Welcome Aboard

September 13th, 2011
Sorry for the lack of reports for the last 2 weeks. A Virus wiped out everything on my computer and it took a while to get it all back! The last 2 weeks we have seen some really nice days, and quite a few not-so-nice days! Lots of wind, which is normal for this time of the year, has kept us off the water quite a few times. When we have made it out, the fishing both at Stannard Rock, as well nearshore around Marquette, has been Excellent! Stannard Rock has been producing some real giants over the last 2 weeks, as well as some very good action up in the shallows around the Lighthouse. There will be mostly smaller fish in the 15-40 foot water depth, but casting to a fish that you can actually watch hit your bait, all while being 50 miles from shore, is an awsome experience! You can easily catch 30-40 fish per hour up there, all on small Cleo's and Moonshine spoons, right next to the boat! The bigger fish have been coming out deeper in the 90-130 range, and the majority of them have been coming on spoons while suspended in the water column. Moonshine Orange Ladder and Watermellon, along with the Daredevil Gold Nuggett have been the best producers lately. We still have 5 more Stannard Rock trips scheduled for this year, though I know its unlikely we get lucky enough to run all of them. Hopefully Mother Superior will give us a few more good days offshore before the SNOW starts flyin! The local fishing around Marquette has been excellent when targeting Lake Trout, but very slow when targeting Salmon. The water in the harbors the last few weeks has been VERY warm from top to bottom. (66-69 degrees) This will hold many of the fish out of the harbors until we get a few days of steady offshore winds to blow the warm water out of here. A few Kings and Cohos have been caught, but they are few and far between right now. That can all change in a day or two though, so we will wait and see. Lake Trout fishing is as good as it gets right now, especially in the deeper water. Some numbers of Lakers have been moving into the shallows as well, but the big numbers are still out deep. We have been targeting the 160-180 depths lately, as well as fishing the structure up North of town. Fishing the tops of the pinnicles and bouncing the balls off the rocks has been producing some awsome catches for us. Our standard spreads of spoons have been working great, as well as some of the newer Silver Streak UV Spoons we are trying out. They really seem to "shine" when used down deep in the darker water. We also had our annual South Shore Fishing Association Marquette Bay Classic fishing tournamnet this past Saturday and it was a HUGE sucess! Though the Daybreak Crew was on shore all day weighing fish for the participants, it was an absolutly perfect day! Dead calm water, 80 degrees, and little to no wind made for an awsome fishing day for all 55 Boats that entered! Over 190 people enjoyed a great day on the water in Marquette, which in September, is a rarity! All the smiling faces and great stories after the event made it worth me staying on shore all day! We still have a few good weeks of fishing left this season, so lets hope the weather cooperates and so so the fish!! Be safe out there and good luck! -Capt. John
August 25th, 2011
LOTS and LOTS of wind has been the story this week! We had gusts over 50mph in Marquette on Wednesday night, and over 16 foot waves out at Stannard Rock! This is the time of year that the winds usually get pretty unsettled, but at least it has been warm! We did have a chance to do a Granite Island cruise last week as well, and its as beutiful as ever! See the picture to the right----> We ran 8 nearshore fishing charters as well this week, fishing mostly North of Marquette as we have been for a few weeks now. The fishing nearshore has been pretty good lately, when the wind lays down enough to get out there! Our best area lately has been right off of Little Presque Isle in the 160-190 foot range. Water temps this week have been about 65-69 on the surface, and from 48-55 degrees at 70-100 feet down. There is a really steep temp break right now at about 75 feet down, where in 10 feet of depth we lost almost 10 degrees in temperature! We have been finding many of our fish suspended lately, and most of them have been right in, or just below the temp break. Longer leads off the higher riggers of 40-70 feet have been working well, and the 10-15 foot leads on the riggers on the bottom. Spoons have been the most productive baits lately, with only a few fish coming on Flasher/Flys or Flasher/Meat combos. Magnum Dipsys have also been producing fish when let out about 150-190 feet on a #2 setting. Usually for Lakers, I am runing clean spoons behind my divers. Speed, as usual when fishing the deep water, has been slow. 1.9-2.2 mph on the GPS has been the best spot for Lake Trout. We have not had many Salmon lately at all, with the exception of a few Coho's here and there, but we are not really targeting them yet either. There are a few reports of guys starting to get 1 or 2 Kings near the Harbor walls, but nothing consistant enough yet to make me leave the great Laker fishing we have going on right now. It will be time for some Superior Kings soon enough! The water temps inside the harbors right now is at or above 70 degrees, with down-temps in the 60+ range. We will need a few days of sustained South or Southwest wind to blow all that warm water out and let the cold water rush back in under it. With the great Springtime Salmon fishing we had this year, I can only imagine that this Fall should be an exciting time around Marquette! We have a couple Stannard Rock trips scheduled in the next few days so i should have a fresh report from out there early next week! Have fun out there and be safe!! -Capt. John
FISHING TIPS August 2011
I have recieved countless letters regaurding the Spoons that I use the most for Lake Trout and Salmon, and some are not familiar with the crazy names for all of them! Here are a couple pictures of my "Bread and Butter" spoons for Salmon and Trout. In the first picture, A Greasy Chicken Wing, a Yellow Tail, and an Old Yeller. All Magnum Size Silver Streaks. The second Picture is of my 3 favorite FINN Spoons, which are some of the most versitile spoons around and catch Salmon just as well as Trout! A Barney, a Gold Plate, and a Orange Crush. The last picture are my 3 favorite King Salmon spoons this year. The Magnum Silver Streak Superman, Super Slim Cheap Sunglasses, and the Pro King Black Gold. I hope this helps some of you out, at least as a place to start! Good Luck and Tight Lines! -Capt John.
