Representatives from the Manistee Area Charterboats and the Manistee County Sport Fishing Association were able to observe trap nets being lifted on August 2, 2007. We watched three lifts and they were all almost identical.  The ONLY fish in the nets were whitefish and a few lake trout.  There were no salmon, no steelhead, no perch, no burbot etc... They caught about 400 pounds of legal whitefish in each net.  Each net had 4 or 5 lake trout in it.  They kept a total of 4 lake trout that did not look like they would survive.  The rest were released and swam away.  The trap net fishermen are legally required to throw back all whitefish and lake trout under 17 inches - dead or alive.  The only released fish that we saw floating dead in the water were small whitefish in the 10 - 12 inch range.  We video taped the lifts and took several pictures.   I would like to thank S & S Fisheries and the tribal conservation department for allowing us this opportunity.

CLICK here for pictures. 

Fishing the first week of July was great but the same could not be said for this past Saturday Am which left most of the fleet scrambling to put a fish or two in the box.  Fortunately things turned around in the afternoon with good numbers of fish being taken in 60 - 80 FOW north of the nets.  We are starting to get into the busy part of the season but still have plenty of openings for those still looking to book a charter.  Call one of our experienced member captains today to reserve your date. 

Both the weather and the fishing have been excellent for the past several days. This past weekend's Bud Pro Am saw many Pro and Am teams weighing in their 10 fish limits.  The bite on the shelf has been drying up early but the fishing off shore has been steady throughout the day.  Boats have been spread out between the 30 and 40 west line and taking good numbers of steelhead, lake trout, Kings and Coho. 

If you are bringing your own boat to Manistee, be sure to check our commercial net information page for the last reported net locations.  Please be especially courteous to other boats when fishing around the nets and be prepared to give way so that they too have room to get around the marker buoys.

If you would like to get out on the lake with one of our experienced captains click here or call 877-626-4783.

There is a lot of negative discussion on the internet about the nets off Manistee.  I fished today and set up just south of the net in the 13's.  We trolled all morning without seeing another net and ended up 9 for 13.  We took 4 kings on the shelf and 5 steelhead out deeper.  Leadcore was good again today and the riggers held there own too.  We could not get our Divers to go today.   If you plan to fish Manistee in your own boat please checkout our Commercial Net Info page.  We will post net locations as they become available.

We have Charter captains with available dates if you want to get out on the lake. Click here or call the Visitors center at 877-626-4783 to start planning your trip.