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The Tale of Muck-Boy
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| Muck Boy Fishing Report Page | |
| Welcome to our fishing report page, on this page we will report on our latest fishing trips. We will let you know in some detail what worked and of course what did not work. | |
| More reports 5/29/06, 6/4/06 , 7/03/06 , 7/14/06, 7/30/06, 8/22/06, 6/24/07, 7/15/07 7/18/07 7/21/07 7/29/07 |
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| Report |
Pictures |
| Saugatuck July 29 - One of the Muck Boy crew had a chance to fish with Hoppenero Charters on July 29th. We left the marina at 7:00 am and headed south when we reached the mouth of the Kalamazoo river, running out to 85 feet of water. Capatian Mike began to set rods and it was not long before we had our first King on the line and it did not take long at all for us to go 12 for 17 and head in with our 4 man limit of Kings. It was a great day and we had fish going, on just about anything. We took 4 fish on riggers, 4 on wire dipseys and 4 on lead core. Most of the fish came on flashers and flies as long as those flies were a shade of green. We did have a few steelhead on lead core, on a orange/red spoon that they were able to get off before we could get them to the boat. Overall it was an amazing day and it only took us about 2 hours to boat those 12 fish so Captain Mike and his crew was very busy. The fish were good size averaging about 13 lbs with the largest fish topping 16 lbs. If you get a chance I highly recommend fising with Captain Mike on Hoppenero Charters. |
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Holland - July 31 & Aug 1 08 - The Muck Boy Crew spent the last three days salmon fishing out of this harbor. The weather looked great when we started out Tuesday night, but a group of small thunder storms moved through the area at 3:30am Wednesday morning and did not allow us to get on the water until after 7:00am and when we did we were greeted with six foot breakers at the pier head. There went day one. On Thursday morning we cleared the pier heads at 6:00am and took a southwest heading out to 80 feet of water, this is where we had planned to set up. After setting lines, 4 downriggers and 2 dipsey - we took a due south heading fishing between 70 and 90 feet of water until we found the fish. We finally took our first fish on a double pearl Spin Doctor and Hypnotist LG Rapture fly. This setup proved over the next 2 days to be our hot setup. We also boated fish on a Dreamweaver Magnum Firefly and Silver Streak Magnum Glow Green Froggie. We ended the day taking a nice 8 pound steel head on our new full core rig in front of Saugatuck. Total for day two was 6 for 10, 5 kings and one steelhead, not a bad morning. On Friday morning we basically followed the same plan but we setup in 70 feet of water and headed south the fish started hitting immediately on our hot setup from the day before, except we strugged to keep fish on and only boated 1 out of our first four. But we managed to take our six King limit with two of the fish going over 15 pounds. We also took one on a full core setup and the last two fish came in late morning one on a Dreamweaver Magnum Blue Dolphin and another on a Silver Streak Magnum Blue Chilly Willy. Total for day three was 6 for 9, all kings. By far the best set up included an all white Spin Doctor the pearl tape worked the best but we also caught fish on the double white crush and the double crystal halo. The best fly was the Rapture fly Hypnotist LG Glow but we also cautght fish on the Dreamweaver Liquid Sunshine and Mirage Green. |
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| Holland - Jul 4 08 - Fished this morning knowing that this was the only day we could be on the water for the weekend. Well lets say we struggled - going 0 for 2 and this happened all before 6:30am. Even though we fished till 11:00am, just hoping the bite would happen. From all the chatter on the marine radio this seemed to be the story for just about all the boats trolling here this morning. Some had a few with a lot of others not having had a release. Looks like the weather will be settleing in this week and we hope to be on the water next weekend. | |
| Holland - Jun 15 08 - Is there a better way to spend fathers day, than to be out fishing on Lake Michigan? I can't think of any other way, as I post this report. Started fishing in 100 feet of water straight out from the piers, setting our downriggers from 50 to 60 feet down. We worked our way a bit south and out to 160 feet of water and this is were we found the fish. Went 4 for 5 with our best spoon being a magnum Silver Streak, glow frog, 12 pulls back. All the fish we caught came off the downriggers today. We did lose a nice fish along with the Dreamweaver spin doctor and fly when the swivel snap pulled apart. The fish slowed down and the waves started to build at 10:00am, so we called it a day and headed for home. | Click
