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Port of Holland MI - Dock Report
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Holland Dock Reporter: Brad Keen his dad and brother have been fishing out of Holland since the 60's. They have all helped run fishing charters out of Holland and Saugatuck for years, and Brad's dad and Uncle owned their own charter boat in the 80's. But for the past few they have been fishing for pleasure.
Report
Pictures
Jun 30 2008 - - Brads Saturday Report -Because salmon fishing is so slow right now (most boats are getting around 2 per trip) and because gas prices are so high, and because it was rough Saturday....we didn't get out salmon fishing this weekend. However, we had heard of some good numbers of perch being caught off of Holland on minnows (my uncle caught 75 on Tuesday in 26 feet off of spyglass). They have been in 25-30 feet of water, generally around the line of muddy and blue water. We tried it Saturday but only could catch one. It was too rough to keep our boat on top of the fish, but we did mark some.
 
Jun-26-08 - Salmon action is taking place in 50-180 feet. Good colors have been green, orange and blue. Perch fishing has been good in 30 feet of water both north and south of the piers.  
Jun 19 2008 -  Boaters are pulling in a few salmon in 140-200 feet of water, and fishing 50 feet down. Spoons are working best.  
Jun 14 2008 - - Brads Saturday Report - It was a slow morning, the storms have seemed to have scattered the fish over a wide area and depths. We started out the morning in 90 foot and trolled all the way out to 180 and back in again and marked fish most of the way. We were 2-4 with both fish coming around 120 feet of water on a wire dipsey, 150 back with a green NBK spoon  
Jun 12 2008 -  Boats are heading straight out and fishing in 120 to 200 feet of water. Using blue or green Dolphins.

 
Jun 05 2008 -  Salmon fishing is reported to be good. The fish can be found in the top 60 feet of water any where from 150 feet out to 210 feet deep.  
May-29-08 - Salmon and trout are being taken in 160-180 feet of water in the top 60 feet. Green and blue spoons and dodgers and flies are working very well. Lake Macatawa is also giving up good numbers of walleye.
 
May-22-08 - Salmon and trout is hit and miss when fishing from 125 to 200 feet of water one Steelhead and 4 Salmon. Good spoons have been green dolphin and orange crush.  
May-15-08 - Walleye fishing is good off the piers at night, using husky jerks. The salmon action is slow with reports having the fish being caught in water 80 to 250 feet deep using blue and green spoons.  
May-09-08 - Salmon have been spotty this week, but a few fish have been caught in 40-70 feet of water.
 
Apr-24-08 - Salmon fishing has been slow, the fish are in about 50-60 feet of water try greens and blues spoons. Good catches of perch were reported off the pier last weekend weekend using minnows.

 

  
Apr-18-08 - Walleye are being taken from the piers in the middle of the night. Those trolling, are in 18 feet of water, using Hot-n-Tots, husky jerks, are other body baits.
  
Apr-10-08 - Good catches of browns and steelhead in water 6-18 feet deep using spoons and spawn.  
Sep-27-2007 - Perch and salmon fishing is only fair off the pier and on the lake.

 
Sep-20-2007 - Salmon fishing is very good off the piers and trolling around the pier area. The perch action id only fair.  

Sep-17-2007 - Brads Saturday Report - We made it out Saturday evening after the lake calmed down a little. It was a beautiful evening, perfect temps and the lake laided down even more as the evening went on. We trolled all the way out of the channel but didn't have our first action until we were a little north of the harbor in 30 feet. We had our best luck around 55 ft on spin doctors and flies. A white spin doctor with green fly and black spin doctor with a black mirage fly worked well 40-55 down on the riggers and a green fish catcher with a green fly worked well 125 back on the dipsey. We also took a fish on a J-Plug behind a 3 color lead core rod. We ended the evening 6-9 with a couple of fish in the 15-20 lb range.

  
Sep-14-2007 - Last weekend the 4 year old fish were in 90 feet of water. Try using J-Plugs.  

Sep-06-2007 - Salmon can be found in 50-150 feet of water. With J-plugs and flies working the best.

Perch are being reported in 30-40 feet, using minnows and spikes as bait.

