Trophy Specialist

8/16/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report Today's fishing weather was absolutely beautiful with a gorgeous sunrise, plenty of sunshine and mostly blue skies for the morning on the Bay. We had light winds and a mild chop all morning too, which was nice. My clients from New Baltimore, MI and Capac, MI caught their limits of good eating sized walleyes without too much effort today. Our program consisted of red/chrome spinners fished on the bottom on the outside and middle boards along with the two flatlines. My inside boards rounded out the spread with two fire/tiger spinners fished suspended 15' down or about half way down in the water column. We did catch a lot of fish suspended today, but there were also a lot of fish biting on the bottom too. We trolled at 1.5 to 1.8 mph and caught scattered fish over a wide swath of water covering perhaps six miles on our trolling jury, never going over the same area twice. We were looking for a school of active, bigger fish, but never really found them, so we just kept searching and picking away at mostly smaller fish all morning with a few good sized ones mixed in. The walleyes seem to be still scattered all over the Bay with a lot of baitfish in the system too this summer. They are showing fast growth rates as a result of all the forage available this year, which is likely due to the mild winters the last two years and the high water levels. For what ever reason, the fishing is still great and we are not fishing very far from Au Gres either, which is a good thing too. Capt. Mike Viene

8/14/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report The walleye fishing has been good this week for sure. After a good catch on yesterday's charter, I decided to try another spot today where some bigger fish were taken yesterday by some friends. We ran out this morning in waves that were over three times higher than predicted and had some light showers pass by us, but we stayed dry, none-the-less. We even spotted a water spout on the east side of the Bay this morning. The walleyes seemed to l the bigger waves though as the action was pretty steady all morning, but when the wind died down, the bite slowed up considerably. When the bite slowed down, I decided to try some new Moonshine spinner/crawler rigs I got the last time I was in the U.P. and they did put several fish in the box including one of our biggest fish of the day. Those Moonshine spinner blades have the super glow paint found on their spoons. The best pattern today was a fire tiger blade with green beads. The hooks on those rigs held the fish well as we did not loose any of the ones hooked on them, and the bite was very light today, so that was impressive. My clients from Sage Lake, MI caught their limits today composed of fish of all sizes. We trolled in deeper water not too far from Au Gres and all the fish today were hugging the bottom pretty closely. We pulled bottom bouncers right on the lake bed at 1.4 to 1.5 mph going with the waves, so my setbacks were quite long. All in all it was another great day on the Bay and this great fishing will likely continue until the end of summer with the cool waters we have. Capt. Mike Veine

8/7/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report The walleyes remain scattered following the big winds we had late last week. Our first spot we hit had no fish as the water had changed there big time moving the walleyes out. Our second spot had some fish there, but the bite was fairly slow, and then it eventually shut down completely, so we picked up and moved once again. The third spot had lots of fish on the sonar including balls of baitfish and lots of bigger marks, but the action there was slow none-the-less. What fish did bite were hiting extremely light too as we lost more fish today than we caught. My clients though from Flint, MI did manage to pick away at them enough today to end up with a good catch consisting of 19 walleyes, two catfish and one nice yellow perch. Our biggest walleye was 25 inches. We caught all our fish today on spinner/crawler rigs with some on bottom and some suspended, though I would guess we caught slightly more suspended today. Lure color did not seem to make much difference. Our trolling speed was 1.4 to 1.6 mph in the fairly calm seas. There were a lot of floating weeds in every spot we fished today, which is a result of the pounding winds we had last week, which rips up the weeds and then scatters them all over the Bay. Then those weeds get caught on our lines and planer boards making it a royal pain to deal with. Despite the tough fishing today, it was still a great day on the Bay with decent weather, good company and enough nice fish to make it interesting. Capt. Mike Veine

8/5/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After gale force winds forced a cancellation yesterday, we were greeted by very gusty winds this morning that were still pushing the 30 knot velocity. We had to delay out departure a couple hours this morning and even then, the wind was still breezy, to say the least. None-the-less, we got into a pretty good bite very close to port, which was good, because there was no other option for safe fishing anyway with the blustery, offshore wind, whipping up huge waves just a few miles off shore. We managed to pick up seven walleyes on our first short trolling pass, and then another six on the second. The third and four passes yielded about the same results too. During that period, the wind started out west, then switched to the northwest, but when it shifted back to the west and died down to perhaps 17 to 18 knots, the bite suddenly died. For two hours we tried several different spots and could not get any walleyes to bite at all. It was as if a light switch had been flipped off. Thankfully, my clients from Perry, MI had caught 26 nice walleyes before the fish had shut down and they had a very nice box of fish with the largest being 26 inches with many other nice, chunky walleyes in the pile too. We caught all our fish on spinner/crawler rigs fished mostly up off bottom for suspended fish. We did take some close to bottom too, but not many. The bite was pretty light today too with a lot of fish lost in the process. We trolled at varying speeds from 1.5 to over 2.0 mph depending on the wind gusts which at times were brutal. At some points I had to deploy two drift socks just to keep the speed productive. We are predicted to have much lighter winds tomorrow, which will open up a lot more fishing areas to our game plan, so I expect mush better fishing for the next few days indeed. Capt. Mike Veine

