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Report for October 12, 2024
We are in our final month of the 2024 season, though we are still our the first weekend of November. This year has been the story of the salmon. It has been our best year for catching salmon since 2012 and that was an incredible. year. This is year is ending up slightly better than 2013 and 2014, which were the last two solid salmon years. This is a combination of both Coho and Chinook salmon. We have had some really good Coho salmon years over the last 10 years. The wind and waves have not been our friend since our last report in September but when we have been out the Chinook bite has been good. The water warms up and then cools down almost every fourth day depending on which way the wind blows but the fishing has remand good in 90 to 130 feet of water from the Filtration plant to the weather buoy, which was taken out early this week. The bite is mostly Chinook salmon, with a few Rainbow trout and Brown trout. We still have only caught 57 Lake trout this year. Who ever would have thought Lake trout would be a rarity.
We have been running copper on the boards. From 250 to 450 feet. Moonshine spoons are on these and the Happy Meal or Wonder Bread have been best. The wire dipsies are set at 150 to 200 feet on the line counter and dialed in at thirty degrees with a magnum dipsy. We are running either a little boy blue flasher along with a little boy blue fly on these. Or a chrome flasher with a bull frog fly. On the back two down riggers we are from 70 to 120 feet down and both are set with a little boy blue flasher and fly combination. We are running one side down rigger at 40 to 55 feet with a two color lead core and a Moonshine Happy Meal. All baits are working. There is not as much bait as last fall but that may change over the next couple of weeks.
There is still fish to be caught over the next three weeks, when the lake allows it. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to get in on the last of the great 2024 salmon year. We will have some weekend spots open. Below are some pictures of recent catches.
Report for September 20, 2024
We are a couple of days away from the first day of fall and the weather has been like the middle of summer. Over the last 10 days we have been seeing more of the same from the summer. A good Chinook salmon bite with Coho salmon and Rainbow trout mixed in. We have been saying this is our best Chinook bite since 2014 but we may need to update that and go back to 2012. We are still catching a few mature Chinook and Coho salmon before they head to spawn. But the majority of the fish are now two and three year old Chinooks and next years Coho. Still great fish!. We have boated a few Brown trout and ever a couple elusive Lake trout. The surface temperature has remained about 70 degrees but cooler water has been creeping up and we now have 49 degree water down 35 feet. Ten days ago we were working 100 to 130 feet but we have moved into 60 to 80 feet of water. Another northeast blow could change it back to a deeper bite.
We are still heavy on spoons and only today did we switch to a leadcore setup on the boards, with 6 to 10 colors. But it has been copper on the boards for the most part from 150 to 275 feet. Moonshines in Green Flounder Pounder, Happy Meal and Wonder Bread have been good. Also Stinger Blue Dolphin UV, Green NBK and Gold Hud. We are also running one color leadcores on the two side down riggers with these spoons. They are set anywhere from 25 to 55 feet down. Our two back downriggers are a white or Chrome flasher, with with a Little Boy Blue fly or a Willy fly. Our wire diver rods are set at 120 to 176 feet on the line counter. A Little Boy Blue flasher and fly are working good here.
Fishing has been very good this year and a good salmon bite has made it so. We expect to keep catching Chinook salmon as long as some warm water stays around. We will be in the water through October and Halloween is still open. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book a trip this fall. Below are some pictures from recent trips.
Report for September 6, 2024
We are through August and onto September and it is kind of sad because 2024 has been the best salmon fishing in over a decade. But we still have a couple months to add to the overall catch. We expect to have some good Chinook fishing this fall due to the number of salmon in Lake Michigan. The mature fish are starting to stage and spawn but we are still catching some of these fish out in the lake. But there are a lot of two and three year old Chinooks around and we expect the bite to remain good throughout the end of October. The last several years we have experienced a good fall salmon bite. We have been fishing between 60 to 130 feet of water straight out of the North Gap up to 43.08 whish is just south of Fox Point. For the last three weeks the water will start to cool off and just before it really chills out we get a strong Northeast wind. Right on schedule we have a strong one today and Saturday. The water was 49 degrees down 40 feet and now it is 70 degrees down 80 feet. We have been catching mostly Chinook salmon, with Coho salmon, Rainbow trout and a few Brown trout. Lake trout have been missing in action.