 
Aug-30-2007 - Salmon fishing is good, try using J-plugs and spoons, in water 35 to 60 feet deep. Perch have been caught in Holland north and south of the piers in 35 fow. Large limits have been caught.  
Aug-25-2007 - Brads Saturday Report - Even though it was a rainy rough morning the fishing was still great. We caught 10 fish and had over 20 hits. We had our best luck between 85-110 feet of water almost straight off the pier heads. Flashers and flies were the ticket, with blue and green flashers working the best. Downriggers produced the most fish, anywhere from 45-60 down. Wire dipseys back 150 and leadcore also took fish. At one point we lost three spindoctor-fly set-ups in a row. There were some big four year olds around! They were very dark however and will be headed up the rivers very soon.
  
Aug-23-2007 - Salmon have been caught in waters 20 to 40 feet deep with J-plugs and flies doing best. Also run glow spoons early and late. Recent rain and strong winds have the fish scattered. A few salmon have been taken off the piers. See the Muck Boy Report from today  
Aug-20-2007 - Brads Saturday Report - Salmon fishing remains hot! While we didn't catch as many four year olds as we have on most trips this summer, we still managed 10 fish Saturday morning. We had our best luck in 50-65 feet of water. The wire dipsey with a green E-chip flasher and a full core with a blue chillie willie spoon took most of the fish. We only had three hits and one fish on riggers. We did hear of some bigger fish being caught right in front of the harbor, it sounds like they'll be running any day now.


 
Aug-16-2007 - Salmon fishing has slowed down a bit, but it is still good. Reports place the fish from 50-170, Green and blue flies also j plugs are starting to get very good.

Perch are still in that 30 ft area.

  
Aug-09-2007 - Salmon fishing is very good in water up to 150 feet deep. The fish are found 60 to 70 feet down. Perch can be found south of Holland in 30 to 40 feet of water  
Aug-01-2007 - Salmon fishing has been great in 100-140 feet of water blue and green flies have worked best.

Perch are in 30 feet of water in front of the south pier. they are ranging from 9-12 inches.

 
Jul-27-2007 - Brads Saturday Report - Fishing remains hot! We caught 13 fish Saturday, 11 kings, 1 steelhead and 1 lake trout. We had our best luck between 90-110 feet of water. We caught one fish on a moonshine spoon, the rest came on flashers and flies. Out hottest set-up for the day was a white spin doctor with
light blue tape and a green crinkle fly down 65 ft on the center rigger. The Mt Dew flasher with a green or pink mirage fly was also hot.


 
Jul-26-2007 - Very good King fishing can be found at various depths, in water from 40 to 100 feet deep. Green, blue and purple are the hot colors. The perch fishing is reported as being good in 40 foot of water using minnows.
Jul-21-2007 - Brads Saturday Report.
 Saturday was a perfect day to be on the lake! The fishing was as hot as it's been all year. We found the fish between 50 and 60 feet. We boated 11 fish on 17 hits and at one point had a double followed by a triple followed by another double. We literally couldn't keep our rods in the water. Flashers and flies were the hot set-up. The Mt Dew spin doctor and a white spin doctor with blue tape were the best behind dispeys 90-110 feet back.
 
Jul-19-2007 - Salmon fishing has been good with the fish being found 30 to 60 feet down, Try fishing water from 70 - 120 feet deep. With blue and green set ups being best for salmon and orange for steelhead.

Perch are being taken from caught this weekend out of Holland 20-65 feet of water using minnows.

  
Jul-14-2007 - Excellent salmon fishing using spoons and flies fishing in 60-120 feet of water. Blues and greens are the best for salmon orange for steelhead.

Perch were caught last weekend in 20-30 feet of water using minnows.

 

Jul-9-2007 - Brads Saturday Report.
Now that June is gone, the salmon have come back! Fishing was hot all week, and it was on Saturday was well. We finished with 11 fish on 18 hits, 10 Kings and one Steelhead. Six of the fish were between 15 and 20 lbs. We caught fish on the riggers, dipseys and lead core. We had
our best luck between 100 and 135 feet of water and 35-50 down. Flashers and flies worked well. Blue, green and white flashers all caught fish.

  
Jul-5-2007 - Salmon reports have been scattered, 50-80 FOW seems the best. Darker blues and greens spoons are being reported as doing the best.

Perch have scattered since the water cooled down

  
Jun-28-2007 -Perch fishing is good in about 30 feet of water using minnows. The salmon fishing is fair fishing in 80-110 FOW 40-60 ft down. Blues and greens on dipseys and lead core.
 
