Spring / Summer Update

So much for weekly updates. The better part of the summer has passed without updating. This might be a reflection of just how busy my summers get. We'll see how the late summer and fall work out for updating. Either way, I'm going to attempt being more regular.

The spring bite was odd this year. With the late winter, the fish seemed to be scattered over April and May. If you recall from past updates, my preferred technique is to fish the arms of the channel during this time period. The normal bite is mid to late April with a few fish still around in early May. This year the fish started showing up in mid April but we were still catching fish late May into early June. There were a couple of days where better numbers of fish were caught, but it seemed as though they just kept showing up. One technique I picked up this spring was pulling deep divers through the sand inside the arms. Seemed odd to me, but after watching a guy land his limit night after night, I had to suck up my pride and ask him what he was doing. Surprisingly he was very forthcoming with information and he and I now have a "fishing" friendship started. We bump into one another on the lake and share information.

Memorial Day on Lake Erie was outstanding. Sorry you missed it. I made three trips to Erie this year and had great fishing experiences. I had several new people book trips with me this year, and they loved it. One person has two trips booked for next year already. If you haven't fished Lake Erie, you owe it to yourself to try it.

Everything on Muskegon Lake seems to be two weeks behind the normal timing. Generally we start picking up walleye in early July. This year it was mid July. It was almost as though someone threw the switch when the bite finally took off. I fished July 21st in preparation for a charter on the 23rd. I landed two nice walleye. The entire week before I landed a total of two fish. On the 23rd we landed 3 fish, and the numbers have steadily climbed every week after.

I have to tell you about the night I had July 24th. There is a small tournament held every Thursday night during the summer on Muskegon Lake. Adam's Angler Archer hosts these events. It's a group of local fishermen that get together to fish and talk stories after the event about the catch, or the one that got away. I really enjoy fishing these every week. On this particular night my fishing partner for the night and I decided that we would try jigging Hopkin's spoons for an hour before starting a trolling pattern. The tournament starts at 6PM and goes until 10PM. We left the launch and headed to a little spot that I have had moderate success jigging in the past. I dropped the silver Hopkin's over the side and made 4 jigs when I wondered if I had snagged the bottom. After confirming it was a fish, I announced to my partner to get the net. He was laughing when I started with the "please don't be a sheepy" ditty. A minute later the laughing stopped and he got very serious. A nervous glance my way and in the boat came a 9.4 lb walleye. Needless to say, there was some serious "hi-five'n" going on. I worked the fish into the livewell and my partner got back to work. I was just reaching for my pole when I heard him say "T, I got one". I looked up to see his rod doubled over. I grabbed the net and watched the battle. A minute later a 9 lb walleye hit the floor of the boat. Wow, what a night! But it's not over yet. Thirty minutes later, and three more fish, and we were sitting on just over 31 lbs of walleye to weigh in. The tournament allows 5 fish to be weighed in. We won that tournament and made some really good memories that will last us a life time.

Please check back as I plan to update a little more often. I'm working on gathering some pictures from this years trips. I hope to have them posted soon.

Captain T

January Fish

Before moving along, I had to add a picture of my good friend Shane and his fish caught on a Muskegon Lake trip last Winter. This fish was landed using 8 lb Berkley XT line and a Rapala jigging shad rap. Shane had a blast working this fish for over an hour. There was a nice crowd gathered by the time he landed it. We shared a few laughs, a couple quick pictures and let this fish go. It was worth standing around Shane's hole for the best hour of the day just to see him land this fish.

April 19, 2008

Had a great group of fishermen from across the US that came to town to relax and enjoy a night of spring walleye fishing in Muskegon. The weather wasn't postcard material, but so often the walleye fishing is the best under these conditions. The wind was strong and gusty from the north-west and carried a chilly bite. Hat's, sweatshirts and jackets were the norm, but snowmobile suits might have been a welcome addition. The guys were as tough nails, and unfortunatly, so was the fishing. We missed three fish throughout the afternoon, but the great company made up for a lack of cooperation from the fish. Often times the best fishing trips are not just about catching fish, but making new friends and enjoying the outdoors. It was a pleasure to spend the afternoon getting to know these guys, and sharing time doing what we love; fishing.

When I first started talking with these guys about their spring trip, the question was asked about what day(s) would be the best for catching some spring walleye? A million dollar question that I didn't have an answer for. The spring bite in 2007 was a month early. I started catching limits of big female walleye the first weekend of April. This was unheard of in Muskegon as it had always been late April into May. The winter had been very mild last year, and things were a month early. The long winter this year had the bite more normal with fish showing up in numbers in the middle of April, but quickly spreading out throughout their normal routes. In the spring, the big female fish are the first to show. They will be around for a week or two followed shortly by the smaller males. As it turns out, the females were around the first two weeks of the month. I fished a week after our trip on 4/26, and caught a limit of males in two hours. We missed the big bite by being a week late for the females, and a week early for the males. As I often tell people, "the best time to fish is when you have time."

Thanks Brian, Jeff and company for sharing a night of fishing with TKO and I look forward to our next trip.

April 16, 2008

Greeting TKO friends and family,

It was exactly a month from the time I started putting the ice fishing gear away, to putting the boat back in the water. I took the month break to get everything ready for the 2008 fishing season, and the two page list of things to do was complete with four or five hours to spare. Lots of new requirements from the Coast Guard, and a nice little list of things I needed to take care of like cleaning, replacing, and preventative maintenance.

