HitMan

We definitely will be at South Haven, Grand Haven, and Holland; and possibly Muskegon and Ludington. There has also been talk of Racine and Waukegan. It should be another great year of Tournament fishing!

The biggest source of publicity is word-of-mouth. Over 90% of our charters are word-of-mouth. If just starting out, if possible, the best way to receive charters and new customers is join an Association; ie: Grand Haven Charter Boat Association, Chinook Pier, White Lake Charter Boat Association, Muskegon Charter Boat Association, or wherever; depending on your location. The small commission fee is worth it in the long run. Be sure you get in the MCBA book and website, if from Michigan. The MCBA does an excellent job getting charter boat catalogs everywhere. It is really hard to advertise in the yellow pages, internet, business cards or fliers around town, if you are just starting out. There are always so many other boats for people to choose; often shopping by price. It is very hard, and takes many many many years, to gain a customer base to build on.

We tip the gas girls/guys only when they do a supurb job. Most of the time, sadly enough, this is not the guys. From our experiences, getting gas at numerous ports on Lake Michigan, the girls always try harder and pay attention to what they are doing, therefore getting a tip. We always pump our own gas so there is no spilling or anything from the gas girls/guys. The only time there is no tip is when they don't pump the head out good enough, help tie us up, or really care about what they are doing. It is usually pretty evident to when a tip is necessary or not.

I agree. I would NEVER buy another boat without it being surveyed; no matter what the brand, size, or price is.

Okay, that is a good thing to know for the rivers and stuff. That's why there is always added information for businesses . I was referring more to the Big Lake reports are done by the DNR creel census employees. Whatever they see, count, and are told, at each port, is what is included in the report.

The DNR creel census employees give all the State reports.

The Blue Bubble Rapture Fly can be bought at: www.rapturetrollingflies.com The Blue Bubble Action Fly can be bought in many local stores; but I am sure many have sold out of them for the year. Lakeview Marine and Tackle in Grand Haven, Limit Out Sports in Spring Lake, Gold Coast in Port Sheldon or American Tackle in Holland would be your best bets to check. These are the two brands of Blue Bubble that most people use. Both brands of flies are very similar and almost exactly the same thing. Rapture Flies can be bought at listed locations on the website or directly from Jeff on the website. Hope this helps somewhat!!!!!

Are you meaning the Spoon or the Fly?

Hey Ron, I have heard that you are a new addition to the Rapture Team. Welcome aboard! That Oceana sure has been hot!!!! Captain Jon

We usually always head to a new port or tournament around 4-5 days prior to the start of the tournament. We prefer to prefsh for 3-4 days in the water or port that we would possibly fish in the tournament. This also depends on how far from home the tournmanet may be. For example, for the South Haven tournament we like to arrive on Monday and fish our way South and then prefish for 4 days. Again, the Holland tournament we usually leave on Tuesday and then prefish for 3 days, only because it is closer to our home water. Basically, we like to prefish for 3-4 days before any tournament begins.

We have used Yellow Downrigger Weights for at least 25-30 years. I personally look at it as why use a Black weight when it isn't going to show up in the water column anyway. Why not use a bright color or something the fish may see better and maybe act as some sort of an attractor, rather than being almost non-existent. I would have to prefer the brighter colored weights over black or basic lead color. Just my opinion and feelings on the matter.

This has been the most talked about topic this year, next to American Idol, haha. I personally thought last year the DNR was making the right call by cutting the salmon plants as we were seeing less baitfish and smaller fish. This year we are seeing a lot more baitfish, more than I ever remember seeing, at least in our area, but the fish size remains very small. The fish are eating well and are a lot fatter and healthier than last year at this time. We had a lot of skinny fish last year with real thin fillets. Everyone I have talked to agrees that the number of baitfish has increased, with a ton of 1-3 inch alewives showing up. Everyone also agrees that the fish are definitely smaller. Of probably 50 people I have discussed this with, in 4 years the answer is 50/50 on what is going to happen. Half say good things and half say bad things. I really don't think anyone knows. Your guess is as good as mine and the rest of the biologists. Everything they go by is scientific and not actual and factual data occurring on charter boats everyday. Only time will tell and there is really no correct answer. Only guesses, predictions, and supported hypotheses are flying around now.

