# Salmon Fishing Lake Michigan?



## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

My father and I plan on taking the boat over to Lake Michigan next weekend (july 22-24) to do some salmon fishing. We were going to go to Ludington, but not really sure if that's where we'll end up going or not. Can anybody give me a heads up as to where the fish have been at, or what port over there has been doing the best? If so that would be a great help, thanks.


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## fishctchr (Dec 3, 2000)

I can tell you that there were some catches of very nice fish taken during our tournament here in Ludington. The fish were scattered and boats ran north to manistee and south to almost whitehall. If you got on a pod of active fish you could do well. I used over $600 in fuel last weekend and never landed on the fish. I would say Whitehall or Pentwater should be good this weekend, leaning more toward Pentwater. I ran a charter this morning and we went 5 for 12 fishing our bank.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks for the input, we will definitely take it into consideration!!


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## jatc (Oct 24, 2008)

cebackhaus said:


> My father and I plan on taking the boat over to Lake Michigan next weekend (july 22-24) to do some salmon fishing. We were going to go to Ludington, but not really sure if that's where we'll end up going or not. Can anybody give me a heads up as to where the fish have been at, or what port over there has been doing the best? If so that would be a great help, thanks.


My suggestion if you have the flexibility is to make the decision on Thursday. Reasoning for this is that the water is changing rapidly as I type this and the next 48 hrs could make a huge difference at any given port. My GUESS would be with this hot weather and a little south wind that Ludington is going to be a safe bet this weekend. Things are right on the verge of busting loose over there and this little hot spell could be the key to getting the water to set up and concentrate the bait and fish. Good luck!


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## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks, we were thinking about trying ludington, but we are pretty flexible so we should be able to make a decision for sure later on in the week. Thanks again for the input!!


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

From what I saw at the weight in, boats that actually stayed close to Ludville has very low weights. It was common to see 5-9 fish with a total weight of 35-45 lbs. To me, that sux. Boats that had big fish, and when I say big, I mean a 13 lb avg for 10 fish, were running way north or way south. More steelies and lakers than kings. It was one of the worst weight ins I have seen there both weight wise and numbers wise. Not many boats pulled their 10-12 fix limit. 5 yrs ago you couldnt leave the dock without having 9 fish in your cooler just having 2 lines in as you idled to the pierhead.

I don't fish tourneys anymore, I have fished enough of them that I dont need to prove anything to anyone by puffing my chest out with a heavy box.

For your trip, You might wanna keep an eye on ports to the south and north. They have been doing a bit more consistent than we have, if we are being honest here. Unless you own a 43 Hatteras or 65 Viking and have unlimited funds to pay for diesel it will take to make the 80-100 round-trip journey.


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## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

SalmonBum said:


> From what I saw at the weight in, boats that actually stayed close to Ludville has very low weights. It was common to see 5-9 fish with a total weight of 35-45 lbs. To me, that sux. Boats that had big fish, and when I say big, I mean a 13 lb avg for 10 fish, were running way north or way south. More steelies and lakers than kings. It was one of the worst weight ins I have seen there both weight wise and numbers wise. Not many boats pulled their 10-12 fix limit. 5 yrs ago you couldnt leave the dock without having 9 fish in your cooler just having 2 lines in as you idled to the pierhead.
> 
> I don't fish tourneys anymore, I have fished enough of them that I dont need to prove anything to anyone by puffing my chest out with a heavy box.
> 
> For your trip, You might wanna keep an eye on ports to the south and north. They have been doing a bit more consistent than we have, if we are being honest here. Unless you own a 43 Hatteras or 65 Viking and have unlimited funds to pay for diesel it will take to make the 80-100 round-trip journey.


Thanks, I appreciate it. We're still not sure where we'll end up, with the storms that are supposed to come this weekend you never know what might happen. (that's if the weatherman's right....which he almost never is!) But we will definitely keep this in mind, thanks alot.


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

cebackhaus said:


> Thanks, I appreciate it. We're still not sure where we'll end up, with the storms that are supposed to come this weekend you never know what might happen. (that's if the weatherman's right....which he almost never is!) But we will definitely keep this in mind, thanks alot.


If you have a dirt bike, bring it. We are riding Sat afternoon. Great way to pass the time between morning and evening fishing trips.


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## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

SalmonBum said:


> If you have a dirt bike, bring it. We are riding Sat afternoon. Great way to pass the time between morning and evening fishing trips.


Actually we were just up at silver lake right before the 4th of July! I never really thought about bringing the bikes up! that's a great idea!!


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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

There is a group of us that will ride somewhere around Ludville. I usualy leave my bike up there for the summer, but I have been riding a local track down here. When I take it up this weekend thou, its staying there.


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## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

We will definitely have to look into it, that's a great idea. We're coming up with one of my grandfather's friends, so I'm not sure we could do some riding this trip, but when we fish our ludington tournament in Aug. we may have to bring the bikes!!


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## fishctchr (Dec 3, 2000)

Another charter in Ludington (I didnt fish today) took 17 this morning before 11 am. Things are definately looking up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## cebackhaus (Jul 7, 2011)

fishctchr said:


> Another charter in Ludington (I didnt fish today) took 17 this morning before 11 am. Things are definately looking up.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Sounds great!! I'm pretty sure we're going to end up in Ludington and just hope & pray the weather isn't too bad.....if it rains, oh well...that's why we have a hard top! haha Did the charter have to run out to deeper water to for that catch, or are they in shallower right now?


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