2MD

Fishing was been kind of slow off Holland - disappointing based on some of the reports I had read leading into the steelheaders tourney... 5-21 MORNING setup in 50 FOW - hits came in 62 FOW 2 for 3 mono dipsey 90 back dialed on 3 - green jeans moonshine spoon rigger 38 down - happy meal moonshine spoon (this went twice) trolled all over but aside from these hits as the sun rose nothing else went on core or high-lines or you name it 5-22 EVENING (fog advisory was "lifted" at 6pm so headed out - worthless weather reporting that was - fog was awful and made coming in at dusk probably some of the toughest navigation I have had to do yet - locating and getting in the channel as sunset was one thing but navigating Lake Mac back all the way from the west side to the east side with 30 foot visibility was another!) (also very SAD that a teenager drowned out there last night - lots of activity there was with rescue teams and CG Chopper) Anyways found fishing to be similar to that morning Trolled back and forth from 45-70 FOW - ran 10 rods (4 boards, 4 dispeys, 2 riggers) 2 for 4 riggers down 32 and 38 took the fish - happy meal moonshine spoon and flounder pounder moonshine spoon did the trick again 62 FOW was the only spot we took bites - SE troll and NW troll was only angle we took could get bites with - when trolling NW had to troll 3.1MPH to get them to go and took a 14 pound king doing this NOT TOO MANY OTHER BOATS OUT THERE YESTERDAY - WHO ELSE HAS BEEN OFF HOLLAND IN THE LAST FEW DAYS AND WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? ARE THE KINGS MORE STACKED UP 8-20 MILES SOUTH OF HOLLAND (someone said that was true)

Caught 3 or 4 monster kings at the Hamilton Dam yesterday - lost a big one that fought so aggressive it pulled my big lake clamp swivel apart - pretty much all foul hook ups and obviously all released. Great time though and 2 of them shattered the 20# mark. Kings still jumping and gathering in the docks in front of the pipe and Crescent Marina. Bite has slowed though and more and more turning into snag catches. Lots of kings in the black river and nordelos creek. Insane to see them move through. They are so much bigger this year than we have seen recently. Reminds me of 2001... QUESTION: does anyone on this board know of HalfWay Creek south of Holland? It spills into Lake MI just south of the sliders and Laketown Beach. Checked its mouth out last week with the jon boat and the kids. Nothing happening there but just curious for next year if kings actually gather in front of this puppy and blast up it? Makes good sense that they would. Just think an alternative to combat fishing the pier. Would be giving a whole new meaning to high lines since the water is all of 3-8 feet deep there.

that is awesome you caught a 20LB 3 year old - says a lot about how they will be weighing in next year. Do you have a photo of the beast?

we bagged a 21 and a 23 and two 24s the kids and I - the best were the two 24s at the end that came inside of Mac on dipseys when the run was just starting - both jumped like crazy and one even launched a solid 4 feet in the air when just along side the boat it was a good year - biggest kings in 11 years (recall the 2001 hogs that quickly tapered off in 2002) my biggest king to date was a 30.5 master angler hen that somehow we managed in 2003 in shallow off of Saugatuck - thought I could shatter that record this year but it didn't happen - not yet at least 2014 is probably going to be a strong year - we caught a few 3 year olds this fall that were as big as the 4 year olds we were catching in 2004-2012 and they got all winter to chow down on bait

Thanks for the report - yes it is depressing how the year is wrapping up. I have been on a dry-spell here and not gone much in the last week. Kids and I did go Sunday night for about 90 minutes. Netted one big one on an orange board high-line J plug just out in front of big red inside the arms when setting up lines. It was like fighting a small mouth bass - the thing buried the orange board and went all the way under the jon boat with all the current ripping through there - somehow we still got em. Missed another on the rigger outside the channel in 25 foot while passing from the dirty water to clean. Then left the west side and went out to the east side of the lake and setup and trolled the shipping channel and in front of Crescent Marina there (where we have been catching a few kings casting from the shore) and ran 6 orange boards with hotntots and huskie jerks. Didn't get a bump. Did that for only 45 min with the 3 year old on board it wasn't going to last much longer. That is what I know... Someone else finds a pod of em inside of mac that can be trolled over then please let us know!

went back to Crescent today and fished for about a half an hour - no kings there today - did catch a nice largemouth on a hotntot though - need to get out on the jon boat again sometime in the next day or two - am going to troll the east side of Mac with 8 orange boards and a couple riggers running a variety of depths and see if I can find em - no doubt the main thing I am going to find is sheephead and weeds, but worth a try...

east side of lake macatawa - by Heinz I went back and had another one on there later this afternoon - was whipping a happy meal moonshine spoon (smaller size) and a king drilled it and came out of the water - lots of minnows jumping around there too - I think the kings are advancing down the lake... anyone find them in Holland channel again today OR out front off the piers? been too busy to get out there and try it...

took a stroll down to Crescent Marina - lots of drain water flooding out into Mac - 4th cast whipping the Mepps 5 and had a Chinook on - only lasted about 20 seconds - screaming the drag and shaking thee ole head - gone this is very early for Crescent - probably not many in there - will try a little later again

well done man - glad to hear they are still out there - hens to boot

nice gnarf! were they mainly in the Muskegon channel or were you trolling Muskegon lake?

