Fishing report for the Great Lakes
Upper Peninsula
Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers reported slow fishing; however, some anglers caught a few while jigging at Black Bottom. Smallmouth bass anglers reported good fishing and were catching quality fish. Baits that resemble gobies were productive.
Manistique: Anglers targeting salmon reported limited success and noted that few fish were remaining in the area, as well as limited bait. Anglers anticipate that will change as the summer progresses. Some anglers had luck fishing for lake trout.
Marquette: Anglers leaving the lower harbor and trolling from the Chocolay River out to Laughing White Fish Point continued to do well on both lake trout and Chinook salmon. The upper harbor saw an increase in anglers on days when the lake allowed for fishing, with good numbers of lake trout caught while jigging or trolling around White Rocks and out toward Granite Island. Anglers fishing for salmon were trolling in around 40 to 50 feet of water and usually at higher trolling speeds. There still were some coho salmon being caught from the lower harbor out toward Shot Point. Trolling hot pink crankbaits or green multicolor moonshine glow spoons worked well for salmon at a little higher trolling speeds, around 2.8 to 3 mph. Lake trout were still being caught while jigging white plugs around the northeast side of White Rocks and when trolling green/silver flasher flies between White Rocks toward Granite Rock or Clay Banks at lower speeds, 2 to 2.2 mph, in around 120 to 180 feet of water.
Au Train: Reports show that a few Chinook salmon were still being caught. Lake trout continued to see better and better numbers. On days when the wind blew northwest, most fish seemed to be caught in around 40 feet of water along the coast of Scott Falls Honey Hole to 5-Mile Point. When the wind was blowing from the south or east, more lake trout seemed to be caught around 100 to 120 feet north to northwest of the Au Train Island trolling toward the Laughing White Fish Clay Banks. Hot pink or chartreuse spoons or crank baits and green/silver flasher flies were reported to be good color combinations.
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers in Keweenaw Bay and Huron Bay had a successful week of fishing! Anglers fishing early in the mornings were able to find salmon on their highest lines and lake trout throughout the water column. All lake trout and salmon caught while trolling were caught using artificial baits. Some anglers opted for jigging and also had great success. Jigging events returned large lake trout and some lake whitefish as well.
Traverse Bay/South Portage Entry Canal: Anglers reported catching lots of lake trout and salmon. Anglers who found salmon were trolling with lines down to 75 feet all the way to the surface. Anglers fishing for lake trout found them spread through the whole water column. Whitefish were caught during some jigging events as well and were found anywhere from the middle of the water column to the bottom. Fishing in the morning was the most productive time of day in this area.
Ontonagon River: Over the past week, fishing on the river was reported to have slowed down. Reports show that walleye were being caught in low numbers. Successful anglers had the most luck when trolling in the early mornings.
Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: The fishing from these ports was slow over the past week, despite healthy angling efforts. Reports show that anglers were catching lake trout in low numbers. These fish were found at varying depths while trolling.
Black River Harbor: The harbor saw low angling efforts over the past week. Reports show that those fishing were catching lake trout in low numbers. Angler reports show that fish were being caught in varying water depths while trolling.
Fishing tip: How to know if you’ve found an invasive species
An invasive species is one that is not native and whose introduction causes harm, or is likely to cause harm, to Michigan’s economy, environment or human health.
Think you’ve found an invasive species? Familiarize yourself with potential invasive species threats to Michigan available at Michigan.gov/Invasives.
You can search for species of plants, insects, diseases, mollusks, fish, mammals, birds or crustaceans and learn about watch list versus non-watch list species. You can also learn how to identify invasive species and how to report it if you think you’ve found one.