Fishing Report
Updated as of: Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Despite Warm Water - Fishing Very Good!
Mother Nature has left us with some unique conditions. After a very mild winter, early spring and hot summer, we now have 75 degree surface temps. This is as warm as I've ever seen in 38 year of Lake Michigan angling. The good news is, the salmon ARE STILL BITING!! While results vary, some recent limit catches and near limit catches have come in aboard Algoma charter boats. Early morning and later evening "night bites" have been the most consistent, but some pretty decent daytime numbers have come in this week.
Robert and Suzanne Lavalle, from Ham Lake, MN enjoyed a great morning of fishing aboard the Grand Illusion 2 today. Robert and Suzanne hauled thier limit of king salmon in a few short hours of fishing. After cleaning they headed back to Minnesota with over 75# of fillets!
Anglers have been heading straight out of the harbor and trolling anywhere from 70' of water to 200' of water. The best king action has been in 70' to 120' of water early and late in the day and after sunrise, successful anglers have found the kings happy in 120' to 200' of water. While surface temps continue to be warm, in the 70's, cool water is not far away. I found cooler water 70' down in the mid 50's and at 120' temps were in the mid to upper 40's. That's plenty of cold water and the salmon seem more active suspended from 40' to 120' down.
The kings have been liking flasher and fly combos with a few spoons and plugs thrown in. White and chrome flashers and aqua, mistake, aqua-pearl flies and frog flies have been the better combinations. One of my better combinations today was a pearl flasher with a mistake fly on a leadcore and a Chrome flasher with a aqua-pearl fly on the deeper downrigger. Deeper spoon bites off downriggers have also been pretty good. A glow Moonshine Carbon spoon has been working pretty good for the kings. It seems with the storms and cloudy conditions one day and sunny clear sky's the next, that the flashers change from the white and colors on cloudy days to the chromes on sunny days.
The steelhead bite has been spotty as of late. We did manage a couple this week, but those have all come suspended down and most have been on the mid-range (30' to 75') baits. Most have been on the flahser/fly combos or on spoons There have also been a few lake trout taken near bottom in that 90' to 120' of water. Flasher/fly combos and flasher/spin-n-glo combos have taken the most trout.
Shanty Days is this weekend in Algoma and with the tournament running and more people in town, expect slightly more anglers to be on the lake. With increased boat traffic starting, please remember to be courteous to other anglers. Remember that safety comes first, be courteous and enjoy our wonderful resource! From Capt. Lee and the crew aboard the Grand Illusion 2, have a happy and safe fishing tournament and Good Luck and Good Fishing!
