Northeast Lower Peninsula
Tawas: Boat anglers were catching some coho salmon, brown trout, lake trout and walleye out near the artificial reef and at Tawas Point in 10 to 25 feet of water while trolling body baits. At Gateway Park, there were some walleye, pike and smallmouth bass caught while casting body baits and jigs tipped with plastics. A few suckers were caught off crawlers.
Alpena: Anglers were successful trolling in front of the channel and around the buoys and staying close to the river water. For best results, anglers should use bright colors and troll body baits and spoons off boards.
Thunder Bay River: One chute remained open which had slowed the spring fishery along with the very cold temperatures and unseasonably weather. It had put the steelhead runs way behind schedule. A few fish were caught but it was slow. Anglers were drifting beads, flies, and spawn on the bottom or under bobbers. Spawn performed better than beads and flies.
Au Gres: There were some good catches of walleye and pike in 10 to 25 feet of water while trolling body baits out near Point Lookout and near the mouth of the river.
Singing Bridge Access: Anglers caught a couple steelhead and brown trout out in the surf while fishing with spawn.
Eagle Bay Marina: There were some perch, crappie, bullheads, bowfin and pike caught inside the marina off minnows.
Palmer Road: There were some small perch caught off minnows in the ditch and near the culvert.
Oscoda/Lake Huron: A few boats made it out into the lake but were staying around the pier. Few anglers were having luck on the pier, but when they do, they were catching mostly steelhead, coho, Atlantic salmon and walleye. Most anglers had success with spawn bags or minnows. With a few having luck casting spoons and body baits of various colors and patterns.
Oscoda/Au sable River: Fishing had been hit and miss lately. Anglers had success mostly with steelhead. Anglers were most commonly drifting spawn bags or running beads. Some anglers had success with wax worms.
Harrisville/Lake Huron: A few steelhead and coho were caught inside the harbor. Anglers were using spoons to catch steelhead and coho.
Black River: Only a few anglers were fishing in the Black River. Anglers were floating various color spawn bags to target steelhead. A few anglers tried spoons and body baits.
Cheboygan River: Some steelhead were caught at the dam, but fishing continued to be slow. Anglers should drift spawn or spawn imitations with the current. Brighter/fluorescent color lures may work best in the murky water.
Northwest Lower Peninsula
Portage Lake: Anglers reported catching panfish, bass and perch, but reported low catches in cooler waters.
Bar Lake: Anglers trolling Bar Lake caught a couple brown trout but the action was slow.
Manistee: Fishing was hit or miss but a few brown trout, lake trout and the occasional coho were caught while trolling the shorelines. A couple cisco and whitefish were caught off the north pier. Perch fishing was slow. A few brown trout and lake trout were caught off the south pier while using spawn.
Frankfort: Anglers trolling inside the walls saw some brown trout activity, but the weather was not cooperative. Due to high winds, there was limited pier fishing.
Little Traverse Bay: The docks were not in at the boat launch earlier in the week. Anglers fishing the breakwall and the city dock did not have any success.
Bear River: There was a lot of pressure at the mouth of the Bear River. Anglers were mainly catching brown trout. There was one small pike caught and a few suckers. Some 15-to-20-inch brown trout were caught from the dam down to this area. The Bear River was running very high from rain over the weekend. The fish pushed up to the dam after temps warmed. Most fish were caught from the dam to the mouth of the river over the weekend and early week. Anglers had good success with spawn bags and flies.
Upper Peninsula
Little Bay de Noc: Fishing activity remained limited, although some anglers were targeting perch and reported slow action. Anglers participating in the catch and release bass season on the Ford River had little success.
Manistique: Water levels on the Manistique River were starting to recede. Anglers reported seeing steelhead near the dam, although catch rates were minimal.
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: The water was open. Some anglers got out on the water in small boats and canoes in between floats of ice. There were reports of smelt congregating near shore and especially near river mouths. Other anglers concentrated efforts on shore near river mouths targeting steelhead. For steelhead, try yarn flies and spawn.
Traverse Bays/ South Portage Canal Entry: The water was open at the South Portage canal launch. Anglers were trolling for salmon and trout mostly. Some shore anglers were also casting for panfish and pike but to no avail. With open water and less ice floats in the lake, anglers should try trolling and jigging.
Munising Bay: Boat ramps were in at Munising. Strong gusty 30+mph winds from the south blew the ice out of the bay, however there was still plenty of ice floating within the bay and out in the lake. Most of the ice bergs were big and not always visible, so use caution when boating. Anglers were catching coho with a few nice steelhead caught. Most of the steelhead observed were still fresh and not spawned out. Anglers were fishing primarily with spawn sacs and boats were just starting to troll or jig for coho. A few splake, whitefish and menominee were also caught.
