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HomeOutdoorsWeekly fishing report: March 29, 2023

Weekly fishing report: March 29, 2023

The weekly fishing report is back! Thanks for your patience while we continue to cover more areas in the near future.

All anglers 17 years of age and older are required to have a fishing license.

Northeast Lower Peninsula

Thunder Bay River: Anglers targeting steelhead in the open parts of the river did well using spinners and spawn bags. Anglers targeting steelhead near the 9th Street Dam did the best. Floating spawn bags, nymphs, and other drifting baits seemed to be better than casting spoons/spinners etc. Those using drift baits, were successful drifting in the deep pool directly under the dam.

Au Sable River: Anglers were starting to catch better numbers of steelhead in the Au Sable River in the deeper holes. Lake trout were caught at the mouth of the Au Sable River and on Tawas Bay.

Burt Lake: Anglers reported catches of perch, burbot and walleye.

Presque Isle: Anglers on Grand Lake were successful catching perch on the south end of the lake in 4 to7 feet water with spoons and minnows.

Northwest Lower Peninsula

Manistee River: Steelhead anglers reported steady numbers of fish throughout the entirety of the river from Tippy Dam down to the mouth. The river has experienced a nice trickle of fresh fish; however, no major run has been reported. Anglers on shore upriver had success bouncing a variety of yellow-colored beads. Boat anglers drifting beads and plugging have reported the most success. The occasional Chinook salmon, brown trout, sucker and walleye were reported. Surface water temperatures have held steady around 38 degrees.

Manistee Lake: Bad weather and higher winds have kept anglers off of the lake over the past week. Anglers fishing for perch had the most success while using minnows and other natural bait fishing still off the bottom. The occasional pike, sucker, steelhead and brown trout were reported.

Upper Peninsula

Little Bay de Noc: Anglers reported fair to good perch fishing, with varying degrees of success day-to-day. Anglers were fishing the mud flats, as well as deep water near reefs. Anglers were having most action when using wigglers. Anglers on the mud flats, and in front of Kipling, were having to sort through small fish.

Keweenaw Bay: Anglers were out every day in front of the Falls River and out in deeper water from the Baraga boat launch. The main catch in front of the Falls River was coho salmon with a mix of rainbow trout and brown trout occasionally. Anglers used a wide range of tactics to pull in these fish from using artificial and natural baits to using tip-ups and active jigging techniques. In the deeper water, anglers were actively jigging with both natural and artificial baits and mostly caught whitefish with herring being a substantial portion of the catch as well. Anglers in both locations found their best fishing during the mornings and early afternoons. Some anglers were fishing through the ice for smelt as they are reporting clouds of smelt below the ice.

Les Cheneaux: Anglers were doing well catching splake in Wilderness Bay, however just recently the ice conditions have deteriorated out there. Hessel Bay was slowly breaking up. Anglers were still catching a few perch in the area. Anglers are getting anxious for dock fishing. TAKE CAUTION: If you are to head onto Hessel Bay, be cautious and avoid the boat launch area. The tugboat had tried to get out of the marina and has that whole area broken up and unsafe to be on.  

Munising: Anglers reported that the best time for fishing was in the mornings. Fishing pressure was low with a few more coho reported over the weekend. Anglers also reported scattered catches of splake and herring. Whitefish anglers reported low catches. Only scattered reports of smelt/burbot for night anglers.

Marquette: Fishing picked up in the Marquette area with increased fishing activity and anglers successfully catching fish. Rainbow trout were slowly running in the Carp River, but no word on any fish species other than brown trout out of the Chocolay.

Southeast Lower Peninsula

Saginaw Bay: From Sebewaing to Caseville, anglers were fishing open water in the cuts and river in search of yellow perch. Fishing was slow with mostly small perch reported. Those getting a few to keep were doing better early or late in the day. Yellow perch were caught at the Finn Road boat launch. Anglers at Kirk Road and Thomas Road were catching some yellow perch.

Saginaw River: Overall walleye fishing on the Saginaw River was slow. The recent weather made the river have very poor water clarity. Anglers only reported one to two catches of walleye, with most anglers not catching any.

Southwest Lower Peninsula

Muskegon: Though walleye season is closed, there was still increasing angler activity for steelhead. The stretch immediately below Croton Dam was the most popular place for shore anglers, while boat anglers found success throughout most of the river. Beads and waxworm/jig continued to work; spawn bags have been the most popular choice for successful anglers to drift. A few anglers did well plugging too. 

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.

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