Our spread has not changed for three weeks. Two deep down riggers set at 75 and 85 to 90 feet down. White or chrome flashers with little bot blue Howie flies or the Willy fly are best. We are running tow wire dipsy rods set at 150 to 200 feet on the line counter. These are the magnum dipsies. Same flasher and fly combos as on the downriggers. We have two copper rod setups on each side. These are 150 through 500 coppers. We have been running a mix of Moonshine and Stinger spoons. The Happy Meal and Bloody Nose for the Moonshines. Blue Dolphin UV and Gold Hud for the Stingers. When the water cools off we do put a one color leadcore on a side downrigger at about 50 feet down. This set ups has been taking 15 to 25 fish in the mornings. The midday trips have been tougher recently.
We expect some good fishing this September and October. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to add on to the salmon catch total for 2024. There should be some special days ahead. Below are some recent catches form the last ten days of fishing.
Report for August 17, 2024
Not since 2014 have we had a season as good as this year for both Chinook and Coho salmon. We are still catching good numbers of Coho salmon and we have boated more Chinook salmon than any year since 2014. We have also been lucky to be able to fish close to McKinley marina this year. We have been between 43,08 to 43.00 for most of the season. Or between the Whitefish Bay to the Green Can. The deepest water we had to fish is 250 feet and this was early on for Coho salmon in May. This has made our run time shorter and allows us more fishing time. The best action has been straight out the the North Gap almost all year. Over the last couple of days strong southeast winds has cooled off the water and we now have 49 degree temperatures down 35 feet. The surface temperature is still in the low 70's. The best bite was between 130 to 110 when the water was warmer and the cool water has not changed the bite much. The Chinook salmon will be heading to the harbor in the next two weeks but we should be catching mature Chinooks and Coho for another 4 weeks in the lake. We are at a record low on Lake trout going back I don't even know. There was at time Willy and I didn't even fish for Lake trout but that was more than 20 years ago. Even then we caught more Lake trout. We have only boated 54 Lake trout, so far this year.
Over the last 10 days we have run a simply but very productive spread. Two downriggers set at 90 and 100 feet down. We run a chrome Derks flasher and the Willy Fly. We are also run one wire dipsy rod on each side of the boat. These were set at a one setting and 150 to 200 feet on the line counter. We are run two copper boards a side at 300, 350, 400 and 450 feet of copper. We have have all Moonshine spoons on these. The Happy Meal, Green Flounder Pounder, Wonder Bread have been good. Just 8 lines and we have been 15 to 25 fish a trip for the most part. Just yesterday as the water cooled we brought the dipsies up to 90 and 100 feet on a 2 setting and added to side downriggers with spoons. We have really liked the one color leadcores on the side riggers. It is tough to do but really less is more when running lines.
One of the best things about the 2024 season is the Coho bite staying decent. The DNR has done a better job at spreading the Coho salmon stocking out in different ports, so Coho salmon come back to those ports in fall. Another good thing is that the young Chinook and Coho salmon have grown up fast and this should add to what is shaping up to be a good fall bite for salmon. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to get in on the good action of 2024. We have have some great morning weekday openings the last two weeks of August. We also have some good weekend dates for September and October. Below are some pictures of recent catches. We had the crew from the famous Wolski's Bar out and they landed the third biggest Chinook of the year.
Report for August 8, 2024
It seems like yesterday we were catching Brown trout in March and now we are a quarter of the way through August. Fishing has remained good and we now have boated more Chinook salmon this year then we have going back to 2015. Best King fishing in 10 years. This bite is still rolling and could hold together right into October. This has also been one of the better years for Coho salmon both in size and total fish caught. Combined it had been outstanding salmon fishing in 2024. We have only boated 55 Lake trout this season. This is part due to not fishing for them and part they have not really set up this season. It may also have to do with population of them in the southern part of Lake Michigan, where they do not stock very many. We fished the Brew City tournament Saturday and after a dominant win in 2023 we managed only 68 pounds for 10 fish. We caught 24 fish and the biggest was 9.1 pounds. We could not repeat that if we tried. The spot we fished two straight days before generated 30 and 28 fish in two hours. We averaged 125 pounds on the 10 biggest fish on those bites. But when it came to Saturday it was not the right spot for us. Next year will be will be the 25th year of Brew City Tournament in Milwaukee and I am sure we will be back in the top 5 boats then.
We have been working 90 to 130 feet of water over the last ten days but as of Tuesday and the strong northeast blow the water is 73 degrees at 80 feet down and in 1120 feet down it is 60 degrees. Needless to say we have moved deeper. The bite starts in 150 feet and bites are coming down 100 feet or better. The good thing is the fish are all pushed at lest 70 feet deep. This helps us target fish better and today we took a limit of 25 fish for a charter group.
