Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake Erie: Walleye moved into deeper waters and were very sparse. The average for yellow perch was about 20 per boat. The perch were hitting towards the bottom of the lake. Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass were caught near rock walls around Sterling State Park and near the mouth of the River Raisin. Some anglers were finding success in the DTE discharge channel for channel catfish. Bass anglers were having success off of crank and stick baits.
Lake St. Clair: Many small sized perch were caught in the north and south channel mouths, near Strawberry Island, Grassy Island and on Goose Bay. Walleye catches were small, but some anglers caught a few in 14 to 17 feet of water in front of the spillway near the Clinton River Cutoff launch area and from the northern part of Anchor Bay. A few musky anglers caught fish in front of the spillway, but the action was very slow. Smallmouth bass action was best in the mouth of the north channel and from the Clinton River Cutoff launch to 14 Mile Road. Bass anglers fishing near the mile roads did best while jigging with drop shot because the weeds were very heavy.
Saginaw Bay: In lower Saginaw Bay, anglers were catching yellow perch at Spoils Island in 14 feet of water, at Linwood in 14 feet of water, at the Old Shipping Chanel in 16 feet of water and at the Spark Plug in 25 feet of water. Anglers were using minnows and worms for bait.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
St. Joseph: Perch fishing continued to be decent. Most fish were caught south of the piers. Anglers were fishing around 60 feet of water. Pier fishing was slow for all species. Boat anglers targeting salmon had slow fishing.
Grand Haven: Anglers found a few salmon and trout in 100 to 200 feet of water. The best action was 50 to 120 feet down on green and blue spoons. Some lake trout were caught on the bottom using yellow spin and glows. Pier anglers found the salmon action to be slow. Casting glow spoons or using gizzard shad worked best to catch coho salmon off the pier.
Muskegon: Anglers trolling near the breakwalls found the salmon action to be slow. Boats that ventured out to 90 to 180 feet of water found a few salmon and trout. Best action was 50 to 100 feet down on green and orange spoons. Anglers fishing in the channel caught a few freshwater drum.
Northeast Lower Peninsula
Alpena: Few anglers were seeing success with mixed bags of walleye, lake trout and a few salmon. Trolling spoons and spin-and-glows in various depths was popular with anglers when targeting salmon and trout. Trolling body baits or crawlers was the popular method when targeting walleye in the bay.
Cheboygan: Chinook salmon were starting to run below the Cheboygan Dam. Anglers were using green crankbaits or spawn sacs which provided anglers the best results when fishing for salmon at the Cheboygan Dam. Sizes of salmon varied greatly between 23 to 40 inches and average weights of 15 to 25 pounds. Fishing on Lake Huron significantly slowed down with few boats departing from Cheboygan.
Thunder Bay River: Angling effort dramatically picked up as Chinook salmon were moving into the river. Anglers were catching panfish, bass, pike, catfish, and the very occasional walleye. Common methods used by anglers were casting stick baits, body baits, and spinners or drifting leeches and night crawlers. While targeting catfish drop shot rigs were the most common method. While targeting salmon anglers are casting body baits and spoons as well as floating eggs.
Oscoda: Anglers were mostly catching lake trout, steelhead and walleye. Pier anglers were catching mostly bass and some Chinook salmon. Trolling spoons of various colors around 80 to 100 feet of water was the popular method when targeting salmon and trout. Off the pier, common methods for targeting bass, walleye and catfish were floating leeches and nightcrawlers, casting stick or body baits, and the use of drop shot rigs for catfish. While targeting salmon, pier anglers were casting spoons and body baits.
Au Sable River: Anglers were seeing success while fishing for bass, pike, panfish, some catfish and a few salmon. Various methods were seeing success. Most commonly was the use of casting or trolling body baits and spoons. While catfish and panfish were being caught with the use of drop shot rigs with night crawlers around dusk.