Grand Marais: Anglers were able to use the boat launch. Ice was pretty much out of the harbor and blown out into the lake, however there were still large ice bergs floating. Boaters are advised to used caution. Boat fishing pressure was low due to ice out just happening and strong winds. Boats were doing great with limits of coho and rainbows. There was a mix of spent out females and males, however anglers did observe some nice 7+ pound females with tight skein of eggs. Boat anglers were trolling with combination of assorted crank and shallow running stick baits. Pier fishing was somewhat limited due to winds, however there was an assortment of coho and rainbow caught while using spawn sacs. Whitefish anglers started fishing and reported somewhat slow activity with not many limits. The ice cap on the end of the pier was starting to melt and ice on most of the pier was melted.
Hessel: A few anglers started to fish off the pier in Hessel but had limited success.
Marquette: Anglers were having success catching steelhead in the Carp and Chocolay rivers. Anglers had success fishing off the mouth of the Carp River catching coho salmon. The ice was melted in the harbors, and boats should be able to launch. Anglers drifting spawn and beads were successful in the rivers. Anglers casting spawn out of the mouth of the Carp River were successful in catching coho.
Au Train: Anglers were having success catching steelhead and coho salmon out of the Rock River and the river mouth. There was little fishing effort in the Au Train River, though there were reports of anglers catching coho salmon from the river mouth. The ice was melted from the Brownstone boat ramp, and boats should be able to launch. Anglers drifting both spawn and beads were successful in catching steelhead in the Rock River. Anglers casting spawn and night crawlers were successful in catching coho in the mouth of the Au Train and Rock rivers.
Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake Erie: Walleye were moving back out to slightly deeper waters at 18 to 20 feet of water. A successful trolling path was from the Fermi Nuclear Plant down to the DTE Energy Power Plant stacks, about 4 miles out from shore. Down by Luna Pier, anglers were catching walleye about 5 miles out in around 20 feet of water. The walleye were more energetic with the waters warming up. Good trolling speeds for this were 1.8 to 2 mph. Chartreuse was a hot lure color. For bass fishing, the water was murky near shore, use lures that make noise for a successful catch.
Detroit River: Walleye anglers were doing well in Ecorse fishing near the steel plant. The Wyandotte area around the BASF plant was a successful area too. Anglers fishing the lower river did fair around Calf Island and in the mouth of the river at Lake Erie. Anglers ran into fish in 13 to 16 feet of water. Anglers fishing the upper river did well between the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit docks in 30 to 45 feet of water. Most anglers were jigging, and artificial jigs were working best but many anglers were tipping them with shiners. Red, green and black were the hot colors. Some anglers switched things up and began trolling with crawlers with great success.
Saginaw Bay: Walleye were caught near the Old Dumping Grounds while trolling crankbaits in 15 feet of water. Anglers were jigging minnows at the mouth of Saginaw River and at Spoils Island. Bluegill were caught at Finn Road. Anglers fishing the various cuts and rivers on the east side of Saginaw Bay struggled to find perch. The few perch that were caught were mostly small. Anglers were finding some panfish and were catching them on small minnows, worms and plastics. With windy conditions, there were very few boats out targeting walleye.
Port Sanilac: A few coho and an occasional lake trout were caught trolling south in 12 to 16 feet of water while running planner boards and orange bombers.
Pinnebog River: Kayak anglers were performing well catching and releasing smallmouth bass and the occasional northern pike while casting various artificial baits.
Willow Creek: Wading anglers were catching and releasing smallmouth bass while casting various artificial baits.
Harbor Beach: Anglers trolling in 25 to 35 feet of water using body baits and spoons were catching salmon and trout to the east and south of the harbor. A few cohos were caught from the harbor break wall while casting artificial lures.
Lexington: A mix of salmon and trout were caught in 25 to 40 feet of water using both body baits and spoons from south of Lexington Harbor along the shoreline to the north of Port Sanilac.
Port Austin: A few boat anglers were catching cohos and lake trout out front and to the northeast of the harbor while trolling with spoons and body baits in 20 to 35 feet of water. Some coho and steelhead were caught off the break wall while casting small artificial lures.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
St. Joseph: Boat anglers were catching coho salmon. There were also some kings up to 15 pounds and an occasional steelhead caught. Anglers were trolling from 20 to 40 feet of water. Most anglers were using small crankbaits and spoons. Most fishing pressure was south of the piers but there seemed to be some fish moving north towards the piers. Pier anglers were catching a few coho. Fish were caught on spawn.
South Haven: Boat anglers were catching some coho and a few kings. Most boats were south of the piers in 20 to 30 feet of water. Boat anglers were using small crankbaits. Boat anglers targeting lake trout continued to have good fishing. Lake trout were caught in 50 to 70 feet of water. Pier fishing pressure was very low.
Muskegon: Anglers reported that the pier action was slow for brown trout.
Grand Haven: The yellow perch action was slow for boat anglers. A few coho were caught by boats trolling inside of 40 feet of water. Pier anglers were finding the brown trout and coho salmon action to be slow. Orange spoons were working best for coho salmon.
This report is intended to give you an idea of what is going on around the state. Updates come from Fisheries staff and conservation officers. With more than 11,000 inland lakes, the Great Lakes and thousands of miles of rivers and streams, not all locations can be listed. However, it is safe to say if a species is being caught in some waters in the area, they are likely being caught in all waters in that section of the state that have that species.
