This week’s

fishing tip

Summer lures — Use lighter line and smaller, natural-colored lures during summer. Fish can be more cautious in clear, warm water, so subtle presentations often work best.

Here is the statewide fishing report:

Upper Peninsula

Marquette — There was a very limited number of anglers around Marquette again this week due to heat, wind and thunderstorms. The coho salmon and Chinook salmon bite around Marquette remained slow this week.

Au Train — Only a few anglers were out this week. One caught his limit of lake trout in two and a half hours, along with a 16-pound king salmon, so the fish were still out there. The other caught five lake trout in three hours. Both were trolling for lake trout at depths of 150 to 180 feet northeast of Au Train Island, out in the flats.

Munising — Few anglers to report, though the few boating anglers reported catching lake trout trolling around Grand Island with best time being early in the morning.

Little Bay de Noc — Walleye anglers reported slow fishing. Those who had success caught fish sporadically during dawn or dusk. Some trolled crawler harnesses or crankbaits, while others cast jigs tipped with worms or soft plastics. Smallmouth bass fishing was good, with anglers targeting structure or rocky areas using soft plastics.

Big Bay de Noc — Smallmouth bass fishing was good. Anglers caught fish in the Garden and Ogontz bays. Some anglers are targeting offshore reefs or islands, although some anglers are still catching fish near the shore by vegetation.

Fairport — Anglers caught Chinook salmon, with steelhead as the occasional by-catch. Both spoons and flasher-fly presentations were successful.

Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay — Anglers reported catching a fair number of coho salmon, along with very few chinook salmon, over the past week. These were caught by trolling crankbaits, spoons, and flasher/flies in 25 to 80 feet of water. Those targeting lake trout were successful when trolling and jigging with both natural and artificial presentations in 100 to 200 feet of water. Anglers fishing for whitefish saw little success.

Traverse Bay/Portage Entry — Anglers reported catching lake trout while jigging between 50 and 150 feet of water. They had greater success when jigging with natural bait. Anglers trolling spoons and flasher/flies caught lake trout as well as a few coho. Most success occurred in 60 to 90 feet of water, with most fish suspended in the water column.

Ontonagon River — Fishing efforts on the river were fair. The river saw a good amount of recreational activity during the holiday weekend. Walleye were reported caught in low numbers.

Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay — Ontonagon saw a fair amount of fishing effort throughout the past week. Angling efforts from Union Bay and Silver City were low in comparison. Recent inclement weather conditions occasionally limited reasonable lake access. Reported catches consisted of lake trout in low numbers, caught by those trolling at a variety of water depths.

Black River Harbor — Fishing efforts from the harbor were very low over the past week. Angler reports suggested that fishing was very slow. Reported catches consisted of lake trout in low numbers. Some anglers stated that, to catch fish, they had to shift their focus to trolling in much deeper waters. Additionally, recent inclement weather conditions occasionally limited reasonable lake access.

St. Ignace — At the Carp and Pine rivers, shore anglers were successful when floating leeches for walleye and perch. Boat anglers targeting walleye at the Pine River were floating leeches or trolling night crawler harnesses. Fishing before sunrise has been the best time over the past week for walleye and perch to bite.

Les Cheneaux Islands/DeTour — Anglers in Hessel caught good numbers of pike off the pier using live bait. Most of the pike were undersized, but a few legal ones were still being caught. Perch fishing remained challenging for most anglers in the area, as recent fly hatches seemed to have filled the fish up. Though difficult to find, some herring were caught in the Cedarville area over the past week. However, in the DeTour area, anglers did well catching herring around the islands, including Harbor and Big Trout.

Northern

Lower Peninsula

Cheboygan — Lake trout anglers had the best luck at Reynolds Reef using spin-n-glos with flashers. Other productive areas included Poe Reef and the northeast side of Bois Blanc Island. Effective colors were green, white, chartreuse and orange. In the Cheboygan River, anglers caught walleye, freshwater drum, smallmouth bass and panfish. Walleye anglers primarily drifted nightcrawlers under bobbers, used nightcrawler harnesses or fished with deep-diving crankbaits. Shore anglers targeting walleye had success at the Cheboygan Dam spillway, near the Cheboygan DNR field office by the drawbridge, and along the parking lot of the Plaunt Transportation ferry to Bois Blanc. Larger bass were caught closer to the mouth of the river using nightcrawlers or soft plastics.

Rogers City — Wind and mixed weather conditions didn’t allow for any consistency in fishing. Lake trout were still being caught, but as the water warmed up, the fish began to move out a bit. An occasional Chinook salmon, steelhead, Atlantic salmon and coho salmon were also caught. The best depths ranged from 65 to 100 feet of water. Lake trout were mostly coming from 55 feet down and deeper, though some were caught a bit higher in the column. Anglers caught them using flashers and attractors paired with spin-n-glos, spin-n-glo flies, and some spoons.

On some days, the fish were scattered throughout the water column. Silver fish were caught by running lines in the top 50 feet of water using downriggers, lead cores, copper lines and Dipsy Divers. Spoons took most of the silver, though some were also taken on flashers or attractors with flies. Effective colors included green, blue, yellow, orange, white and black – particularly glow patterns early and late in the day. Bright colors and oranges worked well higher in the water column. Anglers fished up the lake between the state park and past Forty Mile Point. Anglers fishing south had the best results around Adams Point. The hump straight out from the harbor also produced good numbers of lake trout.

Presque Isle — Anglers still caught plenty of lake trout but also began seeing coho salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead and Atlantic salmon in their catches. The fish had moved out a bit deeper as the water warmed up. The best depths were between 60 and 90 feet. Anglers targeted edges and drop-offs, with structure playing a key role. Fishing took place between the two lighthouses, past the big lighthouse toward Black Point.

The area south toward Stoneport and False Presque Isle also produced good results. Lake trout were caught on lines fished near the bottom using flashers, flies, and spin-n-glos. They were also being caught suspended, about halfway down or 55 to 65 feet down, on the same setups – flashers, flies, spin-n-glos – as well as spoons. Silver fish came on lines fished from about 55 feet up to the surface. Regular and super slim-sized spoons worked best. Anglers used downriggers, lead core, Dipsy Divers and copper lines, running them at various depths from 50 feet to the surface. Effective colors included green, blue, orange, white and black, especially glow patterns early and late in the day. Orange and other bright colors performed very well higher in the water column. A few Chinook salmon were caught on spoons, but also on flashers or attractors rigged with flies or squids.