August 17th, 2011
We made it out to Stannard Rock again on Sunday, the 14th, and it was a GREAT day! Even with the full moon, the fishing was excellent as the fish were up high and very active, especially near the Lighthouse. We had one of the calmest days of the year, as the water turned to glass for most of the day as you can see in the picture to the right! The 18' Reef was full of fish early in the morning, though they were mostly small...they were VERY hungry! West and North of the Lighthouse in the 90-120 depths were our best luck for the bigger fish, with a few over 20lbs. caught and released that day, as well as one the was surely over 30lbs. that came off just before going into the net. Spoons were hot again as the fish were mostly suspended, with the Orange Moonshine being the stud for the day. With the wind forcast for this week, it dosent look good for a Rock run for quite a few days, but we'll see what happens. It does seem like it has taken a turn for the better out there. We fished Monday morning and evening, as well as Tuesday evening in the Marquette area and had pretty good luck with the Lakers. I have still been fishing mostly North of Marquette, in the Little Presque Isle area. 160-180 feet of water has been the best area for us lately, about 3-4 miles North of the White Rocks. Also just to the South of Granite Island in the deep (200-260 feet of water) area had been holding lots of suspended Lakers, right down near the Thermocline at about 80+/- feet down. 10-20 foot leads on the deep riggers, set just above the bottom with Gold spoons have been hot. Also the 60-100 foot depths have held a lot of suspended fish, and Dipsy Divers have been taking their fair share of those fish. Slower speeds have still been better for us, with GPS Speeds of 1.9-2.2 being the range for the bites. Surface temps of almost 70 degrees in some places is really warm! But down at only 70 feet its still about 45 degrees, so the fish are happy! Some o.k. reports coming in from other areas around Marquette, but for us, the best numbers have been North of town. 4 Local trips and 3 Stannard Rock trips in the next 6 days so I will have a good update for you after this weekend! Good Luck out there and be safe! -Capt. John
August 12th, 2011
After a few days of RELENTLESS wind, we made another trip to Stannard Rock this week, along with 5 local Marquette Trolling trips. Stannard Rock remains tougher than normal for this time of the year. We are still getting good numbers of fish, with a few huge ones mixed in, but we are really having to work for them this year. Unlike earlier in the year, Jigs have been the best the last 2 trips, with most fish we found stuck right to the bottom. The 120-150 range has been our best lately, with not as many fish up in the shallows as before. Lots of wind lately has also disrupted the thermocline a bit, which will scatter the bait and slow fishing down some. We have a few Rock trips scheduled for this week so we will see if things have changed for the better yet. We did have 6 fish over 20lbs. out there this week, so still not to bad. Nearshore trolling has been pretty good lately around Marquette, with good reports coming in from everywhere from the Harbors, East to Shot Point, and North to Granite Island. reports of LOTS of Stickleback minnows near the M-28 beach has fish in really shallow over that way. We have been spending most of our time Up North of Marquette, near Little Presque Isle. The fish pictured to the right was caught this morning on a downrigger set right on the bottom in 180 feet of water while trolling at 2.1 GPS. It weighed 24.2lbs! Deeper has still been better for us, usually in the 160-200 range, with many of the fish coming right off the bottom. Gold spoons on short, 10-25 foot leads behind the riggers have been the best. 75-100 feet has been a good suspended depth for us, and also right about where the main temp break is right now. Its about 65 on the surface but about 50 degrees at 75 feet down. Yellow Tail and Old Yeller have been the 2 best suspended spoons, with the FINN Barney and Gold Plate being good as well. 30-60 foot leads on the suspended riggers has been best. Also, SLOW has been the key lately. GPS speeds of 1.8-2.1 have been the best for us, especially when the fish are on the bottom. Divers have also taken a fair share of the fish lately, with 140-175 out on the counters being the best. Moonshine Orange Ladderback and Fishlander Chartruse Spots are my 2 best so far. Hopefully we have some more nice weather coming our way, as the fishing nearshore should only get better as the next 2 months go on! Good luck out there and be safe!
August 7th, 2011
I only have a few minutes for a report tonight, but a more detailed report will be posted this week for both Stannard Rock and Marquette. Here is a couple pics of a Giant 22+lb. Lake Trout we caught today just outside Marquette Harbor. We were fishing from 170-200+ feet of water today, in 3 foot waves from the North...so it was a bit nasty out there! Oh yea, it downpoured until about 10a.m. as well! Good thing we stuck it out! We were over 200 feet of water, and this fish hit a Purple/Black FINN Spoon on a downrigger, set 75 back and 66 down. 2.1 mph GPS was the best today.....they wouldnt hit it any faster. Be safe out there! -Capt. John
August 1st, 2011
I cant belive its August already! The snow will be flyin soon! Fishing over the last week has been pretty good. We have made 4 Stannard Rock runs and fished near Marquette twice in the last week. Stannard Rock has remained pretty good, but not as good as it should be out there this time of year. All this season there have been more tough days out there then in years past. The fish are scattered out far more than usual, requiring a lot more moving around to stay on good fishing. There have been a few of my good areas that have been holding fish, but they seem reluctant to bite most of the time, so we have to search out other peices of structure to fish. This week we averaged boating about 35 fish per trip, but thats still below what we should be getting this time of year. Once again, casting spoons has remained the best tactic for us as many of the fish, especially the bigger ones, are suspended in the water column. A few of the 20lb.