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| Holland - Jun 01 08 - Was out again today and the big lake was absolotley fabulous once again. Started our set up 150 feet of water straight out, we work our way north and out to 170 feet as we set lines. We were 3 for 6 this morning and they were all about 3 to 4 LB kings. The 3 we lost, from the way we lost them looked like they came off our sliders. Our best lure was a Magnum Northern King Kevorkian set down 56 feet on the main line. | Click
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| Holland - May 24 08 - Made it out today and the big lake was absolotley fabulous with a very slight chop, maybe 6 inchs. Started to set things up in 100 feet of water and from all the radio chatter the fish were active in 165 feet. We head out and south and managed to go 3 for 4. We kept 2 and farmed one back for next year. Our best lure was a standard size Silver Streak called Plum Crazy, set up as a slider with the rigger set at 40 feet down. Talk on the radio had fish active all the way from South Haven to Grand Haven. Some boats were reporting great catches, while others were reporting nothing. | Click
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| Holland - May 18 08 - Not much to report as of yet - we have tried to get out the past 2 Sundays and the wind just will not cooperate. We did manage to launch the boat and take a spin around Lake Macatawa to get the kinks out after the winter lay off - also tried out our new Lowarance, looks great but we may have a learing curve. We will be reporting more on this as we get to use it more. | |
| Newaygo, MI May 14 08 - One of the muck-boy crew had the opportunity to fish steelhead in a little different way last wednesday. We were on the Muskegon river fly fishing with Chad Betts of Betts Guide Service and my buddy John. It was a little wet but we still had a great day. We started out about 8:00 AM and Chad got us on the fish early. We used Fly fishing gear that really helped us target the fish that were still holding in the river. Chad had some great flys that really seemed to work. We ended up going 5 for 9 for the day which for this time of the year I understand is really good. Chad will be doing a Muskegon river report for us so check back often for updates on a great place that can help us Great Lakes guys extend our fishing season. | Click
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| Holland
Sept-03-07 - We
had a change of plans -with the weather so great this weekend we
decide to try one last time. Can it ever be the last time for fishing.
Hit the water early and again the weather people had trouble predicting
the wave hight, because we were in 2 to 4 footers for most of the
morning. We stuck it out and by noon it was laying down. Boated
2 nice fish, a 5 LB coho and 10 LB brown. The coho came on a mountain
dew spin doctor and mirage fly 38 feet down 40 feet back. The brown
came on a silver screw ball, on a set slider 10 foot above a mountain
dew spin doctor and mirage fly. |
 
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| Holland Aug-23-07 - Made our last trip for the year this morning for the season, early goose season starts in a little over a week. We knew that the weather would be an issue, but when this is it, you have to at least give it a try. After waiting for the rain and small thunderstorms to move thru the area we managed to hit the water a little late for salmon fishing 8:00am. When we made the end of the piers we were greeted with 2 to 3 foot waves and swells up to 6 feet and that was not the worse it then started to rain again. We made the decision to stay and try, well we were all ready there, so we put the plugs out. Lets just say it was a little slow, but we did manage to boat a nice 14 pounder, but that was it until next year. | Click image for larger view
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| Holland Jul-29-07 - The crew was on the water at 6:00am and the fishing was great again. The first line down was taken by an angry 17 pounder while on the way down, and to our surprise, after getting it in the boat it had bent the magnum spoon. I tried to get a picture but it really doesn't show it well. This lure is now hanging on the overhead in the cabin of the boat, to remind us just how hard these fish can hit our equipment. By 8:00am we had 5 in the box and worked on our last one for 45 minutes longer. After we had got the last one fish in and had started to clear lines another one hit. We farmed one and the total for the day was 7 for 8 kings, one king farmed, 3 other releases and 2 lampreys which we disposed of correctly. One great day! The hot setup was again a mountain dew color fish catcher and a sparkle fly, behind a chrome green dipsey ran 80 feet back. The original moonshine spoon also took a couple, fished 48 feet down. We were fishing just a little south of the pier heads in 90 to 140 feet of water. | Click