We had been running spoons on copper lines at 150 to 300 feet but we are now running 275 to 450 feet. Stinger spoons like UV Blue Dolphin, Pickle and Kervokian were good in shallow water but we are back to Moonshines now. Blue or Green Flounder Pounder, Orange Hulk and Bloody Nose have been good. We are still running one color leadcores on our side downriggers, with the same types of spoons. Our back down riggers are white pearl or boy blue flashers, with Howie Bull Frog or Boy Blue flies. We are running 20 pound downrigger balls and currently they are 120 to 150 feet down. Our Wire dipsies are are the magnum size and we now have them dialed in at a one and a half setting. They were out 120 to 175 feet but we now have them set at 250 feet. We are using the same flasher flies on these as the back downriggers. We have a steady blow of west winds coming and this may be enough to cool the water back down.
Folks, for the last ten years you said we like Lake Michigan charter fishing but we wish we could catch more salmon. This is the year to book and we are going to roll right through October. We believe that there will be good salmon fishing throughout the rest of the 2024 season. Give Silver King Charters a call at 414-460-1467 to get in on the good salmon fishing. Below are some pictures from the last ten days. Unbelievable we only weighed in 68 pounds on Brew City days but we took it out on the fish leading in and after the tournament. The first three pictures are the sunrise, small ten fish and us setting lines for Brew City. Still a great day!!
Report for July 19, 2024
This year is turning out to be our best year for Chinook salmon fishing going back over yen years. We are on pace to boat the most Chinook salmon we have caught in a season since 2014. The reason is increased stocking of Chinook salmon. We are catching good amounts of all year classes and it is great to see last years stocking in good numbers and very good size. July use to be all about the Chinook salmon but over the past ten years it has been more of a mixed bag. But in 2024 Chinook are making up 75 percent of the catch for Silver King Charters. The mature Chinooks are running 15 to 25 pounds. Salmon-A-Rama is going on right now and the top ten fish are all Chinook salmon weighing between 29 to 30 pounds. We are still working to get a fish on the board. We have been fishing a lot of the last two weeks in 40 to 60 feet of water from the filtration plant to Fox Point. This is just north of McKinley Marina. The water has warmed up as of yesterday and we are now fishing in 80 to 120 feet. We have boated two Chinooks just under 25 pounds and many have been in the 15 to 20 pound range. They have been fighting great. The thermocline was only 15 to 20 feet down a couple of days ago but now it is below 50 feet.
We have been running a spoon heavy spread. Moonshines, the old paint style, has been good. The bloody nose, flounder pounder green, orange hulk and happy meal are all working. We are also using Stinger spoons, The blue green dolphin, silver hud and gold hud have been good. We are running these on 4 to 10 color leadcore. When the water warms we have been running 150 to 300 foot copper setups. The side riggers and second deep rigger are all spoons. We are running one and two color leadcores on these downriggers. Until yesterday we had these set at 25 to 55 feet down. The deep rigger has a white pearl Luhr Jensen flasher with a Howie Bull Frog fly. We have this down 50 feet to the bottom depending on the bite. The wire dipsies have been working anywhere from 60 to 150 feet on the line counter. We have a standard size dispy diver set at 30 degrees on these and we are running flasher and flies. Chrome flashers with the Willy fly have been working good on these set ups and have taken some big Chinook salmon.
The Chinook bite should continue into August and we are still catching some big Coho salmon, Rainbow trout and Lake trout. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book your summer Lake Michigan charter fishing trip. This has been a special season for King salmon. Below are recent catches, shoeing some big Chinook salmon our customers have landed.
Report for July 3, 2024
July is here and the Chinook salmon are biting. After an incredible Coho salmon bite in May and June we are now catching Chinook salmon. The last 10 days we have boated over double the amount of Chinooks that we had previously caught during the first three months. July is one of the best months to catch Chinook "King" salmon. For the last 10 days we have been fishing in 40 to 90 feet of water. The bite has been good from the North Gap all the way to Fox Point. With the exception of a couple of days we have had 45 to 50 degree water temperatures starting at 35 feet down. The surface temperatures have been between 59 and 65 degrees. Over the last couple of days there has been a southern current that has cooled the water down. There are a lot of bait fish in the shallow water and this has set up a good bite. We are catching all year class Chinook from 2 to 4 years old. The mature Chinook salmon are ranging 15 to 20 pounds right now and we have had a couple in the mid 20 pound range. Fishing in shallower water that is cool we have boated Brown trout, Lake trout, Rainbow trout and we are still seeing 3 to 6 Coho salmon a trip.