+ fish we had yesterday took the bait within view of the boat, and the turned for the bottom and didnt stop until they got there! We have also had higher winds then I would like, so switching to heavier Jigs in the 3-5oz. range has been nessacary to keep them somewhat verticle. West of the Lighthouse near the 18' reef has been a good spot in the early morning hours, and then moving up to the North a few hours after sunrise has been the best plan. Water temps are now about 55-57 degrees on the surface, but are still in the low 40's just 40 feet down! With a good stretch of weather forcasted for the next 5 days, and 4 Rock trips planned, we should be able to get some good consistant action out there. We ened up with 8 fish over 20lbs. last week in 4 trips. Our 2 days spent near Marquette this week were pretty good as well. We have been fishing North of Marquette about 4-9 miles, and in the 100-200 foot range. Lately, about 110-140 has been out best depths for Lakers near Marquette, with lots of fish suspended just 50-70 feet down. The area around Little Presque Isle has been the best, and from there out to Granite Island. SLOW speeds have been working best...2.0-2.4 GPS is about out best. Dipsy Divers on 30lb. Wireline, sent out about 140-180' have been very good, usually with a Gold or Orange FINN Spoon attached. No Salmon for us this week up near the surface, though while trolling slower speeds for Lakers you are going to catch less Salmon. Water temps nearshore are in the 66-70 degree range on the surface, but cold water inst far down in most places. We had 48 degrees at 90' down just North of the White Rocks. Our best spoon on the Downriggers for Lakers has remained as always, a Silver Streak Greasy Chicken Wing, though the Yellowtail and Old Yeller had their fair share as well. Good luck out there and be safe! -Capt. John
July 25th, 2011
Had my Brother and some old friends come up from downstate this weekend to fish The Rock. Mother Nature cancelled those plans with strong East winds, so we decided with a much nicer forcast on Lake Michigan, to yank the boat South to Manistique for a couple days again. We fished Friday night for 3 hours, and Saturday morning and evening. Ended up with 18 Kings....and NO Steelhead. Kinda suprising with all the huge Steel I found just a week ago, but we never even had a Steelhead hooked up, let alone in the boat? Not sure where they went, but we never did go offshore looking for them either. Friday eve after a late start, we decided to just fish the structure to the SE of the can, from 70-100 fow. Marked far less fish than last week there, but still tons of bait.....also plenty of dead alewifes on the surface again! Started at the structure at about 7:30pm, then worked to the bank near the can. We ended up with only 4 Kings, all between 8-12 lbs. EVERY ONE came on a Wire Diver/ Meat Rig combo. We had 3, 5, 7, and 10 colors of lead out, as well as 3 riggers with a mix of FF combos and clean spoons.....never a touch. The fish we caught were when we were in shallower, like 70-80 feet, and about 60 feet down with the divers. We quit about 10:30 with just the 4 fish, and 3 misses. Saturday Morning we left the dock at 3:30 a.m. and headed for the can, with plans to go South from there. We made it about 1.5 miles South when.....ZZZZZZZZzzzzz Drag was screamin. Fishing from 60-80 fow, we did circles on a small school of fish and slowely picked away at them. Again, wire/meat was the ticket, with most hits coming on that set-up. A 5 color with a Super Slim "Cheap Sunglasses" was the other best producer and also caught the biggest fish. We fished until about 9:30 and ended up with 7 kings, with 4 over 15lbs and the biggest at 19+......but again, no Steelhead. One thing I noticed forsure.....they liked it slower! SOG of 2.2-2.5 was best for us, with alot of bites coming on the inside rods during turns as the baits were falling. Also, and East-West troll was the ticket, fishing right in the trough of the South wind. With or against the waves we couldnt get bit, but in the trough was the ticket! Saturday Evening we went out at 5p.m. and ran through one hell of a thunderstorm! It passed quickley after we started fishing....and so did the bordem! We had a lot of action, but unfortunatly also lost a lost as many as we boated. We started at Barque Point and fished South in the 50-80 fow range. We had 50.5 degrees at the ball at 35 feet down, lots of bait, and not a boat within a 2 miles of us....perfect! We went 7 for 14 that night, all Kings, with 11 of the 14 hits coming on the wire divers and meat rigs! Couldnt buy a fish on a rigger, and only a couple on the lead(5-7 color were best), but the divers were smokin! We fished until 12:30 a.m. before calling it quits. Again, 2.2-2.5 SOG was best for us, and a East-West troll. The hot Meat Rig set-up has been...ANY ONE I OWN!! Blue, Green, and White stuff has all taken fish. The best, as always, is my 12" GLOW/White John King Flasher followed by a GLOW/White John King Magnum Meat Rig loaded with 2 Herring Strips per head , or 5-6" Alewives. 99' and 121' were my hot numbers on the line counters for the divers. The UV- Mt. Dew Big Weenie Rig behind a 10" Mt. Dew Spin Doctor also had many rips as well. We ended that night with 2 Kings at 17lbs., one at 19lbs., and 1 at 23.9lbs , along with a couple 8-10's. We are back on Lake Superior now, with Stannard Rock trips planned for the next 6 days so updated reports will be coming! Good luck out there and be safe! -Capt. John
July 5th-July 17th, 2011
We just got back from 2 weeks fishing on Lake Michigan for King Salmon and Steelhead. The first week was in Cedar River, MI on Green Bay at a BEAUTIFUL marina! I cant think of a bad thing to say about my time there..... marina staff, campground staff, fisherman, bartenders , ect... Nothing but a great attitude from everyone I met, and definatly a place I will be returning to....when the fishing gets better! Heres the short story.... We fished Whaleback Shoal, North and South of Cedar River, Boyers Bluff, Deaths Door Passage and Deaths Door Bluff, as well as Ellison Bay.....and EVERYWHERE inbetween. Fishing was VERY slow! Never caught a single fish inside Green Bay. The very little action we had was off Washington Island and in the Deaths Door Passage in Wisconsin waters. Brads Baits, Flasher/Eyefly, and meatrigs took most of the fish. Hundreds of Thousands of dead alewifes on the surface may have something to do with the bite being so slow! They were piled up on the beach so high that you could smell them rotting from the campgrounds! Moved the boat to Manistique, MI, about 70 miles to the East for the last week with hopes of just a little action. We got it! Nothing crazy, but pretty good fishing the whole week with LOTS of huge Steelies around! We boated at least 10 over 10lbs. with the biggest at 13+. Most trips were 5-8 fish, with a couple 10-12 fish trips as well. This Saturday morning we had 4 over 15lbs. in the boat by 6a.m. as well as another 10lb. Steelie. Fished mostly North, East, and South of the can, out to 140 fow. Best action early was on the structure East of the can, then later in the week, just to the south of the can in the shallower water...50-70 feet was the best. Meat Rigs on wire divers outproduced everything else on the boat combined. White and Mt. Dew were the hot colors for us, with the divers set to run about 10-20 feet off the bottom. Best spoons were the Super Slim "Cheap Sunglasses", FINN "Barney" and FINN "Orange Crush" for the Steel on 2-10 colors of lead. King spoons were the Moonshine "Green Flounder" and the Silver Streak "Garnet George" Rigger leads of 80+ feet were best, and 42 and 50 feet down were the best. We had some action on Falsher/Flys, but not much. The best was the Blue Bubble Spin Doctor and the Blue Eye Ghost Eyefly, usually about 25 feet back on a rigger. Also, slower speed worked better for us. 2.2-2.5 GPS was the best zone. Temps were awsome, with 50 degree water at 50' down in 100' of water, and ice water on the bottom. We had a great time down there, and met some great people. Thanks to all who helped me out! RELENTLESS is now back in the water in Marquette and ready to start runnin back to Stannard Rock as well as the nearshore waters of Lake Superior! I should have some updated Lake Superior reports by the end of this week, so good luck out there and be safe!! -Capt. John
