Michigan Sportfishing Hotspots We Fish:
Lake Erie
Walleye Charters
(Monroe,
Toledo and
Port Clinton)
March/April/May
Lake Huron
Brown Trout, Lake Trout, King Salmon, Pink Salmon, Steelhead, Atlantic Salmon
Mixed-bag Charters
(Rogers City
Presque Isle)
May/June/July
Saginaw Bay Walleye Charters
(Au Gres)
June/July
Lake Michigan
Salmon Charters
(Manistee)
August
Lake Huron Trophy
King Salmon Charters
(Rogers City)
August/September
Charter Fishing Information
Book 2009 Charters Online
Charters for the Film Industry
Trip Planners
Sportfishing for trophy walleye, steelhead, salmon, lake trout and brown trout
Charters Starting at Only
$250
Full and Half Day Trips
Available
Credit
Cards
Accepted
Gift Certificates
Available
Capt. Michael Veine
15555 Cassidy Rd.
Chelsea, Michigan 48118
Phone 734-475-9146
Email
mikeveine@trophyspecialists.com
Book Sportfishing Charters
Online
Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters does just what the name implies, specializes in sportfishing for the biggest, most prized fish (walleye, salmon, steelhead, lake trout and Great Lakes brown trout) that Michigan has to offer. We accomplish this by sport fishing on the hottest waters at their peak trophy producing periods. Yes, trailering a charter boat from port to port is expensive and a hassle, but quite frankly, it's the only way captains can consistently deliver peak sportfishing action throughout the season. By concentrating on the right places at the right times, Trophy Specialists guarantees its customers a successful fishing experience. If no fish are hooked up, our guarantee states that your next trip is free (only valid on 8-hour trips), so we actually put our money where our mouth is. You can kick back and let the captain worry about catching walleye, salmon, steelhead and brown trout.
Trophy Specialists is all about professionalism with a total commitment to quality customer service. We provide leading edge, tournament tested gear, tactics and know how. You need not be an expert angler to land the big ones with us. Our services include expert coaching skills that gives even novice anglers a real chance to catch huge walleye, salmon, brown trout or steelhead. We also offer unique trips like early spring trophy walleye charters on Lake Erie and limited charters at the best walleye fishery in the world - Saginaw Bay. Fishing with Trophy Specialists may in fact be your best chance at catching that trophy of a lifetime for the wall or the photo album. With over 25 years of hard-core fishing experience and a U.S. Coast Guard Masters License with commercial towing and other endorsements, Capt. Michael Veine is one of the most highly qualified charter captains operating on the Great Lakes including Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. In fact, Capt. Mike is licensed to pilot ships; now how many guides or charter captains can claim those kinds of credentials? Mike Veine is also a widely published outdoor writer and photographer, so your trophy tale and/or photos may even be featured in your favorite magazine (with your permission of course).
Gift certificates are available - Giving someone a fishing charter gift certificate makes an awesome present for Christmas, birthday, father's day, mother's day, anniversaries, graduations, bachelor party and other special occasions. Fishing charter gift certificates are also ideal for fund-raisers, charities, raffles, employee appreciation, business entertainment and many other purposes, and they can be customized just about any way you want. The recipient can choose the port, species and timeframe. Because Trophy Specialists fishes from many different ports targeting walleye, salmon, steelhead, brown trout, lake trout and other species, the recipient of the gift will certainly have plenty to choose from.
Charters for the Film Industry - Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters offers charter boat and marine services (lease and rental) for the film, television (TV), cinema and movie industry. We have on-the-water video production experience on the Great Lakes and other rivers and inland lakes of Michigan and Ohio. We are fully licensed and insured and can provide professional on the water support for your cinematography projects.
Coast Guard and DNR Inspected Charter
Boat
Member of Michigan Charter Boats Association (MCBA) since
1998.
News on the 2009 Charter Season
2009 should provide some of the best charter fishing that Michigan has every experienced. Certain select fisheries are literally exploding with fish and Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters will again be scheduled to be in the right places at the right times to put customers on those hot bites. Charter rates are unchanged again this year and lodging and eatery rates in Michigan are some of the lowest in the country making a fishing trip to Michigan one of the best vacation bargains going. When you consider the quality of the fisheries combined with the value, you just can't go wrong.
Changes for 2009 - The Michigan DNR has made two major rule changes for 2009 that will benefit Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters customers: The number of rods allowed per person has been changed from two to three statewide. This will allow us to run more rods,which will result in a lot more fish being caught. The DNR has also changed the catch limit for chinook and coho salmon from three to five fish per day. This will allow charter customers to keep more king and coho salmon resulting in more fishing time for your hard earned money. I will not be making any major schedule changes this year although I will be expanding my Au Gres/Saginaw Bay offerings a little.
