Northeast Lower Peninsula
Tawas: Some smallmouth bass and rock bass were caught on the pier while casting body baits, crawlers and plastics. There were some lake trout, walleye and Chinook salmon caught outside of buoy #2 in 50 to 70 feet of water while trolling spoons and body baits. At Gateway Park on the Tawas River, there were some smallmouth bass, and pike caught while casting spinners, body baits and crawlers. There was a lot of bass fishing activity with anglers catching and releasing smallmouth and largemouth bass, while casting spinners, body baits and plastics near shore as well as out near the rocks on Tawas Point.
Alpena: Lake trout anglers were catching limits mostly in 30 to 70 feet of water. Lake trout were found throughout the water column. They were running a couple of lines near the bottom with flasher and Spin-n-Glos then spoons in the water column. Atlantic salmon should be starting. Anglers wanting to target them should fish the top half of the water column focusing on the top 30 feet or so. Try running smaller spoons in bright colors. Walleye fishing was slow out in the bay.
Thunder Bay River: A few walleye were caught at night off the Ninth Street bridge while drifting leeches. A few were caught while trolling in the river with crawler harnesses as well. Anglers were also catching a mix of smallmouth bass, rock bass, bowfin and sunfish. Anglers were casting with body baits and using live bait.
Au Gres: There was some good walleye fishing with some limits caught in 25 to 30 feet out near Point Au Gres and south, while trolling crawlers and body baits. There were some limits of walleye caught in 10 to 15 feet down near the Pine River and south toward the Pinconning and Saganing bars. There was a lot of bass anglers catching and releasing smallmouth and largemouth bass near shore as well as out near the Charity Islands, while casting spinners body baits and plastics.
Presque Isle: Anglers have done well fishing for Atlantic salmon in the top 50 feet of water on smaller spoons. Bright colors seemed to be the best – oranges, silver, bright greens, golden yellow or any of these combos. Anglers should fish structured areas for best results for lake trout. The lake trout were caught on dodgers and Spin-n-Glos along with brightly colored spoons with lots of green on them.
Rogers City: Lake trout fishing was descent with limits caught. Anglers were still having some days where they have to work harder for them than others. Lake trout love gobies and they were eating them heavily. Anglers should fish areas that have rocky bottoms or areas of structure. Best depths have been 35 to 60 feet of water. Lake trout were all over the water column as well. Anglers were using green, lime, blue or chartreuse spoons as well as cow bells with Spin-n-Glos or dodgers with Spin-n-Glos. Atlantic salmon should be around, fish the top part of the water column with smaller spoons.
Cheboygan River & Lake Huron out of Cheboygan: Walleye fishing was on the upswing, boat and shore anglers were having more success than in the previous weeks. Many anglers launching out of Cheboygan were finding limits of lake trout with most fish caught at one of the offshore reefs. Crawlers were used more than leeches in this river with most anglers drifting their bait with some split shot near the bottom. Jigging can be effective once the fish are located.
Northwest Lower Peninsula
Ludington: Chinook were caught at Big Sable Point and straight out in 80 to 190 feet of water when fishing 30 to 80 feet down. Green and blue spoons and flies worked best. In the mix came a few lake trout. Pier fishing was slow.
West Grand Traverse Bay: Lake trout were caught jigging and trolling off of the red buoy on the west side of Marion Island and also off of Stony Point. Smallmouth bass fishing was very slow.
East Grand Traverse Bay: Smallmouth bass fishing started to pick up, with some anglers catching 10 to 20 bass per trip. No bedding activity was reported yet. A few cisco were caught in front of Yuba and Deepwater Point in 30 to 60 feet of water. Jigging or casting worked best.
Manistee: Anglers caught some Chinook straight out along the shelf and south towards Big Sable Point. Depths ranged from 130 to 225 feet of water while fishing 30 to 80 feet down. A few steelhead were caught as well. Green and blue spoons and flies work well. Pier fishing remained slow.
Onekama: Anglers in the barrel were reporting small Chinook around 80 down and lake trout near the bottom on Spin-n-Glos.
Frankfort: Anglers were reporting Chinook in the area with majority of them being young ones. Anglers were trolling out front in 180 to 220 feet of water and working 80 to 100 down. Blue and green spoons were working best. A couple steelhead were also reported near the surface. Water temperatures were slow to rise but the numbers of alewife were still high in all areas.
Upper Peninsula
Little Bay de Noc: Anglers targeting walleye reported fair to good fishing. Catch sizes were primarily smaller fish with sorting through the undersized fish necessary. Anglers had success with various tactics including trolling harnesses or hard baits and drifting harnesses. Some anglers fishing the Escanaba River had luck casting crank baits. Perch anglers reported mixed results. Smallmouth fishing was good. Many of the larger smallmouth moved out of the Ford River but were still being caught in the bay.