8/2/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report We had a somewhat iffy forecast today with storms predicted for the afternoon, so my plan was to run out to my best spot and fish until about 11:00 at the latest and then head back in closer to port and fish another spot if we hadn't limited out by then. Well, my clients from Melvin, MI made it happen fast this morning with non-stop action from the time I set lines until their limits hit the bottom of the cooler. We had good success on everything we trolled today including Hot N' Tots on the outside boards and a spread of spinner/crawler rigs towed behind bottom bouncers on the rest of the lines. We caught some nice sized fish today with plenty of walleyes over 20 inches and one Master Angler qualifying (21 inches) smallmouth bass that put on an aerial show that was quite impressive. We trolled at 1.8 to 2.0 mph going with the surging waves that were in the 1-3 foot range all morning. Lure color did not mater much. My Hot N' Tots were chrome/green, 1/4 oz. models trolled close to bottom with a rubber core sinker 5' in front of the lure. My spinners were an assortment of colors with everything in the water going about equally. I was using 3 oz. bottom bouncers. This is some red-hot fishing right now for sure. Capt. Mike Veine

Good to hear from you Frank. Saw you truck in the parking lot today. Hopefully you caught a lot of fish. We'll have to get together for a beer some time. It's been too long since we've talked.

7/30/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report We had a very nice weather day on the Bay today with my clients from Marysville, MI and Lapeer, MI taking home a limit catch of 32 walleyes. The bite today was a bit slow compared to most trips this month with about 5-6 keeper walleyes being caught per hour. The fish were scattered in pockets of fish where we would go a while with no fish and then catch several at one time. We also caught a lot of undersized walleyes today too and two nice northern pike. A lot of small walleyes bodes well for the future of the Bay's fishery. We fished a fairly small area today of perhaps a couple square miles staying there because when we talked to friends of mine fishing elsewhere, we were catching a lot more fish than they were. We caught fish today on spinner/crawler rigs and Hot N' Tots trolled at 1.8 to 1.9 mph close to bottom. Color did not seem to make any difference today with everything getting hit about the same. The water temperature was about 72 to 73 degrees where we fished today, which is still pretty cool for late July. It should start warming up though this week with the predicted stable, warm, sunny, calm weather pattern. That will likely move the fish to the north some as long as we don't get another cold front blasting us with strong, north or east winds. Capt. Mike Veine

The morning weather was a bit iffy today with some storm systems working though Michigan. It had rained all night at Au Gres, but by sunrise, most of the storms were south of the Bay, but there was still some light drizzle and sprinkles out over the Bay as we ran out. The wind was dead calm early in the morning and for the first hour of fishing the bite was rather lack-luster. When the breeze picked up though at about 8:00, the fishing improvised dramatically with the catch rate going from 5 walleyes per hour earlier to 15 per hour for the later portion of the trip. As the bite improved, the size of the walleyes increased too. My clients from Davison, MI, who are in Au Gres participating in the auto show, caught their limits with a box of 32 nice walleyes ranging in size up to about 24 inches. We didn't have much luck on the two Hot N' Tots I ran on the outside board until the wind picked up. After the chop kicked up, the Tots caught plenty of fish, and also the biggest ones of the day too. The six spinner/crawler rigs I ran also produced very well with fire tiger doing better early in the morning, but later, when the fish were biting good, they did not show a color preference. We trolled at around 1.7 to 1.9 mph today and trolling north, into the wind seemed to produce the best. When we turned around and trolled with the wind, the bite slowed up a bit. Capt. Mike Viene