Our spread is two wire dipsy divers, with the regular size diver set at 30 degrees. We are running these from 40 to 110 feet on the line counter. There are flasher flies on these set ups. Chrome flashers have been working good with Bull frog or Willy flies. We are running a deep rigger near the bottom with the same set up. The two side riggers are using one color leadcores and the spoon of choice is the Bloody Nose Moonshine. The riggers are set between 20 and 35 feet down. These two rods have been very productive. In fact spoons have been better than flies fishing in 40 to 60 feet of water. The boards have one side with leadcores from 3 to 10 colors. The other side is copper set ups from 75 to 225 feet of copper. All of these board rods are using spoons. We are running a couple Stinger spoons like the Gold Hud but the rest have been Moonshines. The Bloody Nose, Agent Orange and Orange Hulk have all been solid. The water looks to stay cool with more west winds, so we may even be fishing shallower water soon.
July and August are the best months for Chinook salmon. Bigger fish and great fighting. But this is also a good time for Steelhead and Lake trout. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book your summer trip charter fishing Lake Michigan. Salmon-A-Rama is now up to $50000 for the grand prize and we have a ticket for our boat making you entered in the contest when you fish aboard the Silver King. Below are a few pictures from the last week of fishing. The Coho salmon Collin is holding bit on a new Derks Lady Bug flasher. There is also a picture of our boat out fishing.
Report for June 25, 2024
The first day of summer is a couple of days behind us and we are now transitioning into a Chinook salmon bite. Up until now our catch has been mostly Coho salmon. It was a very good year for the Coho bite, which started the first week of May and ran through June 15th before slowing down. We are now catching Steelhead and Chinook salmon, along with the Coho. Until last week we had only boated 20 Chinook salmon. We have done the same in five days. This is a great time of year to get a mixed bag of fish. We are seeing at least three species and sometimes more on a trip. The size of fish has gone up. Mature Chinooks have been 15 to 20 pounds. We boated a 23 pound Brown trout two days ago and this is the big fish so far in 2024. We have been fishing from 40 to 200 feet of water over the last two weeks but the majority of the action over the last week has been in 60 to 90 feet of water. The surface temperature did cool off for a few days and got as low as 49 degrees in some spots but it is now back up to the low sixty's. There is still cool water down 40 feet. The Coho bite started to slow as the bait fish started to thin out. We have been as far a Fox Point, straight out the North Gap and down by the Green Can. We gone as far as Grant Park. The most consistent action has been south of the Milwaukee Harbor.
Our spread has begun a conversion from the orange dodgers to flashers and spoons. We are still running orange stuby's on our inside dipsies set at 15 degrees and 30 feet back. We also have this set up on a side downrigger set 30 feet down and on two outside boards. One side is copper from 50 to 150 feet of copper. The other side has 3, 5 or 7 color leadcore. We are either using the Willy fly or the Nex Gen fly. these are the two inch size fly's. The inside boards are a 200 copper and 9 color leadcore. We are also running a one color leadcore on a downrigger set from 30 to 40 feet down. The spoons run on these setups are the Double Orange Crush and Gold Hud Stingers. We also like the Orange Hulk and Agent Orange Moonshines. The back Downriggers have flashers on them and they are set from 50 to 90 feet down, depending where we are fishing. Tow combinations that are working are the Luhr Jensen white and pearl fish scale tape, with a Howie Bull Frog fly. We also like the Derks Green Squiggles, with the Willy fly. We are also running these on our wire dipsy's out 60 to 100 feet. When we bring the wires out it is King time.
We have been fishing since late March and it seems like a long time that we have been in the water but Summer is the most popular time for people to book a Milwaukee charter fishing trip. The lure of warm weather and big fish makes this a favorable time. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book a trip this summer. Below are that last trips of limit Coho salmon and we are taking reservations for 2025 already to get in on next years spring Brown trout and Coho salmon action. There is a few pictures for some big Chinook salmon. I also have a picture of the 23 pound Brown trout. Our hot Derks flasher is also included.
Report for June 7, 2024
Report for June 7, 2024
The Coho salmon bite has been outstanding this spring. In Milwaukee it started early May and now a week into June it is still as good as the best days in May. This is one of the better Coho salmon bites over the last 25 years. We have been getting limit or near limit catches each trip for the last several weeks. Water temperatures have been warming up, with surface temperatures reaching 60 degrees near shore but the last 3 days we have had strong west winds and this should keep water temperatures from warming up too fast and keep the Coho bite strong. We have boated several Coho salmon in the 6 to 7 pound class. These fish are a few pounds bigger than average for this time of year. The amount or alewives around along with the volume of Coho salmon we expect to have a good Coho bite through June. It may not be limit catches but they will be in the mix. We have been all over chasing these fish. From 150 to 250 feet of water, along the shoreline in 15 to 20 feet, by the gaps of the Milwaukee harbor and south of town around the Green Can in 50 to 80 ft. Everywhere we go the best bite is in the top ten feet of water.
