TOPIC:

Fished aboard another captain's boat last week for tournament, thus delayed report.

From the winners:
Arrendondo (Phoenix, Pro) "caught our coho in 235-250' both days, then spent rest of time in 90-100' on lakers." Lakers were due North of Burns Ditch and coho many miles beyond that. Best coho set up was Steelie Stomper on two core, best laker rigs were tin cans and Spin-N-Glos on downriggers and white Spin Doctor, white fly on wire diver
Messina (Nail Bender Too, Am) "160' north of New Buffalo", had good-sized lakers on bottom and coho above. "Shiny (silver dodgers) worked better than the tin cans the first day, but regular tin cans on second day."

We caught a half-dozen coho and steelies near 190' (345 heading out of MC) both days to meet the five, non-lake trout requirement in the 10-fish limit, then culled five lakers for weight in 80-90' for balance of contest. During contest and pre-fishing, caught as many coho below 150' on laker rigs as did on surface spoons. Many of the coho' stomachs looked like sausages packed with shrimp.

In general, top teams found patches of coho and steelies spread out beyond 150' of water, but they weren't everywhere out there. In normal fishing, as in just targeting silver fish, seems could make double-digit catches, possibly a limit, by covering plenty of water. Biggest laker concentrations were 80-100' north of Port, where MC charter fleet fished for past week or on reef in 50-60' northeast of New Buffalo.

Of relevance, we caught three large kings and at least one of every other species (total) in 30-50' at various times during week leading up to Classic, but at a pace of about one fish per hour, which doesn't cut it during contest (need 10 fish). Water clarity was issue near shore, as there were increasing numbers of bait fish pods showing up in those depths near the MC harbor and spots west to the State Park pavilion as the week went on.
Hence, there is hope for some decent, near-shore fishing if the incessant north winds stop churning the water.

Thanks for the great report.
2 kings....TWO...damn

Sad indeed; 56 boats X 12 hours of fishing = two kings during prime season.

I suspect MC will have a few decent king days as more bait fish move in. Hope to find out on Sunday.

Also Classic results are up at www.hoosiercohoclub.org