7/25/18, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After a blow day yesterday, we headed back out to the same, general area where we fished on Sunday. There was a slight chop on the water as we ran out, but the wind had died completely by the time we got to the fishing area. With the water flat and the sun out and bright, I was not surprised when the bite was a bit slower than in past days, but my clients from Battle Creek, MI did managed to catch their 24 walleye limit along with a couple nice, 11", yellow perch too. We did far better on meat today compared to the two crankbaits I ran, which we only caught a couple fish on. Putting the crawlers right on the bottom the the ticket and we trolled at 1.8 to 1.9 mph. Early on fire/tiger spinners worked best, but later, after we found a concentration of fish, color did not seem to mater. Thankfully the big, northeast wind yesterday did not move the water around much and the fish were not moved out of the area we have been fishing for weeks. With a decent weather forecast for the next week, the fishing should continue to be great. Capt. Mike Veine

7/22/18, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report The weather forecast was totally blown by the weatherman who predicted light winds today. We had to delay our departure a couple hours due to heavy rain coming through the area. For the run to the fishing area, the winds were light, but right after we got there, the wind picked up a lot and we had 15 to 20 knot winds for the rest of the charter and the wind was ever changing all morning too starting out from the north, then changing to the NE, the east then southeast then back to the east. The bite today was actually the slowest we have had in weeks due to the weather, but my long time, repeat clients from Kalamazoo, MI still caught limits of 24 walleyes without too much trouble. We ran a mixed spread of Hot N' Tots on the outside boards and spinner/crawler rigs on the middle & inside boards and two flatlines. We trolled at 1.8 to 2.1 mph going with the ever changing winds. Lure color did not seem to mater. Most of our walleyes today were 14 to 20 inches with a few larger and a some smaller throwbacks too. They also caught a handful of channel catfish, one large yellow perch and a few sheepshead too. It was kind of a rainy day today with on and off drizzle all day long, but the fishing was still pretty good despite the conditions. You know the fishing is super good when a "slow day", with bad weather still results in about 8-10 walleyes caught per hour. Capt. Mike Veine

7/20/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report We had some storms come through the area this morning, but fortunately there were north and south. Despite the forecast for "likely storms", we never did see any near us. The wind was also miss-forecasted today being about twice as strong as predicted by the weatherman. We ran out early this morning to the same ara where we limited out yesterday and set lines for a down wind troll, but the wind switched mid-way through that pass, so we had to keep changing the trolling direction to keep things running right. The lousy, strong, switching wind didn't seem to have any impact on the walleyes though as my clients from Edwardsburg, MI limited out in short order catching one walleye after another with no lulls in the action. They also caught four yellow perch today as a bonus. We ran the same program as yesterday with seven spinner/crawler rigs and one Hot N' Tot at 1.7 to 2.0 mph. The spinners got bit better that the Tot, but plastic did take a couple fish though today. Color did not make any difference today as everything in the water got hammered non-stop. I have the same crew tomorrow too, and with a better forecast, the fishing should be even more phenomenal than today was. Capt. Mike Veine

7/18/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After taking a few days off to participate in the National Arm Wrestling Championships and to take a day trip with my visiting sister to Alpena, we hit the water after three days off. There were some poor fishing reports from yesterday, but after some research, we ran out to a promising area and managed to box 64 walleyes on a two boat charter before noon, which is hardly poor at all. We also caught a pair of candy northern pike too along with a bunch of other assorted species of fish for a morning of intense fishing action. The weather today was perfect, with a steady, gentle southerly wind and clear, blue skies all day. We pulled a mixed spread of spinner/crawler rigs and Hot N' Tots and the fish were not picky at all today biting everything we pulled past them. We fished in one long trolling pass today too covering perhaps six miles of water and never stopped catching fish all along the way, so the fish are spread out pretty well now in the area we fished. We probably never went more than five minutes between fish and had a lot of multiple fish on too. We started catching a lot of "junk" fish early, but when I sped up to close to 2.0 mph, it thinned out the rate of trash to walleyes. We have the same large group of guys tomorrow, so hopefully the weather holds up and we can get a second day of awesome fishing in. Capt. Mike Veine

7/15/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After a blow-day yesterday, we ventured out onto the Bay heading to the same area where we limited out on the 12th. The weatherman had predicted 10 knot winds, but they were nearly double that for the first half of the trip and they changed too from SW to NW as the day went on. The fish had moved some since Wed. due to the high, NE winds cooling the water down there. We eventually found them though in the warmer water nearby. Once we got into the fish, it was non-stop action with 32 walleyes hitting the box 15-20 sheephead also giving us plenty of fish-on. My clients today from Tawas and Bay City certainly had a lot of fun reeling in a pile of fish and now have the makings for many fish fries to come. Their biggest fish were 23 inchers. The fish were more bunched up today and not spread over as big an area as they have been. We had to make two trolling passes through there to limit out. We caught fish on a Hot N' Tot and spinners. The Sheephead didn't bother the Tots, so they might have been better today. Lure color did not seem to make any difference today as they hit everything in the water. We trolled at speeds that were all over the place today going with the surging waves at 1.4 to 2.0 mph. I have a couple days off this weekend to participate in the National Arm Wrestling Championships being held in Battle Creek, MI. Hopefully I will do well there. Capt. Mike Veine