Our best set up remain 3 to 4 boards each side. We are still using the B&B orange dodgers with peanut or 2 inch sliders flies. On the other side we have double zero orange dodger, with the same fly sizes. We have been using 5/8 ounce keep weights but for a brief time we used copper setups at 50, 75 and 100 feet because the water warmed up. We also used Derks small orange plastic flashers. I would recommend trying these out. Our dipsy sets are still a mono and braid on each side. The braid is dialed in at 15 degrees and set back 12 to 25 feet on the line counter. The mono dipsy's are set at 30 degrees and 20 to 50 feet back on the line counter. We are using larger peanut flies or 2 inch sliders on these. The side riggers and on back downriggers have the orange Stubby dodgers on them and are set from 8 to 25 feet down and 6 to 15 feet back. Our fly leads on the dodgers are 17 inches and the B&B's are 27 inches. We are running a Derk's bloody nose with an Aqua 5000 Howie fly on the deep rigger. This is anywhere from 70 to 120 feet down when permitted. This spread is dominating the Coho. The only issue is they are constantly on the move.
We have some spots still open for this great June fishing and we are looking forward to July when we catch a mixed bag of Coho and Chinook salmon. Coho salmon are the best tasting and fun to catch. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to get in on the action. Now is the time!! Below are some pictures from the last serval weeks. I think this puts it into perspective on how good the fishing is.
Report for May 17, 2024
Well this is it! Coho salmon fishing as good as it gets. Since the first couple days of May the Coho action has been very good to as good as it gets. Either way Milwaukee charter fishing is on fire. The action has been good up and down the western shoreline of Lake Michigan and on the Michigan side the Chinook bite has been great, setting up a good summer bite for us. We talk about May and June as time of year to catch good numbers of Coho salmon and we are right in the middle of it and the bite is as good as advertised. We have been fishing the gaps of the Milwaukee harbor and also from 60 to 120 feet of water anywhere from 43,00 to 43.09 or from the south gap to just before Fox Point. The Coho salmon are ranging 3 to 5 pounds and we have had several over 6 pounds. For this time of year size is above average and these fish are putting up a fight. We have had many limit catches this month and the amount of fish around it does not look to be slowing down anytime soon.
We are running four boards a side. One side with double O orange dodgers and 5/8 ounce keel weights. The other side with B&B orange dodgers. We are using either peanut flies or one inch sliders on these set ups. The Green Howie fly, Nex Gen, Two Tome or Willy fly are best for us. We use the same flies on all four dipsy rods. Two on each side, with one Mono and one power pro. These are set 25 and 12 feet on the line counter. Our two outside downrigger are also using the same flies with a orange Stubby and a six inch Ladybug Derks flasher. These are set 6 to 10 feet back of the downrigger ball and 10 to twenty feet down. If we are in deeper water we add one deep rigger down 70 feet with a Howie Aqua 5000 and a 8 inch Derks bloody Nose "Ladybug" and this has been a very steady producer. All set ups are producing and this creates some fun action. The water temperature out in 90 to 120 feet is currently 46 degrees.
Folks, this is it and we still have some opening left in June May and June. There will be Coho salmon action throughout the next two month. The action will heat up and slow down but this period is going to be good this year. We have openings next week and we don't see the action slowing down. Give Silver King Charters a call at 414-460-1467 to get in on the hot Coho salmon bite. Below are some pictures from the last week. We have one picture of a nice Rainbow trout. We are seeing a coupe of Lake trout and we just caught our first Chinook of the season today.
Report for May 6, 2024
Alewives showed up along the shore and killed off the good Brown trout fishing we had around April 21st. Then we had a northeast blow around April 26th. By April 29th we had Coho salmon action. This was a week earlier than last year. Right now Milwaukee charter fishing is as good as it gets. The action is from Port Washington all the way down to the Illinois border. There is the right size bait and lots of it. The Coho salmon have shown up in great numbers and when we find them it is incredible action. We always tell our customers if you want good salmon fishing it will get no better than early May through mid June. Right now it is as good as it gets!