July 5th, 2011
There will be no new fishing reports for the next 2 weeks as I am leaving today for Lake Michigan to chase Kings! We will return to Lake Superior on the 24th of July and will resume fishing reports then. -Capt. John
June 30th, 2011
Here we are the weekend before the 4th of July, and we are finally seeing some warmer weather! 2 trips out to Stannard Rock the last 2 days and the fishing out there is really getting back to normal now! Warmer temps and less East winds have helped the bigger fish turn back on. We had about 8 fish over 20lbs. in the last 2 trips, and many nice mid-sized fish as well. Jigs and spoons have both been working well as there are many fish suspended again. 60-90 feet of water has been best the last couple trips, mostly to the West of the Lighthouse. With the big fish feeding again, I cant wait to get back out there, though the ait temps on Wednesday morning were 42 degrees when we got to The Rock! Looks like Sunday will be the next run offshore as I have nearshore trips booked all weekend. I will have some updated reports from the local Marquette area in the next couple of days, though fish are still being caught from 50-200 feet of water, and everywhere inbetween. With the still very cold water temps, the fish are scattered all through the water column. Windy but warm weather for the next couple days will surely help warm things up a bit out there. Have a safe Holiday weekend! -Capt. John
June 27th, 2011
Though we still have not felt any real "summertime" weather, it is starting to warm up a bit. The winds have given us a break....a little bit, enabling us to get offshore to Stannard Rock 3 times in the last few days. The fishing is starting to pick back up out there after the 2 week slow bite we had for a while. A few fish in the 20+lb. range were boated, and the number of bites has started to pick back up as well. A lot of the bigger fish are still full of herring, but even they are starting to feed more activly again. With some of the warmest weather of the year coming for the weekend it should help bring the temps up out there a bit, which are still at only 39 degrees on the surface! We left The Rock on Sunday and it was 44 degrees. We ran 45 miles back to Marquette where the temp was 85 degrees on shore! Now thats a Upper Penninsula temperature swing for ya! We were putting Sunscreen on while wearing 3 layers of Wool clothes! Most of our fish lately have been coming close to the bottom while fishing in 90-150 feet of water. There are still some fish on the structure, but many are being caught in the flats right next to the pinnicles, and right on the bottom. As always, 2-3oz. GLOW Jigs with GLOW tails and Sucker Meat has been the ticket. You can try all the colors you want...but GLOW is all you need! We have 4 more trips to Stannard Rock scheduled in the next 6 days so lets hope Mother Nature pays us back for all this nasty weather the last few weeks! We have only fished the Marquette nearshore waters once since the last report and the action and the outcome were about the same. Though a few King Salmon are still being caught in the shallows by the guys who are willing to work hard for them, the bigger numbers of Lake Trout have moved out into deeper water. Our best depth the other day was from 130-160 feet of water. Though we did pull a few off the bottom, many of the fish were suspended with multiple hits on the Slide Divers and 2, 3, and 5 color Leadcores. Surface temps in that area were still barely 50 degrees, with temps down at 75 feet still at about 42 degrees. We also had about 6 Steelhead last week in the deeper water, with all but one being released unharmed. The aerobatics of a Great Lakes Steelhead is unmatched by any other fish, and they are a ton of fun to hook into, especially on Lake Superior. With some nice, steady weather the fishing should only get better, nearshore and at Stannard Rock. We will be going out everyday through the Holiday so I will post an update sometime this weekend. Have a Safe and Fun Fourth of July weekend!! -Capt. John
June 22nd, 2011
Its been more of the same lately.....strong East winds, cold temps, and rough water. It seems like the Spring that didn't want to end! We were unable to get out to Stannard Rock last weekend, as well as Monday and Tuesday of this week. Offshore East winds of 25mph+ has kept us nearshore this week, and that hasn't been easy either! After all the wind lately, the water near Marquette is constantly changing, and we now have surface temps in the harbor BELOW 48 degrees again! The harbor was well over 60 degrees at this time last year. After spending some time fishing the shallows near the Lower Harbor and East from there, we decided it was time to move deep to search for the Lakers. We found them! The last 3 days we have been fishing the 140-180 feet of water area, straight East of the Upper Harbor wall. With surface temps of 48 degrees and Ball temps at 50' down at 47 Degrees, the fish are scattered all over from top to bottom. We had half our fish yesterday right on the bottom, quite a few more on 1, 2, or 3 colors of leadcore near the surface, and the rest scattered inbetween. Down deep its been spoons behind the riggers. Short leads behind the riggers of 5-20 feet have been better than longer leads, and the SS Greasy Chicken Wing has been our best bait....as always. Slide Divers and Leadcore with FINN spoons like the Barney and Tequila Sunrise have been the best for us. Speeds have been from 2.2-2.5 GPS while keeping at least one bait in contact with the bottom the whole time. June can usually be a hit-and-miss month for lakers around here but the wind and the weather this year seem to be changing all the rules! We still have water temps similar to what they would be in early May, and air temps are not much better. Lake Trout feeding on the surface in over 150 feet of water is just not normal! The next 3 days look terrible with thunderstorms and high winds so we will be lucky to get off the dock at all until this weekend. With Stannard Rock trips planned for Friday thru Monday, I sure hope Mother Nature is gonna give us a break! Its been 7 days now since we have made it offshore and hopefully all this wind has changed things a bit out there as well. Be careful out there! - Capt. John
