The Best Salmon Bite Was Where Nobody Else Was Trolling

When the fleet stayed inside, an offshore move and an adjustment to long-coppers on TX-44s changed everything.

By Captain Curtis Rook -Fresh Coast Charters

A couple years ago, a buddy and I hit lake Michigan out of Ludington for what was supposed to be a fun day of trolling for Great Lakes salmon. It wasn't a tournament and there was no pressure, but I can’t help using every day on the water to learn what the fish are doing and why.

That morning I ran north and set up just short of Big Point, where most of the fleet was fishing. We started trolling in about 100 feet of water and gradually worked our way north.

But by the time we were well past the point, we'd managed only two bites.

Question Everything

One thing about me is that my brain never stops working on the water.

Why isn't this working?

What are the fish doing?

What's changed?

I stayed in contact with a few friends throughout the morning and they were seeing the same thing. The fishing was slow everywhere.

Most boats planned to stay in the area and keep grinding, but I've never been comfortable fishing dead water. If I'm not seeing signs of life, I have a hard time convincing myself to stay.

I considered making a long run and trying again, but instead of pulling lines, I simply pointed the boat west and kept trolling.

Reading the Conditions

It was a classic bluebird day—bright sun, calm water, and not a cloud in the sky. My assumption was that the fish would be deeper, farther away from the boat, and less willing to chase a bait.

As we continued offshore, I started adjusting my presentations. We pulled some of our shorter copper setups running on Church Tackle TX-44 Tournament Series Boards and replaced them with longer, deeper copper presentations. We also shifted from a spoon-heavy spread to more flies and increased our trolling speed from roughly 2.4–2.6 mph up to 2.8–3.2 mph.

The Dipsy Divers went deeper too, moving from 130–210 feet back to as much as 270–400 feet.

Everything we did was aimed at finding fish that weren't acting like typical nearshore salmon.

Finding the Right Water

When we reached about 350 feet of water, everything changed.

The planer boards started dropping. The Dipsys started ripping. Fish were everywhere.

From 350 feet out to roughly 500 feet of water, we experienced one of those magical bites every salmon angler hopes to find. Before long we had 15 fish in the box and were headed back toward port.

Back at the dock, we started comparing notes with other anglers. Not a single boat we talked to had a day anywhere close to ours. Most had stayed inside and spent the day moving around, trying to make something happen.

Why the Planer Boards Made the Difference

Once we found fish, getting baits away from the boat became critical.

Our Church Tackle TX-44 Tournament Series Boards, with their capacity to pull a ton of weight, allowed us to run long copper presentations 300 to 600 feet behind the boat while spreading them out and covering more water.

The Dipsys caught fish too, but the planer board program accounted for roughly 90 percent of our action.

Those long coppers turned what started out looking like a difficult day into one of the most memorable salmon trips I've ever had.

Don't Fish Empty Water

What we found offshore was a massive stretch of dirty, set-up water loaded with life.
To me, that's usually a sign of warmer water, increased oxygen, and baitfish—all things that attract salmon. In other words, exactly where I want to be fishing.
One lesson I've learned over the years is that if you're not catching fish, it doesn't always mean your tackle is wrong. Sometimes it means you're fishing where the fish aren't.

Anglers often start second-guessing themselves and making endless changes to their spread when the bigger issue is location.

We were facing high sun, calm seas, and clean, cold, lifeless water—not the combination of elements you hope for

But on this day we didn't panic. Everything pointed offshore, so that's where we went. We looked at the conditions, evaluated the information in front of us, and made a move.

So remember, don’t be afraid to trust your assessment of the conditions, leave the crowd, and go looking for better water. Sometimes the best fishing is happening where nobody else is looking.