The action has been good up and down the shoreline and the Coho salmon are already a pound and a half bigger than typically years at this time. The health of these fish and the numbers being caught means there was a very good survival from the 2023 stocking. We have been fishing the North gap to Bradford beach, The Main gap to the South gap and the Milwaukee harbor by the river mouth. All of the action is in the top 10 feet of water and we are fishing in 35 feet of water or less. There is some good action from 50 to 150 feet as well but you have to find schools of fish first. Once you do it is just as good action as by the shore, with less boat pressure. On Saturday there was easily a 100 boats working all three gaps. We decided to try inside the harbor, where there was only one boat and this helped out the bite. The water was 52 degrees in the Milwaukee harbor and 48 degrees just outside the harbor. Out in 100 plus feet it was 42 degrees on the surface.
We are running a Coho spread. All orange dodgers, with peanut flies. We are running the two tone, Gen X and our famous Willy fly that cannot be duplicated. Each one of these three peanut flies have been good. We are running the small size peanut fly, though I am sure the larger peanuts will work because of the size o the Coho salmon already. We have been running our two outside riggers down 6 to 8 feet and about 6 to 8 feet back from the release. We have a braid dipsy set at 15 degrees and 10 feet on the line counter on each side of the boat. We run a mono dipsy at 30 degrees and 20 feet on the line counter on each side as well. We are running 3 to 4 boards a side. One side has either Luhr Jensen double O or Goldstar dodgers and the other side has B&B dodgers on the other side. Both styles have different action. We run our outside 15 feet back, the middle boards 25 and 35 feet back. The inside board is 45 feet back. The double 0 dodger side we are using a 5/8 ounce keel weight about 6 feet from the dodger. The B&B side we do not use a weight. This spread has been outstanding for us over the years and has led to quick limits of Coho salmon this year. We find if the fish are not biting as we would like we speed up or slow down but we start at about 2.8 mph on the GPS.
This is it and if you have not already booked a trip with us we have spots available in May. This is the best time to target Coho salmon and also one of the best times of the year to catch your limit. Call Silver King Charters to get in on the great Lake Michigan salmon fishing happening right now. This is our favorite fishing of the entire year and Coho salmon are great eating fish. We have taking a limit on each trip since May 1st and we are just getting started. Below are pictures of recent catches. Also icluded are pictures of the baits we are using and a few sunrises.
Report for April 17, 2024
We are now in our regular slip at McKinley marina. This last week has been a solid bite, with almost all of the catch comprised or Brown trout. We boated a few more Coho salmon and our first Lake trout. We are still working the Milwaukee harbor and south of town around the pump house and just south of that. We are still in 15 to 30 feet of water and the surface temperature has bee 41 to 44 degrees. The bait has become more plentiful and this is helping the bite. The alewives have started to show up in big numbers south of Racine and we expect the same within a week. This will start to increase the Coho salmon bite. But for now we expect another week of heavy Brown trout action. We have been catching Brown trout in the 10 to 15 pound class each trip and hope to boat one over 20 pounds soon.
We are still 100% spoons. Stinger spoons in the stinger size are best. Any spoon that is gold, with orange tape has been good. The UV blue dolphin has also been a standout. We are still running one, two and three color lead cores on each side. They are all producing. We have two mono dipsies as well. These are set at a number three setting and the line counter is at 20 feet. We are only running two riggers on the lake but in the harbor we will run four downriggers. All of these set ups are taking fish.
We have openings for April still and this is the last time you will be able to have Brown trout as the top target fish. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to get in on the action. Soon it will be Coho salmon time and this is our highest catch rate of the season for salmon. Below are pictures from the last few trips. We had a small bird hitch hiker for one of our trips. The picture with the Coho salmon has the hot Inmate spoon in his mouth.
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Report for April 3, 2024
We are in the water as of March 26th and we are catching fish. This early part of the year we are targeting Brown trout and this is the most productive time of the year to catch them. Over the next 3 weeks we will boat more Brown trout than the rest of the year. It is also a good time to catch a trophy size Brow trout. We have caught a couple Coho salmon and Rainbow trout as well. We expect to have Lake trout in the mix soon. We have been fishing the entire length of the Milwaukee harbor as well as south of the south gap by the condos. The water temperature is 39 to 40 degrees right now. We have not seen a lot of bait as of yet but that will start to change. The bite has been good with catches from 7 to 25 fish. Our biggest Brown trout so far has been 15 pounds. The action has been good at Bender park off Oak Creek as well.
We have been running one, two and three color lead cores on our boards. Two mono dipsy set ups and four down riggers. We are in 15 to 35 feet of water and most of the action has been in 5 to 20 feet down. Our top spoons are the stinger size UV Blue Dolphin, Gold Hud, Double Orange Crush and the Inmate. We also added a new spoon to our spring collection from Screaming Drags called the Fireball. This has been a very good spoon and can be purchased at R&R The Fish'N Hole in Milwaukee. The action has been good and has been almost all Brown trout. We expect this to continue over the next several weeks before the Coho salmon bite takes over.
