C-Worthy Charter Fishing // Fishing Report

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FISHING REPORT

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2007 Reports

Photos from recent trips...

15 kings by 8:30 a.m.!!!!

Late August

July 25, 2007

July 24, 2007

Late August
Salmon fishing is still hot. This morning we had 18, our limit for six guys, by 8:40. At one point we had four on all at once and I could hardly see with rain drops all over my glasses. I didn't have time to put on the foul weather gear or even take a break! Needless to say, I was soaked by the time we were finished.

August 21
The east wind that had been blowing for several days abated in the afternoon and I headed for the island where a friend did well in the morning. Mom, dad and two kids pulled in a dozen salmon in short order. The fish were thick.

August 18
Sometimes people ask me if I have ever caught anything strange and I have to scratch my head a little. Well, today it happened and when I brought it into the dock all the charter captains came for a look followed by all the tourists who wanted to see what the commotion was about.

Here's what happened. About mid morning there was a jarring strike on one of the Dipsy rods, which the angler grabbed and started reeling in. Whatever had the bait didn't run as far as a salmon and didn't fight like a lake trout or steelhead either. When it got close I couldn't tell what it was at first. It looked dark like a big trout or darkening king might, but not quite. It was big and fighting all the way in. Not a lawyer (burbot) I thought then I saw it clearly just before I netted it. It was a big channel catfish weighing about ten pounds or so. I hadn't caught one of those in at least fifteen years and neither had any of the other captains.

As for the salmon fishing - it's good right now. Some of the three-year fish are showing up in the catches. In past years these fish have piled in when the four-year fish left and provided big catches all the way up to November when the boats are all out of the water.

August 14
The first half-hour that I fished I pushed too hard. I wasn't paying attention to the water, the fish and the bugs - bugs? Yeah, bugs. I wasn't on Lake Michigan; I was on the upper Manistee River where the river is narrow and the water skinny. I didn't have a charter and with Lucy out of town for the day I was free to do whatever I wanted and that was some serious quiet time away from people. Don't get me wrong, I like people and I like my hunting and fishing friends, but sometimes I just like it quiet.

The thermometer on my truck's mirror said it was just 48 degrees when I pulled off to park a short walk from the river. Cold by summer standards, I could be bird hunting, I thought. It was that kind of morning. On my way down the sandy path to the river I crossed a bear track made since yesterday's rain. There were only two prints like the bear was running, close together.

Usually I river fish in the evening and don't venture too far for fear of having to walk back in the dark around the wood and the deep holes both of which can get you wet up to the neck. This was morning and I could fish as far as I wanted.

I didn't see any fish taking bugs off the top so I put on a really big attractor fly that I bought yesterday at the Northern Angler in Traverse City. I tied about a foot and a half of 5X to the bend of the hook with a nymph on the other end. I didn't have the right leader on that would roll the fly over and the whole thing cast like a John Deer. I switched to a smaller attractor and had a couple of smaller fish splashily refuse. They didn't like the nymph even though I changed it.

Some smaller fish were coming up to something too small for me to see. I tried a trico spinner, but that wasn't it, so I switched to an ant. Who wants to catch fish that eat bugs too small to see, I said. Me I thought. The ant might take a bigger fish and with the temp coming up and wind with it at my back I was having fun. I could cast any distance I wanted and the ant would lie out there like I was born to fish. Everybody deserves the wind at his back now and then.

I stepped out of the river on the bank to skirt a hole and wood I didn't think I could wade through and as I was about to get back in the river a big trout juiced out from the undercut bank below my foot. I have to remember this spot, I thought.

A fish was aggressively feeding just ahead and I put the ant a few feet above it. The take was immediate and the trout must have felt the sting of the hook because it came jumping down the river. No matter how fast I stripped I couldn't catch up and it wasn't until the fish passed me that the line finally came tight. I released it without touching it with the surgical clamp I had on the pocket of my vest. The fish was a dandy brookie, probably 10 inches if I'd measured.

I kept moving up the river pestering the little trout as best I could. Eventually my stomach started growling and I looked at my watch, lunchtime. I had a cigar and a bottle of water with me, fulfilling, if not filling. I sat on the bank and smoked while my feet warmed.

There is a sign along the river where I sometimes park that says the access was improved by the George Mason Chapter of Trout Unlimited. That got me to thinking about how much TU has done for fishermen like you and me and about a person who will probably be lost in angling lore. This person is arguably has fished with a fly longer than any other in the history of the sport and probably will never be surpassed. Here is what I know of her story.

