Ron Dohm of the Traverse City Central High School Bass Fishing Team urges students around the state and the nation to get involved and start a competitive bass fishing team at their own high school. Get information at BassMaster.com/Nation. Ron is sponsored by Sport Fish Michigan.
Tag Archives: sport fish michigan
How to fish for smallmouth bass using a spinner bait.
Here’s a quick spinner bait lesson using a willow leaf blade coupled with a trailer hook in clear water to improve your chances of hooking a small mouth bass. Captain Ben Wolfe of Traverse City Bass talks about northern Michigan smallmouth bass fishing in the Grand Traverse Bay.
How to fish for smallmouth bass using jerkbaits.
Learn some great tips and tricks with this quick tutorial on jerk bait fishing in clear water. Captain Ben Wolfe of Traverse City Bass talks about northern Michigan smallmouth bass fishing in the Grand Traverse Bay.
Thank You
Creating Sport Fish Michigan has been a tremendously rewarding journey, and to see it come together has been awesome and humbling. Sport Fish Michigan started out as a way to attract attention from search engines for my Traverse City Bass Guide Service and Manistee River Salmon Guide Service businesses. It has since grown to be so much more – a network of the top Charter Captains and Guides in the state, and I could not be more proud.
Sport Fish Michigan, or SFM as I call it, now features some of the top Guides and charters around Michigan, all of whom I know personally. As SFM began to grow out of its humble web beginnings, I added friends of mine that were Captains and Guides, with the idea that we would share referrals to each other. We’re still small, but strong. And we are growing!
SFM features Guides and Captains that specialize in almost every species that anglers want to target here in Michigan. King salmon, coho salmon, atlantic salmon, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, steelhead trout, brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, walleye, lake trout, perch, muskies, pike, panfish, and even some less commonly targeted species like carp, gar, catfish, and burbot!
All of these species thrill anglers of all ages! Not only do our Captains and Guides know how to target an angler’s species of choice, we have built a network that can facilitate an angler catching their preferred species using the techniques that they prefer. Casting artificial baits, vertical jigging, fly fishing, trolling, or casting live bait—SFM’s Captains and Guides have the knowledge and the boats to accommodate just about anything a customer could want.
Michigan is blessed with an incredible number of lakes, rivers, and streams, and most of these are clear bodies of water that were glacially formed. With such a variety of fish species to choose from, and with such a vast choice of waters to fish in, it can be hard to narrow down which guide to choose. All guides look good on a web site full of pictures. My intent with SFM was to create a top-notch referral service that would take the guesswork out of who to book on certain bodies of water.
Sport Fish Michigan is now even a sponsor of the very popular national television show, Hook N’ Look, hosted by renowned bass professional and retired tournament angler, Kim Stricker. Sport Fish Michigan is even sponsoring a local Traverse City high school bass team, encouraging the sport of bass fishing and the youths that enjoy fishing.
Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine had their annual Red Hot Best poll a few months back, and this year saw a couple of new categories, including the best Charter Boat Captain. The list of nominees and write-in candidates grew to an impressive length, as northern Michigan has world-class fisheries. There are lots of area guides and charters to choose from. I was lucky enough to be one of those nominated, and it was exciting to learn a month or so ago that I was one of the 3 top voted for in this new category. With the June issue on newsstands, it is an absolute thrill to finally let the cat out of the bag! Of the top 3 spots, I am actually the only Charter Boat Captain that offers fishing trips! That was a shock to me, considering how many well-established fishing charters there are in northern Michigan.
Hats off to Chien Nowland of the Nauti-Cat for garnering the top spot in this category, and to Chris West of the Ugly Anne up in Mackinaw City as well. Chien and Chris are both terrific operators of water cruises, taking customers sight seeing and sunset cruising in style. It is, without doubt, a tremendous honor and source of pride to be in the top 3, and especially to be the only fishing charter Captain.
I would like to sincerely thank all of those who voted in the Red Hot Best poll. Thank you to each and every one of my customers who have fished with me or one of my esteemed Sport Fish Michigan Captains and guides over the years, making each trip special and memorable. Many photos from our trips grace the web sites that make up Sport Fish Michigan. I would also like to thank my other Sport Fish Michigan Captains and Guides, and those that have helped us along the way. This honor isn’t just for me—it’s for all of us. We did it together. Thank you for all of your hard work, dedication, and for working together to make something great!