Milwaukee charter Fishing has some of the best Brown trout fishing in the world, with the potential of a record size fish. The Milwaukee harbor allows us to fish trips that could not be done else where when the wind gets bad. If you want to have an early spring trip give Silver King Charters a call at 414-460-1467. We have openings over the next three weeks to get in on the Brown trout bite. Below are some pictures from the first few trips, which includes a 15 pound Brown trout. We also have a picture of the first Coho salmon we caught in 2024. There are also pictures for the best Stinger spoons and the hot Screaming Drag spoon mentioned earlier. We are also offering the solar eclipse trip on April 8th. If interested call us.
Report for March 12, 2024
The next report we do our boat will be in the water. The ice will not be returning and never was really here. We have been ice free now since the first week of February. As I post this it is 65 degrees in Milwaukee. We know that the weather will give us a few more cold blasts once the boat is floating. We love fishing late March and early April. This is our best Brown trout fishing of the year and it can be a lot of fun. We are fishing 10 to 30 feet of water and the Milwaukee harbor gives us great protection, if the wind becomes strong. Over the last decade we have had some amazing catches. We have boated several many Brown trout in the 15 to 20 pound class, with the biggest fish coming in at 33 pounds and over 40 inches long.
We have spent the offseason improving many things on our boat to make sure your trip in safe and productive. All of our reels have new line on them. All of the equipment has been repaired from last season. We have added many more baits to an already huge collection. The first part of this season will be heavy on spoons and our run time to start fishing will be the shortest of the year. Most trips you will be fishing within ten minutes of leaving the dock. People are sometimes concerned about it being cold but for the most part you will be covered from the elements. Our cockpit is completely covered, so when you are not fighting a fish you will be not freezing or getting wet.
This has become a very popular time to try Lake Michigan charter fishing. We have a lot of customers who book every year at this time. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to get in on some early spring Brown trout action. Our next report will have 2024 fish in it but below are pictures of past early spring trips during the last week of March and the first few weeks of April. The big fish is a 33 pound Brown trout! Things are lining up for a great early bite.
Report for March 1, 2024
March first marks the Meteorological first day of spring. Silver King Charters is almost ready to put in. We like to get in as early as possible and with no ice in the marina since the beginning of February it was possible to have a boat in the water already. But in reality it is way too risky. That said we are set to start March 25th this year and as long as the weather is not too crazy we have done very well the last week of March and early April. The Brown trout fishing is simple the best at this time of year. We catch all sizes but to pull a twenty plus pound Brown trout is not uncommon. Some fisherman are catching Coho salmon along the shore line over the last couple of weeks, so a mixed bag catch will be possible.
The first few weeks we are in we keep the back drop down, so you are full in closed while fishing in case it is real cold out. You will be protected from precipitation and wind. We are fishing the shore line and Milwaukee harbor during this time of year and we are usually only in 30 feet of water or less. We are almost all spoon for baits at this time of year. The Stinger Gold Hud, Blue Dolphin and Mass Confusion Copper are favorites during early spring. This has been a warm winter, so we may start targeting Coho salmon early this season. BUt for the first few weeks Brown trout will be the main catch.
We have already had many calls for the first few weeks after we put in. So if you ever wanted to catch a Brown trout call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book a trip over the last week of March and the first couple weeks of April. We think the Coho salmon bite may be starting right after that. We will see how the weather acts. The way things are going we may get winter in April. Below are some early spring pictures.
Report for February 22, 2024
We are in the last week of February and it is 60 degrees, with virtually no ice anywhere on the southern half of Lake Michigan and very little ice anywhere on the Great Lakes. We could have run trips all week in these conditions and the likely hood that ice will return is very slim at this point. We usually start running trips the last weekend of March but it is tempting to start earlier. We have a lot of folks who love to book with us as soon as we get in because the fishing can be very good and it is the best time of year to fish Brow trout. We will see how thinks look after a couple of weeks into March and make a decision. Winter can still come roaring back.
The ice fishing in the harbors lasted for two weeks this year. It started mid January and by February you better of had a boat to get out there. Since that time people with boats on trailers have been out and catching. There were 35 boats that launched by the river two weeks ago. The Brown trout are biting and Coho are starting to show up in the catch. One of our first mates caught a few from shore just south of the Oak Creek power plant in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The Coho salmon were only 13 to 14 inches long but this is still very early. These fish will grow in size and by the time we start fishing them they will be around 20 inches, which is normal for early April. That said it could be a very early start to the Coho salmon season. Lake Michigan never came close to freezing up and this is currently the warmest winter on record for Wisconsin and the surrounding states. The lake could warm up and get things moving faster this year. We will see if mother nature cools things down in the next several weeks.
