I got an invite from an individual (Kraig) that I met on the internet to go salmon fishing out of Ludington, MI. In exchange, I was offering up a bow hunt for him and his brother-in-law (Joel) in Buffalo County where I hunt. Over the last few months, Kraig and I shared our philosophies, our experiences and best of all, our passion for hunting and fishing. We seemed to cut from the same cloth and I felt like I’ve know him all along. 
I’ve never fished the Michigan side of Lake Michigan and really did not know what to expect. When I arrived, I soon found out that this was a very famous fishery and the fish we caught proved it why.
Unlike on the WI side, the lake has a lot of structure and one only has to go out a few miles (5-6) to find deep water. The bottom is also very sandy and very different compared to the WI side. Conditions were a little unusual due to the warm consistent weather. In fact, the surface temp was the same all the way down to the bottom (73 degrees). However, it doesn’t take long for the lake to change in temp. A north wind that blows for a day or two can flip the lake and decrease temps dramatically.
High divers, low divers, full leadcores, and downriggers were all effective.
We were using spin doctor rotators with green and blue flies. Leadcore and planer boards took the majority of our fish in the morning.in 60 – 80 FOW. We would let out up to 200 yards of leadcore and then clip the planer board on the mono backing and let out another 50-100 yards of line. This would bring our flies down to 40 – 60 FOW depending on how fast we were trolling. Typical speed was about 2.4 mph. Talk about a fight!!! The bigger kings would hit and run 40-50 feet at a time even with all that leadcore line out. It would sometimes take us 15 minutes to get them in! 
Later in the morning we would slip out to 100 to 140 FOW and then the down riggers and dypsy divers caught the majority of the fish.. We used 3 down riggers rigged with mono line, 2 high divers (dypsy divers on braided line – 180 feet back) and 2 low divers (dypsy divers on wire – 80 feet back). All of these lines were also rigged with flies and spin doctors and at times, we had up to 12 lines in the water with very few tangles.
Over the course of 3 days, we fished 2 evenings and 2 mornings and ended up catching 36 kings. There were many 4 year olds in the 14 to 16 lb. range. Most of our fish were taken around the Big Sauble Point area.
A special thank you goes out to Kraig and Joel for their sincere hospitality. Both of these guys are licensed captains and previously ran charters for years. They know this part of the lake like the back of their hand and consistently put us on fish. 
Not only were they great at catching salmon, they also turned out to be great friends. We also had the opportunity to meet their wives and their children. Kraig’s wife (Shelly) is a first mate and helped out as well! 
For those of you who ever considered swapping a fishing trip or a hunting trip – please act on it. You may find a friend forever that feels and thinks the same way you do in regard to your fishing and hunting passion!
Lake Michigan is an awesome body of water. It just amazes me how much fight salmon put up, whether they come from deep or up high, it can get to be a circus in the boat at times. The difference from WI side to MI side is interesting stuff.
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