7/12/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report With a very iffy weather forecast today that was calling for storms all day, we relied on the weather radar, which showed us a wind of stormless weather up until about noon. We ran without delay speeding out to the same same spot we limited out in yesterday in one to two foot waves. We set up for a down wind trolling pass though the big area and it was game-on as we started catching walleyes right off the bat. We had constant action for over one hour and in no time my clients from Pheonix, AZ caught their limits of nice walleyes. We ran the same mixed spread program that I've been running all week that combines Hot N' Tots with spinner/crawler rigs. Like usual, the crawlers out paced the Tots, but the cranks did take some fish though. Color did not make any difference once again today as they hit every color I had down there. Trolling speed was kept at 1.7 to 1.8 mph which helps to keep the sheephead, white perch and catfish off the lures. Walleyes have no problem chasing down those lures though at those speeds. I use small, Colorado blades that spin well at faster speeds. We are just using half crawlers, which will out produce whole ones on the Bay in most situations. We had a smooth ride back to the Au Gres River and managed to miss all the storms making it a fine day of fishing on the Bay. The only down side is that I broke off a lure and planer board on a big catfish today and lost the whole rig, which was a bummer, but happens from time to time. Capt. Mike Viene

7/10/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After a blow day yesterday, we headed out today with iffy weather conditions. A storm system passed by just to the south of us early in the morning just before we hit the water. Another system was predicted to pass to the south of Bay City later in the morning, but as we were fishing, a check of radar showed that it likely would hit the area where we were fishing on the Bay. It's a good thing that the fish were biting like crazy this morning though as my clients from Wayland and Battle Creek caught their limits of walleyes well before the storm hit, so we never did get wet. We had non-stop action from the time we set lines until the cooler was maxed out. We only made one trolling pass through the same area where we fished two days ago and it was obviously still full of fish. Early on in the fishing we hooked a giant catfish that took out a bunch of line on a planer board. Since the cat was well out of the way of the fishing action, and I didn't want to waste time fighting a fish we were not going to keep, we just ignored that fish and continued to focus on the super hot walleye action. An hour later, with limits in hand, we finally pulled in that catfish that had been dragging along some 100 yards behind the boat. The channel catfish weighted about 12 pounds and thankfully was pretty tired out by the time we hauled him in. I did run one Hot N' Tot today of my starboard, outside planer board and it did take a few walleyes, but the spinner/crawler harnesses seemed to get whacked better. Basically, if a harness did not get hooked up with a fish within a couple minutes, then the night crawler had likely been stolen. Color did not mater today at all since everything in the water was getting hammered. We had about two foot waves for much of the morning, and we were trolling with the waves at about 1.7 to 1.8 mph. The wind did kick up a bit when we headed back in, and we hit some three footers on the way back to port. All in all though it was a fantastic morning of walleye fishing on Saginaw Bay. Capt. Mike Veine

7/7/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report With a bunch of severe storms raging though the area last night and early this morning and a rather stiff wind greeting us as we left the Au Gres River, I was debating on where to fish. The forecast was calling for lighter winds than reality, and it was also calling for it to really lay down to calm conditions as the morning went on, so I decided to make the run out to where we fished yesterday even though the winds were not great for that spot. I set up for our first trolling pass with three foot waves pushing us, but I set up about one mile upwind from where we did extremely well yesterday. We started out catching some walleyes there, but eventually when we got to where we caught 24 walleyes in 1.5 hours yesterday, the bite petered out. The wind had just shifted abruptly though from the southwest to the west, which can slow a walleye bite considerably. We then made a short run to another area and set up for our second pass with the wind significantly lighter. We started hammering them pretty steady right away there and had 20 walleyes and some nice perch in the box in short order. Then we pulled lines, ran further back up wind, which had switched back to the southwest again, and really got into a great bite taking some bigger walleyes there for good measure. My Michigan made clients today from Stanton, Greenville and Morley all caught their limits of walleyes today and by the time we were heading back in the wind had died down to a mild chop and it was a very pleasant ride back to Au Gres. We ran mostly spinner/crawler rigs with bottom bouncers, but I did run a Hot N' Tot for a short period at the end of the trip after a big catfish broke off a harness. We did hook up with one walleye right away on the Tot, but lost it on the way to the boat. Our best trolling speed today was 1.6 to 1.7 mph. Lure color did not seem to make any difference. It was certainly another great day on the Bay today indeed. Capt. Mike Veine