Silver King Charters is booking trips, so call 414-460-1467 to get in on the action from April through October. But I think some lucky people who decide to book early will have some fun this March. Below are the first Coho salmon caught in 2024. We also have a picture of a Brown trout caught by one of our customers last weekend when it was very cold out for a day. The current Lake Michigan ice coverage graph shows that we are at an all time low for ice on Lake Michigan since 1973. I have a few other pictures showing very early spring trips. The last picture is a 30 fish limit of Coho salmon caught in March.
Report for February 6, 2024
It is already early February and we are going to have the boat in the water and fishing in 51 days. It took until the middle of January for harbor ice fishing to begin and as of right now it is over. Mild temperatures for the last two weeks Going forward we have 40 and 50 degree temperatures for the next week. Even if we get a prolonged stretch of below freezing weather it will not be enough to create a very long lasting ice in the harbor situation, so that will not be a problem when we put the boat in. Lake Michigan at its peak this winter was only 18% covered with ice and currently it is only 7% covered. Another mild winter should mean good survival for stocked and hatched fish from 2023. Mild winters always help out young of the year Alewives, provided there was a good hatch. We know the Coho salmon were stocked at decent numbers last year, so we hope to have another good Coho bite in 2024. The Brown trout stockings were also up slightly the last two years and this has helped our early spring Brown trout bite. We saw a good catch of all year classes last year.
Silver King Charters targets Brown trout the first three weeks we are in the water and this is also the best time of the year to catch a Brown trout. Some season will start out on Coho salmon though. If they are around in numbers we cannot resist targeting them. That said I am sure no matter what we will go all in on Brown trout to start. The great advantage we have Milwaukee charter fishing is the expansive Milwaukee harbor. The harbor holds a good population of Brown trout plus it gives us protection from the wind and allows us to get in almost every trip we have during this time of year. We keep the cabin completely covered to keep our customers comfortable while they are fishing. If you want to catch Brown trout on Lake Michigan Late March and early April is the time to book. We have been running trips for many years during the early spring and it is so much fun.
We have already started booking trips and if you have some dates in mind or a specific time of the season you would like to fish now is the best time to book. Salmon-A-Rama, which is from July 13th through July 21st, still has a few openings. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book your 2024 Lake Michigan charter fishing trip. Below is the current ice coverage and historical ice coverage on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. There is very little ice on Superior as well. I have a picture of McKinley marina and that is the slip we use during the season. I have also included a few early spring Brown trout and Coho salmon pictures from the first tree weeks of the season over the last several years.
Report for January 24, 2024
We are getting ready for the 2024 Lake Michigan charter fishing season. There are a lot of things to do before we put in but things are coming along It is had to predict how a season will play out but there are plenty of salmon stocked for 2024 and both the Rainbow and Brown trout numbers are also up for this year. This showed in our catch last year. We saw an increase in both Brown trout and Rainbow trout from 2022 season. The Coho salmon totals were down but the 2022 season was unreal. Here is the break down percentage wise year over year from 2022 to 2023. This shows the percentage of each species to the total for the year.
Species 2022 2023
Chinook Salmon 22% 23%
Coho Salmon 51% 40%
Rainbow Trout 6% 10%
Brown Trout 4% 11%
Lake Trout 17% 16%
We are catching a lot more salmon then we did several years back thanks to increased stocking of Chinook salmon. Are total catch for 2022 was 73% salmon and in 2023 it was 63%. The good thing to note in 2023 was the increase in Rainbow trout and Brown trout. This diversity helps us to catch more fish at different times of the season. We rely heavily on Brown trout in the early spring and Rainbow trout when we are offshore fishing. A strong Lake Michigan fishery needs all five species in the mix. We expect to see the same catch rates in 2024 for each species. We do rely on big Coho salmon numbers each year and this helps are catch per trip to stay strong for a season. We averaged 12.5 fish per trip for the season. As you can see by the percentages the Coho salmon plays a big part in this.
We hope to be running trips on March 29th this year to get in on some good Brown trout fishing. The best Milwaukee charter fishing for Brown trout is the first couple weeks of April. Call Silver King Charters at 414-460-1467 to book a trip for 2024. Our first mate and Captain in his own right, Collin, has started to ice fish last week. The Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha harbors provide excellent Brown and Rainbow trout fishing through the ice in January, February and sometimes March if the ice is still around. Below are some recent pictures of the last week of ice fishing.