South Haven

[livintobefishin]

I am foreign to the South Haven area and was thinking of heading down there tomorrow morning for some perch. Looking for a little information on where to get minnows, when they open and where to go to launch. Any help would be appreciated. Also, a report would be greatly appreciated also.

[SPOONWASHER]

Where are you coming from? This will be a lot of info all in one so it might be confusing. If from I-94 take the Phoenix Road exit until you reach Broadway Street (also M-43). Turn right onto Broadway and follow it until you get to Dykman Ave. You can only turn left onto Dykman. You will see Dykman leads to a bridge crossing the river. Right before the bridge turn right onto Dunkley Ave. Follow this road for just a little bit and you will soon see Pyles Porthole on your right. They will have minnows, drinks, and a fishing report. Get back on Dunkley but DO NOT follow Dunkley around the side of Pyles. Instead go straight and you will now be on Wells Street. This leads right to the City Launch which has several docks and usually a fish cleaning station but I heard it was out of commission. Sounds confusing but its really not at all. Just google map South Haven and you will see where the bridge crosses the river. It is then easy to find Dunkley and trace your way to the launch.

As for a report I have not been out in a while so I am not much help there. There is usually a pretty big pack of boats to the south of the pierheads. I would go to the south down by the 2nd or 3rd Sand Dune. That is a pretty good spot and just scan 20-40FOW till you find the fish. Another good spot to try is North of the Sand Dunes. There is a crick called Deerlick Crick. It is identifiable by the 5-6 very similar houses one right after another. To the South of these houses there will be a short gap and then one really large house. The crick lies in that gap between them. Try fishing straight out from that crick. Pyles usually helps with what foot of water to fish. Google Pyles Porthole and they will have hours they are open and a number to call. They also have a report but I dont know how recent it is. Hope this helps and be sure to report back to this site! Good luck!

[livintobefishin]

Great description. Thank you very much. If I do get out I will be sure to report back.

[Nailer]

Nic, Welcome to the site.

[SPOONWASHER]

No problem! Welcome to the site! Its always nice to have another person fishing the same waters and giving reports. Nice have you here!

[SUPERTRAMP]

Try Pyles www.pylesporthole.com for a fishing report and a map of how to get there. otherwise Spoonwasher had it all.

[livintobefishin]

Trip was moderately successful, finished with 16 decent perch from 7"-10". Fished 40-50 FOW, for about 5 hrs. Most boats were in the 50 foot range, while all others fell into the reported 35-50 by Pyles. Caught most of our fish in front of the first sand dune. Had some trouble staying on fish do to the lack of an effective anchor Most seemed to be busy catching fish, but had responses that most fish were small. I'm thinking I didn't have that problem because of being tossed around by the waves in my little boat and didn't feel many light bites. Nevertheless, found Pyles no problem and the trip was a success.

[SPOONWASHER]

Thanks for the report! How big were the waves? To get an idea of what the waves may be like try clicking on the Marine Forecast at the top of the page. They can be wrong with the wave forecast though.

[livintobefishin]

Waves were 1-2, with 3 foot rollers. About what I expected from the noaa forcast. Not terrible but was an inconvenience at times.