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| Holland Jul-21 & 22-07 - The Muck Boy crew fished both Saturday and Sunday for the first time this year and it turned out to be a picture perfect weekend on the water. The weather was fantastic and the fishing was fair on Saturday and great on Sunday for us. On Saturday we took a couple of friends from the Grand Rapids area out and went 2 for 3. Fish were in very close to shore, with some of marine radio chatter putting them in as close as 27 feet of water. We started in about 70 feet of water and worked are way in, but it was a little to late. Finally picked up our fish in 96 feet of water. On Sunday we started in close and could get nothing going so about 9:00am we started to move back out to the 96 foot depth where we had found warmer water the day before. At about 9:30 we picked up our first fish and by 10:30 we were headed back to the launch, boxed out. All our fish came on spin doctors and files. The hot set up was a mountain dew color fish catcher and a sparkle fly, behind a chrome green dipsey ran 120 feet back. The other good set up was a pearl dipsey, blue bubble spin doctor and fly also ran 120 feet back. | Click
image for larger view  Scott & Mark with a couple of nice fish 
The kids get into the act |
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Spring Lake Jul-18-07 - One
of the Muck Boy crew was lucky enough to go out on a charter aboard
Real
Action, with Captain Mark and his daughter Ally. We left the harbor
at 6:00 AM and took off out of the river on a North West direction.
We stopped in about 85 foot of water and continued on a north west
troll. The first 90 minutes were pretty phenomenal with us putting
8 fish in the box and having about double that many on. The first
down-rigger in the water had a 16 pound king hit on the way down and
down-riggers continued to be hot for the first 60 minutes that we
were out. The fish were coming on Spin Doctors and Action Fly's of
almost any color. After the first 60 minutes the fish quickly transitioned
to dipsies with Spin Doctors and Fly's. After the first 2 hours the
fish then started to hit on lead core with 14 color being the most
productive. When the fishing transitioned to lead core the hot lure
was the modified green dolphin. We also caught a fish on copper wire
line running straight out of the back of the boat. We finished the
day going 12 for 23 with 6 of the fish at 15 pounds or larger. If
you get a chance to go out on a Charter I would definitely recommend
that you choose Real
Action Charters. |
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| Holland Jul-15-07 - The crew made it back out on the water today after a couple of weekends off for some family activities. The crew went 2 for 9 today with both fish weighing in at about 13 lbs, The best bite was between 6:30 and 8:30 am, finding us at one time with with only one rod in the water. Both fish came on a north west troll on downriggers set at between 30 and 40 feet, the hot lure was a glow firefly magnum spoon. The fish were hard to keep hooked up today, with others also reporting on the radio such things as 5 for 12 and 0 for 4. Hope to be back out next weekend if the weather holds. |  
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| Holland
Jun-24-07 - The June slow down that everyone
talks about is all over our boat and we are now firm believers of
this theory. On our last 2 trips, we have been happy just to get a
release now and then. There was plenty of bait fish around today from
50 to 100 feet of water. We also marked quite a few fish in about
144 feet. Lost one last Sunday on a green fly and fish catcher combo. Today we lost a nice steelie when picking up, when we released one of the lures from a downrigger it slammed it on its run up, don't know why but it broke the line before we could get to it, but it put on a great show at the back of the boat breaking the water at least 4 times. We have our fingers crossed for a great July. |
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| Holland Jun-10-07 - One week later and the same results - one small king about 5 lb's, early on a magnum green bubble 43 feet down over 140 feet of water and then no more hits for 3 hours. We worked hard trying to get a program dialed in but not much luck. We will be back next week end to give it another try. Also there was one boat reporting 6 fish taken all on riggers about 55 feet down in 180 feet of water on bloody nose and wonder bread and another boat reporting 4 fish taken on full core. |  Click image for larger view |
| Holland Jun-03-07 - Well the crew finally made it out today. Did not get out until after 8:00am due to the numerous thunderstorms in the area. Dropped the first lines at 8:10 and immediately took a 4 lb king 40 foot down on an outside down rigger. Fished till 11:00am with no further action. The few boats that were out were scattered, fishing water from 30 to 180 feet deep, From the radio traffic it sounded like they had no better luck than we had. | Not much, but what a great lunch!
