Net pens have increased the survival rate of chinooks planted in Lake Michigan. Photo by Mike Gnatkowski

Statistics released by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station for the charter-boat creel catches indicate that three Lake Michigan ports continue to be the best when it comes to chinook salmon fishing.

While Lake Huron's salmon are suffering, Lake Michigan's salmon fishing appears to be booming. Anglers would be hard pressed to find better salmon fishing than you'll find at places like Manistee, Ludington and Grand Haven. These three ports consistently produce the best salmon fishing in our state in terms of catch rates and the number of king salmon caught, along with a host of other species as well.

"The charter-boat catch reports are a very good indicator of the status of the fisheries," said fisheries research biologist Sarah Thayer, who is instrumental in compiling all the data that goes into the report. Licensed charter-boat skippers are required to report their catch each month to the DNR along with information on how long they fished, how many customers they had and whether they were from Michigan or from out of state.

Annually, Manistee, Ludington and Grand Haven lead the state in most categories when it comes to chinook salmon. The three also represent the busiest ports in Michigan when it comes to charter fishing. In 2004, 7,967 charter excursions originated out of Grand Haven, while Ludington was close behind at 7,854 charter trips, and 5,505 charters boarded boats out of Manistee in search of salmon. There's a reason why charter customers flock to these ports -- they are the best in Michigan when it comes to chinook salmon fishing.

The total harvest of chinooks lakewide in Lake Michigan jumped from 57,136 in 2003 to 68,235 in 2004, an increase of some 19 percent. Not surprisingly, Michigan's "triple-crown ports" showed the biggest increases. Ludington posted a 29 percent increase in the number of chinooks caught per hour in 2004 versus 2003 for a total of 14,260 salmon. Manistee showed a 14 percent increase in the number of kings caught per hour aboard charter boats after an impressive increase of 25 percent in 2003. Manistee charter boats reported catching 9,058 kings in 2004 versus 9,170 in 2003, a slight decrease but still very respectable fishing. Grand Haven charters boated 13,019 kings in 2004, up from 8,962 in 2003. Overall, Ludington's chinook catch was up 36 percent last year over 2003. Manistee actually saw a decrease of 1 percent in the number of kings caught there. Grand Haven captains boated 45 percent more kings in 2004 than they did in 2003.

What do the prospects look like for salmon fishing at these ports in 2005? Look for the fishing to get even better.

Acoustic sampling completed in the fall of 2004 indicated that there was a prolific alewife hatch in the lake in 2004. Combine this with a banner alewife hatch in 2002, and there should be plenty of food for the salmon out there.

Salmon numbers seem to be on the rise in Lake Michigan as a result of an increasing number of kings that are migrating into Lake Michigan from Lake Huron. With the collapse of the forage base in Lake Huron, chinooks will go where they need to go to find food. Biologists indicated that the number of micro-tagged salmon from Lake Huron caught in Lake Michigan last season was up tenfold from the previous year.

Each of the triple-crown ports gets a healthy shot in the arm from annual plants. Upwards of 200,000 chinook fingerlings are nurtured in net pens at the City Marina in Grand Haven each year prior to release. The waters off Ottawa County get another dose of 54,000-plus kings each year from plants made at Holland in the Macatawa River.