June 18th, 2011
Well the Spring that wouldn't end seems to be continuing well into June here in Marquette! Air temps still struggling to hit 60+ degrees and water temps offshore are still not even 40 degrees! And the East wind....Just wont stop! Yesterday was our 11th day in a row with an East wind, with the next 4 days this week forcasted to be the same. All the weather factors as well as the Full Moon last week has definatly slowed thing down on the water, even at Stannard Rock. We made 4 trips to The Rock this week and the fishing has remained far slower than normal for this time of year. The fish are there, but they just dont seem to be hungry! Our best depth have been the 90-130 foot range, with Jigs right on the bottom being the best producers. A few fish were taken on Moonshine spoons, but there were very few suspended fish this week. The air temp offshore this week was between 37 and 45 degrees, with the surface temps out there being 39 degrees at the highest! Last year at this time it was 49 degrees on the surface out there already! We have still managed to catch a few nice fish, but it has been way slower than normal, and no Giants out there this week at all. We have fished from the far Northeast tip of the reef, all the way to the Southwest bank, West of the lighthouse. We really need a change in the weather pattern to get things going again, and unfortunalty it looks to be another 3-4 days before thats going to happen. The forcast is for 3+ footers for the next 3-4 days, with an East wind ofcourse. Nearshore fishing has slowed a bit as well with the Full Moon/East wind, but some nice fish are still being caught in the shallows off of Shot Point where the baitfish are still piled up on the sand beach. Most catches have been Lake Trout, with only a few Salmon mixed in here and there. Short leads on Downriggers with Gold and Purple FINN spoons, or a Magnum Yellow Tail will do the trick for the Lakers in shallow. There has also been some good action in the deeper water from the White Rocks to the Sand Hole. The 160-190 feet of water area has been producing some nice numbers of lean Lakers, however most fish are stuck right to the bottom so getting the gear down deep is the key. Running slower speeds of 1.8-2.4 GPS will help get the riggers down to the bottom and give the spoons the light flutter that the Trout love! Overall its been a bit of a tough week of fishing. Now that we are on the backside of the Full moon, and within a few days the East wind should let up, hopefully that lets the fishing pick back up! It almost July and it still feels like late May on the water! Somethings gotta give! We have a few local trips and a few Stannard Rock trips coming up this week so I should have another report very soon. Hopefully it wont include 5 more days of East wind!! Be safe out there my friends! --Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there! -Capt. John
June 13th, 2011
After a really windy start to last week, the wind finally died down from Thursday thru Sunday letting us make multiple trips to Stannard Rock. The air temps out there were between 37 and 45 degrees all week, with surface water temps still well below 40 degrees. The first couple trips of last week were great, with steady action at almost all of my normal spots. The last 2 days have been a bit tougher due partially to the non-stop East winds and the Full moon tonight. We were still finding the fish stacked up pretty well on the structure, but we really had to work at it to get them to bite after the sun came up. We marked quite a few huge schools of Herring out there, as well as there being TONS of bugs hatching on the surface, which I belive has slowed the bite down a bit for right now. The last few trips we have had only a few fish on Casting Spoons as many of them are stuck right to the bottom, and jigging is the only way to get them to go. We also spent an hour here and there Trolling to locate other schools of fish, and the biggest fish of the weekend came this way. 3 Downriggers with 3 Magnum Silver Streak Chicken Wings on 20' leads....thats all you need! Keep the balls well off the bottom unless you know exactly where you are as the bottom can go from 300' up to 75' in less than 100 yards in some places. 5 More runs out there are scheduled for this week, so hopefully we can beat the East wind/Full moon jinx! We have been running to the Rock almost everyday possible so I have only been out locally around Marquette once this week. There are still many good reports coming in from the area, both in the harbors and East toward Shot Point. Most are fishing the 40-75 feet of water area with the gear running in the top 20 feet. King Salmon are still being caught near the Harbors, even as the surface temps have risen up to the 50+ degree range, and many Lake Trout are still being found in shallow(less then 100 feet). Orange spoons seem to be the best color going right now for the Salmon, with the flasher/fly bite being very slow. Long leads on the riggers have been the best, from 75-125 back from the ball, and faster speeds of 2.9-3.2 GPS have been producing mixed bags of nearshore fish. It looks like a fairly nice week ahead with some steady weather...though I hate to see the East wind forcasted again all week long! Hopefull it starts to feel like June out here, instead of April! Be safe out there! -Capt. John
June 5th, 2011
