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All anglers 17 years of age and older are required to have a fishing license.
Northeast Lower Peninsula
Presque Isle: Anglers reported good catches of Chinook, coho, Atlantic salmon, steelhead and pink salmon all throughout the area. The waters from the old lighthouse to the new lighthouse were productive from 60 to 100 feet of water with the top of the water column being the most productive. Black/green, watermelon, and orange-colored spoons were having the best results. Those targeting lake trout were running cowbell and paddles with spin glows close to the bottom. North Bay to Black Point anglers were finding fish 60 to 90 feet and scattered at all depths. Those trolling the 100 to 200 feet depths east of the lighthouse found trout, salmon, and a large number of steelhead. Most silver fish were coming from 1-7 colors lead cores and high running dipsy divers. Standard size spoons in orange, orange/gold, orange/copper, and watermelon were having the best results. A few walleye were reported from night anglers in 30 to 40 feet of water from Thompson Harbor to Black Point.
Cheboygan River/Lake Huron: Anglers reported limited catches of walleye and they were targeting them mostly at night. Smallmouth bass fishing was good throughout the river and in Duncan Bay. The river also received a large run of freshwater drum which were targeted with small lures or natural bait. Shore fishing activity increased lately but there was plenty of shore access throughout Cheboygan for anglers to share. Out in Lake Huron, lake trout fishing continued to be decent. Additionally, some Chinook were caught out towards the Mackinaw Bridge. A few anglers were targeting salmonids out of Cheboygan this past week.
Rockport: Anglers reported good numbers of lake trout from Middle Island to Stoneport in 70 to 120 feet of water. Dodgers and peanuts were working well for trout while salmon and steelhead were reported on bright colored spoons fished high in the same waters. A fair number of Chinook were caught near Stoneport on black/green, white/green, and UV watermelon spoons. A few anglers reported success with meat rigs from 60 to 100 feet of water. A good number of salmon and trout were also reported near the northern wreck. Most fish were taken high in the water column off planer boards with 1-6 color lead cores. Near shore anglers were finding northern pike and bass along the Rockport dock and around the boat launch.
Alpena: Anglers targeting walleye were having the best results near Scarecrow Island, North Point and around Thunder Bay Island. While fish were caught on crawler harnesses, the best producer was jigging plastic swim baits and fishing leaches. Most productive waters were in 15 to 25 feet of water. Anglers trolling Sulphur Island to the pier head had marginal success trolling medium crankbaits after dark. Anglers targeting lake trout did well fishing 80 to 120 feet of water on bright colored spoons and dodger/spin glow combos.
Thunder Bay River: There was low fishing activity on the river. Anglers fishing 9th Street Bridge caught a few smallmouth bass, freshwater drum and rock bass while using crawlers and leaches. Near Mill Island Park a few pike and bullhead were caught on spinners and crankbaits. Anglers targeting catfish had decent results from Mill Park to the 2nd Street Bridge. Some nice pike and bass were caught around the river mouth and marina while using spinners, spinner baits and crankbaits. A few walleye were caught from the pier head with crankbaits after dark. Fire tiger, black/silver, and golds were the most productive.
Tawas: Most anglers were heading south into Saginaw Bay to target walleye. Majority of them were coming back with limits. Anglers reported a lot of bass around structures in Tawas Bay. There were a few salmon and trout anglers fishing around 100 feet of water and catching steelhead in small numbers. Some spear fishing anglers in Tawas Bay were coming back with walleye. They were targeting the reef and structures in the bay.
Oscoda/Au Sable: Anglers fishing off the pier were catching smallmouth, freshwater drum and the occasional walleye. Boat anglers were mainly fishing in 80 to 130 feet of water with the main catch being lake trout but were also catching steelhead and coho in decent numbers. Occasionally a pink salmon or walleye would pop up. Anglers reported that trolling the river mainly produced smallmouth with a couple walleye. Early morning fishing around the pier and the mouth was the best time for finding the walleye.