Jun-23-2007 - Brads Saturday Report. The fishing was a little slow today. We marked a lot of bait and fish, but couldn't get them to hit consistently. We caught three salmon on
five hits. Two of the salmon weighed in the mid-teens and put up quite a fight! One of the fish came on our hot lure, the Silver Streak
magnum blue Chilly Willy 38 ft down on a rigger. The other big salmon came on a mixed veggie spoon behind a full core. We had our best luckbetween 80 and 95 feet of water.
  
Jun-21-2007 - Salmon fishing has only been fair. Fish are found 30 to 80 feet down in water that is up to 200 feet deep. A few perch are also being caught, in water 30 to 40 feet deep using minnows.  
Jun-16-2007 -Brads Saturday Report. We left the dock at 5:15 to fish right in front of the pier heads, hoping to find some fish feeding on the bait that was there. We tried it for half an hour and only picked up a four inch salmon...maybe the smallest we've ever seen.We fished the rest of the morning between 80-100 ft north of the pier. We finished with five fish, including an 18lb King and an 12lb Steelhead. The King came on the Blue Chilie Willie magnum silver streak (that has been hot all year) down 55 on a rigger. The steelhead came on a three color lead core with an obnoxiously bright red spoon.

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Jun-15-2007 - Perch and Salmon fishing is rated as good. Salmon can be found 50 to 80 feet below the surface, in water up to 200 feet deep. Try using dark colored spoons. Perch can be found in about 30 feet of water, using minnows.  
Jun-10-2007 -Brads Saturday Report. Went three for four. We started out in 70 ft and trolled out from there. We didn't get a fish until we were out in 160 ft. The fish are still concentrated in the 160-190 ft range. Two fish
came on a rigger down 55 ft with a blue magnum snow cone spoon. The other came on a fireline dispey back 200 ft. Our leadcore wasn't touched all day. We marked fish as far down as 130 ft, but unlike last week we
couldn't get them to go.
  
Jun-08-2007 - The fish are scattered try fishing 30 to 80 feet down in waters 170 to 220 feet deep. Perch are hitting on minnows just off the bottom in 40 feet of water.  
Jun-02-2007 - Brads Saturday Report. The June slowdown is here! The old adage "When the cottonwood flies, the salmon fishing dies", held true again this year. Five days after
boating 13 fish, we only managed three salmon. We marked a lot of fish between 170 and 200 ft, we just couldn't get them to hit. We took one salmon 125ft down!! on a rigger, one 150 back on the wire dipsey and the third was on the full core. The Green E-chip flasher took the fish 125 ft down, the other two came on spoons.
  
May-31-2007 - King fishing is good in water up to 200 feet deep, trolling 60 to 70 feet down using blue and green colored spoons.  
May-23-2007 - Salmon fishing has improved. The fish are found 60 to 70 feet down, in water up to 170 feet deep. Good colors are have been blues and greens.  

May-22-2007 - Brads Saturday Report.
The fish are very deep for this early in the spring. We had our best luck between 170-190 straight off the harbor. We left the dock at 6:15 and had our limit of 11 fish, 10 salmon and one lake trout (we threw one small salmon back) by 9:00 and had to head in. They were hitting everything, it didn't seem to matter what we had down, every rod we had out caught a fish. The wire dipsy with a blue spin doctor and blue bubble fly and a leadcore with a blue Chili Willi spoon were the biggest producers. It seemed like the key for the morning was staying on top of the fish.

  
May-17-2007 -Salmon fishing has been reported as fair. Fish can be found 40 to 60 feet below the surface in water up to 200 feet deep. A few perch are being taken on the west end of Lake Macatawa using minnows.  
May-10-2007 - Boaters are trolling for browns and also taking a few salmon south to Saugatuck in 40 to 60 feet of water. A few perch are being taken in the channel.

  
May-04-2007 - Kings have been slow but a few have been caught in 30-70 feet of water. Small spoons and rapalas are working the best.
A few walleye are being taken from the pier at night. Also a few perch.are being taken in the channel at the west end of Lake Macatawa.

 
Apr-26-2007 - Very good fishing being reported for browns in front of Holland Beach. Perch are being taken using minnows in the Channel and Lake Macatawa.

