By: Capt. Matt Whitney
For all who have decided to wait to go fishing until the weather shaped up, here’s what May is saying about June. Lake trout fishing should be very good and from the number of sculpin I’m seeing in stomachs you should find plenty of fish on the deeper end of your favorite trout areas. Here in Grand Haven, the waters from 160 to 210 feet deep have held good numbers of trout so far, and that’s where I’d plan to fish. Put your gear in the bottom 20′ of the water column and pull chrome and yellow Spin Dr’s and Paddles in both 8″ and 10″ lengths with a chrome and yellow spotted Whirly Gig on an 18-32″ leader behind it. Magnum Dipsies pulled on wire back 350-450′ will find trout that your riggers miss so put them there and loosen up your shoulders for the long haul. Steelhead will hopefully make a showing this year, they were noticeably scarce in 2017, and provide plenty of action during the first and last weeks of the month.
Early on, look for these fish near the surface in slicks offshore where the temps fall towards the mid to low 40’s. Run lots of smaller spoons like the Super Slim in the Smash Mouth, Fireball, Dbl Orange Crush and Jaw Breaker patterns on lead cores of 1-5 colors in length. A faster troll of 2.7 -3.7 mph is often the key to triggering some great action. Late in the month watch for cool fronts to bring cold water to the pier heads. Any time the temps are lower than the mid 60’s you can bet there will be some nice summer run chromers around the channel. Red body baits are often the hot ticket when these conditions exist. As always salmon are a wild card here in June. Cold spring weather usually means we’ll have kings in the area all season. Find the baitfish, and you’ll find the kings close by. These fish will be most aggressive at the crack of dawn and during the last minutes of daylight so glow spoons like the Super Slim Green and Blue Jeans as well as any number of Moonshine Glow spoons will give you your best shot at these fish. As a secret tip, we often do well with Blue Dolphin Dream Weavers and the Hello Darlin Super Slim spoons too. If you happen to be a little late getting started this year and haven’t heard, put fresh line on your reels as plenty of these bruisers over 20 pounds are showing up already in coolers this spring, this could be your year for the trophy of a lifetime!
Capt. Matt Whitney
Whitney Charters
(616) 846-6325
www.whitneycharters.com