Rogers City: The fishing continued to be great. Anglers were catching lake trout, Chinook salmon, steelhead, pink salmon, Atlantic salmon and coho salmon with an occasional walleye. It was a great mixed bag this past week. Good amounts of silver mixed in with lake trout. Anglers were deploying lines throughout the water column. Lead core fished with boards away from the boat performed well for just about everything this last week. The 3, 5 and 7 colors, spoons mostly regular size and slims were working well. Good colors were oranges, greens, lemons, blue and silver, and silver. The steelhead, pink salmon, Atlantic salmon and coho were feeding on bugs heavily on the surface. The Chinook salmon were coming a little deeper but still in the top 45 feet. The best depths were anywhere from 75 to 120 feet of water. The fish seemed to be anywhere out of the harbor right now straight out, up the lake or south towards Adams Point. There were good numbers of steelhead and pink salmon. Anglers were fishing downriggers and dipsies to stay in the mid-water column. Anglers were also using some flashers with flies, squids and cut bait.
Northwest Lower Peninsula
Manistee: Salmon fishing was very slow. Anglers who caught them reported hit or miss catches in 100 to 120 feet of water while fishing 50 to 60 feet down. Those looking for summer run steelhead haven’t reported any luck yet; however a couple brown trout were caught on the south pier. Chinook salmon bites occurred in the early morning. Spoons, flasher/fly combos and meat rigs worked well.
Ludington: Salmon fishing was slow. Anglers that found Chinook salmon caught them at Big Sable Point in 120 to 150 feet of water when fishing 50 feet down. Pier fishing was slow. Late night bites were good. Anglers should try meat rigs and flasher/fly combos along with spoons.
West Grand Traverse Bay: Most anglers were targeting smallmouth bass and releasing what they did catch. The area was very busy with pleasure boats which was keeping most anglers off the water. Some anglers reported catches of Chinook salmon north of Northport in the Cat Head Bay Area.
Leland: Anglers targeting lake trout in shallow waters 3 to 3.5 miles out were successful. Many anglers reported limits, most being good size fish. The Chinook were slowly trickling in, typically being caught on spoons and spinners 18+ miles out.
Charlevoix: Anglers targeting cisco on the piers reported extremely low numbers and switched to targeting bass. However, anglers targeting bass reported consistent mid 50’s water temperatures, keeping the bass from biting. Anglers who managed to catch the occasional smallmouth reported casting small blades in shallower water. Boat anglers targeting lake trout had best success while trolling spoons in 100 to 200 feet of water between Charlevoix and Bay Harbor. Anglers reported a few Chinook near the north end of the Leelanau Peninsula.
Petoskey/Harbor Springs: Anglers trolling for lake trout in Little Traverse Bay reported very limited success in 80 to 100 feet of water. A few small Chinook were reported, but few and far between. Most lake trout anglers had success northwest of Harbor Springs fishing deep. Bass anglers reported colder water temperatures over the past week in the mid 50’s, keeping the bite slow.
Frankfort: Chinook salmon were making a showing this week with several 20+ pound fish being reported both in the Herring Hole and north on the shelf. Anglers reported larger Chinook salmon hitting flies and meet rigs with green, black and red being good colors. Spoons were working but there was a wide variety of different colors being reported. Platte Bay was good for lake trout fishing while bouncing the bottom with cow bells working the best. Steelhead out in front of the pier heads were hitting orange spoons in the upper 30 feet of water as there was a lot of bait fish in the area.
Onekama: Anglers heading north to the Barrel and in front of the golf course reported a few Chinook salmon in 130 to 150 feet of water and working the top 30 to 60 feet with green spoons working best.
Portage Lake: Perch catches were above average, and anglers were happy to see some size to them. Perch were hitting on minnows, wigglers and shrimp.
Upper Peninsula
Little Bay de Noc: Anglers reported mixed results for perch, with some reports of quality fish being caught, using baits repelled by gobies. Walleye anglers reported slow to fair fishing. Anglers that did contact fish were near the river mouth and “black bottom”.
Big Bay de Noc: Smallmouth anglers fishing out of Nahma reported good smallmouth fishing.
Fairport: Salmon anglers were catching some fish but reported mixed results. Conditions during dawn and dusk lowlight “prime time” had a significant impact on the day’s catch, as most of the fish harvested were caught during that bite window.
Manistique: Salmon anglers reported fair to good fishing. Spoons and flasher fly combos were productive.
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers had luck trolling for lake trout, brown trout, coho and Chinook salmon this last week. Most anglers were fishing with spoons and fish were caught throughout the water column. Reports coming off both bays indicated fish were feeding mostly on smelt. Most salmon and trout were caught in the earlier hours of the day however some fish were caught heading into the evenings as well. Anglers should try trolling during the early and late hours while fish are feeding up in the water column.
