Two Rivers/Manitowoc, Lake Michigan

Geez have to follow my own report from sometime back.  My son told me most people use facebook but at my age I'm sticking here.  I rarely fish two AM's back to back which I did Wednesday and Thursday off Manitowoc.  Both short trips with decent results.  I had lines set both days about 5:20AM an hour before sunrise; pulled lines both days at 7:30AM.  Wednesday AM Solo trip; Thursday with my son.  Unless I launch again it will be the first year I have not netted a Lake Trout since 1989.  Anyway, both days same routine 130ft. to 190ft..  75ft. to 95ft. down and both spoons and flasher fly combos worked.  Yesterday solo the spoons worked off riggers for my 2 Bows and 2 Kings; today deep dipsies trolling a bit slower took our 3 Kings with flasher fly combos.  On Wednesday the larger Bow took a happy meal spoon 76ft. down rigger.  Today the Port wire dipsy took our two bigger fish down maybe 80ft. with a bechhold flasher pulling a double aqua fly only 42 inches behind the dipsy.  So 11ft. dipsy leads aren't always necessary.  Lots of bait and fish out there right now.  From the girth of our 2 three years olds next years 4's should be huge.  Nasty ride in Wednesday much better on Grandpa's back today.  First pic yesterday; second pic today.  Good luck. 

Nice chop Tuesday night off Manitowoc to give the lures a little action.  My son and I trolled for about 2.5 hours pulling at 8PM.  They weren't jumping into the boat but a few fish were caught off Manitowoc.  I talked to two other boaters at the dock who each had one fish each and a friend had a couple.  We worked 130ft. to 155ft. a couple times with two good bites one of them held both on wire dipsies and flasher flies down between 60ft. and 70ft. were some cooler water prevailed versus the top temp of 72 degrees.  We netted a nice silver 3 yr. old Female that went 10.5# on my Hanson Scale at the house.  It hit a green bechhold and green howie fly.  Warmest water of the year right now you know it when youngsters are swimming at Red Arrow Park. Have not seen many Steelhead this year and noticed other Ports the Bow catch doesn't seem too great either wonder what is up there ??  We ended off the Hospital and thought Geez when I read 8.7 miles to the Manitowoc Pier Heads last night.  Good Luck.

Appreciated the brief talk with a private boat Friday AM at the cleaning station who had a monster King and other fish that gave me a starting point for PM.  Quite choppy PM off Manitowoc as I set in 150ft..  I set out a double set of dipsys each side all mags set 3 on the outside and set on 1 on the inside pair plus a pair of riggers.  The outside mags were down maybe 50 feet and never got touched the other 4 rods  took one fish each.  We worked 160ft. to 180ft. for 3 hours and I eventually put our inside 4 rods down 60ft. to 80ft. as that seemed to be holding fish.  I ran 40# Andy on the rigger rods as fleas can't  hold to that thick stuff.  The inside dipsy rods had white/green Bechhold flashers and llb and  double aqua howies and the riggers spoons.  Our first fish was a rare Pink Salmon in Pic on an inside dipsy.  Our largest fish a Steelhead my grandson Ethan fought and it came off a rigger mag bloody nose spoon down 72ft..  We thought King until the netting.  The fish all had adipose fins probably not plants and some bait in their stomachs.  The son kept the boat straight and the kids got a 6 flags soaking on the way in as the Lake never settled.  Good Luck.

Late report from Saturday.   4 for 4.  3 kings 8, 10 and 19.  One 8# skinny bow.  Kings on dipseys back 80.  Megatron took one.  Two on Green lighted optiflasher.  All before 6 am.  Bow at 8 am on orange on gold stinger std spoon on 3 color.  2.2 mph. 50 to 80 fow.

Fished 7/25-7/29. Steady action in 40-75 fow mostly north of town. 6-8 color lead with spoons caught most of the fish. A few on ff/rigger and pumps down 30-50. 1.8-2.0 at the ball seemed to be best. Lots of shakers and enough fleas to warrant frequent line checks.  Good luck! 

Out last night 4 to 9 pm.  North of TR in 50 to 70 fow.  55 on surface 50 20 down. Bait and fish on the Hummingbird.   Set up for rainbows early with 5 orange on gold spoons.  5 and 10 pound kings 17 down on riggers.  Then switched over to 5 glow flashers one orange spoon.  15 and 20 pound kings hit right after sundown as a double.  Chinese fire drill for 35 minutes but got both in.  15 on Megatron/aqua fly.  20 on 10 inch white spindoctor/black spots with 30 inch leader to green/yellow atomic glow fly.  Only boat out there.  Plowed through 1-3 foot waves back to Seagull marina.

Went out Saturday morning with Hooked Charters. Took the wife and my daughters. Got on the Salmon fast. We boated 4 of 4. Changed gears half way through the trip to target lake trout. We boated only 1 of 4, but the one was a TANK!! 22lbs!! There was a lot of guys following our boat. Lots of guys calling our guide. Captain Kurt is the man!! Put us on the fish when others weren’t catching anything. Plus I put a trophy laker under my belt!! Check out Hooked Charters in Two Rivers. 

Well, might as well type a report as the storms approach.  I mentioned to my son that if the wind turned South Friday we would not head out it didn't but things were still sporty as we left the Manty Pier Heads about 6:30PM to catch the Friday evening bite.  Steady 3 to 5 footers from the Southeast what I'd call a wave that is between a white cap and a roller fishable but not pleasant.  Coldest surface temps were pier heads with 52-53. I had 6 lines set about 7:15PM in 55ft. and worked out to 75ft.. We netted 2 Salmon and missed one the kid had on a good while before falling off.  It seemed the area to target was 30-40ft. down as all 3 bites were in that range and on spoons.  Talked to some fishermen from Hudson, Wi. who launched off Manitowoc Saturday AM and had a terrific catch of coho and salmon all spoons.  I recall chatting with him last year when I saw his older StarCraft hardtop a boat that is no longer made.  I pulled last evening at 9PM and road the 4 footers back in.  Good luck.

gbtlg8 all these are very good

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Taking a few colleagues out on charter trip - several charters that were recommended were already full.  

Anyone have first hand experience with Willie Bee Charters?  Kind of an important gig so trying to do my homework before booking and am looking for help.  Please PM me to share your experience, or if you have recommendation of someone else reputable.  Thank you in advance.