All new rods and reels will be proudly displayed in the rod rack for everyone to enjoy this year. The old rods and reels were nothing to sneeze at, but new is exciting right! Berkley Series One rods and Abu Garcia reels make a great combination that I'm sure the walleye's wont care for, but I'm certain you will. I'm looking forward to hearing the feedback.

Sunday April 13th was the first trip on the water with the boat. A scouting mission if you will. Spent the evening working the rocks along the arms of Muskegon harbor checking for the walleye that fall back into the arms after spawning. No luck. For those of you that don't know what the "arms" are, my wife calls them "mothers arms" because they would appear to be two arms bending at the elbows reaching out into Lake Michigan that provide protection for the channel into Muskegon. The arms are actually rocks and cement that were stacked and positioned to protect the harbor.

The season for inland walleye closes March 15th to allow time for the walleye to spawn. The season opens again for inland waters the last Saturday in April at midnight. The walleye season stays open year round in the Great Lakes and connecting waterways. What this means is that if fish outside the shoreline between Muskegon and Lake Michigan, the season is open year round.
Nice little loop-hole that keeps me fishing when the inland season is closed.

Monday April 14th was my next trip out. I was determined to get a pattern going, because I knew there should be fish around. I started fishing deep divers in various depths of water. No luck. The graph was showing fish higher in the water column than I was fishing, so after an hour, I had to make some adjustments. First pass after the adjustments and I landed a very nice six pound fish. The next pass I missed two solid hits. It was starting to get late, so I packed it up feeling a little better about having landed a fish, and having a little pattern going.

More soon.

March 13, 2008

I have to tell you that my little adventure on White Lake with the local writer didn't turn out quite as planned. Before I get in to the details, I have to tell you a little about this guy. He shared with me last night that he had two missions in his life before he leaves this earth. The first item was to harvest a whitetail deer. He has good record of his ancestry back to the civil war and claims that no family member since has harvested a deer. I didn't ask how many times he had hunted, but thought it to be a fine goal to have. Seeing the season doesn't open for another seven months, there isn't much I can do to help this cause. The second goal was to catch a walleye through the ice. I'm thinking I can help this guy with a little time, starting next year. We left the ice empty handed, but enjoyed the company and the wonderful afternoon on the ice with some comfortable weather.

This weekend I will be working the Grand Rapids Sportfishing and RV Show at the DeVos Center. I will be working in the Precision Angling booth for Off-Shore Tackle. If your in the area, or looking to get out of the house for a few hours, stop and see me. The show should be very entertaining even if your not in the market for a new boat or RV.

I put my ice fishing equipment away this afternoon. I still have a couple of things to take care of, but this closer feels pretty good. Next week I will start with ordering new equipment, loading the boat, and getting a few maintenance items taken care of prior to taking the boat out April 1st.

Looking ahead - For those of you looking for some spring fishing, consider booking a trip with me in mid to late April in Muskegon for the spring walleye bite. Should be a great spring with the numbers of fish we caught this past summer and fall. There should also be a strong year class of fish this year that will be 16" - 18". Last summer it seemed that every other fish was a 14 1/2" - 14 3/4" and should be all of 15" this spring.

Memorial Day Weekend - Booking trips for Lake Erie Memorial Day Weekend. This is my first trip over every year and we have an absolute blast. The spring run walleye are falling back out of Detroit River and are looking to put on the feed bag. Last year I took two close friends with me for their first Lake Erie fishing adventure. I have heard the stories repeated for the last 10 months, and they never get old. If you haven't experienced Lake Erie walleye fishing before, give it a try. You can be that guy or gal at work telling stories and showing off the pictures of your awesome Lake Erie trip. You don't want to miss it.

Close of season coming...

The walleye season is quickly coming to a close for inland waters. When I say inland waters, Im speaking of the water inside of the Lake Michigan shoreline. March 15th is the last day until April 1st for me. I know, two weeks off with no fishing "boo-hoo". That two weeks is the most time all year where I dont fish. It's a much needed break and time to prepare for the 2008 season. I have two short weeks to get my ice-fishing gear put away, get my new rods and reels put together, stock the tackle boxes and get all of the pre-season work done on my boat. I put many miles on during the year and there things like new bearings on the trailer and touch up work on the boat that must be done during this break. I get my boat out of storage April 1st and begin fishing outside the shoreline in Lake Michigan. The fishing historically picks up in mid to late April as the post spawn walleye fall back out of the Muskegon River and start what I call "the feeding frenzy". Im going to be taking a local writter out Wednesday night on White Lake for some last minute walleye ice fishing. I try and get this guy on the water a couple of times a year. I send him weekly fishing updates on my success or short comings to help him develop a weekly fishing report for the Muskegon Chronicle. He works with some local guys he can trust to develop this weekly fishing report. He often gets the abuse when guys show up and dont catch fish, but I can tell you that his reports are generally right on the money. As they say, 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish.

Welcome To My Captain's Log

Hello and welcome to my Captain's Blog. Because this is my first entry, I'll take a moment to introduce myself. I am a Charter Captain from Muskegon, Michigan. I specialize in Walleyes, Pike and Panfish and I am happy to travel to many lakes throughout Michigan. Please visit my website at www.tkocharters.com. Please check back often as I plan on updating this blog regulary to keep you informed on the fishing conditions in West Michgan.