Warmer temperatures are finally making their way up here this spring, though the wind just dosen't seem to stop! Friday and Saturday we fished locally near Marquette. There are still some nice Salmon being caught in some places but with the water warming up a bit it has slowed down a some from last week. East of Marquette has been the best place for us for Kings, along with a few nice fish coming from the Lower Harbor of Marquette. 50-70 feet of water has been the best depths for the Kings, though most of the hits are coming in the top 20 feet of the water column. Slide Divers and Leadcore are still the top producers, with Orange and Gold spoons being the best. Nearshore Laketrout have been biting better lately as well, with some very nice lean fish being caught in the same spot the Kings. 1, 2, and 3 colors of Lead have been the best rods this week fishing the top of the water coloumn. GPS Speed of 2.7-2.9 have been our best. Water temps in the harbor are now in the upper 40's to almost 50 degrees....though thats been about what out air temps have been as well! We also made it back out the Stannard Rock on Sunday and had another great day on the reef! We ran out in the morning in choppy 2 footers from the North, and fished most of the day in 2 footers until about noon, when the wind died and the lake went dead calm! We concentrated on the 70-90 foot deep pinnicles and the fish were once again stacked up pretty well. Most fish were caught on Jigs today, with only a few suspended fish biting on the spoons. The biggest of the day was a nice 28lb. Red Fin Laker caught right on the bottom in 100 feet of water. We had 9 other fish the broke the 20lb. mark on that trip! It was definatly a "Big Fish" day out there...and I had a great "Big Fish" crew! Thanks to Jeremy and his group for a great day at The Rock, filled with big fish and bigger laughs! Here is a pictur of the 20 fish we brought home for the dinner table. -------> We have a couple of local fishing trips near Marquette scheduled for this week, as well as 3 Stannard Rock trips for this weekend, so as long as the weather cooperates I will have some more updated reports by this Sunday. With our Sunrise now at 5:50a.m. and our Sunset at almost 10p.m. there is plenty of daylight in June for chasing fish on the Greatest of the Great Lakes! Be safe out there!! - Capt. John
May 31st, 2011
We made it to Stannard Rock again on Saturday. 39 degrees and pouring rain greeted us for the day offshore, but the fish didnt seem to mind! The majority of the fish were suspended this weekend, especially over structure in the 70-120 feet depths. Our 3 biggest of the day, including the 25lb. fish pictured to the right----->, were caught on Moonshine Casting Spoons. The same thing has been holding true for the last number of years for me out there...our biggest fish usually come on a casting spoon while suspended in the water column. I belive the smaller fish hide out on the bottom from the bigger fish swimming above. Watermellon is by far my favorite pattern out there and has produced many fish over 20lb. this year already. Water temps were still very cold, with the surface being about 36-37 degrees, but at least all the ice has finally melted off the Lighthouse!. The nearshore waters around Marquette have been great fishing lately as well. Our excellent numbers of King Salmon this spring continues to suprise and excite many of the fisherman around here. The best Salmon numbers we have seen in the Marquette area in at least 10 years. Yesterday morning we boated my 2nd biggest King in Lake Superior at 13lbs. and had 3 other Kings over 7lbs. There is more bait fish out there right now then in many years past and I am sure that is a big part of the reason for the numbers being so high this season. The waters to the East of Marquette have been our best King Salmon grounds for the past week. Fishing mostly 50-75 feet of water with down-temps at about 45 degrees at the ball we have had excellent luck on the Silver fish lately. Faster speeds than normal continue to be the ticket this spring, with GPS speeds of 2.8-3.0+ being the best so far. FINN spoons in Tequila Sunrise and Barney patterns on Slide Divers have been the hottest thing on the boat. Leads behind the diver of 80-120 feet have been best, with the diver let out 45-65 feet behind the boat, and set on a number 5. If you havn't tried Slide Divers yet you are really missing out! 1, 2, and 3 color Leadcores off of planer boards have been producing some nice fish as well. Silver Streak Yellow Tail, Moonshine Bloody Nose, and Moonshine "Half Moon" spoons have been the best producers as the hits on Body Baits seem to have dwindled down some. We have had much better luck on small to medium spoons versus running the Magnum size. Also, we have had better sucess when trolling up and down the banks versus going along the contours while parralelling the shore. Downriggers have been pretty quite lately, except for a few random Lakers that we can bring up off the bottom. Short leads behind the balls of 15-25 feet have been best, and as usual, the Silver Streak Greasy Chicken Wing has been the top producer down deep. The cooler water temps and the nasty weather we continue to get this spring will keep the water temps just right for the Kings for a while longer around Marquette. Severe Thunderstorms and large Hail today and tommorow will keep us off the water for a couple days, but as soon as it clears we will be back on the hunt! Good luck out there and be safe! -Capt. John
May 26th, 2011
After non-stop winds on Monday and Tuesday this week, yesterday it finaly broke giving us a chance to get back offshore to Stannard Rock. Air temps were in the low 30's in the morning with skim ice on the water, and only rising to the low 40's by the afternoon so it was a chilly ride...but the sun was shining and the trip was worth it! It felt more like a normal springtime trip with the fish all concentrated on the structure and piled up 40 feet deep in some places! We fished structure from abour 50 feet deep to over 200 feet deep and found fish everywhere inbetween. We started off the morning working the 75-125 foot depths to the North of the Lighthouse. After just 1 drift, we had a monster grab onto a Moonshine Casting spoon just 20 feet below the surface. He then headed straight for the bottom tearing line off the reel. After about a 20 minute fight, we got him to the boat, and a very tired and excited fisherman was there to greet him! George is a great guy and he definatly earned that fish! One of the brightest colored Red Fin Lake Trout I have ever seen and he weighed in just under 30lbs! Jigs with cut bait also produced a lot of fish yesterday, with a lot of the bites coming well off the bottom from suspended fish. Many times what I like to do is drop the jig down to the bottom, and then begin to reel nice and steady with out stopping back up to the surface. These fish are used to feeding on bait while chasing them upwards against the structure, so imitating that is a good tactic. And remember, I'll use any color Jig out there as long as its WHITE! Surface temps out there were still in the mid to high 30's so its gonna be cold out there for quite a while longer, but the fishing will remain hot! Unfortunalty this very windy and cold spring looks to continue for a while, with high winds forcasted on and off for the next 7 days. But as soon as the lake calms down, we'll be heading back out to The Rock to start hunting again! Saturday looks to be our next break in the weather so hopefully Mother Nature will give us a break for the Holiday weekend! Be safe out there! -Capt. John
May 23rd, 2011
