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Gone fishin’

UPPER PENINSULA

Marquette: Fishing has started to pick as anglers were taking a good mix of Chinook, coho, brown trout and steelhead. The best fishing was between the Carp River and the Chocolay River in 10 to 20 feet with small spoons or body baits. A few splake and suckers were still being caught in both the Carp and the Chocolay Rivers.

Munising: Boat anglers reported good catches of coho along with some lake trout, salmon, steelhead and brown trout. Shore and piers anglers were getting a good number of splake on spawn, spoons and shallow running stick baits.

Grand Marais: Boat anglers reported excellent coho fishing with limit catches reported. The morning and evening were best when trolling high-lines and boards with shallow running spoons or flies in less than 20 feet east of the breakwall, towards the Sucker River and Lonesome Point. The average fish was 15 inches. A few brown trout up to 27 inches and a couple steelhead were also caught. Pier anglers targeting whitefish have done well with limit catches reported. Most of the fish are small at 10 to 12 inches. Boat anglers will need to use caution and watch for commercial nets which have been set in this area.

Keweenaw Bay: Fishing was good one day and poor the next. The smelt have moved out to open water. Steelhead and brown trout were caught when trolling throughout the water column in 40 to 60 feet. There has been very little lake trout activity this spring. In Huron Bay, walleye fishing was slow but a few pike were caught. In Traverse Bay, windy conditions have slowed angler effort. It seems most of the fish in the area are in the bay right along with the large schools of smelt.

Little Bay De Noc: The best walleye catches were still in or near the rivers in the area. Good catches including some limit catches were reported in the Escanaba River using a jig and crawler or a crawler harness along the river banks and channels. Fair to good catches were reported around the mouth of the Whitefish River when trolling stick baits or a crawler harness in 10 to 17 feet and along the Ford River when trolling or using a jig and crawler near the mouth. Those out in the Bay managed to catch a couple on a crawler harness or stick bait in 14 to 16 feet near Breezy Point. Pike were active throughout the bay especially around Butler Island when trolling stick baits and crank baits in 8 to 14 feet, near Gladstone Beach with crawlers and minnows in 25 feet or north of the Day’s River in 17 to 32 feet.

— Michigan Department of Natural Resources

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