Manistique: Walleye anglers were having some success in the river. It appears that most of the steelhead have now moved out of the river.
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers reported decent numbers of fish caught while trolling and jigging around the mouth of Huron Bay and the Huron Islands. Most catches were lake trout but some coho and Chinook salmon were caught. More fish came off the water from jigging than trolling trips.
Les Cheneaux/Detour: Anglers were catching a good number of Atlantic salmon and lake trout around the lighthouse in Detour while using spoons when trolling. A few Chinook were caught in the area as well. Anglers were also catching plenty of walleye and smallmouth bass towards Drummond Island. In Hessel, anglers were catching pike off of the pier.
Lake George: Fishing in Lake George has been somewhat consistent within the shallow bays along the shore of Sugar Island, where walleye, northern pike, perch and smallmouth have been reported being caught. When the temperature in the bays were low to mid 50s, the fish were moving shallow, which made trolling somewhat difficult (weed beds), but there were numbers being pulled out through the shallow bays. Walleye were a tough bite as of late, hardly hitting cranks or any artificial baits for that matter. Crawler harnesses were the most productive with the occasional pike hit on most of the usual methods as well as by-catch when trolling for walleye. Perch were hitting on perch rigs and the bite was slowly increasing with temperatures.
Lake Nicolet: Fishing in Lake Nicolet was somewhat consistent within the shallow bays along the shore of the lake and the main river channel. There were a couple Atlantic salmon that were caught along with a couple steelhead. Most of the fishing has been more productive down towards Dunbar Park, where shore fishing was producing a good number of harvested fish. In the Upper River, whitefish were caught. Most of the trolling in the area had been hit or miss since most of the fish head shallow for the warmth and forage. Jigging and rigs were more productive in comparison to trolling.
Traverse Bays/ South Portage Canal Entry: Anglers were having success on the lake fishing for lake trout and other species. Anglers catching lake trout were mostly trolling however many anglers also had luck while jigging. Angers who were trolling found the best results fishing in waters ranging from 70 to 150 feet of water. Other fish caught were in shallower water while trolling. Body baits, flasher flies and spoons were reported as successful. If fishing for lake trout in deeper water, try cut bait but if trolling try something that looks like small fish.
Munising: Fishing pressure was very low. Boat anglers were fishing in the mornings for Chinook and reporting fair catches. Boats were trolling mainly in Munising Bay and in the west channel towards Five Mile and AuTrain area. Shore fishing continued to be slow at the Anna River due to large sand bar out from the mouth.
Grand Marais: Fishing pressure was very low. Pier fishing dropped off dramatically with only about 10 anglers out. Pier anglers were targeting whitefish in the early morning and towards dusk. Boat anglers reported only a few lake trout caught.
Carp & Pine rivers: Walleye Fishing were caught in these locations with the rising water temperatures. Most fish were caught near the mouths of the rivers but up river on the Pine river was productive also. Drift a leech under a slip bobber with enough of a leader that your bait is near the bottom. Jigging was less popular in these locations.
Marquette: Fishing activity increased over the last week. Majority of anglers were targeting lake trout with some anglers still targeting salmon. Lake trout were caught in upper harbor itself, as well as around White Rocks in deep water (100+ feet). There was some angling effort near Stanndard Rock where anglers reported great catch rates of lake trout. A lot of anglers fishing near Stanndard Rock returned with their limit. Anglers should try jigging natural baits or trolling spoons in deep water by Stanndard Rock. Anglers fishing in the lower harbor near the Carp and Chocolay rivers had some success trolling for lake trout. For lake trout in lower harbor, try trolling at low speeds using spoons or flickers near the bottom of the water column. For salmon, try fishing spoons or flickers in the top of the water column for best success.
Au Train: Shore fishing in the Rock and Au Train rivers was minimal. Off-shore anglers switched over to lake trout fishing. Some anglers were still determined to catch salmon, but there was little success. Anglers fishing to the west of the Brownstone Boat Launch reported mainly lake trout catches with some brown trout being reported. Anglers fishing east of the Brownstone had success catching lake trout. When fishing to the west of the Brownstone Boat Launch, try trolling or jigging in 150+ feet of water for best results. When fishing to the east of the launch, try trolling spoons at slow speeds in deeper waters.