Walleye Resting – Platte River
Walleyes can hold easily in river current with minimal effort — making them much better suited to rivers than we often think. While walleye are generally considered a lake fish species, they will run up rivers to spawn just like salmon and steelhead. Not all walleyes do this, but a large percentage will if there is a river with the right habitat for spawning.
Steelhead Spawning on Gravel Redds
GoPro video of northern Michigan steelhead taken underwater by a Sport Fish Michigan guide. Featuring females, males, and a surprise largemouth bass on a northern Michigan tributary to Lake Michigan.
Power Pole Launch
Using my 2 Power Pole XLs make launching and retrieving my Ranger Z-520 a breeze, which is awesome during a busy guide season. Their remote control deployment system allows me to secure my boat at the dock, right from my truck, making it that much simpler for me and for my Traverse City Bass Guide Service customers. I have found that use of my Power Poles to be truly invaluable, and they pay dividends when I launch my boat to begin a guide day. The simplicity of the system helps to get me and my customers out fishing that much more quickly. Here’s a short video clip that I sped up to show just how easy it is to use Power Poles to launch a boat.
Sport Fish Michigan Sponsors Hook n’ Look TV Series
Sport Fish Michigan is proud to be a sponsor of Hook n’ Look, starring Kim Stricker, which airs on the Outdoor Channel. Much more than a fishing show, Hook n’ Look offers viewers a unique perspective on angling – a view from under the water! Both Kim and his son, Danny, are experienced divers and they combine their diving and angling skills to provide viewers with unparalleled information gained by experiencing fishing from both above and below the water.
Ben Wolfe, owner of Sport Fish Michigan said, "Education is a big part of what Captains and Guides offer to anglers, and understanding the underwater landscape is critical to success. This is a key premise of the Hook N’ Look program, and a partnership between Sport Fish Michigan and Hook N’ Look makes sense. Kim’s love of his home state of Michigan only furthers this partnership. Through the Hook N’ Look show, he often showcases the beauty and pristine nature that Michigan’s waters have to offer."
"Sport Fish Michigan has a very similar goal: we aim to heighten each angler’s experience through a keen understanding of not only the pieces of the puzzle happening above the water, but understanding what is happening below the water, as well. Sport Fish Michigan’s Captains and Guides have years of experience on the water, and with our partnership with Hook N’ Look, we are excited to promote the world-class fishing that Michigan has to offer on waters that Kim (and Danny) have spent countless hours on filming their outstanding show."
Visit the Hook n’ Look website.
Casting for King Salmon on the Big Manistee with Wolfe Outfitters
Wolfe Outfitters customer Mark, with his father, Gary, battling a king salmon on the Big Manistee River. This fish was caught while casting crank baits, which is a productive and addictive technique for early salmon in Michigan rivers.
Gratuities
Gratuities are an awkward thing to discuss. Some people treat tipping a fishing guide as they would a hospitality service (which it is), and try to tip somewhere around 15-20%. Others feel more comfortable with a flat tip of $40-50. Certainly, there are others that tip well over that mark. Conversely, there are many that don’t tip at all–more than likely because it didn’t occur to them to do so, thinking that the fees covered everything.
Many guides rely on gratuities to offset some of the associated costs of doing business. Guides use their own equipment on guide trips. If equipment is damaged, we can’t ask or expect a customer to replace or cover repair costs. Rods, reels and lines all must be replaced periodically. Flies tied if it’s a fly fishing trip. Lures replaced if they get lost on a trip. Associated costs that are built into the costs of the business, but gratuities help ease that burden.
On charter boats, in many instances, the first mate actually fishes for tips, drawing either nothing or next to nothing from the Captain. The Captains that I work with all compensate their first mates, but gratuities still make up the bulk of the day’s earnings.
My guidelines are as follows when I fish with other guides (and I try to regularly to know what it feels like to be a customer). Bottom line is this: How hard did the guide/guide service try?
- Were they on time?
- Were they prepared?
- Were they fun to fish with?
- How was their personality if things got tangled or the fishing was tough?
- Did they get frustrated at the anglers if there were blown shots or chances at fish?
- Were they in a rush to get off the water when “the time” came, or did they not seem to rush, and stay out for a bit?
- And lastly, how much overall effort was put forth to ensure the customer[s] had a great time?
In the end–please tip what you feel comfortable with. Everybody’s finances are different, and there is really no expectation of a certain dollar amount, but any tip is certainly very much appreciated.