Thanks for the reports guys and for the tip on the trying on the southside out off of Tiara

Tired of the last thread over orange boards - interested instead in an update report on the salmon bite out front and in the channel. Any one been out yesterday or today? Also, a thread or two back I asked if anyone had a strategy for bagging kings as they move further east into Mac - would love to hear about that....

for the kids and I the best speed was 2.7-3.0 on the busiest day (SAT aft) I attribute the lack of bites to not only the scare factor of all the boats but to so many other guys trolling at speeds of 1.5-2.0 and forcing us to do the same as we waited in line at a safe distance it is bizarre this year how many large walleye we have hauled in - this usually happens in a turn on the inside rod which is slowing down - always on jplugs off the riggers - we have gotten 8 of em in the last 10 days and my 5 year old reeled in one that weighed 9 pounds one thing I would REALLY love information on because this whole fall gig is still very new to me and now I finally have the right boat to do it is what I would describe as the "phase 2" king fishing in Mac. I am talking in about a week when the bite softens in the channel and so many of the fish are in Mac itself. I know they show up at Crescent Marina mid-Oct and the kids and I go after em there from the shore even but what I would love to try to learn about and figure out would be a way to pick them off in the narrows and all the way down the shipping channel. Anyone done this and had luck? What was the strategy and lure selection that worked best? Thanks,

fished the channel and mouth the last 3 nights on the 18 foot jon with the kids FRI night went 9 for 23 with everything happening in the channel really - nothing inside of Mac - big lake was grumpy rough and the turns outside the arms were intense - 15 of our fish hook ups came on flasher fly believe it or not - mono 40 back - everything we boated was a male SAT night went 3 for 5 - same type of program just an insane amount of boats spooking the fish - all males again SUN night (tonight) was finally sweet relief because hardly any one was out there other than a sailboat and a guy on a kayak (who netted a hog by the way - nice job man!) - we got a late start but managed to go 3 for 6 - my 7 year old son was fighting the last hookup just after dark in front of the arms - unfortunately the fish shook loose after about 20 minutes - it was just a monster and would have loved to have seen it - all our bites that night were either out front of the piers or what was best was between big red and the end of the piers (we just kept circling through there) - 2 hens and 1 male

in other news... on the run back in I hit (not grazed but drilled head on) the #11 green marker buoy back up on the east side of Mac - the all aluminum welded jon boat held up really well with just a small indentation and some green paint. The buoy went a rolling. Obviously I had too many things going on and wasn't paying attention. It scared me and the kids no doubt - aluminum hammering up against steel going 18MPH creates a loud noise! I hang my head in shame and am just thankful no one got hurt. I think I am going to tie a moonshine jplug to the top of the thing so this never happens again! I know of others who have hit this one and always said it would never happen to me. Why the coast guard leaves the green ones unmarked at night never made a ton of sense to me...

went out and fished the west side of Mac for about 50 minutes coming into dark tonight. Ran 8 rods with variety of lures. Went through the lake side of the channel and all back through the shipping channel up to the no wake markers. Not even a bump. Will probably try again tomorrow. The amount of current in the channel and even in Lake Mac was unbelievable.

Dennis - that is downright impressive you caught that king all the way back by the no wake buoys - were you centered out off the shipping channel or were you on the south or north side of the no wake perimeter. I see from your report you were running a dreamweaver spoon. I have done well in Mac this year off flashers but I get so many weeds - maybe I need to try more spoons. Have you had good look with spoons in Mac, not just this year but other years? I guess hotntots and rapalas probably would be a decent choice too...

Looking for a report in close off of Holland tonight? I saw you out there Kevin. You were right in the water where we found them last night. Curious if they were still biting or if they got lock-jaw. Saw lots jumping but none netted as the family and I went for a little joy ride at sunset tonight... Thanks,

So the East wind cooled the shoreline down off Holland today (it won't last but I figured it was going to for at least today) so I went out trolling on the jon boat again with the kids again. Surface temp was 62 degrees. Didn't get anything in Mac or the channel and there were loads of boats passing through so shifted out in front of the pier. Did well there. 3 for 4 on hogs. Just north of the pier in about 25-30 FOW was where they were hanging out tonight. South troll was best. Big fish of the batch was 22# male. The others were probably in that 17-19# range. Green and yellow jplugs. Orange boards with drop weights and then the halfcore. Ran 4 dipseys but nothing on dipseys. Nothing on the riggers either which kind of surprised me since I was running the plugs a solid 100 feet behind the ball which essentially mimicked the board. Conclusion the fish were there and eating they just were only going for long leads and scared of the boat. A buddy of mine caught a 23# male and missed one other. He and I were the only boats really working that area. His was on a wire diver of all things in 30 FOW with a meat rig. Bummer the lake is going to warm up again. Tomorrow morning is going to be red hot for whoever can get out there - this east wind is still pounding away and I bet the surface temp will kiss mid-50s before jerking back the other direction and this will inevitably bring in some fresheys.

Kevin, Sorry... I was just going through my tackle and what I meant was different than what I wrote (I think at least) - I was wondering about Luhr Jensen's "jet-diver" and do you run those and if so how do you use them. I am gathering from your reply that you do not. I read about these and they seemed to be ideal for trolling in Mac. What I could not grasp though was how it would go if one were to do relatively sharp turns. On a related note... I am contemplating trying to ditch the 2 orange boards on the next trip and instead run 4 mono dipseys in Mac and the channel (maybe on Mon or Tues). Question: is this a pipe dream to think I can go short poles on the inside dialed on 1.75 without the ring say about 30 back and then long poles on the outside dialed at 3.5 without the ring say 45 back? Have you ever tried this with the shallow routine? I do it all the time in 60+ FOW but just question if the turns will trigger wrap up tangles. I realize I will have to problem concede not running flasher flies which is a bit of a heart break since last week those were the ones were red hot. Respond if you have time... if not I will just give it a whirl and let you guys all know how it goes... Seems like the cold water has left for now so whatever I try I am going to need luck more than anything to get the fish holding in there to bite.