7/3/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report We had an absolutely beautiful day on the Bay today with blue skies, light winds and fish that were very hungry. My clients today from Chesterfield, MI caught fish non-stop from the time I set lines until limits were reach in about two hours of fishing. I'm talking about catching more than 15 keeper walleyes per hour plus some undersized ones, catfish, perch, sheephead and even one trophy class smallmouth bass that was about 20 inches long that put on quite a show jumping clear out off the water many times. That's a lot of fish catching in anybody's book. Today the walleyes were biting on Hot N' Tots just about as well as they were spinner/crawler rigs. As long as the lure was down near bottom, then it got bit a lot. We trolled pretty fast today with the aggressive bite. Speeds of 1.7 to 1.8 mph were best. Our fish today came in all sizes from dinky little throw-backs to several 24 inchers with everything in-between. There were a lot of walleyes over 20 inches caught today as the cooler was very heavy by the end of the trip. This was probably the best fishing day of the season today and one that I'm sure my clients will remember for a very long time. Capt. Mike Veine

Off the charts fishing again today with limits of mostly bigger fish in short order. Au Gres walleye fishing is on fire right now.

7/1/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report We ushered in July today with a banner day of walleye fishing on the Bay with my clients from Greenville, MI catching their limits of 32 nice walleyes in short order. We fished a totally new area today some ten miles from the zone we had been fishing for the past week. I suspected that based on the winds we had experienced the past week and the resulting water temperature shifts in the Bay, that this new spot would be full of walleyes and sure enough it certainly was chuck full of fish. From the time I set lines until we pulled lines we had non-stop action with doubles, triples, quadruples and even one time when we had five on at one time. Also, we only made one trolling pass and never had to turn around once as we never got out of that massive school of walleyes, which likely stretched for five or more miles. The walleyes we caught today were of all sizes too with a lot of fish under 20" for some ultra tasty eating and also a bunch of fish over 20" that put up some scrappy battles that even earned some of them their freedom (lost fish). We pulled the same spinner/crawler rigs that have occupied my rods since early May. Some are natural colored and some are bright fluorescents and all of them worked equally with no preference shown. We had a south wind to start out the morning, but it shifted to the west a while into the trip, but the fish continued to keep hammering those spinners. Our trolling speed was 1.4 to 1.7 mph in the surging waves. We only caught 4 or 5 undersized walleyes today, but we also caught three catfish, one of which was a 10 pound giant channel cat. We also caught a few sheephead and one nice yellow perch too. On the way back in we came across of big flock of cormorants actively feeding and when we got closer they tried to take off, but some were so full of fish that they could not fly. Some even barfed up their stomach contents and one of the fish they left floating was an 18" walleye; another was a similar sized sucker. I was surprised that they could swallow such a big walleye, but obviously they can I'm sure that they do so regularly consuming a lot of our valuable walleye and perch resources. I hate those non-indigenous cormorants and at the very least their populations should be controlled and the DNR and Fish and Willife Service agree, but one federal judge that has likely never even seen a cormorant stopped all control measures in the Great Lakes region and that is a giant travesty of justice since she went against the recommendations of the biologist that manage our natural resources. Capt. Mike Veine

Seek out the warmer waters to the south for concentrations of fish. We are fishing deeper water there. Watch your sonar as you run and set up on concentrations of fish marks that are at least a couple miles long for a productive down wind troll.

6/27/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report We had stronger winds that predicted once again today with three foot waves greeting us, which quickly built up a to threes and fours. The strong winds did not deter the fish or my clients though, who happen to hail from my home, stomping grounds of Manistee. We started catching walleye right off the bat and that action never did let up as we limited out on a box of mostly above average sized walleyes in short order. The winds eventually did die down later in the morning and it shifted then from the WSW to the WNW but that did not even slow the bite perceptibly. We fished the same area where we tried to fish yesterday and it was full of fish. Our second trolling pass covered about three miles in one direction and we never stopped catching fish. We also managed to catch five walleyes that were over 24 inches and a bunch over 20". My spread today consisted of eight rods with six off Church Tackle Walleye Boards and two flatlines right off the gunwales. All were rigged with spinner/crawler harnesses trailed behind bottom bouncers. The outside board sets were set to tick right on bottom. The middle board rigs were tracking about five feet off bottom and the inside boards had a setback that tracked the lures about 10 feet off bottom. All rigs in all colors got hit about equally trolled at a speed of 1.4 to 1.7 mph surging with the waves. While I was cleaning fish I was approached by yet another Manistee area angler who had also been fishing out of Au Gres today. It was like a reunion of Manistee people for sure. Capt. Mike Veine

