Northeast Lower Peninsula
Tawas: The boat ramp was still iced in. There was open water on the outside of the pier; fishing has been slow. The skid pier is in at Gateway Park on the Tawas River. The river was muddy, and fishing was slow.
Au Gres: The river was open, and the skid piers should be in soon. There were a couple reports of some lake trout and walleye caught while trolling body baits near the mouth of the river.
East Branch Au Gres at Singing Bridge Access: The water was very fast and muddy and fishing was slow. There were a couple steelhead caught in the surf. Anglers were fishing with spawn.
Pine River: The skid pier is in at the Pine River.
Eagle Bay Marina: There were a few anglers on the ice inside the marina catching bluegill, crappie and perch on waxworms and minnows.
Northwest Lower Peninsula
Muskegon, Manistee and Pere Marquette rivers: Anglers were catching good numbers of steelhead.
Muskegon Lake: Anglers reported good catches of perch on Muskegon Lake (which is now ice-free), but weather conditions over the past week have limited fishing pressure.
Upper Peninsula
Little Bay de Noc: Fishing pressure out on the bay greatly reduced. However, some perch anglers continued to venture out and reported fair numbers of perch being caught. Anglers out of Kipling were fishing in 40 to 45 feet of water. The cove near the bridge at Aronson Island was also producing fish. Anglers were using minnows and wigglers.
Keweenaw Bay: Anglers were beginning to report more fish near river mouths and in shallower water. Coho, lake trout and herring were seen in near shore waters from 40 feet of water all the way to around 8 feet of water. Some anglers continued to have success out in 140 feet and deeper when fishing for lake trout, but pressure largely shifted to near shore. Casting open waters from safe locations resulted in some occasional catches but expect more as the weather warms back up. Anglers had the most luck with natural baits in shallow depths, but fish were biting on a variety of natural baits. Anglers should try sight fishing while on the ice.
Munising Bay: Ice conditions were at two feet or more in areas due to shove ice although there were a few pressure cracks showing up by Grand Island. Fishing pressure in general was very low. There were anglers out who had success for coho with some limits reported. A few lake trout anglers were out and reported fair action, but nice eaters were around 3 lbs. The splake action was picking up with most averaging around 17 inches. The smelt action was good, but they appear to be moving around but in general there were large schools present with coho gorging themselves on smelt. Burbot anglers did good with some fish reported to be spawned out.
Les Cheneaux/Munuscong Bay: Anglers were targeting and catching perch within Hessel Bay and also at Conley Point. It was hit and miss at both locations with a lot of small fish in between keepers.
Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake Erie/Detroit River: There were a few limits of walleye caught in the river. Anglers were having success with catching yellow perch near some of the islands on the southern portion of the Detroit River and Lake Erie Metro Park.
St. Clair River: Only a few anglers had limited success. Most are waiting for the river conditions to improve.
Clinton River: There was limited success with steelhead in the river below Yates Dam. Anglers should be on the lookout for brown trout in the Auburn Hills area as they were recently stocked.
Saginaw Bay: In eastern Saginaw Bay, there were very few anglers out fishing. The area cuts and rivers were high and dirty from last week’s rain, then skimmed over with ice over the weekend. Anglers should start looking for yellow perch when conditions improve.
Huron River: Anglers were reporting catches of steelhead below Flat Rock Dam.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
Inland Lakes: There is no ice on most of the inland lakes in southwest Michigan. Anglers should target northern bays with dark bottom that warm up first.
Grand River (Grand Rapids): Anglers were catching good numbers of steelhead below the Sixth Street Dam. Flows were high and the water was turbid.
Kalamazoo River, below Calkin’s Dam: Steelhead fishing was good with more fish coming into the river. Flows were above average for this time of year. Fishing spawn and beads has been successful, also trolling plugs.
St. Joseph River/Dowagiac River: Steelhead were continuing to move through the Berrien Springs fish ladder. Anglers were catching steelhead in the St. Joseph River and in the lower reaches of the Dowagiac River. Flows have returned to normal on the Dowagiac but were still high on the St. Joseph River. View the Berrien Springs fish ladder on the window camera at https://paddleandpole.com/berrien-springs-fish-cam/.
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.
