Upper Peninsula

• Keweenaw Bay: Anglers did well bobbing and trolling for lake trout. A few Chinook and coho were caught trolling spoons and flies, but most fish were lake trout.

• Marquette: Fishing picked up with some boats doing well bringing in four or more fish. Many were fishing for lake trout in anywhere from 140 to 200 feet of water with many fish taken from right off the bottom.

• Little Bay De Noc: Walleye anglers reported fair catches from the Gladstone area north, but a lot of the fish were undersize. The better fishing was in the evening when trolling a crawler harness in 14 to 30 feet. Fish were found near the “Black Bottom” and the east bank when trolling stick baits in 22 to 35 feet. Fair to good smallmouth bass catches around the Garth Point when casting plastics around the rocks and weedy areas in three to six feet. Several large bass were caught near the mouth of the Escanaba River with spinners and plastics along the weeds. Northern pike were active, but many were undersize. Perch fishing slowed some however fish were caught near Kipling.

• Manistique: Although salmon catches were down bigger fish have been caught including many over 20 pounds. Most were 10 to 16 miles out past the buoy and just south of Point De Tour and fishing 60 to 80 feet down in 80 to 150 feet. Lake trout were caught just off the bottom in 110 to 130 feet.

• Munising: Some lake trout were caught out towards Wood Island Reef and the White Rocks area when fishing along the breaks in 120 to 150 feet. Shore anglers caught a few splake however most were undersize.

• Grand Marais: Boat anglers did well for lake trout near Five Mile Reed and Au Sable Point.

• Detour: Those targeting Chinook, Atlantics and lake trout found all three around the Detour Reef and lighthouse. Dipsey divers and flashers 18 to 45 feet down caught salmon on purple and black spoons. Atlantics were hitting two miles straight south of the lighthouse along the 90-foot flat. Try an orange and chartreuse or orange and gold slender spoon with a black ladder back. Lake trout seemed to like flashers with chartreuse and white or orange and white spin-glo’s. Seymour Creek one mile west of Detour Village was good for smallmouth bass. Boat and shore anglers did well casting a dark brown and orange tube jig or floating worms in four to six feet both early morning or late evening.

— The Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Drummond Island: Cisco were still being caught. Try jigging a teardrop tipped with a wax worm or natural fly in 23 feet near Andrews Island. Some lake whitefish were also caught.

Cedarville and Hessel: No cisco were reported in Prentiss or McKay bays. Walleye were caught casting orange and chartreuse crank baits in Club Cut which runs between Cedarville Golf Course and Marquette Island. Try the weed beds 50 yards east of Buoys 18 & 19. Young anglers had fun catching smallmouth bass, rock bass and sunfish off Hill Island Road where two fishing docks are available or fish from the bridge. Use small worms, shiner minnows or crank baits. At Hessel, yellow perch were caught from the finger docks in the marina in the early morning with shiners and small worms. Fair pike fishing with creek chubs 18 inches off the bottom in eight feet off the pier. Splake were caught at Haven Island and in Wilderness Bay located on the west side of Marquette Island when trolling a crawler harness and bottom bouncer three feet off the bottom in 18 feet. Fish were also caught just off the bottom when trolling an orange and chartreuse crank bait in 20 feet.

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Fishing Tip: Catching the elusive walleye

We bring you this oldie, but goodie fishing tip from 2014. Courtesy of Seth Herbst, the Aquatic Species and Regulatory Affairs Manager out of Lansing.

In many of Michigan’s lakes walleye can be a rather elusive sport fish, making the quest for their tasty fillets difficult at times throughout the year.

Walleye are predators that eat a wide range of small baitfish like yellow perch and various minnows, which logically has many anglers targeting these fish with minnows and crank baits. However, walleye also feed on aquatic insects when they are available and using crawlers on crawler harnesses can be an effective technique for working towards a limit.

Mid-summer is a time of year when walleye in many lakes will typically be in depths ranging from 20 to 35 feet where they are feeding on insects or baitfish. During these feeding periods many walleye will be suspended in the water column and trolling a crawler harness at low speeds can be an effective way of hooking these elusive fish.