Dexter claimed that the big coho salmon die-off that occurred at the Platte River Hatchery last year should have minimal effect on the fishery.

"The coho die-off should not be a big factor," stated Dexter. "The result was about a 35 to 40 percent reduction in the plants. I don't think we'll notice a difference because it was just one year. Cuts in the plants were spread around the lake. And the good thing is that the remaining fish might just get bigger."

Dexter recalled the fact that back in 1998 and 1999 anglers caught hundreds of big Master-Angler-sized cohos when there were fewer fish planted.

"I really don't see a downside to the fishing on Lake Michigan," stated Dexter. "We'll have to look at the potential affects of Lake Huron fish migrating to Lake Michigan. We saw a few in the past, but last year we saw even more. Brown trout and lake trout are still questionable." But as long as there's plenty of alewives, salmon and salmon anglers should be happy in 2005.

St. Joseph
It had been probably a dozen years since I'd fished southern Lake Michigan, so when I got the chance to sample the fishery off St. Joseph last spring I jumped at the chance. I'd heard how tasty those orange-fleshed cohos were in the spring, and I was on a mission to fill the freezer. Problem was that we didn't catch one coho! All we could catch were thick-shouldered, silvery kings that averaged from 10 to 16 pounds that would not leave us alone. Darn!!!

The fishery off St. Joe typically kicks off in March. Anglers in cartoppers and off the piers start catching the silvery cohos as soon as the ice leaves. April produces a more reliable fishery for bigger boats, and the fishing remains hot through May. The fish are shallow then, and most anglers troll the beach out to about 50 feet. Orange and red are the colors for cohos. Small red dodgers matched to blue and black flies excel, along with ThinFins, Bombers and Rapalas. Kings will bite the same baits, but magnum-sized spoons in blue and green were a hot ticket for us when fished 5 feet off the bottom. As fish move offshore in June, lake trout and steelhead add to the mix.

To sample St. Joe's hot spring fishery, contact the Southwest Michigan Tourist Council at (269) 925-6301 or at www.swmichigan.org for information on marinas, charters, bait shops and amenities.

Grand Haven
"Last year was a great year at Grand Haven," said veteran charter skipper Chip Klein, who runs his 31-footer out of Grand Haven. "The kings showed up in early May and never really left."

The warm outflow of the Grand River is a major attraction for both spring and late-summer kings. In the spring, try working the color line off the river mouth and in "The Trench," a rocky piece of structure off the Twin Sisters and Rosy Mound south of the harbor in 60 to 75 feet of water. As summer progresses, head farther offshore to the 200- to 400-foot depths for a suspended salmonid smorgasbord of kings, steelhead and lake trout. Kings return to the pierheads in late July, and Klein is one of the best at boxing limits of mature kings from the color line of the Grand River when they begin staging there in late summer.