Best Lake Michigan Harbor For Small Boat

[walleye13]

What is the best harbor for 17 deep v lund and what time of year?

[ekbelt]

I would say any... just depends on what you're comfortable with. I run a 18ft Lund Tyee and have fished in 5-6 footers--maybe not the smartest but I've never felt unsafe. Last few weeks we've been running out 10+ miles out of Holland with no issues. Just make sure your equipment is in tip top shape and you have good electronics. Pick your days... in July/August the fishing out of Holland was spectacular last year. Lots of nice calm days to fish.

Welcome to the site Mike!

[danthebuilder]

What is the best harbor for 17 deep v lund and what time of year?

For lake michigan. You got a 17 foot deep V you're pretty good until you basically get sick. 5-6 footers no issues. You don't really need to pick 1 port. You got the towable boat. Go fish where the reports are hot. If the money is a little lacking just fish the closet one.

[Nailer]

Mike, welcome to the site. You may want to add what you are looking for as in fish, and what time of the year. What area will you be coming from?

You can find plenty of help here.

[BlueCollarOutdoors]

Check the wind, and the conditions from the day or half day before you want to go. Sometimes the wind dies at noon but the lake is still rolling pretty good at 5pm.

Be realistic about where you can fish, but I have been in 240 on a dead calm day in my 16 footer, and we do just fine....

[EdB]

The fish are going good at St Joe right now out front of the piers and a few miles either way. That might not last a lot longer but there is some good fishing close to port right now. Holland has been real good offshore. The hot ports change as the season moves on. Ludington, Manistee and Frankfort are generally real good in July and August but Grand Haven and Muskegon can get hot too. Ports like South Haven, Saugatuck, Whitehall and Onekama don't get a lot of press but they can be good with less crowds too. Use the info from the reports on this forum and be flexible, go where the fish are biting good.

[mriversinco]

One of the joys of having a small boat is being able to trailer it wherever you think is good. I commonly fish from New Buffalo up to Ludington depending upon where the fish are, and how things are going. If you want to pick one port any of them have their pluses and minuses depending upon what you're looking for.

[sherman51]

back in the day we fished from new buffalo up to manistee. we were fishing a 16 ft deep v glass boat. there were very few days we spent the day walking the beach, and watching the waves come in. we traveled about 200 miles to fish. so we watched the weather and picked our weekends. one time we were south and it was rough. we got reports the water was better 100 miles north. so we loaded up and in less than 2 hours we were fishing good water. just use alittle common sence. and you can fish any of them in that 17 ft,er. but my favorites are new buffalow in the spring and when the coho are gone from inshore we moved to south haven. south haven is a great place to launch a small boat, and dont usely get the pressure the others do. but its still a good place to fish.

sherman

[medic]

Mike, welcome!!

i know I'm biast but I would have to say that Manistee is definitely one of the best ports. Here's a few reasons why IMHO

The ramp is excellent and right at the pier. No long ride out of the port to the lake.

Very short distance to deep water. The shelf is straight out about 2 miles and you'll go from 100 fow to 300 fow in less than an additional 1/2 mile heading west.

The Manistee River has an awesome chinook run and from the end of July on, the fishing is second to none.

The town is very fisherman friendly and theres much less recreational boat traffic than a port such as Holland or Grand Haven.

If you head to Manistee you won't be disappointed. I absolutely LOVE it there and I believe you will too..

[Priority1]

Mike, A warm welcome.

[KJ pluggin]

Welcome to the site Mike.

[firemanbill]

I am a newbie, but have been shown the ropes at Milwaukee harbor. I use the south shore yacht club launch and have had great luck. I haven't gone out deep yet, but my 17' boat has been out all winter (no ice really this year) in and out of the harbor in 3-5' waves. I have only been brave enough to go out about 1 mile from shore so far, but I think it is a mental thing.

[medic]

WELCOME Bill!

Watch the weather, pick your days, and you'll be fine!!

About 15 years ago, a buddy of mine and I was taking his 14 foot rowboat with my 5 1/2 hp Evinrude out of South Haven 3-4 miles chasing Captain Chucks perch boats. Took forever to get out and back in but we were slammin the jumbos!! Good times!!