Rogers City: Chinooks were staging off Swan Bay in descent numbers but were not biting well. Anglers were fishing in 15 to 60 feet of water off Swan Bay for Chinooks while using boards with bombers and J-Plugs with no weight or downriggers set very high. Anglers fishing for lake trout, steelhead and chinook were running lures in and around the bait fish. Spoons performed the best and good colors were greens, blues, orange, blue and silver, black and white, black and silver, or glow stuff early and late. Bait fish were found anywhere from 40 feet to 125 feet of water.
Rockport: Anglers were fishing outside of middle island in the deeper water. Anglers should run lines throughout the water column for a mix of coho and near bottom for lake trout. Spoons were a good choice for the coho while lake trout were caught on flashers and spin-and- glows near bottom. Walleye were caught in 15 to 40 feet of water on deep diver body baits or crawler harnesses.
Tawas: Boat anglers were catching a few walleye inside the bay near buoys 4 & 6 and near the weed beds in 20 to 30 feet of water off crawlers and crank baits. Some walleye, steelhead, Atlantic and coho salmon were caught in 50 to 70 feet out past buoy 2 and working south towards Alabaster and the Bell buoy while using spoons, crawlers and body baits. Pier anglers were catching a few small perch off minnows. Shore and dock anglers were catching Chinook salmon and pike in the Tawas River at Gateway Park while casting spoons and body baits.
Au Gres: Boat anglers were catching some perch straight out from the river mouth and out in front of the hotel in 20 to 35 feet off minnows. Anglers were sorting through a lot of smaller fish but were managing to get nice catches. Bass anglers were catching some largemouth bass in the Au Gres River while casting spinners and body baits. Down south of Au Gres, near the Rifle, Saganning and Pinconning bars, perch anglers were also sorting through small fish to keep some in 15 to 20 feet of water off minnows.
Northwest Lower Peninsula
Manistee: Fishing was slow with mature Chinook heading into Manistee Lake and the rivers. Boat anglers were catching Chinooks and coho in 180 to 220 feet of water on spoons. Fish were marked around the harbor, but few were caught in boats or on the pier. The Manistee River and Manistee Lake were producing decent catches of adult Chinook. The highest catches in Manistee Lake were from jigging. Offshore anglers did well with green and blue glow spoons early and late.
Ludington: Offshore fishing produced some Chinook and coho. The best fishing was in 100 to 150 feet of water. Boat anglers and pier anglers saw many but caught few in the channel and Pere Marquette Lake. Jigging produced the highest catch rates in Pere Marquette Lake. Offshore anglers did well with spoons and flasher fly combos in green.
Traverse West Bay: A few perch were caught in Northport, Suttons Bay and at Bowers Harbor. The average size fish was small, and most anglers were doing a lot of sorting to find keeper size perch. Salmon were still being caught in the hole. J-Plugs were catching most of the salmon and a few were caught on flasher/fly and spoons. The smallmouth bass bite started to pick up but very few people were fishing for them.
Traverse East Bay: The cisco bite was good on the East Bay out of Yuba and in front of the white walls. Jigging performed the best but those trolling for cisco were doing well also. Fishing in 130 to 160 feet of water were the best depths. The cisco were suspended 80 to 90 feet down. The lake trout bite picked up for those jigging, they have been found in similar water as the cisco in 130 to 160 feet of water on the bottom. A few salmon were caught on East Bay but overall, it was slow for salmon. The smallmouth bite was decent, they were in 15 to 30 feet of water.
Boardman River: The weir is operating and anglers are reminded to keep 300 feet away from the weir when fishing. A few salmon were in the river and a few have been caught but overall it has been slow. The peak run is still to come.
Harbor Springs: Salmon in Harbor Springs were reported down a bit deeper in 80 to 100 feet of water.
Charlevoix: Most boat anglers were focusing their effort on salmon around the cement plant. Smallmouth bass fishing in the channel slowed down, however some anglers were primarily fishing the bottom with real and artificial worms.
