Posts by Captain Matt McQueen

Last week, Lake Michigan warmed significantly, with the thermocline dropping to over 100 feet and essentially locking down the remaining adult king salmon on the “shelf.” In a way, the thermocline has become a gate—and right now, the gate is down. When the thermocline lifts to a higher depth, or the lake flips with a…

Last weekend we had a big north wind that flipped the lake, bringing cool water to or near the surface. When that happens, fish move shallow into the Manistee Harbor area, and it’s not hard to tell when the lake has flipped — there are 100s of boats trolling in front of town in 15–40…

The king salmon are staged well out of Manistee, and the Manistee fishing charters have been finding fish north, south, and straight out from town. Location and exact depth haven’t been nearly as important as being on the shelf during first and last light. Plugs have been producing well. Both full-size and 4-inch Dreamweaver plugs…

King Salmon King salmon have set up straight out from Manistee, as well as north toward Onekama and south toward the point. It’s August, and the fishing has been lights out in Manistee. We’ve been fishing south of town and getting into plenty of fish. The shelf has been producing from before first light into…

It has been an interesting week on Lake Michigan. Strong currents resulted in some major tangles one evening. The following morning our autopilot stopped working while fishing in 4-foot waves, and then a trolling bag rope broke, wrapping the bag around the prop. Hopefully we got all of that out of the way for the…

Here’s the latest Manistee fishing report from Copperhead Sportfishing. King Salmon The break has come up, and kings are settled into the top 50–65 feet. Fish 90–150 FOW first and last light and 200–300 FOW mid-morning and late afternoon. The 9s–15s definitely have a lot of fish on them. Gold Finn Spoons have been productive.…

If you’ve been following the weather, you already know the story—wind, and lots of it. Last weekend, strong conditions forced us to cancel a couple of Manistee charter fishing trips, but we still managed to get several groups on the water. The wind scattered fish for a few days, but king salmon are still holding…

King Salmon King salmon fishing out of Manistee slowed after last week’s strong north blow (Thursday through Saturday), but reports have steadily improved throughout the week. If conditions remain stable, the Manistee salmon bite should be very good again by the weekend. Top-producing gear has been: – Double Pearl Slick paddles with Riverside flies –…

July 8, 2026 After getting back from a Canadian fly-in walleye trip, we’re back on Lake Michigan and getting caught up on the Manistee fishing scene. The thermocline is beginning to set up around 50–60 feet down, and fishing conditions continue to improve. King Salmon Report King Salmon are still providing good action out of…

June 25, 2026 Another great morning on the water out of Manistee. We fished straight out from Manistee and north past Onekama, continuing to find a mix of King Salmon and Lake Trout on Lake Michigan. Storms moved through the night before, and there were a few Kings ready to play on the shelf first…