Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake Erie: Anglers were catching a few walleye while trolling in 15 to 17 feet of water in Brest Bay. Anglers were having fair catches of yellow perch while fishing off Stoney Point in 23 feet of water. Steady catches of yellow perch were also occurring near buoys 1 & 2 at River Raisin and at the southern part of the dumping grounds. Largemouth bass were caught off the rock walls between Sterling State Park and around the mouth of the River Raisin. Walleye were hitting best on body baits, crank baits and husky jerks. Bass were biting well on tubes and crank baits.
Lake St. Clair: The perch action was great straight out from 9 Mile and near Gross Point. Anglers were having the best luck with minnow rigs in 9 to15 feet of water. Some walleye were caught in 14 feet of water by the St. Clair light house. Near limit catches of walleye were caught in the mouth of the north channel near Decker’s Landing in 18 to 21 feet of water by anglers jigging with artificial baits. Smallmouth bass anglers had some luck in the shipping channel on spinner baits. Other bass anglers were fishing the Detroit River mouth in 9 feet of water with ned rigs and had good luck. Musky were biting in the mouth of the north channel in around 18 feet of water on small lures. There were nice catches of blue gill coming in from the marinas near the Raft restaurant in Fairhaven.
Saginaw Bay: Yellow perch were caught in 15 feet of water at Linwood, Gambill’s Landing and the Old Shipping Channel. Fish were also caught at Spoils Island in 14 to 16 feet of water. Off Quanicassee, a few perch were caught around 8 to 10 feet of water on perch rigs with minnows. Fishing around the Sebwaing area was slow with only a few perch being caught with most being small. Some northern pike and largemouth bass were caught near shore on a variety of artificial baits. With waters cooling down on Saginaw Bay, yellow perch could be found around weed beds in 10 feet of water or less on the east side of the bay. Anglers may need to bounce from spot to spot to find fish.
Port Hope: Shore anglers were catching some coho.
Port Sanilac: Fishing was slow for anglers who were trolling offshore.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
Grand Haven: Pier anglers were catching a few steelhead and coho salmon on spawn.
South Haven: Pier anglers were catching steelhead. Most fish were caught on spawn. Anglers trolling the Black River were catching a few coho and steelhead.
St Joe: Pier fishing was slow for steelhead.
Northeast Lower Peninsula
Oscoda: Pier anglers caught a few coho and steelhead. Pike, bass and a few walleye were caught off the pier as well. Anglers were mostly using minnows, casting spinners, spoons and a few body baits. Common colors that were seeing success were hot pink, orange, chartreuse and glow lures at night.
Au Sable River: Anglers were seeing success with catching coho, a few steelhead and Atlantic salmon. Various methods were seeing success. Anglers were mostly using spawn or beads but spoons and spinners were seeing success as well. Common colors used were hot pink, orange and chartreuse.
Alpena: Good places to fish were around north point or north shore. Steelhead were caught on bright spoons while trolling high in the water column. Good colors to use were oranges, silvers or brightly colored spoons. Walleyes were caught while trolling body baits in the top 15 feet of water.
Thunder Bay River: Anglers were mostly catching Chinook salmon while casting with spoons and an assortment of body baits. They were also drifting bottom with fresh fish eggs or beads.
Tawas: Boat anglers were catching a few walleye inside the bay in 15 to 22 feet of water while using body baits. Some perch were caught in the bay up near Jerry’s Marina and at the Yacht Club off crawlers or minnows. Dock anglers were catching some catfish in the Tawas River at Gateway Park off crawlers or shrimp. There were a few walleye and Chinook salmon caught while casting body baits.
Au Gres: Perch fishing was hit or miss. Boat anglers were catching perch out near Pt. Au Gres in 15 to 25 feet of water off minnows.
Pine River: Boat anglers were catching some perch near the mouth of the Pine River in 4 to 6 feet of water off minnows. Catches were also made out towards the Saganing and Pinconning bars in 15 to 20 feet of water. A few walleye were also caught out in front of the Pine River in 16 to 18 feet of water off body baits.
Northwest Lower Peninsula
Petoskey: Salmon were still slowly coming into the Bear River. Mainly Chinook were caught, but a couple coho were around as well. A couple of smaller steelhead were spotted in the river. Fish were caught upstream of the mouth mainly on spawn, flies and beads. Anglers at the mouth of the river were catching salmon on beads, spawn and crankbaits.
Harbor Springs: Anglers were catching smallmouth bass in the harbor.
Manistee: Pier and shore fishing for steelhead and coho was hit and miss. Anglers in the early morning hours performed the best. Most anglers were using spawn in bright colored bags.
Ludington: Pier fishing was hit or miss but some nice fish were caught on spawn.
Upper Peninsula
Ontonagon: Fishing was slow for anglers as they had to put some work into locating the lake trout. Anglers should be prepared to change up the colors of spoons. The 60 to 100 feet of water range seemed to hold the majority of fish.
Union Bay: Lake trout fishing was pretty good when trolling spoons in 100 feet of water. Lake trout were in the three-to-five-pound range with a few 10 to 15 pounders being caught as well.
Keweenaw Bay: Anglers were reporting increased numbers of rainbow trout and coho salmon while shore fishing and trolling near shore. Around Huron Bay the main catch continued to be lake trout with the occasional brown trout and rainbow trout. Coho and Chinook salmon were appearing in larger numbers at the lower reaches of the Falls River as well as at the rivers leaving the head of Keweenaw Bay. Anglers targeting salmon should try flasher flies and spoons with bright colors.
Munising: There were some scattered catches of coho and splake in Bay Furnace and at the Anna River dock. Anglers at the Anna River dock were casting spoons or assorted crankbaits and stick baits. Some rainbow trout were caught around the three-to-five-pound range.
Big Traverse Bay/ South Portage Entry: Anglers were reporting catches of brown trout and rainbow trout out of the mouth of the Portage canal. Most fishing in this area was taking place near shore and most anglers were trolling for salmon with some success. Shallower depths with lures not too far from the surface produced the most success.
Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers were catching a few very respectably sized fish. Anglers were mostly trolling harnesses or drifting live bait. Smallmouth anglers did well with multiple groups contacting large fish and good numbers in some instances. Most were drifting or casting minnows in deeper waters. Perch anglers were having mixed success when heading out of Kipling.
Big Bay de Noc: Smallmouth anglers were reporting good catches out of Fayette. Perch anglers were reporting good success when heading out of Nahma or Garden.
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.
