Captain's Blog

Mid-Season Updates

Steve — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:08:04 +0000

A few more perch are being caught in and near Saugatuck and Holland. There are some spots to the south of Saugatuck as well as South Haven that are consistantly producing fish when it is not too rough to anchor. The salmon being caught for the last two weeks are very nice size and we have been catching a good mixed bag of Lake Trout and Steelhead. On a personal note, our daughter Natalie is getting married August 20th on the island of Maui and we are busy getting ready for a 10 day trip August 17 – 27. Sorry if you had hoped to fish with me during that time. This year has been busy and I thank you all for that. I look forward to meeting and fishing with you in the future.

perch action picking up

June salmon and perch fishing

Steve — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:31:58 +0000

Well it looks as if the June doldrums are ending and the salmon are finally on a good bite. The cottonwood on the water is also on the decline – so no more excuses for losing fish while cleaning rod guides! Give me a call and let’s go GET SOME. Perch fishing continues to improve and with the return of very hot weather I expect the perch bite to be better by the day. Schools out and the fish are schooling. Hope you can make it. Captain Steve

perch fishing Holland and Saugatuck

Steve — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:46:57 +0000

Just a quick update on the fishing from our Ports of Saugatuck and Holland. I was out this holiday weekend looking for perch and found some action in 70 FOW. Fishing was not the best, with lots of goby bait stealers, but as the stormy weather of early spring subsides, I expect the perch fishing to improve dramatically in our area. Check back later for an update for our perch fishing and perch charters from Saugatuck and Holland.

May fishing report

Steve — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:39:36 +0000

Due to the gale force winds Saturday May 8th, I was forced to cancel a fishing charter for salmon. The following day I was able to get a group of 6 anglers out. It was quite cold in the morning with a hard frost that evening but once the sun came up we were peeling off a layer of clothes by 8:30 AM. We fished in 90 – 130 foot with 100 – 115 the best. No bites on flies. 9 on spoons. Pretty much a mixed bag and fish on riggers at 40 and dipseys back 80. 2 fish on 5 color core. Best spoons were anything green. We took a nice 4 year old king that tipped the scale at 16 pounds. It came on a small Clown stinger spoon. We came in a tad early due to some stomach issues with 2 anglers. I was at the lakeshore checking wave height at 3:30 AM that morning; my group was just coming back from the bachelor party at the same time. That’s their story and they are sticking to it! Hopefully I will get out perch fishing this week and post a report soon.

First trips 2010

Steve — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:58:36 +0000

Fellow fishermen- The JD Lady is ready for business. I launched April 6th during the day of the hailstorm of 2010, but was lucky enough to avoid any damage. After a week of reinstalling electronics,newly upholstered bolsters and a newly fabricated hatch door as well as the normal tackle and rod work, I took two family members out for some close to the shore spring coho and brown trout fishing on Weds the 14th. We caught 8 salmon (all cohos) in 25 – 30 FOW south of the piers. The wind was East at 25-20 MPH but it was fishable near shore when trolling. We had bait for some perch fishing also but because of the situation with the wind and waves, we decided to hold off in the hopes of a better day for that. The report from Holland was no one out in the normal perch fishing grounds and that weighed in on our decision also. The following day, I had a friend that only had 3 hours in which to fish and the wind had shifted to South at 15 MPH. We trolled with body baits and picked up 2 browns. One about 2 lbs. and the other a chunky 5 lbs. Here is where the story has a twist. When my friend was cutting the bigger brown he remarked on how its belly was STUFFED with bait. Upon opening the stomach we found only two fish inside and not the normal alewife, smelt or chubs. We came to the conclusion that the two fish were smolt brown trout probably planted this year. They were in good shape for identification and I am posting their pictures for your feed back. Hope your spring is shaping up and lets keep this string of good weather coming. Tight lines. Captain Steve, J D Lady.

Your DNRE fees at work

From the Captain

Steve — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:13:50 +0000

Welcome to our blog. I hope to generate some new enthusiasm for charter boat fishing from Saugatuck and Holland and to keep my customer’s well informed on the fishing action this season. Our boat is scheduled for launching on April 7th and I am busy with reloading our tackle and respooling all our poles for the season. One thing to note is my attempt to help out our sluggish economy (and your wallet) by reducing the price of our charters significantly. Please see our “Trips and Rates” page for those figures for 2010.
My plan is to run some early charters with friends and family in search of some early perch fishing and some brown trout and then to start contacting my customers via e-mail to give you some “real-time info” and get the season started in late April. When the weather warms and the May salmon fishing really takes off from Saugatuck, I will also keep you, the customer, well posted so be sure to check back weekly for some data to base your charter scheduling on. Thank you all again for your interest and for the business and feel free to give me a call or e-mail me anytime.
as a post note – I had one of the best ice fishing seasons in memory and I will also post any walleye action in and near our slip as soon as that season is hot.