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Gone fishin’

Upper Peninsula

• Overall: Many lakes in Luce and Alger County still had ice. Access roads will likely have snow pack. Rain in the forecast will certainly help open things up, but not quite there yet. Water levels will be high in the central and eastern sections of the Upper Peninsula.

• Keweenaw Bay: Still had some ice hanging on however it should be completely gone this week. The South Entry is open, but the dock was not in yet. Once anglers found them, the lake trout bite was good in 115 to 195 feet. Coho, brown trout and splake were found in 10 to 40 feet. Steelhead fishing was on the rise but with the rain and the snow melt rivers are very high.

• Marquette: Fishing in the harbor is definitely starting to pick up! Most boats were trolling in front of the Carp and Chocolay Rivers, but a few were staying close to the breakwall in the Lower Harbor. Most caught coho with a few brown trout, splake or steelhead mixed in. A few limit catches were reported but most were getting one to three fish per trip.

• Chocolay River: Had slow fishing as water temperatures were below 40 degrees. A few brown trout have been caught but there were no reports on any steelhead taken.

• Munising: The Coast Guard Ice Breaker came through breaking up the ice in the bay. There is still a lot of ice to melt however the remaining ice is not safe. Strong winds have pushed the ice in the bay and along the shoreline. It could be another week or so before the ice is gone. For now, fishing is not possible for boat or shore anglers.

• Grand Marais: The ice had moved out of the harbor area and beyond the breakwall. The breakwall was fishable up to where the rocks start before the last section of the pier however cleats are advised if you are going to try walking out on the pier as there was still some ice. Some were trying for whitefish off the breakwall and the mouth of the Sucker River, but no fish were caught. Those trolling had a hard time dodging the chunks of ice still in the area. A few coho, brown trout and steelhead were caught from the breakwall to Lonesome Point and beyond. Water levels in the rivers were extremely high which makes fishing much more difficult.

— The Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Two Hearted River: Is difficult to fish due to high water levels. Fish are likely in the river, but conditions will limit success greatly.

Tahquamenon River: Had a small smelt run recently but the other Whitefish Bay tributaries are slow. Water temperatures were in the low 40’s, but high-water levels will limit access.

Detour: Because of all the ice coming down the St. Marys River, there are no docks in at Detour Village. As soon as the smelt runs begin, which should be any day, the Atlantic salmon should start hitting.

Cedarville and Hessel: Currently 75% of the ice is gone in Cedarville Bay. Open water is plentiful one mile south of the boat launch on Meridian Road. The dock is in however there was still ice packed in around the launch. At Hessel, ice is moving out of the finger docks at the Hessel Marina. Open water extends 30 feet out from the east end of the fishing pier. Outside the marina, ice has pulled away from the steel breakwall approximately five feet, allowing anglers to fish or jig for splake and yellow perch. There was still five inches of ice at the marina boat launch.

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