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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.