The Kings Are Back!
After a few slower weeks, the salmon fishing off Whitehall absolutely fired up today.
We started our morning just north of Whitehall in the 25s and found active fish in 65-80 feet of water. It didn’t take long to realize there were a lot of fish around. At times we could actually see Kings surfacing around the boat.
The temperature break has dropped quite a bit and was sitting around 40 feet down, where we found 46-degree water. The salmon were biting both that colder water and the warmer surface water.
As the morning went on and the sun got higher, the bite didn’t slow down—in fact, it became even more vicious. Before we knew it, we had our customers limit in roughly two hours of fishing time.
Water Conditions
- Best water depth: 65-80 FOW
- Fishing area: Just north of Whitehall in the 25s
- Temperature break: 40 feet down
- Cold water temperature: 46 degrees
Best Trolling Speed
Both north and south trolls worked equally well today.
Best speed at the ball:
- 2.5 mph
- 2.6 mph
- 2.7 mph
- 2.8 mph
Best Lead Core and Copper Setups
The lead core and copper bite was excellent this morning.
Top Producing Rods:
- 3 Color Lead Core
- 4 Color Lead Core
- 5 Color Lead Core
- 6 Color Lead Core
- 100 Copper
- 150 Copper
- 200 Copper
Standard size Yeck spoons did most of the damage today.
Diver Program
Our diver rods also produced very well.
High Divers
- Standard size divers
- 80-100 feet back
Low Divers
- Deep rig Fake Meat Strips
- Approximately 70 feet back
Whitehall Salmon Outlook
This is the kind of fishing we wait all year for here on the West Michigan coast.
A fresh push of King salmon has moved back into the area, and if conditions continue to hold, the next several weeks could provide some excellent nearshore salmon fishing out of Whitehall.
If you’ve been waiting for the Kings to show back up, now is the time.
Previous Fishing Report
Be sure to check out last week’s report to see just how quickly conditions have changed and how these fish have moved back into the Whitehall area.