Do I Stay, or Do I Go?

Adapted from Capt. John King's two-part article, first published December 1, 2016 on MichiganSportsman.com. Original: Part 1 · Part 2.

Every trip comes down to one question: stay with the fish you've found, or go find better ones? Capt. John used an August 2016 evening trip out of Manistee, which ended with a 28 lb King, to show how he decided.

The trip: August 10, 2016

  • Water: thermocline about 60' down. The best depth was 60–70'.
  • Speed: about 2.0 mph, dropping to 1.2 while fighting a fish so the other lines kept fishing.
  • Riggers: set with John's 100' rule: depth plus lead equals 100 (70' down/30' back, 60' down/40' back).
  • Spread: 2 downriggers, 2 wire divers, two 300' 45# copper lines, and a 10-color (300') 27# lead core on big planer boards.
  • Lures: 10" and 12" flasher/meat rig combos and 4.65 Salmon Buster spoons. Best colors: X-Glow Ghostbuster, X-Glow Frog and Super Silver Bullet.
  • Tackle details: coast-lock snaps on spoons, sharpened hooks, Super Snubbers on the divers, rubber-band rigger releases, and bead chain coast-locks on flashers.

Where to look

  • Temperature: Kings are said to prefer 50–54°F, but John caught them from the high 50s down to 38°F. Use temperature as a starting point, not a rule.
  • Structure: drop-offs act like a fence that concentrates fish. Off Manistee the structure runs north-south, so troll along it.
  • Copper depth: 300' of 45# copper at 2 mph fishes right about 60', perfect for a 60' thermocline.

When to leave

  • Read the charter fleet. Ask captains where they caught fish, not what they caught them on. Location matters far more than lure.
  • Leave the crowd. When boats pile in on a school and open water lies ahead, John often left to find unpressured fish.
  • Know what "good" is. On a 3–4 hour evening trip, 2–4 fish is a good night. One fish an hour beats the Michigan charter average.

Part 2 ends after dark, with John landing four Kings at once by himself.

Videos

Watch John's trip: Part 1 · Part 2

Shop the setup: Ghostbuster X-Glow combo · Silver Bullet flasher · Salmon Buster spoons · Super Snubbers

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