Petoskey: There were some sunfish and smallmouth bass caught near the river mouth by using worms. Some coho were caught at the dam. Anglers were using flies, artificial single eggs and spawn at the dam. There were more anglers targeting salmon off of the breakwall and at the docks. The most productive times were very early morning or after sunset. Anglers were throwing stick baits and spoons mainly on the piers.
Upper Peninsula
Ontonagon: Fishing remained steady for anglers fishing out of Ontonagon while trolling spoons of various colors. Anglers were having to do some searching for fish, but when they were found anglers were getting near limits of lake trout while trolling spoons. On Ontonagon River, trolling and jigging were the main methods but no legal walleye were reported.
Union Bay: There was a bit of an uptick in angling pressure which seems to have resulted in more lake trout being caught. Similar to Black River, anglers were finding fish in 100 to 150 feet of water depending on what water temperatures were. Lake trout were running in the four-to-six-pound range with the rare 15-pound fish being reported. The occasional brown and steelhead were reported as well.
Black River Harbor: Lake trout seem to be the name of the game currently while trolling spoons in 100 to 150 feet of water. Three-to-five-pound fish were the average with a few 10-pound fish caught. There were a few boats trolling shallower waters looking for salmon but there wasn’t any activity other than the occasional pink salmon.
Keweenaw Bay: Anglers were catching more Chinook and coho salmon. Most fishing was done while trolling in depths ranging from 60 to 140 feet. Lake trout were still coming off the water but more Chinook and coho were targeted. Most of the trolling was done around Sand Point and just north from there. Trolling with spoons during the later morning seemed to be the best.
Munising Bay: A few coho were caught by boat anglers. Shore anglers were picking up a few splake and a few coho. The best action occurred in the early morning or evenings. Most anglers were using spawn sacs with a few casting with spoons or stick baits.
Grand Marais: A few boats were fishing for lake trout along with a few trolling for coho. Lake trout anglers performed well with not always limits, but fair catches ranging from 4 to 6 fish per trip. A few shore anglers were out from the Sucker River mouth but reported no action yet for coho or steelhead.
Big Traverse Bay/ South Portage Entry: Anglers were catching an increasing number of rainbow trout while trolling out south from the canal. Anglers trolling had success on artificial bait, mostly spoons and while fishing during the morning or a few hours before sunset. Pier anglers were able to catch lake sturgeon while using night crawlers. Catches of pike and perch were reported around the dock and while trolling in nearby water as well.
Au Train: Anglers were on the Rock River and a small steelhead was caught and released. Lake trout were caught while fishing on the Flats.
Marquette: Anglers were starting to see some action on the rivers around Marquette. Anglers reported coho catches in the Chocolay River. Lake trout were still biting and some really nice lake trout were caught coming from north of the white rocks. Some smaller fish in the 2-to-4-pound range were caught in the sand hole. A few coho were caught at the white rocks and a few Chinook were caught while trolling in front of the carp.
Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers were fishing areas north of Gladstone. Some anglers were fishing out of Kipling and by Minneapolis Shoals. Anglers fishing Minneapolis Shoals had very limited success, but were still catching fish. The bite should hopefully pick up as the fall temperatures set in.
Big Bay de Noc: Smallmouth anglers reported a notable slowdown. While fish are still being caught, much dedicated work has been necessary. Most anglers were fishing out of the Ogontz or Nahma access. Anglers were fishing the island when the wind permitted. Those fishing the weeds caught a few fish. Multiple reports of respectable-sized pike were caught at those locations as well. Anglers were drifting crawlers and casting soft plastics.
St. Ignace/Les Cheneaux: Anglers were catching lake trout around Bois Blanc Island. Anglers were also starting to see pink salmon in the Carp River. In the Les Cheneaux area, anglers were targeting perch off of the pier in Hessel but the bite was slow. Nunns Creek is being fished hard, but only a few Chinook salmon were caught. Splake were starting to show up in small schools in the marina.
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.