My mother's best friend was Annabelle Webb and her sister is Rosalyn Johnston. I might have the spelling of her name messed up, but not the facts I'm about to share. She told me that she started fishing when she was a girl, a teen, back when Babe Ruth was doing his thing with a bat. This came up because I was in Wild Bill's river boat on the Jordan with her the year that Mark Mc Guire and Sammy Sosa where tearing up the home run records. She was fly fishing when the Babe was making his mark, when Roger Maris was setting his mark and when, as I mentioned, Sammy and Mark were clearing the fence. She used to have a cottage on the AuSable called In The Pink where she spent her time when she wasn't being a phys Ed teacher and later a truant officer for Detroit public schools.

At one time she fished quite a bit with Martha (I'm pretty sure that's her name) Young, the wife of Paul Young, a well-known fly rod builder. She said she and Martha were quite competitive when they fished even though they wouldn't admit it to each other.

Rosalyn also knew well the people who started Trout Unlimited and when I asked her why she didn't get involved she said she didn't want to. She is kind of a say-it-like-she sees it person, some might say abrupt, I say when your old talk like you want.

I asked her how she came to the conservation, catch and release way of thinking. After all no one passed that way before her. In her time it was catch and creel. Here is what she told me.

Her sister, Annabelle, called to ask if she could bring some friends to In-The-Pink for a trout dinner and Rosalyn said yes. She set about catching enough fish for the large group and put on quite a feast. Then, she said in her characteristically sharp manner, "They all got in their Cadilliacs and drove away with my trout in their bellies. They (the fish) weren't in the river any more and as I saw them go I said I wouldn't do that again." From then on she released all but a very few.

When we were done floating the Jordan that day we had lunch at Jularettes (sp) in Charlevoix where she told me of fishing western rivers. The Madison comes to mind. Later she showed me some photos and her Paul Young rod at her condo in Charlevoix. This is an important piece of fishing history that should be saved. Maybe someone who reads this will see that it gets into the hands of a keeper.

My cigar was done and I decided to head down stream. Like the wind at your back, wading with the current is the way to travel. I fished carefully with bead head nymphs all the way back. I caught a couple of branches and had to get out the fly box out of my vest both times before arriving at the haul-out without catching any more fish. It was a fine way to spend the day and the company was the best.

When I turned on the car the temperature was 80, just in case you wanted to know.

August 10
We've had some trouble at my web host keeping this page up to date recently, but here is the report that covers the last couple of weeks. Salmon fishing has improved day-by-day to a very respectable level. Unfficial reports are that the salmon that moved up the Wisconsin shore this summer decided to cross to our side of the lake and we now have the fish. Today, for instance, I caught 15 and I felt like the guy who couldn't get the job done. Some other guys hit home runs and came in early with bulging coolers.

Good news about the otter pup that had a small fishing lure lodged in its lip. It was seen in the river again free of the hook. I don't know how it got rid of it, but am glad it did.

August 3
There was a discussion on board this morning about whether the Bloody Marys should start at dawn or wait for the first fish. Being conservative, prudent types they waited for the first fish, a good king and then celebrated.

Overall fishing was poor this morning. Two trailer boaters who fish often and know what they are doing reported skunks. The charter boats went in three different directions. Two of them didn't pan out with much, but the third did.

Unfortunately, we didn't go to the "right" spot and only ended up with a couple of fish. Tomorrow, however is a new day and I'm headed to where the fishing was good this morning. A northwest wind today will help things by bring up the temperature some. Stay tuned.

About the otter pup with the hook in its lip - no news. But one of the other guys wondered if it wasn't the pup that was always getting lost. Twice, before the hook problem, my friend reported that he heard the pup screeching for help after it had become separated from the rest. Like a kid with too much curiosity and too many interesting things it dallied while the group moved on. When the pup realized everyone had left it, she (probably he) yelled for help. Mom, like all moms, was listening and came back to collect the errant one.

August 2
I was windy when I took the "Kula, Kula, Kula" guys out. Kula is Finish for fish and Phil brings along a plastic film canister filled with pennies for every one to throw into the lake as they say the chant. It sounds goofy, but I can buy in to goofy, especially when it works. Anyway, it was too rough to fish where we wanted and we headed for the island. While we only caught two big kings, we had fun and who knows, maybe if we hadn't had the pennies we would have been skunked.

