Lake Michigan salmon charter recomendations?

[curtism1234]

USA members ~ Would you have some recommendations for salmon boats on Lake Michigan? We'd like to be around Milwaukee / Port Washington / Sheboygan (as north as we'd want), Wisconsin since we have fished the rivers there before. We'd be open to Illinois, Indiana, or the very southern part of Michigan.

Any personal recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Curtis

 

[browningbbr]

I used to live in Sheboygan County WI. "Dumper Dan's" charters were always considered one of the best.

 

[curtism1234]

Thanks, I'll check them out.

 

[Big Country]

I've fished the spring Coho run with Michael Hanke of A1 Big Fish Charters out of port Racine. Good captain, he and his mate are well respected and connected. good equipment and boats. He also runs a heated boat for browns in the winter and does very well.

 

[curtism1234]

Thanks!

 

[Buckdog]

dont know about the wisconsin side of the lake but I grew up on lake michigan on the michigan side at the start of the whole salmon introduction into the great lakes. the current salmon fishery in the great lakes aka lake michigan is not in very good shape and I would skip it if I were you. you can find info on the michigan dept of natural resources web pages. At the hey day of the salmon fishery you could just about walk across the smaller streams and not get your feet wet the salmon were so many when they returned to the rivers to spawn, now a combination of factors has caused the population to many yrs ago crash and the DNR states it will likely never recover. Snagging was legal and we did it by the millions, people set up for a week or more and canned their own fish on the bank, etc, etc, now forget it not many left. If you want a 2 page details on the hows and whys of salmon in the great lakes PM me, I lived it on the shore of lake michigan specifically holland, michigan. or do a google search of how and why salmon were put in the great lakes. wisconsin boys i doubt ever had the numbers of salmon we did, but i am certain there population has crashed too because the food base is gone in lake michigan.

 

[curtism1234]

Thanks,

I am aware the numbers were way down, at least on the WI side. We used to do alright over there the first couple weeks of October when weather conditions were ideal. We had not gone to Wisconsin the past 4 years because the water was either too low or too high and it seems like the local fishing reports (such as Lake Link) have gone mum or completely lying about conditions. The past couple years have been really bad as you said.

We tried fishing the Manistee river in your neck of the woods a few years ago. The fish were there but the crowds were total chaos. I did notice the salmon run was a giant racket for the fish and game dept there. They were constantly writing people tickets for snagging fish which are extremely difficult to catch otherwise and are destined to die anyway. It seemed like WI was happy with people's 10 dollar trout stamp.

I'll talk it over with the other 5. About $250 for a long weekend of fishing on the lake is a pretty good deal even if there isn't a lot going on.

 

[Buckdog]

Curtis,
what time of the year are you interested in going fishing? a lot of the fishing in the great lakes and the rivers is season dependent? Salmon run in the fall, steelhead in the spring, trout fishing usually better in the spring. they also key in on the moon phase and water levels as you found out.
sorry about your issues with the mich dnr they have become ticket happy a holes of the last few yrs. where are you visiting from??
I haven't went back home and fished for several yrs as friends and family say don't bother some live right on the rivers and shore.

 

[curtism1234]

I'm from St. Louis so the lower parts of the Lake Michigan area is easily driven in a half day. We normally like fishing around Columbus Day weekend, that seems to be before the hunting season gets in full swing. Normally the Kings are running or at least staging in the harbor waiting on the rain. If the conditions are not good, I just normally go trout fishing a few hours away instead.

As for the original topic, we're looking to go on the lake probably in July when the Kings are starting up.