  
Apr-19-2007 - Brown fishing is reported to be good on the big lake, trolling using green & chrome, orange or yellow body baits in water up to 20 feet deep. Some fair perch action is being reported in Lake Macatawa.  
Apr-11-2007 -Small boats are trolling for browns in shallow waters, 6 to 20 feet deep. Along shore and near the end of the piers using, green and silver body baits.
  
Apr-04-2007 - Some brown's are being taken while trolling close to shore, using body baits or spoons. Also 7 & 8 inch perch are reported being taken off the wall with minnows.  
Aug-31-06 - Salmon fishing is being reported as good, fish are found 30 to 60 feet below the surface in water up to 110 feet deep. Perch fishing remains good in water 50 to 60 feet deep  
Aug-24-06 - Salmon fishing is reported to be excellent. Kings are found in water 30 to 50 feet deep. Using dodgers with green, blue or white flies. Perch fishing on the lake is very good in water 15 to 30 feet deep.  
Aug-19-06 -Brads Saturday report. Salmon fishing remains hot!! The fish were hitting all morning long for us, as opposed to just the normal early morning bite right after first light as we've been getting accustomed to. We started fishing in 90 feet of water, but didn't see many fish on the graph. We pulled lines and ran into 45 foot, and got a much better picture. Our best luck was the wire dipsey. It went consistently all morning long with a green flasher and fly. We were running our dispseys and center rigger right on the bottom and getting consistent hits. At the end of the day we had 11 fish on 20 hits, 5 of those fish coming on the wire dispey. A mix bag of 4 year old salmon, smaller salmon, a lake trout and a brown trout.

As a side note, we marked piles of perch on the bottom in the area too and have heard perch fishing is excellent.

  

Aug-17-06 - Walleye fishing has been good in Lake Macatawa. Good king salmon are being caught in 60 to 100 feet of water on spoons. Perch are in waters 8 to 15 feet deep.

  
Aug-10-06 - Perch fishing is very good in front of the Spy Glass Condos using minnows, in water 45 to 60 feet deep. Salmon are reported to be only fair, the fish are found near the bottom in water up to 150 feet deep.  
Aug-05-06 -Brads Saturday report. The fish were anywhere from 110 to 180 foot of water, 60-80 down. Our best luck was on flashers with flies on the downriggers, and on the dispeys. The magnum dipsey back 200 with a green fishcatcher was our hottest set-up....until we broke it off mid-morning. We had a 20+ lb King right behind the boat, it made a run and passed the boat. The fireline clipped a downrigger cable and broke. We lost the fish, the flasher and fly and the magnum dipsey. It was a tough one to take, it was a nice fish!! But we did put 4 nice fish in the boat.

 
Aug-04-06 - Perch fishing is pretty good south of the piers in 42 feet of water, using minnows. Salmon fishing is fair and are.hitting on a variety of spoons and flies.  
July-27-06 - Perch fishing is very good on Lake Michigan. Minnows are working well in water 30 to 50 feet deep. Salmon fishing is good. Fish 50 to 80 down in water 60 to 120 feet deep. Start shallow in the early morning and move to deeper waters as the day goes on. Spoons and flies fished on downriggers.
 

July-22-06 -Brads Saturday report. Saturday's wind, 4-6 waves and strong currents made fishing a little more challenging than normal. We managed to make it through most of the morning without getting anything tangled, but right at the end of the day a dipsy got into a leadcore and created one of the biggest messes we've ever had. I guess tangles happen to even the best of us :) We went 8-12 with the best luck between 90-110 feet of water. 45-60 down on the riggers and the full core were strong all morning.Green spin doctors and a magnum blue bubble stinger were the best baits.

  
July-20-06 -The perch fishing is reported very good in in water 30 to 35 feet deep. With minnows and spikes both working well. Salmon fishing is reported pretty good with fish hitting on spoons and flies with green and white colors..  
July-11-06 - Salmon are being reported in about 90-120 feet of water, in the morning some are setting up starting in 50 feet. Orange and green spoons are working best.  
July-08-06 - Brads Saturday report. Fishing was very slow on Saturday. We marked a lot of fish in 70 to 100 feet, but couldn't get them to go all morning. We were 1 for 1 with an 8 lb. King. It came 50 down on a magnum Michael Jackson.