The main goal is usually to go directly into the current. That is usually when you are going to get your most bites. If not directly, the best bite occurs going into the current in some direction. Then you go 180 degrees completely opposite of the direction you were going into the current, to go with the current. Those are usually the only 2 directions of trolling you need to get the bites. We personally do not use a Fish Hawk or Sub Troll or anything of that sort. We have used our Fish Hawk maybe 6 times the last 5 years, we personally do not find it necessary. We go by our diver rods to see the direction and speed of the current. We determine all speeds and currents by the bend and pressure on the diver rods and the feel of the boat going into the current. A lot of people will disagree with us and have no clue on what we are talking about and think we are nuts. Everyone has their own techniques. I personally believe that figuring out currents and the direction of travel is the most important variable in catching fish on a regular basis. If I could tell people one thing to improve their catch rate, it would not be lures, depths, etc., it would direction of the troll.

As far as I know, Dreamweaver was interested in Pro King, but did NOT buy Pro King. Denny sold it to a buddy and fishing member of "Spur of the Moment" and the Fishin' Hole in St. Joe. The owner of Fishin' Hole didn't buy it, but his buddy and fishing partner did. That is what I was told a few months ago.

I would have to choose a Cabo Yachts 35' Express. This is "THE DREAM BOAT"

Overall, the majority of people on charters prefer a lot of fish, over a few bigger fish. A few people each year complain about the size of fish, but overall most people prefer to have a lot of action, so everyone on the charter gets a chance to fight fish. I personally prefer a lot of action as well. Bigger fish are fun to fight, but steady action makes everyone happy and it doesn't get boring after awhile.

A very small percentage of the Michigan DNR Kings are clipped and inserted with a wire tag in the head. Not every stocked fish is clipped, nor does every stocked fish have a wire tag in the head. They do a certain percentage at each stocking area. An adipose clip ONLY means it has a wire tag in the head. If other fins are clipped, along with the adipose fin, it does not have a wire tag. Each state clips different fins for different reasons. Clipped adipose fish ONLY are caught probably 2%-5% of the time of all King Salmon caught. Unclipped fish can be of natural reproduction or they can also be stocked fish.

South Pier and Lighthouse at South Haven, MI

This is from a perspective from a boat who runs a lot of different rods at a time. We ALWAYS start with 3 Downriggers, 4 Divers, depending on the time of year and water temperature, 4-10 lead cores, and if the water is really warm we will run some copper rigs. If fishing offshore, we usually run 6 surface boards and 4-6 lead cores. If we are fishing in the mud, in front of the piers, we ALWAYS run only 3 Downriggers, 2 Divers, and 2 Lead Cores, if possible to even run all of them, but always 3 Downriggers. No matter what size boat, I personally would never fish without 2 Downriggers, at least 2 Divers, and 4 Lead Cores, if possible. A perfect 9 rod spread to me is 3 Downriggers, 2 Divers, and 4 Lead Cores. We really only run Cut Bait on the chute Downrigger very deep and on Wire Divers, and this is usually only during tournaments or when we really need to use it. It gets expensive and time consuming so we avoid it if not necessary. We usually ALWAYS fish with spoons on all Lead Cores. Last year we had Stingray sized Stingers on the Lead Cores all year long. They seemed to be the ticket last year for most of the year. Like I stated in a previous thread, we do not use many Magnum Spoons at all anymore. Flashers and Flies on all Copper Rigs. Spoons on all Divers and Downriggers until the bite switches over to a Fly Bite. Usually a regular-sized Stinger on the high divers and Stingrays on the Downrigger Main Lines and low divers and regular-sized Stingers on the sliders. Once July comes about, we then begin to fish with Flashers on the Downriggers and Divers and only Spoons on the Lead Cores and Sliders. We also will begin to fish Flashers and Flies on Lead Core when necessary. Spoons eventually start to not produce, as well, as the year progresses. This is when Cut Bait and Flasher Fly Tactics really seem to take over as the water temperatures begin to rise. Overall, I would say a lot of the "choices" depend on the individual and what they have the most confidence in. If you are good with Cut Bait or Flashers and Flies, you may tend to use them more than Spoons, etc., all throughout the year. We really adapt to all tactics available to us when needed. We know how to fish every tactic possible, pretty well. We adapt to what has been working and expand on that to adjust other rods to fit in our spread. Most every good Charter Captain and Tournament Fisherman are able to adapt to whatever techniques are needed at that specific time on that specific day. For example, a few years ago in the Grand Haven and Holland Tournaments, we used 9 Lead Cores both days of the tournament as that had been the best tactic all throughout the pre-fishing week. Overall, it is very important to be versatile and adjust to what is working, etc.

