Upper Peninsula

Lac Vieux Desert: As fall arrives fishing remains active for northern pike with a decent number over 24 inches. Muskie anglers were still taking a few fish even during the rain and strong winds. Walleye fishing has remained rather dormant. Panfish anglers did manage to catch a couple sub-legal walleye. Both the crappie and perch bite were starting to turn on in six to 12 feet near the weed beds. Bluegills are becoming more common in eight feet. Bass anglers are still finding fish up in the shallows.

Marquette: Most anglers are now trolling in 40 to 70 feet inside or near the lower harbor and in front of the Chocolay River. Chinook and coho salmon are being caught but they are few and far between as most boats were lucky to get one or two fish. Lake trout are still being picked up by salmon anglers. At this time of year trips to Stannard Rock will be limited but the fishing has been very good out there with many lake trout over 20 and even close to 30 pounds. A couple brown trout were caught in front of the Chocolay River. Shore anglers on the Carp, Chocolay and Dead River have caught the occasional Chinook salmon.

Au Train: Some anglers are still getting limits of lake trout just north of Au Train island. Those starting to troll in front of the mouth of the Au Train River caught a few Chinook and coho unfortunately, strong winds pushed a large amount of small rocks up onto the boat ramp so it was not accessible.

Munising: A cold front and strong northwest winds had water temperatures in the 50’s. The water was stained from all the recent runoff and there was a lot of floating debris and weeds which made fishing difficult. With the cold front, a few splake were taken on spawn or small crank baits but the bite was hit-or-miss. A few coho were caught however if the cooler weather continues, fishing should improve. Boats were trolling in the west channel area and towards Sand Bay and Trout Bay. No steelhead or brown trout to report.

Grand Marais: Also had a lot of floating debris in the area. The mouth of the Sucker River widened and changed orientation after the storms. The water was quite dark and stained. A few were surfcasting off the mouth but had not luck.

— The Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Little Bay De Noc: Water temperatures remain quite warm in the high 60’s to low 70’s. Walleye anglers reported spotty catches. Fish were found at the mouth of the Escanaba River and straight out to the “Black Bottom” with crawlers in 14 to 20 feet. Several fair to good perch catches were reported from the mouth of the Day’s River to Strawberry Island and out to the green buoy with minnows or crawlers in six to 20 feet. Smallmouth bass were spotty also as they have been on the move. Pike catches were good especially in the Escanaba area between the shipping docks and the beach when trolling spoons, spinners or crank baits in eight to 22 feet.

Big Bay De Noc: A few anglers targeted perch but few were found. Smallmouth were elusive as they are still transitioning as we move into fall. Most anglers fished the Ogontz area and reported fair catches of smaller fish along the weed lines and south to St. Vitals Island when casting plastics, drop-shot or artificial frogs.

Manistique River: Is producing salmon, trout and a few walleye. The Chinook are turning dark.

Two Hearted River: Water temperatures were in the low 50’s. Anglers trolling just in front of the mouth or fishing from shore caught a couple coho. Salmon are slowly beginning to show up, but we need cooler temperatures and rain.

Drummond Island: Anglers have been targeting yellow perch however, no good catches were reported. As water temperatures begin to cool down perch should become more active and begin to feed. Try fishing at the mouth or inside Harbor Island in six to eight feet along the weed beds. Best baits were shiner minnows or worms on a perch harness. Smallmouth action on the north side of Burnt Island was good with dark green and orange tube jigs along the rocky shelves. Good pike action when trolling a chrome spoon with a red eye in six to 10 feet just off the weed beds around Grape Island.

Detour: Lake trout were caught beyond the Detour Lighthouse when trolling along the 90-foot flat which is 1.5 miles south of the Detour Reef and lighthouse. Fish were hitting on orange and chartreuse spin-glo’s run off 18 to 24-inch leaders. A few Chinook salmon were caught from Fry Pan Island to the green buoy northwest of the lighthouse and above the ferry boat lane that runs to Drummond Island.

Cedarville and Hessel: A few yellow perch were caught when drifting minnows and worms in Cedarville Bay. Try in the channel from the Cedarville launch to Connors Point in eight to 12 feet. Perch fishing should improve once the waters cool down. Good pike catches in Musky Bay around Dollar Island when trolling orange, chartreuse and black crank baits off the weed beds in six to eight feet. Those still-fishing or drifting did well in 10 to 14 feet at the Middle Entrance of the Les Cheneaux Islands. At Hessel, a few splake were caught in and around the finger docks when jigging or drifting both natural or artificial spawn bags.