North Wind Flips the Lake — Kings Move Shallow in Manistee
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 FOW.
Yes, they’re in there, and they’re hungry.
We’ve been catching kings primarily, and they’ve been willing to eat just about everything. Plugs, meat rigs, spoons, and flasher/flies have all been producing. When the fish are hungry, it doesn’t seem to matter much what you put in front of them.
Along with the kings, we also found a pig of a brown trout one morning and a steelhead one night.
Fishing on the shelf remains strong too. It won’t be long and these adult kings will be charging the river. But that doesn’t mean the action is over! Cohos, steelhead, and younger kings will still be ready and willing to bite.
If you’re looking to get in on the action, now is a good time to get out on the water. Give us a call to book a Manistee fishing charter and see what Lake Michigan has in store.
do u fish longer leads shallow,,,im new to manistee shelf, and surroudings.i came here from wisconsin side milwaukee harbor,
Hi Daniel. Sorry it took me so long to reply.
Yes. We usually run about 100 – 120 ft leads off the downrigger balls and extend our diver leads when in shallow. Slide divers are a good choice when in shallow.
The downfall is the boat traffic around the pier heads when the fish are in close. Some folks will run over your long leads and then give you the “California Howdy” when you try to tell them they’re on top of your spread. Thats the risk you take running long leads this time of year.
Best of Luck,
Captain Matt