Back at the harbor a mother otter and her three pups swam the river by the boat. One of the pups had a small fishing lure caught in its lip and was trying its best to rid himself of it. My guess is that the lure was lost by one of the dock fishermen that cast for bass and the pup saw the bright thing hanging on a weed or caught on a rock and picked it up. If I learn more of this story I'll post it here.

July 31
Some days I'm lucky and others I'm not. We had a king "on" on the first line down before we could get another line in the water. This was a bad thing called the "kiss of death." I thought maybe if I didn't think about it things would be ok, but I should have known. After that we had five more salmon hits and didn't boat one of them! Finally when the action seemed to slow we went trout fishing and caught enough for smiles all around. Phew.

July 30
Jack, Gina, Jack Jr., and Pauline met me at 5:30 and wasted little time getting to the fish. Jack Sr. caught the biggest king of the year on my boat with the scale tipping almost 19 pounds.

July 28
Today was much like yesterday. Calm, nice guys, and hungry fish. Tom brought his son and a friend out with high expectations and the fish didn't disappoint. We had lines in the water by 6:20 and had four big kings in the boat before seven. After that the salmon action slowed and we switched over to trout and caught our legal limit.

July 27
I was so anxious to get going this morning that I had the boat untied and was pulling away from the dock when someone said, "Uh, there is still one guy coming." Sure enough here he came jogging across the gravel in the early light. I pulled back in, Al jumped on, and we were off, this time for real. The fish have been feeding early. Boats with lines in the water at 5:30 were greeted with hungry kings until about seven. We didn't leave the dock until after six and still had good salmon action that included a dandy steelhead on a Dipsy Diver. When the salmon bite slowed we caught a bunch of trout to round out the morning. When it was time to come in I didn't forget and leave Al out on the lake either.

July 25
We headed to the island early this morning with three buckeyes, two of whom said they were drug dealers.

"Pharmacists," I asked, and they said yeah. Things started with a bang and we had three kings all in the 15 pound range in the boat quickly, then the fish vanished and we had to work for them. By the time I took the dealers in they had eight fish.

July 24
Robert called me to arrange taking out his two boys. When he arrived at the dock the group had grown to five including one fellow who had been kayaking in Nepal not long ago. I know some of you have done lots of different things, but I'll bet none of you have done that.

We fished for both trout and salmon catching a couple of big four-years and a bunch of trout. Nice guys all, especially the boys who were very polite, not at all the creeps that I sometimes get. I shouldn't write that, but some parents don't take care of business like Robert and his wife have.

July 23
I'm getting old. I know it because I had four college-age kids on the boat yesterday and I had so much fun listening to them. They were so full of life and they didn't know it. We had great weather and fishing. They caught two kings and a bunch of trout.

July 22
I asked the guys who got on the boat this afternoon if they wanted to go for kings or trout. They said they wanted to go for whatever they could catch the most of. So, we caught 15 lakers. The fish were biting real light and we had a hard time keeping them on the hook. They would get off within a few feet of the boat. For every one we boated we lost one.

July 19
Salmon fishing has continued to be good, especially before this cold front. Catches have ranged up to nine or ten big kings out at the island. It seems the smaller fish have left leaving the big four-year kings in their place.

July 11
In the last few days more kings are being caught. Is this a trend? Stay tuned.

June 30 - July 7
I've been a little lazy when it comes to this report recently and I won't offer any excuses. Fishing has been changing to the satisfacton of some and consternation of others. Here's what I mean. Salmon have been hard to find in all the usual spots and those that insisit on catching them to the exclusion of all else are getting disapointed. A salmon charter might only catch a few fish and not all of them will be big. There have been several boats reporting getting skunked or close to it when they exclusively target salmon at the island.

I've taken a different approach. To me charter fishing isn't just about killing more big kings than a person can possiblly use, although that's what we try to do if we can. Rather its about catcing some fish and having a great time with family and friends. Its about enjoying the lake, eating sandwiches, drinking beer, and getting an attitude for fun. The fish will be there and if they are trout instead of salmon its still fun. In fact I've been fishing for salmon part of the trip and fishing for trout the other part. Sometimes we catch a king or two, and almost always we end up with a cooler of fish to eat. People are smileing when they get off the boat.