Lake Erie will have the best walleye fishing ever this year. The record breaking 2003 year class will be contributing millions of trophy class lunkers to the spring bite. When the 2003 fish are added to the abundant year classes from big hatches during the 1990s, Erie will be serving up a spring trophy walleye fishery of world class proportions. Given decent weather conditions, we could break my boat record of over 100 Master Angler class walleyes in one season. I'll be running Lake Erie walleye charter starting in late March through early June providing plenty of open dates to service the high demand at that location. The Detroit River will also have epic runs of walleyes this spring, so I'll be offering Detroit River charters as a backup when Erie is too rough to fish (Monroe is very close to the mouth of the Detroit River).
Saginaw Bay is now the official "Walleye Capital of the World"; well at least it's official to me after the 2008 season last year. Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters ran 37 charters on Saginaw Bay last year and we limited out on every eight-hour trip. In fact we have limited out on every Saginaw Bay day charter for three straight years! On most trips we were able to catch a mixture of eaters and lunkers for the best possible mix. Saginaw Bay has been blessed with six straight huge year classes of naturally reproduced walleyes. When those huge numbers are added to an already strong adult walleye population from past years, the shear number and quality of walleyes in the system now just boggles the mind. There are now so many walleyes in Saginaw Bay that easy limit catches are the rule and anglers can even catch and release fish until their arms hurt. The fishing is just plain pure fun now and you can expect non-stop action on most trips. The only down side to the fishery is that the word has definitely gotten out and the demand for fishing charters there has escalated sharply, so I'm increasing my charter schedule out of Au Gres to take advantage of the demand. Keep in mind though that I filled all my available openings on Saginaw Bay last season and will likely do so again this year, so book early.
Lake Michigan once again served up some awesome king salmon fishing last with limit catches being brought in on most fishing charters. The fish were so plentiful that anglers often "complained" about catching too many fish, too fast, which of course is the one complaint that charter captains love to hear. Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters will be offering charters from my home town port of Manistee once again this summer. I've been fishing salmon at Manistee since the first year they were stocked there in the 1960s, so nobody can claim to have more experience there than me. Manistee has a well earned reputation as one of the best salmon ports in Michigan and I'll be there during prime time in August. I'm only scheduling a short period there so those salmon trips will fill, so book early.
Lake Huron at Rogers City provides the best mixed bag fishery on the Great Lakes. We ran one trip last year catching six different species in one day. For the past couple years, the Atlantic salmon fishing was outstanding at Rogers City during May. If you have never caught an Atlantic salmon, they are like a king salmon on steroids. They make long powerful runs and also jump like crazy similar to a steelhead. Atlantics are the best eating fish in the salmon family, so there is no down side to catching them other than sore arms from their scrappy battles. Those May charters are conducted right along the shoreline in shallow water and we typically catch browns, lakers and kings in addition to the Atlantic Salmon. I also offer some offshore trips where we target steelhead, but usually end up with a mixed bag of steelies, trout and salmon. During July the king salmon really move in to the Rogers City area and they are still silvery and spectacular at that time. King salmon are on the increase big time at Rogers City. There numbers and the catch rates were way up last year and it is expected to be even better in 2009. The DNR's Swan River weir located a few miles from Rogers City collected triple the kings in 2008 compared to 2007 and catch rates were equally as impressive. The salmon last year were also bigger and more vigorous than we've seen in recent years. Most July trips last year resulted in a diverse mixed bag and for some reason we caught lots of walleyes then too and they were mostly big ones. The July salmon fishery at Rogers City was on fire last year as we caught more kings then then at any other time or place including Lake Michigan. During late summer, Rogers City's Swan Bay loads up with huge, pre-spawn king salmon and we will be there to take full advantage of the opportunity. The kings we caught there last year were the biggest ones taken in all of Michigan based on average weights. The fishing at Rogers City is uncrowded at most times and considering the high catch rates and the size of the fish, it equates to a very high quality experience that no other Great Lakes salmon port can match.
Charters to be Donated:
To help support the Hunt-of-a-Lifetime, Benefit4Kids and Joseph's Journey Foundations, we are giving away fishing charters again this year to any qualifying child that requests one. We used to donate fishing trips to The-Make-a-Wish-Foundation, however when they stopped allowing the kids to go on hunting or fishing trips the Hunt-of-a-Lifetime, Benefit4Kids and Joseph's Journey Foundations were formed in response to fill that need. Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters is now donating a charter to any critically ill child through the Hunt-of-a-Lifetime, Benefit4Kids and Joseph's Journey Foundations. These donations will help children with life threatening illnesses achieve their dreams of catching trophy salmon, walleye, steelhead or brown trout on the Great Lakes.
Donations have also been made to the American Cancer Society, Boy Scouts of America, Alpena Schools, Fairview Schools, Cal's Pals, Michigan Turkey Hunters, Ruffed Grouse Society, North East Michigan Mental Health, Care House, Whistling Wings, Brent Romain Memorial Fund Raiser, Michigan Tournament of Charities, Public Television (WTVS and WKAR), St. Damian Catholic School, Cal's Pals and other notable charities. Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters is also a member of the following non-profit organizations: Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association, Michigan Charter Boat Association and the National Association of Charter Boat Operators.