 
July-06-06 - Salmon reported in 80-100 feet of water. Fish abouth 60 feet down for best results down. Lure colors have been day to day.  
July-01-06 - Brads Saturday report. There are a lot of fish around! We marked a lot of big fish and bait fish all morning. Great action early (We left the dock at 5:30), but the morning bite died by 8:30. We finished with eight fish on 12 hits. Two fish were over 15lbs. Our best luck was between 85 and 95 feet of water straight off the harbor. The red natural born killer down 80 feet on a rigger and a dipsey with a white fish catcher and green fly back 150 feet were our best lures all morning.

Click image for larger view

Holland Fising Report
Molly's First Fish
June-29-06 - Kings and steelhead are straight out in 70 to 120 feet of water, fish 30 to 60 feet down with blue, green & orange spoons. Perch are hitting well just north of the pier headst in 25 to 30 feet of water on minnows.  
June-22-06 - Salmon fishing is reported to be slow. But some reports have indicated fish in 135 foot of water, using bloody nose and double orange crush 50-55 down. Steelhead also being reported north of the pier heads in 70 to 90 feet of water - colors working were .lemon ice and double orange crush.
  
June-16-06 -Perch fishing is fair towards the Port Sheldon area. Salmon action is slow to fair. Fish 40 to 60 down, up 150 feet deep.
 
June-12-06 - Brads Saturday report. The 10th was a fun day! We found a large school of steelhead and a few small Cohos in 50-60 foot of water south of Holland, almost to Saugatuck. They hit on almost anything we had down. The wire dipseyback 50 feet seemed to work the best. A steelhead even hit a spoon on the surface as we were trying to set a downrigger. We ended up with four steelhead and one coho for the morning, the biggest steelhead was about 14 pounds  
June-9-06 - Salmon fishing is scattered. Fish are being found 40 to 75 feet below the surface in water up to 300 feet deep. Perch are starting to bite, minnows are being used as bait in water 30 to 40 feet deep towards Port Seldon.
 
June-6-06 - Brads Saturday report. The June slowdown is officially here!! We struggled Saturday, going 1for 2. We picked up 7lb King late in the morning on a full core in 185 ft. We marked a lot of fish in the 165 to 190 foot range, but couldn'tget anything to go.  
June-01-06 -The salmon fishing remains good and they are being found in water 170 to 250 feet deep. Green- or orange-colored spoons seem to be working best.  
May-31-06 - Brads Memorial Day Report. Salmon continue to be strong in numbers, but no big fish to speak of. Everything under 10lbs. Fish are concentrated in 150 to 180 ft. 40 all the way to 120 feet down on the riggers, full core and dipseys out 180-200 feet also caught some fish. Orange and green spoons continue to be hot.
  
May -25-06 - Coho and King fishing continues to be good, target water 40 to 80 feet deep. spoons, with greens and oranges the hot colors.
 

May-22-06 - Brads Saturday report. The morning was almost a perfect morning! The lake was flat and we were very comfortable just wearing sweatshirts. There was hardly any boats out, I think they were all in South Haven for the tournament. We went 11-12 , all Kings 5-10 lbs, in 140-150 ft, 55-80 ft down on riggers, dispsies 175 back, and full core all went consistently all morning. Magnum spoons were all they would hit for us. Other boats had luck with mirage and blue bubble flies behind fish catchers. We saw a fisherman at the dock who caught a 20+ lb King right in front of the pier heads on a half core early in the morning. Nice fish!!!

  
May-17-06 - Walleye fishing is fair off the pier with the evenings being best. Kings are being taken and the action is reported to be good. Fish can be found in water 30 to 55 feet deep using green and orange spoons.  
May-12-06 - As of earlier this week - the salmon fishing was rated very good, fish were being found in water 70 to 120 feet deep fishing 0 to 50 feet down. Green, orange spoons are the hot colors. Pier fishing is producing a few walleye.  
May-5-06 - Some fish being taken in 45 to 90 feet of water, fish in the top 40 - orange, green & blue spoons and flies  

Apr-29-06 - The salmon can be found 30 to 50 feet below the surface in water up to 145 feet deep lures with some orange on them were working best. Perch and walleye fishing is slow off the pier.

 
Apr-23-06 - A few perch have been caught in the Channel. Coho and chinook are being caught in waters 20 to 60 feet deep straight out, body baits are working best. Boat anglers are having luck with brown trout while trolling along the beach area. A few walleyes are showing up at night off the pier.  
   

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