What is jigging/casting?

Jigging and casting is a more interactive/hands-on way to fish compared to trolling. On a casting trip, we'll be near the shoreline casting and retrieving jigs/blade baits back to the boat, anticipating a bite at any moment. For vertical jigging, we drop a lure straight down into deeper waters (80-120') and move it up and down to attract fish. We may combine both methods depending on time of year, conditions, and where the fish are. This type of fishing charter is perfect for novice to experienced anglers (best for 1-2 people, but will accommodate up to 4 at a time fishing).

We start out the season by offering fishing trips in April (weather permitting) on Grand Traverse Bay. Dressing appropriately for the weather is key to having an enjoyable experience and we always recommend dressing in layers as the temperature can vary quite drastically this time of year in a short amount of time.

As we make our way through the month of May, we turn our focus to the shoreline as the warming water will draw in Cisco and Lake Trout. This is a great time of year if you're looking for more of a hands-on charter fishing experience. On most days, we will be casting Tungsten Heavy Hitters from Fish Bum Tackle and jigging them back to the boat with anticipating that tug on every cast. It's a lot of fun! We can offer this type of fishing trip starting in April and will typically last until the end of June

Approaching summer, the water will get too warm near shore and will push fish out deeper into the bay in search of cooler water. When this happens, we are then able to offer our other hands-on charter fishing trip, which is vertical jigging for Lake Trout. Jigging is a fun way to target Lake Trout and is gaining popularity here in Northern Michigan. Some of these Lake Trout that we hook into are over 20lbs (average 6-12 pounds). As you drop your jig from the boat, you can watch it fall in detail on our Garmin fish finders to depths of over a 100'. We start offering Lake Trout jigging trips late June and will last to the end of September. Lake Trout season in the bay will be closed on October 1st and we switch over to Cisco for the remainder of the season.

Disclaimer: This is a very fun and rewarding way to fish, but we typically catch more fish throughout the season trolling vs. jigging/casting as their is a learning curve and technique that we will have to teach you. Plus, we cover a lot more water trolling with more rods out compared to the one rod in your hand jigging/casting. We also recommend smaller groups if jigging is the preferred method, 1-2 people preferred, but will take up to 6 with a maximum of 4 people fishing at a time (one person in each corner of the boat, taking turns).