We always fill up between trips on weekdays only. We also fill up if we have a "blow day" or something else. We never fill up on the weekend, except for tournament saturdays, if necessary. Grand Haven gets really clustered during the weekends so we avoid it all together. We always take advantage of the time we have to go fill up, even if we don't need it quite yet. Like Levi said, it is illegal to fill up with customers and it doesn't look very good or professional either.

We use both Rhys Davis and Fish-On Herring Strips. Each brand has their compliments and negatives. I personally like the smaller-sized Rhys Davis strips all year long, but for the larger Magnum head, the Fish-On strips are a much better fit than the Rhys Davis strips. We use a lot more Rhys Davis bait heads so we stick with the smaller Rhys Davis strips most of the time. But, we also use the Magnum heads, so we use the Fish-On strips as well. As far as best Cut Bait rigs overall, I would have to say the best cut bait head of all-time, is the Rhys Davis "Silver/Green/Chartreuse." The second best is the Rhys Davis "Splatter Chartreuse." The best flasher of all-time has been the "Glow Kermit" O'ki Kingfisher and then the "Seaweed", "Yellowtail", and "King Kobra" Reel Flashers. P.S. I also have 25 packages of Fish-On Strips For Sale that I want to get rid of. I haven't had any responses at the current price that is listed in the classifieds. So anyone who may be slightly interested at all, get ahold of me if you live in West Michigan. I will definitely give you a really good deal on them.

We never use many Magnum spoons anymore. Since Stinger has come out with the Stingray size, I think all you need, everyday, all year-long, is the regular-sized Stinger and Stingray, at least in our case and point of view. We use exclusively Stinger Spoons so I don't know about all the other brands and sizes of spoons. The Stingray size is inbetween the regular-sized Stinger and the Magnum. Usually, regular-sized spoons are used more in the Spring and when fishing in the top 30-40 feet of the water column. Regular-sized spoons also work well on surface boards and for steelhead in general. The last two years we have used the larger Stingray sized spoon on our Lead Core and Copper Rigs all year long, instead of later in the summer. We have completely gotten away from the Magnum, because of the great success with the Stingray. Lots of fellow anglers tend to use the larger-sized spoons on their Lead Core rigs as well. We always use regular-sized spoons on all fixed sliders on the downriggers. Stingray sized spoons and regular-sized spoons are used on the main line, depending on time of year, etc. The larger spoons are generally used at deeper depths on the downriggers. We also always use regular-sized spoons on our High Divers, or setting 3 divers, because these are shallower in the water column. If the fish are very picky, we then begin to look in their stomachs, but overall the logic of smaller spoons in the Spring and then larger spoons as the year progresses, is generally true. We, personally, have just gotten away from Magnum spoons and concentrated more on the inbetween size that seems to fit well. It seems to work a lot more, at all depths and times of the year, than the Magnum-sized spoon ever did. It seems like a great compliment to the average sized alewife and bait we have begun seeing all year long, the last few years.

HAHAHAHAHA. Sometimes it is we will book for another date. Sometimes it is well we are all here and we never get everyone together, let's go. Sometimes it is I don't want to get sick though and the buddy tells him oh well, so sad for you, haha. Sometimes it is we got the day off work we are going no matter what. Lastly, sometimes we tell them we don't want to go because we are sick of fishing big water everyday and need a day off. Sometimes we get the response that they want to go anyways. We get all kinds of responses. It is a very interesting occupation. You meet all kinds of people with all sorts of different motives. Some guys don't like to go when it is calm either, they say it is too boring then. There are all kinds of people who book charters with all sorts of different ideas and domains.

What do you mean by "bawk"? Maybe it is just me but I don't know what you mean there, sorry.

I totally agree with everything you said Mike. We get a lot of people who just want to go and drink beer and maybe reel in a few fish. Then, we get a lot of people who want to learn everything they can to help them as fishermen in the future. The so-called two kinds of groups are usually split throughout the season at 50-50. We get half that want to learn and half that just want to drink and enjoy themselves. We also get a lot of people who ask about the cost only and will go with the cheapest boat possible. Many times, the cheapest boats are not the best boats and also vice versa. I encourage people to not be afraid to ask questions. Sometimes we get people that are timid or feel embarrassed to ask questions. I strongly encourage questions and whatever else to make your charter fishing experience good and beneficial to you. Mike said everything perfect when interested in booking a charter.