been true of the hot chinook salmon and steelhead bite in Lake Michigan. Not only are big numbers being caught earlier than usual, they’re also bigger than the fish anglers are used to seeing this time of year.
“The wind has been a pain, but the fishing has been great when we do get out,” said James Marsden, a Grand Rapids angler who fishes all summer out of several Lake Michigan ports.
“Last weekend we were fishing between Manistee and Onekama and we ran into the biggest king salmon I’ve seen in June for maybe five, six years,” he said. “We had three fish that went over 18 pounds — in June! By fall we’re going to be seeing a stack of 30, 35 pounders. And steelhead — they’re thick as fleas in some places. We ran into a big school of steelies that hit trolled spoons about 60 feet down in 100 feet of water, and we couldn’t catch a salmon. We actually pulled lines and moved a couple of miles to where a friend was getting kings.”
Gary Schaefer, who runs the charter boat Trout Scout out of Manistee, said king salmon were being caught anywhere from 40 to 100 feet down in water depths ranging from 60 to 200 feet. Click Link Bel0w For Full Story!
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