Big Traverse Bay/South Portage Canal: Anglers were targeting both salmon and trout this last week with lots of luck. Anglers who were targeting salmon mostly found Chinook salmon and coho while other anglers found most of their luck with lake trout. Fish were found both below 150 feet and above 80 feet in the water column. Both jigging and trolling were effective methods however trolling took the lead. Most fish were caught on artificial lures and were caught during the morning hours when the sun was low.
Les Cheneaux/Detour: Anglers in the Les Cheneaux area were picking up a few herring in McKay and Prentice bays, however it was short lived. There were also a few perch and pike caught off the pier at the Hessel marina. Leaches were the key to catching the perch right now. In the Detour area, anglers were picking up lake trout while trolling spoons in the flats and catching a few Atlantic salmon and Chinook salmon around the lighthouse.
Ontonagon River: Some heavy rains over the past week caused dirty water and lower visibility in the river. In spite of these conditions, anglers were able to find some walleye when jigging combinations of artificial lures with natural baits. Some anglers also had success trolling, but it seemed that jigging had been the preferred method of most. Fish were caught at all times of the day.
Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: Fishing efforts out of these ports picked up a bit over the past week due to the holiday weekend. Reports varied greatly as it seemed anglers were able to find fish in almost all depths of water. Successful boat anglers regularly brought in catches consisting of lake trout, coho salmon, brown trout, and the occasional Chinook salmon. The times of catches seemed to vary throughout all hours of the day, with early mornings perhaps being a bit more productive. Some recent storms in the area resulted in slightly limited opportunities to access the lake.
Black River Harbor: While the harbor was quite busy this past week with public recreation, the fishing efforts was quite low. Anglers who made their way onto the lake had some success in finding lake trout and coho salmon. Fish were caught at many different depths while trolling artificial lures. Water flowing from the river was stained brown as a result of recent heavy rains.
Pine River: The walleye bite on the Pine River appeared to have slowed down for the time being. Most boat anglers did not catch many walleye. Anglers reported catching a few freshwater drum, bowfin and pike while targeting walleye.
Carp River: Anglers reported that fishing at the mouth for walleye and pike was poor. Boat anglers venturing beyond the river mouths into the shallows of Saint Martin’s Bay caught pike, smallmouth and walleye, not in large numbers though.
Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake Erie: With the recent poor visibility, the flickering of crawler harnesses was less effective with many anglers switching to trolling gold spoons to make use of what little sunlight there was lately to catch more walleye and less freshwater drum, with the freshwater drum being out in large numbers. Anglers were fishing the Michigan-Ohio line straight out from the boat launch at Sterling State Park. Better success occurred in the morning hours. Anglers targeting yellow perch were catching them in around 15 feet of water, although usually shy of limits. Bowfin were caught while shore fishing.
Saginaw Bay: Anglers were finding walleye scattered all over on the east side of the bay. Anglers out from Quanicassee found walleye in 10 to 12 feet of water around the edge of weed beds, up in the slot in 14 to 16 feet of water, and out past the bar in 24 to 26 feet. Anglers were also east of the shipping channel in 25 to 30 feet of water. Crawler harnesses, body baits, and spoons all took walleye. Walleye were also caught while trolling 3 miles northeast of the Spark Plug in 23 feet of water and at Bay City State Park in 7 to 10 feet of water. Some largemouth and smallmouth bass were caught around Spoils Island.
Caseville: Walleye were caught off Oak Point in 50 feet of water while trolling body baits.
Harbor Beach: Lake trout and steelhead were caught in 100 to 130 feet of water while using downriggers with spoons and lines set in staggered depths.
Port Sanilac: Salmon and trout anglers were heading out to deepwater straight out and to the north of the harbor in 175 to 190 feet. Anglers were using downriggers with spoons and setting lines in different depths, catching a mix of lake trout, cohos, steelhead and some pink salmon.
Port Austin: Walleye were showing up around the lighthouse and to the west of the harbor in about 20 feet of water while trolling with crawler harnesses.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
South Haven: Salmon fishing was fair this week. Boat anglers were fishing very deep water and a few fish were also caught around 100 feet. Most fish were caught on spoons. Perch fishing was on the slower side. The most productive depth was around 55 feet of water. Pier fishing was slow for all species.
St. Joseph: Boat anglers targeting salmon had decent fishing this week. There was a mixed bag of fish caught. Boat anglers were fishing well beyond 120 feet of water. Perch fishing was very slow. There were a few perch caught in 45 to 70 feet of water. Pier fishing was slow for everything except freshwater drum.
