The hard thing about Perch fishing is you better bring minnos,mousies if you can find them and wigglers.  Perch although thought to be easy to catch I’ve sat and caught many more than other fishmerman around me do to the fact that I don’t always agree.

The best thing is be prepiared with everythign you have and can get for bait. There is nothing worse than wathching a guy catching Perch next to you becasue he has Wigglers and you don’t happen to have any. That is the way perch are at times.

West Michigan as a whole is a good place to traget Perch in the Spring time. The best time is April and through the third week of may.

Keep in mind if you run into schools of larger walleye you may want to think about realeasing someof them. Not only are the walleye planting numbers down but the fish are continuing to be fished harder. Just a thought but help keep the fish around for the future.

Lure manufactures produce a Crank Bait for a year or two and despite demand by fisherman it’s no longer available. I always wondered why that was. It wasn’t until I learned more about companies and what motivates them did I understand. Companies tend to choose larger margins over customer demand and satisfaction.

Fisherman that use Crank Baits tend to understand that a certain lure and how it works in the water can have as much to do with the color . The engineering behind a lure may have an action that fish like or it may not. I’ve personally seen this so many times.

A new lure comes out and I buy a box of them in every color only to have them sit in the box on my shelf. Not all fishing lures catch fish even if they are painted in you’re favorite colors. When you do find one that catches fish you hate to think of the day the paint is worn off.

Truth be know I’ve had several of the same lure in the same color and one will out produce the others time and time again . It won’t seem to matter if I switch it between rods it still catches more fish than the others.

With the ability to tap into artists that custom paint lures these things are less of an issue. With the cost of new lures custom painted lures are much more cost prohibitive than ever before.

Most people don’t consider the fact that you can take you’re favorite worn out lures and have them painted to look new. Many time better than new with a more durable finish than the original. I prefer custom painted lures over buying new. I end up with the old lures I don’t use anymore just lying around.

With cost in mind the original finish comes down to what the manufacture is willing to or able to produce at a low cost. Take a look at the custom painted lures available theses days. The finishes and brightness in colors are considerably different than a lure off the shelf.

Many times these brighter and deeper finishes available with Custom Baits can be the one thing that makes all the difference. When you’re fishing bright sun the deeper finish gives the lure better visual depth. In dark water the brighter custom colors just stand out better. Some times all it takes is being able to see you’re bait six inches further away.

Even if you hadn’t considered having lures painted. I encourage you to look at what’s out there. Most of the Custom lures out there are nothing short of pure art.

 Several years ago there was a crash in Salmon and Lake Trout numbers in Lake Huron. Salmon are now non existent in Lake Huron in Michigan waters. Even now when running Walleye Charters in Saginaw Bay the Salmon Charters talk about catching Lake Trout. When they do catch a Laker  they either have Gobies or small Lake Trout in their stomachs. First all the fishing charters complained about the decline in the size of the fish next their weren’t any. The smelt and Alwife population dissapeared. With no solid food base the Salmon aren’t able to be planted or reproduce.

 With the Salmon almost dissappearing in Huron and the size declining over past years in West Michigan the DNR saw the same thing happening over again. What they choose to do is allow less planting . The thought was if the food base is declining which seemed to be the case with seeing much smaller fish over the past 15 years why not have few fish that are healthier.

 The best Grand Haven Fishing Charters and  Muskegon Fishing Charters for Slamon last year were in the Spring and early summer. With late season falling very short of typicaly expectaions. This makes sense With few fish in each year class the Spring and early summer is when you find several year classes of fish together. Catching a few of the mature three year olds but mainly ended up with one and two year olds. As Local Fisherman and Charter Boats target the Fall run of Salmon they are really only targeting one year class which are the three year old Salmon mature enough to make the spawning run.

 River Guides were  able to get on some fish. Most struggled to get on quality fish with any consistancy until late in the year. No significant runs of Salmon  any one time . The best Fall Salmon Fishing seemed to be guys targeting choke points in the migration.  The Muskegon River mouth the 6th street Dam in Grand Rapids on the Grand River The Muskegon Channel and both the Grand Haven and Muskegon Pier Heads.  The pier heads were probably the best . Targeting the Salmon two hours before daylight with glow in the dark spoons worked best. Less fish but with this being the most active time for the fish to bite odds for hook ups were drasticaly increased.

 Traveling to West Michigan and or Just looking to book a Fishing Charter in Grand Haven a Muskegon Fishing Charter consider you’re other options. West Michigan offers more lakes and fishing opportunities  than I’ve been able to take advavtage of in my 30 years of fishing in the area.  Small streams inland lakes and even the Larger Lakes such as Muskegon Lake and White Lake have great fishing opportunities. Silver Lake in Oceana coutny for instance has a great population of Walleye. Hamlin Lake in Ludington has Tiger Musky , Walleye, Bass and all most to many Northern Pike. Grand Haven has some Great Catfishing During the Spring, good size Catfish and large numbers. Charter FIshing Clients that have booked  fishing charter on inland water compaired to the big water of Lake Michigan enjoy the varity of scenery the area has to offer.

Ernie Miller of Last Cast Charters is one of the best fishing guides in Michigan.  His attention to detail, his enthusiasm for the sport of fishing and his desire to provide his clients with a fishing trip to remember makes him stand out above the crowd. 
     If you are looking for a top notch fishing trip, you will be pleased with Last Cast Charters.

-Outdoor Writer Tracy Breen

The Ice that had formed as of Friday was questionable at best. Having good ice forming has been hindered by the timing of plenty of snow fallign in the Muskegon area.  I know the ice that had formed wouldn’t hold me as I took one step out  from the shore near second street in North Muskegon.

There are areas such as Great Lakes Mrina and the Conservation Club that are safe but I would still consider the main lake as off limits for a couple of more days . 

Good numbers of Bluegills, Sunfish and yellow Perch are being caught in the the confined areas I mentioned above. I wouldn’t say great size but plenty enough to enjoy going out on the ice.

Larger Bluegills starring at you’re baits fade away at the slightest irratic motions. It’s important to know if the fish is down there and looking.

There have been brief periods of an aggressive bite but few and far between. For the most part the only guys putting fish on the ice consitantly are guys with experience targeting fish durign a tough bite.

Gills have been running small with the larger fish being the most picky. We have been catching the largest fish by targeting them once they show up . Having to realy work each fish as they show up even switchign between baits to get them to go.   

Upper Hamlin Lake had about six inches of ice.

Guys were out in boats yesterday targetting open water Walleye. Launching at the boat launch near the YMCA on the South side of Muskegon lake.

I’ve done this mid winter fishing allot in the boat.You need to be very careful of unseen chuncks of ice just under the surfice. Manytimes there are ice chuncks big enough to sink a small boat so going slow at all times is advised.

The front just moved in with high winds a drop of 20 degrees and snow flurries. It’s hard to say what’s goign to happen on Muskegon Lake. Really depends on snow at thsi point. SHould be cold enough with the forecast to set back up.