Our catch numbers remain low-to-moderate on adult king salmon. One thing is for sure they are bigger than they have been in the last 12 years or so. The average four-year old king is about 19 pounds with a few of them pushing over the 30 pound mark. It does not take many of these large beasts to make a cooler look full. Make sure you reline your downrigger reels with at least 25 pound line and the same class is leader applied to Leadcore and Copper Lines. Top baits are standard size glow spoons like Yeck Lightning, Moonshine Mongolian Beef, Spin Doctors, Paddles and Flies or Meat Rigs behind them are also very good at times.
The water has been cold in our region and I have found that a faster trolling speed has been more productive. Normal king speed is about 2.4 at the probe or speed over ground (SOG) of 2.6-2.9 has been the ticket. When and if the water warms up Plugs will start working better and trolling speeds will drop.
Our offshore fishery for kings, coho, and steelhead still holds the most consistent for numbers of fish. A large number of our kings are still living in the center of Lake Michigan’s stable water more than 10 miles offshore but have been trickling in closer to shore each week.
We did have some outstanding fishing at the Pier Heads and in PM Lake this week due to the hard northwest wind which turned the lake over and brought ice water back into shore, pushing the warm water out. Because of the cold water and air temperatures there is a fishable number of kings in the Betsie, Manistee, Little Manistee, and Pere Marquette now and it will continue to get better in the river for the next month.
The best combination a river angler can hope for is a full moon with cold water near shore and a good cool rain. The overall consensus of Ludington salmon fishing is that the water needs to warm up and stay there to keep them in the lake longer. This is the coldest summer I can remember in a long time. We do well one day and search the next. A friend of mine told me the other day that king salmon are seldom in the same spot two days in a row. With the changing winds, my friend’s statement seems to be spot on this summer.
Captain Sean McDonald
Katch Me Charters
(231) 510-2072
www.centurycircle.com
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