"Speed Kills"

The silver fish are still outside of the first ridge (shallowest part 46 feet, where the weeds are) I troll next to the drop off up to 60 feet by watching my fish finder and GPS to not slam the bottom with my rigs. Riggers down 40- 45 feet are working just outside of the ridge and as you get a bit deeper drop your riggers down up to 55 feet. Spoons trolled up to 3.4 knots SOG are the key to catching these shallow fish.

Speed Really Matters

There are two separate schools of fish that we are targeting, the Salmon and Lake Trout. First decide which species you want to go after and then fish for them specifically. There are silver fish in real shallow water (40 to 60 feet) and Lake Trout out deeper (80 to 120 feet). Spoons are working best for the silver fish, but make sure your speed is appropriate for their needs (around 3 knots S.O.G.) Riggers down 40 feet are taking the majority of Salmon, while the Lakers are preffering big dodgers with a green fly of "Blue-boy" on the bottom. SLOW is the key for them, hit the bottom with your ball and pull it up a foot. Make sure it is all the way down for maximum bites. Speed should be 1.8 knots S.O.G. to 2.1 knots. Slower the better! There are Salmon out deep, but make sure you chose your species and watch your speed. When fishing for the Lakers I run only 3 riggers and 2 copper lines only. Triple headers are more common than not. We had 4 triples and had our Trout limit! Then pull lines and "rip spoons" for Kings in the shallows for the rest of our limit..

Perch are hitting real well at the harbor mouths on soft-shells and minnows.

Nice Rack

The fish are moving around following the bait fish so don't spend too much time fishing where they were yesterday or the day before. The schools have been shallower than usual on account of the cloud cover. They normally feed shallow during the night and as the sun pops up they find shelter in the deeper water. The bait is hanging where it normally is in the 46 to 56 foot range (where you see the bottom rising and falling quickly) Most of the lake bottom is sand, but there are ridges made of clay and rock that holds weeds, small aquatic critters, gobies, and the alewives, so this is a good place to explore during low-light conditions.

The perch have been slow since the North winds came in, but today we have South. This should result in a good afternoon bite (not biting right now, it's 10 am and nothing so far this morning)

"Pick Your Species"

It's a great time to be able to pick which species of fish you would like to target. Perch are hitting like mad in and out of the harbors, so catch them before the waters become too warm and they move offshore. I do Perch charters B.T.W. (season closes for July) The King Salmon, Coho Salmon, Browns, and Steelhead, are in shallow water (46 to 58 feet) and are hitting spoons and flies down 20 feet to the bottom. The shallow, Spring patterns are not worth running anymore because the surface temperatures have risen, so put out your lead lines (3 colors to 10 colors out behind the birds)

The Lake Trout are outside of 90 feet, but best is about 110 feet to 120 feet. Big chrome dodgers with a green fly 20 feet behind the ball (on the bottom) has been working best recently. As the waters warm the Salmon and Trout will be all in the same area and the Perch will be on some of the off-shore reefs that are miles from shore.

Get Them While They are Hot!

30 fish charters have been the norm for 6 guys! There are fish scattered all the way from 50 feet of water to 130 feet, but the best action has been outside of 90 feet. The silver fish are down 50 -60 feet and prefer a faster troll than usual (near 3 mph) Spoons have been taking the larger fish, but tiny flies are still producing well on the surface.

Perch have been feeding heavily and are hitting everything from shiners to jigs and softshells. I caught my limit of JUMBO PERCH today during the rain on a "paddle-bug" with a small split-shot 3 feet above.

"What are we going to do with all these fish!?"

The salmon are anywhere from 50 feet of water to 115 feet down about 50 to 60 feet. My surface Spring patterns(Small dodger and tiny flies) are still taking cohos and some steelhead. Lakers are outside of 80 feet on the bottom, even though we got a few down 50 feet on a rigger and spoon and also on my 10 core with a spoon. If you want salmon and steelhead go fast ( near 3 mph ) Look for the bait pods and work them.

Anyone hungry for a fish fry?

You need to keep traversing the dept gradient until the schools are located. We started fishing in 60 feet of water and continued deeper with dipsy divers set real shallow (30 - 70 feet on counter ) Yellow- birds with small flies and small dodgers are taking most of the cohos ( 3/8 oz. weights ) Lead lines ( 10 colors out ) using spoons are VERY effective and take many of the larger fish.

PERCH are in the harbors and will continue bitting while the South and West winds continue.

"Catch them High and Low"

Fish are spread out from 60 feet to 116 feet of water. Cohos are still hitting tiny flies and small dodgers right on the surface. Kings on spoons down near the bottom and Lakers are right on the bottom hitting big dodgers with large flies such as "Green-crinkle" and the old stand-by "Spin-n- glow". I am still seeing the salmon and Steelheads feeding on the surface in the early mornings. Perch are starting to bite again after that North wind messed it all up.