The last few days have been pretty nice, with low winds and warmer temps but there has been plenty of fog! The Salmon fishing around Marquette has really picked up in the last week or so, with many nice Kings and Cohos being caught in the nearshore waters, along with a few nice Steelhead. Bodybaits and spoons have been the best producers lately. Bomber Long-A's, Jointed Rebel Fastracs, and Thin Fish, all run on long flat lines or short lead cores on the planer boards and trolled at 2.5-2.8 GPS speed have produced Silver fish. Natural colors like Black and Silver have been best for us. Spoons like the Moonshine Watermellon, FINN Tequlia Sunrise, and Silver Streak Yellow Tail have been taking lots of fish, especially when run behind Slide Divers. My best Diver set-up has been with the bait 80-110' behind the Diver, and the diver out from 40-60', running in mostly 40-60 feet of water. Downriggers with short leads of 15-30 feet behind the ball with Magnum spoons, especially the Old Yeller by Silver Streak, have been the best producers for Lake Trout. Water temps in the Marquette Harbors are now almost all in the low to mid 40's, with some surface temps in places reaching almost 50 degrees already. The water to the East of Marquette has warmed a bit as well and some nice catches have been coming from the Shot Point area. Our local fishing tournament this weekend here in Marquette produced some of the best catches of Salmon we have seen around here in years. Foggy conditions to start the morning led to a beautiful, sunny, and calm day on the water. 20 Boats were entered in the South Shore Fishing Association tournament and over 120lbs. of Salmon were weighed in, along with over 275lbs. of Trout in the 8 hour day of fishing. Many nicer Kings in the 5-10lb. range were caught, along with quite a few smaller Coho's and many nice Lake Trout. The forcast for this week still looks a bit up in the air, but a few nice days are forcasted for the middle of the week. I have Stannard Rock runs going out everyday this week, from Tuesday thru Sunday so Lake Trout beware! This is an excellent time of year out there for fishing, though the air temps are still expected to be in the upper 30's to low 40's for quite a while offshore. I should have some detailed reports from "The Rock" by the end of the week. Have Fun and Be Safe out there! -Capt. John
May 19th, 2011
Well after 4 days of non-stop hard North and East winds, the weather finally broke Tuesday morning enabling us to get back on the water. All the wind has really changed up the water out there, especially in the harbors near Marquette. Water temps at the ball have gone from 37-39 degrees up to 40-43 degrees in just a few days. North of Marquette in the White Rocks area the water is in the 40+ degree range as well which should really get things going around here soon. To the East of Marquette towards Shot Point the water remains a bit on the cool side, with temps around 39-40 degrees at the ball, and fishing down that way remains a bit slow. Fishing for most people has still been slow to average, with 1-3 fish per trip when targeting Salmon in the shallows. Fair numbers of Coho's and King's are stil being caught near the rivermouths, but are also being found in deeper water outside the harbors now that the water has warmed up a bit. My best depths lately have been from 40 feet of water out to 65 feet of water. Slide Divers as always have been the top producer with Gold or Blue spoons run about 80 feet behind the diver, and putting the diver about 15-20 feet down. Faster than normal springtime speeds have been best as well. GPS speeds of 2.7-3.1 have been the ticket, especially with the Salmon. We have also been seeing more Lake Trout in the shallows lately, but still most of them are right on the bottom. Silver Streak Greasy Chicken Wing run on a 10-30' lead behind the ball and then bounced along the bottom has been the best set-up for the Lakers. Moonshine Flounder Pounder has also been a standout bait for Kings and Trout lately. A good looking forcast for the next few days should get a lot of people on the water, as well as our Fishing Tournament this Saturday here in Marquette. Overall I would say we are still about 2-3 weeks behind as far as weather and tempatures go, but it looks to be in the high 50's for the extended forcast so it looks like spring may have finally broken here in the U.P. Here are 2 pictures from last night of a nice lean Lake Superior Lake Trout and a beautiful Marquette Harbor King Salmon, both headed for the grill tonight! Good luck out there and be safe! -Capt. John
May 15th, 2011
Well the nasty springtime weather we've had this year continues in Marquette, and looks to stay that way for another couple of days. Small Craft Advisory's on Lake Superior for the last 3 days have kept us off the water completely and also forced us to reschedule our local fishing tournament. Today its a balmy 41 degrees and sunny, with North winds from 20-30mph and gusting to over 40mph. There were gusts at Stannard Rock yesterday well over 50mph. Here is a shot of the Upper Harbor Breakwall in Marquette this morning------> Hopefully by the middle of next week we will be back on the water and chasin' the fish! -Capt. John
May 12th, 2011
We have made a couple trips out in the last 2 days and have found the water has really warmed up after the prolonged East winds this week. The water temps in the Upper and Lower harbors in Marquette are now in the low 40's, all the way out to 60 feet of water. The fish seemed to have to moved off the shallows near the rivermouths a little bit and some good sized bait balls were marked in 40-50 feet of water off the Lower Harbor wall. The few Kings we have had recently have been in 40'+ of water and about 20-25 feet down. Downriggers with Blue or Purple spoons have been the best lately, like the Blue FINN Spoon that this King hit this morning ------> Slide Divers continue to produce a few Coho and Lake Trout, usually run with small clean spoons or J-Plugs. The water to the East of Marquette in the Shot Point area continues to be very cold, with temps still in the high 30's and very little baitfish to speak of in that area so far. There have been many slow reports from that area lately. Its not looking good for our Fishing Tournament this weekend as the forcast is now calling for waves around 5 feet by Saturday morning and building to up to 10 feet by Sunday afternoon. Mother nature just wont give us a break from this wind very much so far this spring! We are heading out again this evening as it may be the last time for a few days! All in all the fishing is still about average for this time of year, with a few nice catches of Kings and Coho here and there, and Lake Trout becoming more and more hungry in the shallows. Good Luck out there and be safe! -Capt. John
May 9th, 2011
