Michigan Sportfishing Charter Trips:
Saginaw Bay
Walleye Capital
of the World!!!
Walleye Charters
at Au Gres (AuGres)
and Tawas City (or East Tawas)
May/June/July/Aug/Sept
Lake Erie
Walleye Charters
at Monroe,
Toledo and
Port Clinton
March/April/May
Lake Michigan
King Salmon Charters
at Manistee
August
Charter Boat Fishing Information
Book Charters Online
Charters for the Film Industry
Trip Planners
Rogers City Spring
(Lake Huron)
Rogers City Summer
(Lake Huron)
Sportfishing charter boat 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, king salmon, Atlantic 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 boats, 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 fishing trips like early spring trophy walleye charters on Lake Erie and 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 30 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 boat captains operating on the Great Lakes including Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay. 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). Also, be sure to check out our fishing reports to see what's biting.
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
Long Time Member of Michigan Charter Boats Association
(MCBA)
Check out our fishing reports to find out if the walleye, king (Chinook) salmon, steelhead, brown trout, lake trout or Atlantic salmon are biting where Trophy Specialist is running fishing charters. These fishing reports will cover the ports of Au Gres (AuGres) on Saginaw Bay, Rogers City on Lake Huron, Manistee on Lake Michigan and Monroe and the Western Basin of Lake Erie. We will try to update the fishing report regularly during the open water charter fishing season.
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01/17/12
I just moved all the 2011 fishing reports to the Fishing Report Archives. There are two years worth of fishing reports in there now, so it is lengthy. I'll start posting fishing reports again starting in March (weather permitting), which is when I am scheduled to start my charter season on Lake Erie for trophy walleyes.
Go to the Fishing Report Archives
News on the 2012 Charter Season
Key Great Lakes fisheries will provide world class fishing during 2012 for two of the most popular Great Lakes sportfish: walleyes and king salmon (chinook). Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters will again offer fishing charters taking our boat to the right places at the right times to put customers on those hot bites when the big walleyes and salmon are most plentiful. Unfortunately operating costs forced me to slightly increase charter rates for 2012 (up $20). This is the first increase in prices in seven years for me so it was over due. Still, our rates are among the most competitive in the industry and when you consider that Michigan has some of the lowest lodging and eatery rates in the country, a fishing trip to Michigan on our boat is one of the best vacation bargains out there. When you consider the quality of the fisheries combined with the value on our boat, you just can't go wrong. Here is a rundown of the fisheries Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters will focus on during 2012:
Saginaw Bay is the official, undisputed, reining "Walleye Capital of the World". For years we have been able to take limit catches consisting of a mixture of eaters and lunkers on most charters for the best possible mix. Saginaw Bay has been blessed with nine straight, huge year classes, of naturally reproduced walleyes. When those huge numbers are added to an already strong older, adult walleye population from past years, the shear numbers and quality of walleyes in the system now simply 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 too (8 hr. charters) until their arms hurt, if they want. The fishing is pure, unadulterated fun these days and you can expect non-stop action on most of our charter 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 in recent years. So, as a result I'm increasing my charter schedule once again out of Au Gres (AuGres) and Tawas to take advantage of the demand. Au Gres (AuGres) is the best of the best among Saginaw Bay's ports with the highest walleye catch rate anywhere in Michigan. We'll be fishing there from early-May through early-September (accept for a break during part of August for kings on Lake Michigan). We also may run walleye charters at the north end of Saginaw Bay out of Tawas City or East Tawas during August and September. Tawas is only 15 miles north of Au Gres. During late summer the walleyes often migrate to the deeper, cooler waters of the northern fringe of Saginaw Bay off Tawas. We take full advantage by running our charters then out from Tawas which is very close to that hot fishing area. Please keep in mind though that I filled most of my available charter openings on Saginaw Bay last season and will likely do so again this year, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
Lake Erie will certainly serve up some awesome early spring walleye fishing this year. The record breaking 2003 year class will be contributing millions of trophy class lunkers to the spring bite, which typically starts during mid to late March and ramps up through early April, depending on the weather conditions. When those 2003 fish are added to the abundant year classes from big hatches during the 1990s (walleyes can live beyond 20 years on Lake Erie), Lake Erie will produce a spring trophy walleye fishery of world class proportions this year. Because the rotten spring weather of 2011 allowed very little fishing pressure on Lake Erie's adult, spring walleyes, 2012 should be that much better. In fact, given decent weather this spring, I fully expect even better fishing in 2012 than the banner spring we experienced there in 2010 when we caught dozens of lunkers that weighed 9-13 pounds. We even may break my boat record of over 100 Master Angler class walleyes in one season, if the weather is good. If you want to try something different, and quite fun, we will be offering jigging charters on Lake Erie's reefs during the peak mid-April walleye spawning period. Those jigging charters often yield non-stop action where anglers can do hand to hand combat with feisty walleyes in shallow water. At that time, you can even combine trolling with jigging on 8-hour trips. I'll be offering Lake Erie walleye charters from mid-March through early May providing plenty of open dates to service the high demand at that location. Once again, fishing charters before April 15 are restricted to an "on call list" booking structure. Customers will have to sign up ahead of time on the "on call list" and will be contacted a couple days in advance to fish only when the weather and water conditions are favorable for a successful trip. Because of the highly volatile weather and fishing conditions during March and early April, this is the only way to run a charter boat business at that time of year on Lake Erie. The Detroit River will also have good 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).
Lake Michigan once again served up some awesome king salmon fishing last year and 2012 should also provide some great fishing there as well. It was a pleasant surprise when the average size of Lake Michigan's kings was way up last year. Abundant baitfish supplies and a multi-state salmon management strategy towards larger fish have paid off with bigger king and coho salmon for sure. Last year it was common to take 20 pound king salmon and we even took some that surpassed 25 pounds. Several true lunkers were taken at Manistee that weighed over 35 pounds too! Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters will be offering limited 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 at Manistee so those salmon trips will fill up fast necessitating early bookings if you want to fish on Lake Michigan with me.
Lake Huron Fishing has been awesome in past years, but the DNR has mis-managed that fishery very badly in recent years with massive cuts to king salmon stocking and stupid regulation changes that forced anglers to release most of the trout they caught. We regret to inform everyone that Trophy Specialists Fishing Charters will not be offering any trips there during 2012. This is especially sad for me because Rogers City is one of my favorite places to fish in Michigan and it was also one of my most popular charter destinations with my customers too. There are some rumors that the DNR may reverse that idiotic, politically motivated (forced on us by Indian Tribes) slot limit on trout in northern Lake Huron, but I can't plan my charter Schedule on rumors. There are also rumblings that the DNR will be replacing the king salmon stocking reductions with increased Atlantic salmon and steelhead plants, but it will take a couple years after that occurs before those potential benefits are realized. I will not return to Rogers City until the trout limits are changed to where we can keep most of the fish we catch and I'll also have to see in increase in other salmonids there too before I go back there.
