Salmon aficionados anticipating summer surges of kings in the Manitou Passage have for years been let down.
They’re smiling now. “This is not as good as I’ve seen it, but it’s very good,” said Rod Price, a college professor and Hastings resident who graduated from Leland. “But it’s the best in at least 10 years, and maybe since 2012. That’s the last year I remember it being this good.”
Price brings history to his conclusion. He’s been fishing out of Leland for 33 years, spent nine years as a first mate to charter captains whose boats were stationed along the Leland River, and is the grandson of a commercial fisherman who worked out of the harbor. One of those charter mentors is Jack Duffy, who’s been chasing salmon since the days when anglers were amazed that a grand experiment envisioned by former DNR Director Howard Tanner actually worked.
So Price’s words are reliable when they describe hot action for salmon. On Monday morning, he and friend Tim Poley hit double figures not long after setting down riggers, with roughly half being four-yearolds that neared or topped 20 pounds.
“I’ve been getting six to eight a night, and we got ten this morning,” Price said. “I’m starting to figure them out.”
Lake Leelanau resident and charter captain Adam Collett, who takes out clients through Mega-Bite Fishing Charters, has forgone his usual trips to West Grand Traverse Bay in favor of chasing salmon out of Leland to the Manitou islands.
“The islands have been good, both north and south,” Collett said. “We have a lot of fish around. We haven’t seen this many in quite a few years. The fish are everywhere. I know guys who were off on South (Manitou) when that fishing blew up. Fish are on the first bank, on the Crib.”
Fish are plentiful to the point that pinpointing their location is not necessary. For instance, Collett on Monday morning started trolling in relatively shallow water and later found salmon suspended in a 380-foot depth. His down riggers have been set on average at 180 feet, indicating a thermocline about average for this time of year, he said. His charters often limit out. For instance, on one outing last week 17 fish were hooked and ten were boated — in an hour.