We finally got some nice weather over the weekend to allow for the first trip of the season to Stannard Rock. 30 degree air temps, light North wind, and sunshine greeted us to the coolest place in the Great Lakes! Water temps out there were 35-37 degrees, and with chunks of ice still covering the lighthouse, you can tell it hasnt been very warm out there yet! Fish were scattered more than usual and not "piled" up on the structure like normal. Plenty of smaller fish (3-8lbs.) were found on the shallower pinnicles on the North end of the reef, mostly in 50-70 feet of water. Many of our normal deeper spots were not very productive so we had to do some searching to target bigger fish. Our best area seemed to be the "flats" area to the North of the Lighthouse in about 130-180 feet of water. Most fish, including our few 20+lbers, came in the deeper water right on the bottom. Nothing was biting suspended at all, but as soon as the Jig hit the bottom...Bang! 2 oz. Glow Jigs tipped with Sucker Meat were the best producers. We also had a number of fish on Moonshine casting spoons as well. We cast them out as far as you can and wait about 1 minute for it to get to the bottom. Then a nice slow and steady retrieve back up was the ticket for getting them to bite. Overall it was a great day with a number of fish over 20lbs., and 3 of the 5 crew members catching their biggest fish ever! We had a nice ride back home with almost no wind and sunny skies the whole time! A little sunburn in May sure feels good! With lots of warm rain forcasted for this week in Marquette, the water temps nearshore should be rising pretty quickly and should help turn the fish on near the harbors. A few Salmon and Trout are still being caught in the shallows, but as the water warms up a bit the fish should head to deeper water and become more active. There will be lots of boats on the water this Saturday for our local fishing tournament here in town, so we should have a real good idea exactly whats out there by this weekend! Be safe and good luck! -Capt. John
May 5th, 2011
Fishing has remained hit and miss the last couple of days, though the water temps are finally starting to come up a bit, and it seems that a few Lake Trout are moving into the shallows as well. A couple were caught on Slide Divers with regular size Yellow Tails and Pearl Mauler spoons set about 80 feet behind the diver, with the diver out 20-30 feet. Bodybaits have still been the ticket for the Salmon, with a Black/Silver Bomber Long A being the best tun just below the surface in under 20 feet of water. Mornings have been far better than evenings lately as well. Finding the warm water is still key, and basically for us the last few days thats been about 41-42 degrees. Most of the harbor areas inside of 100' are between 37-39 degrees right now, but with warmer weather in the forcast that should be going up soon. My best luck over the years for Salmon in the harbors has been when the water temps are about 42-46 degrees. Stannard Rock is on the books for this weekend as well, and we cant wait to get back out there again and hunt for the Giants! As of now, good weather is forcasted for Saturday so I should have the first "Rock" report after that! Stannard Rock never seems to dissapoint, especially in the Springtime! On a different note...God Bless the Navy Seals and the U.S.A. And Thank You to anyone reading this who is currently serving, or has ever served, this great country! Because of what you do I get to enjoy Sunrises over the water in a free country, like these from yesterday morning. Thank You. -Capt. John
May 2nd, 2011
The last week the wind and the weather have made fishing pretty tough in the Marquette area. We made a few trips at the end of last week only to find very cold water and slow fishing. A few Lake Trout and Coho were caught, but with really no pattern at all. A fish came in less than 40 feet of water, in water temps from 36-38 degrees. Last weeekend the wind just wouldnt stop! We were unable to make it to Stannard Rock both Saturday and Sunday with winds over 40mph both days. We woke this morning to calm - 1 foot seas and cloudy skies. Air temps were right about freezing at 6 a.m. and rose about 2 degrees in the 6 hours we fished, and the windchill was in the low 20's. We finally found a few Kings, along with a couple Coho's and a nice Lake Superior Brown Trout. We found 1 small pocket of warmer water, (41 degrees)and every fish came from the same spot. Bomber Long-A body baits in Black/Silver and Chartruse/Orange were the best producers run on 1-3 colors of Leadcore. Also downriggers with leads of 100 feet or more, set about 12 feet down with Gold spoons. Slide Divers with small spoons run 100+ feet behind the diver, then run just below the surface also produced fish. The best speed lately has been faster than normal springtime speeds at about 3mph on the GPS. Hopefully as time goes on and the water continues to warm up the fishing action will pick up as well. Nearshore Lake Trout fishing has been slow as well, though I expect to see higher number very soon. The forcast for this week looks a little better so hopefull we can spend some more time on the water! Good Luck out there!! Capt. John
April 24th, 2011 Easter Sunday
No serious fishing done today, but a few nice hours spent on the lake going through fishing gear and getting everything tuned in for the season. It was nice to hear the rumble of the Tiara in the marina before sunrise again! Its been a long winter waiting for that. 30 degrees, calm seas, and partly cloudy skies on Lake Superior made for a nice spring day on the water. Fishing was fairly slow and water temps in Marquettes harbors ranged from 35-38 degrees from top to bottom in <75 feet of water. The only place slightly warmer water is being found is very shallow(< 15') near the rivermouths. Within the next few weeks fishing should gradually pick up as the water temps rise and fish become more active. All the ice is also gone from Stannard Rock Lighthouse and we have 2 trips planned to run out there this weekend. If Mother Nature lets us go, I will be sure to post a report. Its always great out there early in the year...cold...but Great! Capt. John
April 21st, 2011
After waking up to 3" of fresh snow yesterday morning, it was nice to see the sun shining today! Its 45 degrees and blue skies here in Marquette, so a great day to finally get RELENTLESS in the water for the season! Many good times to come...
April 1st, 2011
Welcome to the new Daybreak Charters Fishing Report page! Its still snowing and cold here in Marquette, but hopefully we'll be out fishing soon! All through the season I will be posting updated fishing reports for the waters I fish on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. I will try to post as many updates as I can, but will at least have 1 report each week throughout the season. If you have any specific questions about Fishing or the Marquette area in general, feel free to contact me anytime! Captain John Tomczyk (906) 250-1052 daybreakfish@charter.net