This year continues to be a bit strange. We have yet to see very many four-year-old kings but the steelhead fishing has been outstanding. There are some really big steelhead around and lots of them. On average, we have been hooking up with 12 to 15 steelhead a trip with a few kings and trout mixed in to round out a decent box of fish. Many of the steelhead we have been boating are summer runs that are tipping the scale at 12 to 14 pounds. When these fish hit the river this year, they are going to be some tackle busters.
As I sit here and write this report on my phone, I am behind the wheel of my Tiara and we have on a triple in 30 FOW just outside the Pier heads in Muskegon. We had a good North wind yesterday and there is some very cold water in on the beach which brings in the baitfish then in turn the big fish. This triple ended up being a nice four year old king, ten pound steelhead and one of the biggest browns we have landed in my ten years of running charters weighing in at 22 pounds. All three of these fish came on very short copper lines with bright colored standard size Stinger spoons. I have marked more baitfish in my two charters today then I have seen all year and the fish are feasting on them heavily.
I hate to say, “In a normal year,” because we all know this year has been far from normal but August is typically our best month for good numbers of large salmon. The kings will start staging in shallower water waiting for the right time to blast up the river. When targeting these staging fish we like to use lures that will irritate the fish for the most part. Large flasher/fly combos and plugs like Silver Hordes make up the majority of our spread but we always have a few orange spoons riding on some short coppers that will steadily take fish. If you get out this August be sure to look in that skinny water for those staging kings before you waste a bunch of gas heading offshore.
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