Don't get me wrong, salmon, big salmon are fun, but they don't corner the market on a good time. If a fisherman is always headhunting for big fish they miss out in my opinion. Right now lake trout are the best bet. I've had a number of trips where we've kept a dozen and released nearly that many.

Everyone is hoping that the salmon will show up again like they did earlier in June, but if they don't, don't let the salmon mistique get in your way of a good fishing trip.

June 27
Salmon fishing at the island was poor this morning, as the few boats that looked there had limited success. Some guys went back in the afternoon to continue looking, but I decided to try a different place where there were both trout and salmon. Our first fish was a small king that we threw back. Next came a string of eight or ten big trout that ate salmon spoons. Having enough trout in the box we swung out into deeper water and caught a bigger king of about five or six pounds. With this fish in the box our group had enough fish to feed the family and decided to head in. Great weather, good fishing. I'm wondering if we won't be doing more of this kind of fishing this summer when the salmon are scarce.

June 26
We went to the island with high hopes of a big salmon catch. We started at the south end and had several hits, but I wasn't marking much on the graph, so when a friend called and said he was getting action to the north we picked up and ran there. That was a mistake. We saw very few fish and ended up with three.

June 24
Dave, Carol and Bill met me at the boat at 6:00 and we bolted for the island with hi hopes of getting into some salmon action. After trolling for a couple of hours and only catching two I took them lake trout fishing and we caught their limit of nine in short order. I switched back to salmon lures and we caught king and lost another. A dozen fish and great weather. I like that.

In the evening my friend Craig wasn't available to go fly fishing with me, but I went anyway. I got to the Manistee with about an hour or less of light remaining with the plan of being on a good piece of water when the Hex hatch started. While waiting for things to get going I caught a several brookies and had a nice brown take me into the wood for a tangle. The fish was still on as I approached to free my line and hopefully the fish. It was hanging there and I thought I might get lucky, but I was wrong. It went berserk when I got close and escaped. The hex hatch didn't happen while I was there and I quit around 11:30 as the moon went low in the sky and the river got really dark. My flash light was being a jerk and not working well and I didn't want to be out in the water tripping over sunken logs in total darkness. It was fun and I didn't hit the deer or raccoon that ran in front of me on my way home either.

June 23
Mark, a best man, took his buddies in the wedding party out fishing and even included the groom's father in law. When we came in they had converted the beer in their cooler to an overflowing five-gallon bucket of empties. They took home eighteen trout and one king.

June 21
North wind greeted us as we headed out and I was a little worried that it might build and be too rough for fun fishing. But the weather lady smiles and the wind dropped and the fish were hungry. We had our best day yet with 15 kings in the box when we came in.

June 19
It has been a week since I was out and I was a little out of touch with the fishing, but that didn't matter. About half way to the island we went into dense fog and had to turn on the radar to see. We fished in the fog for half the trip before it burned away. By the time it burned away we had nine kings.

June 12
Good salmon fishing this morning. We needed nine kings for our limit and that's what we caught. The fish ranged in size up to fifteen pounds. Pictured at right are what the average fish looked like.

June 11
This morning started like gang busters. We had several strikes before I could get the lines all down, then the action stopped. When I came in we had five kings for ten hits.

May 31
I put the boat in the water on May 16th and quickly got it ready for the first charter of the year on the 18th. I took out a couple of nice guys from sourthern Michigan who were up here for the weekend. The guys were fishing while their wives played in a poker tournament.

There were plenty of fish to catch even though the bite was off a little. The lakers were the perfect size for eating, just under the maximum legal size. It felt good to be out on the water once again.

Today is the last day of the month and while I haven't been dong much big lake fishing I have been keeping up on the success of the boats who have. Trout continue to be easy to catch and a few salmon are also being caught. Kings in the 10 to 12 pound range are there.

In other fishing news I saw some kids haul out a stringer of bass from the river. They were in that pound and a half to four-pound range. These early bass are easy to catch and while I wish they wouldn't keep them I know that if they don't someone else will. Bass don't taste that good to me, so why kill them.

I've been fly fishing the Manistee and catching a few small brookies. Nothing special, but loads of fun. A couple of days ago I went to the Platte and caught a brookie and a bunch of small salmon. Not that much fun - too easy, too small.

As the water warms the hatches on the Manistee will get the trout going and fishing will heat up for a few weeks.

So that's the report, the first report for the year. I'll get some fresh pictures up their soon.

Click here to view my 2006 Fishing Reports!

FISHING REPORT