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| Saugatuck 8/22/06 -One of the Muck Boy Staff memebers had the opportunity to fish with Best Chance Charters aboard the Marya. Captain Mike has been fishing out of this port for 7 years and knew right where the fish would be for our evening excursion. The Marya is a 36 foot Trojan that is equipped with Auto Pilot and enough gear to make the most seasoned Great Lakes fisherman jealous. We started out south west of the harbor in 100 feet of water although as we left the mouth of the Kalamazoo river fish could be seen jumping. It took captain Mike about an hour to set the 15 rods that we ran that day. He was running 8 different lead core set ups most with a variety of flashers and flies and a couple of spoons mixed in. He ran 2 mono dippsy divers and 2 wire diver set ups all with flashers and flies. Last but not least he ran 3 downrigger set ups 2 with flashers and flies and one with a flasher and cut bait. For the day we caught 6 fish 3 lake trout and 3 kings. The biggest king was around 12 pounds and one of the lake trout was nearly 10 pounds. All of the fish came on either a blue or green flasher teamed with the same color fly. The first king came on the mono diver 225 feet back. The next four fish came on the riggers set 80 to 100 feet down and the last and biggest king came on a core and half with a green spin doctor and green fly. I would definitely recommend the trip to anyone looking for a good charter. | |
| Holland 7/30/06 - Well if you fish long enough and spend time on the water - you most likley will have a motor isssue - that was our story this morning - about half way to the big lake the engine over heated - we managed to get it back to the launch - found the water pump impeller had no vanes left - new one on order and should be back on the water next weekend weather permitting. | |
| Ludington
- July 14 2006 -
The youngest member of the Muck Boy team fished with Charter Captain
Keith of Lie-Alot-Charters
this afternoon they put 13 kings and 3 steelhead in the boat fishing
mainly 42 to 52 feet down no more than a mile from shore south of the harbour. The fish were hitting mostly during the east troll at about 2.3 mph. Green lures seemed to be the ticket with Magnum Dreamweaver Green Isicle being the hottest. |
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| Holland 7/08/06 - Very very slow for most boats, including Muck Boy - no releases at all - on the water at 5:30am - Thank goodness for the poker run it was really cool seeing all those boats and choppers. The lead boat must of been doing at least 75MPH when he went by us. Good luck next week, we sure will need it. | |
Holland 7/03/06 - Fishing was good this morning, we went 4 for 5 just north of the peir. We started fishing in 70 feet of water and picked up a 9 lb king before we had all the lines set. Trolled for another hour before our next action and action it was, within a span of about 20 minutes we put two 8 lb. steelhead and a 6 lb brown in the ice chest and lost another. As with most boats we got off the water when a rain shower and wind blew up at about 11:30am. By far our best lure of the day was a magnum Silver Streak piranha set 51 feet down and 14 pulls back off the riggers. As you can see by the picture on the left the regular size piranha has been abused before. Reports at the dock also placed fish to the south in 100 to 125 feet of water. NOTE: Silver Streak Piranha has been our most consistant lure, so far this season. We are also getting the littles ones involved - Zack seems to like these fish. |
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| Holland 6/04/06 - It turned out to be a slow weekend for fishing. Thunder storms and fronts moving through the area. Sat was very slow out of this port and most boats were off the water by 11:00am. Sunday found the lake flat - we ran northwest out from the pier heads, and set up in 130 ft of water, by 7:30am we had a 12 lb king in the box and a small 3 lb king as well. We fished all the way to 10:30am before we got another, it was a clone of the first 3 lb king. All 3 fish came on different lures, the large one came on a Blue Whale - Standard Silver Streak 43 ft down 16 pulls back over 130 ft of water. Fish 2 came on a Bat Man Standard Silver Streak behind a blue metallic dipsey set 115 ft back. Fish 3 came on a Mag Northern King silver with blue tape, see lure pictures below. This was on a down rigger set 43 ft down and 16 pulls back. | Click image for larger view
Nice King |
| Holland
5/29/06 - Well we finally made it out
this past weekend . The weather was warm too hot with blue sky's.
Lake Michigan could not have better, Saturday the lake was flat
very little wind and Sunday south winds gave us waves 1 to 2 feet.
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