Upper St. Mary’s: Anglers were primarily targeting whitefish and steelhead toward the Soo Locks. Near Brimley and Bay Mills in Waishkey Bay, anglers were targeting walleye and were more successful in the evening. Trolling while using crawler harnesses in the bay produced the best results.
Whitefish Bay: Walleye anglers trolling in and out of the Tahquamenon River mouth had success. Anglers were reporting several rock bass caught while fishing for walleye, as well as fishing from shore using natural types of bait. The occasional northern pike and muskie were caught and released. Several boats were out in Lake Superior, unfortunately not having much success. Anglers were primarily targeting Chinook and coho salmon and reporting some bites with limited catches.
Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake Erie: Walleye were running deep, 23 to 24 feet of water. Chartreuse crawler harnesses were doing well on planer boards. Give your leaders some length, about 8 inches plus the length of the leader to give the walleye time to turn around to hit your worm. Add a colorful bead to get their attention 8 inches from the harness. This draws them in and gets them in position to strike. Good trolling speeds were at 2 to 2.5 mph with lines running 25 feet back. Walleye were caught on the shore at Luna Pier at nighttime when the moon was bright.
Detroit River: Walleye fishing slowed down considerably but there were still fish being caught. There were some anglers coming in with limits, but others were unable to track them down. The upper river was slow this week and successful anglers were trolling toward Ecorse. Water near Mud Island continued to be a good spot in front of the BASF plant in Wyndotte to the refuge on Grassy Island. Anglers were trolling with crawlers and bottom bouncers in 35 to 40 feet of water. The Trenton Channel to the mouth of Lake Erie provided some decent white bass fishing. Artificial jig and live bait combos produced decidedly better results. Purple and gold were hot colors.
Saginaw Bay: Walleye were caught at Linwood in 17 to 18 feet of water, at sailboat buoys B-H in 18 to 20 feet of water and at the old dumping grounds in 20 feet of water. Walleye were caught while trolling night crawler harnesses and flicker shads. Channel catfish were caught while shore fishing at the Wirt Stone Docks. Channel catfish and white bass were caught on worms. Anglers fishing on the east side of Saginaw Bay had very good fishing for walleye. The slot from Sunset up towards the islands past Sebewaing was great for walleye from the shallower edges and into the center of the slot. Walleye were also caught in shallower water off Quanicassee and the Sebewaing area. Numerous walleye were caught in shallow water by bass anglers. Crawler harnesses caught most walleye while body baits produced as well. Bass anglers were catching bass all up along the east side on a variety of artificial baits.
Port Sanilac: Angler reported trolling in 40 to 50 feet with planer boards and body baits and downriggers with spoons worked well for lake trout, cohos and a few Atlantic salmon. Pier fishing was slow.
Harbor Beach: Some lake trout and coho were caught while trolling straight out and north in 60 to 140 feet of water. Smallmouth bass were caught from the break wall, wading along the shoreline and from boats inside the harbor casting a variety of artificial lures.
Grindstone: Smallmouth bass were caught from shore while casting tubes and spinners. Lake trout and cohos were caught in 40 to 70 feet with downriggers, leadcore and spoons.
Port Austin: Smallmouth bass were caught from the break wall, docks and boats outside the harbor in about 20 feet of water while casting crankbaits and spinners.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
St. Joseph: Pier fishing continued to be decent. Anglers were catching freshwater drum and catfish while using night crawlers and casting lures. There were also a few steelhead caught while using shrimp fished under bobbers. Boat anglers continued to have decent fishing. The most productive water was well beyond 100 feet of water. Anglers were doing pretty decent in 90 feet of water also. Most of these fish were caught on a mix of rotators and flies as well as on spoons. The catch was a mix of coho and Chinook.
South Haven: Pier anglers continued to catch a few steelhead and freshwater drum. The fish were caught on shrimp and alewife fished under bobbers. There were also a few fish caught while casting spoons. Boat anglers had pretty good fishing this week. The best fishing was well beyond 100 feet of water. There were also a few fish caught in 80 to 100 feet of water. Most of the fish were caught on spoons. The catch was a mixed bag of coho, Chinook and a few steelhead.
Muskegon: Anglers were reporting good numbers of salmon along with a few steelhead 30 to 90 feet down in 120 to 200 feet of water. Pier anglers were catching freshwater drum while casting silver spoons. Green and blue spoons continued to work well.
Grand Haven: Boat anglers were finding decent numbers of salmon 25 to 100 feet down in 120 to 220 feet of water. Pier anglers were catching freshwater drum while casting spoons or with alewives on bottom. A few steelhead were caught using shrimp under bobbers. Salmon were caught using green and blue spoons. White flashers and white flies worked well deeper in the water column.
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.