6/26/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After a blow day yesterday, we tried to get back out to where we were fishing on the last trip where we limited out in short order. The wind this morning was stronger than predicted early on though, so the waves built up fast. We did have excellent action for a couple couple hours though and put 14 nice walleyes up to 25 inches in the box along with one yellow perch. We also caught and released some walleyes too. Eventually we had to call it a day though curtailing the trip due to big waves. We caught fish both on bottom and suspended (10' up from bottom) today with no color of harness being preferred. There are few fish within close proximity to Au Gres now since these strong winds have brought cold water into Au Gres Bay. It was only 56 degrees in spots this morning there and the walleyes have either moved south or east as a result. I had to deploy two drift socks today just to get my trolling speed down to 1.5 to 1.7 mph, but that speed was very productive. Hopefully the winds will die down as I'm getting tired of crappy weather to deal with. Capt. Mike Veine

6/21/17, Saginaw Bay, Au Gres, Fishing Report After the big blow yesterday afternoon, the water temperature really cooled down where we had limited out yesterday morning and the fish had moved from that area. We then ran further out until I found warmer water and we set up on some pretty good looking fish marks. We had non-stop action right away for the first hour, but then the wind died down and the bite slowed. A while later and they did start to bite better, but when the wind shifted to the south the bite slowed down once again. It took us a while, but my clients from Indianapolis, IN managed to catch their limit of walleyes and also took four nice yellow perch. One of the perch was a foot long too. We also caught a nice northern pike that jumped 5' out of the water as soon as it was hooked on the bottom which is unusual. During the early morning the fish were hitting spinners on bottom, but later, when the wind calmed down, the fish moved up and we took a lot of them just 12' down over deep water. I had to keep the speed under 1.6 mph to get decent action today. No color preference was noticed. We just stayed in the same general area all day waiting out the lulls. There was no point in moving since I knew we were over a lot of fish. We just used patience to load up the cooler. My client today had fished with me a long time ago, so it was nice seeing them again on such a nice, bluebird day on the Bay. Capt. Mike Veine

After blow days the last two days on Sat. and Sun. we hit the water and ran out to the general area where we limited out on Friday. We had some fast paced action for the first few hours of the charter getting to 20 walleyes in the box on the first trolling pass. After that though, some clouds moved in and the bite slowed up considerably. We ended up with 29 walleyes today as we had to curtail the trip when some storms popped up on radar, which showed they were heading in our direction. It was a good call coming in early too as the winds cranked up after we got back to the dock and the storms did come through the area later too. I set a mixed spread of spinner/crawler rigs today fishing some high and some down on bottom. Early on the fish hit everything high or low, but later when the bite slowed down, only the lures close to bottom got bit. Color did not mater much, but the speed was pretty critical. I had to troll no faster than 1.5 mph or they would not bite. We also caught a lot of undersized walleyes today, so the action at times this morning was very fast and furious. Interestingly, we did not catch any other species besides walleyes today, which is unusual for Saginaw Bay this time of year. Even though we had to come in early, it was still a very good day on the Bay. Capt. Mike Veine

For a rare change of pace, the weather today was actually much better than the weatherman had predicted. We had light winds and cloud cover giving way to mostly sunny skies with no storms or anything else to bum us out. In fact my clients today from various parts of Michigan caught their limit of 32 walleyes in fairly short order with fish of all sizes from 25" down. They also caught some nice catfish too along with the occasional sheepshead for a action packed morning on the water indeed. We trolled a bit faster today at 1.6 mph and made one long trolling pass over four miles of water and never quit catching fish. It seemed like fire/tiger crawler harnesses were best today, but we did manage to catch walleyes on every pattern I had in the water. We caught fish suspended and we also caught them off the bottom. There was a fly hatch going on for the first couple hours of the morning and we marked a lot of fish up high that must have been feeding on the emerging bugs. Every one on board had a great time today hauling in lots and lots of spunky fish. capt. Mike Veine