Since I have the fishing fever and I am stuck in school until May 5, I will begin my summer fishing reports from what I know and try to help everyone else out. 

There are a fair amount of Chinook Salmon being caught (2-6 fish per trip) in Grand Haven, as of this morning, April 15.  The best has been 15-35 feet of water.  Surface boards with spoons and downriggers with spoons 10-21 feet down along with Dipsy Divers 20-35 feet back.  The best spoon I was told, by far, was the Holly Christmas regular-sized Stinger and Chip's Orange Shanster regular-sized Stinger accounted for a few bites as well.  The fish were 4-10 pounds and really nice energetic fish.

As far as the rest of Southern Lake Michigan, many of the Charter Boats in Michigan City, IN have already began to struggle.  Boats fishing close to Michigan City, IN have been getting very few bites and very few fish.  The average has been around 5 fish per trip.  Meanwhile, the boats running North, further into Michigan, between New Buffalo and St. Joe, have been doing excellent.  The boats in St. Joe have also been doing excellent on Kings, Coho, and Browns for the last week.  Limit catches have been common in just a couple of hours.  The catches have mostly been Coho and Kings, with Cohos consisting of 2/3 of the catch.  They have been fishing 10-40 feet of water.  Surface Boards with Stickbaits, Thin Fins, and spoons have been the best.  Downriggers and Dipsy Divers with spoons have caught most of the Kings, from 15-30 feet down.  The only two spoons needed, as I was told, are the Mixed Veggies regular-sized Stinger and the Natural Born Killer regular-sized Stinger. 

Today I was told a 5 person limit of Kings, along with a few Cohos and Browns was caught by a Charter Boat in St. Joe by 9 o'clock this morning.  They fished close to the St. Joe Piers in 30-45 feet of water.  Downriggers were used 12-28 feet down and Dipsy Divers 20-50 feet back.  The three spoons mentioned were Mixed Veggies regular-sized Stinger, Natural Born Killer regular-sized Stinger, and Lemon-Ice regular-sized Stinger.

I personally think the Salmon are going to be moving North faster and arrive earlier than normal in Grand Haven.  I think within the next couple weeks King fishing is going to be excellent in Grand Haven and continue to be excellent into May.  Good Luck to everyone as I know many of you are getting your boats ready for the upcoming season.  Good Fishing to all!!!!!!

Captain Jon Selbig