(Photo courtesy of Metro Creative)

Ontonagon River: Angling efforts on the river were very low over the past week. Angler reports included catches of northern pike and walleye in low numbers. The floating docks in the Ontonagon Marina were removed from the river for the season. The fish cleaning station at the Ontonagon Marina was also closed for the season.

Marquette: This past week’s weather was windy and cool. Anglers reported catching coho salmon on the break wall. It seemed like most of the fish were finally starting to move into shallower water as the temperature continued to drop. Coho salmon and steelhead were caught at the mouths of the rivers by surf fishermen and along the banks.

Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: Angling efforts from Ontonagon were very low over the past week. Efforts from Union Bay and Silver City were somewhat high on days when weather permitted reasonable lake access. Reported catches consisted mainly of lake trout in high numbers. Anglers reported finding fish when trolling in water depths of approximately 100 to 130 feet. Some anglers found luck jigging in depths of approximately 60 feet.

Black River Harbor: Angling efforts from the harbor were low over the past week. Recent catches consisted of lake trout in fair numbers and coho salmon in low numbers. Reports suggested that anglers had the best luck when trolling in water depths of 100 to 120 feet. Some anglers fishing from the mouth of the river had luck catching coho salmon using both natural and artificial baits.

Little Bay de Noc: Anglers targeting smallmouth used sucker minnows or artificial baits with minnow profiles, fished near the bottom. Although bass anglers reported a slow week of fishing in the upper bay, some quality fish were caught. Anglers targeting walleye reported low catch rates, with some struggling to catch even one; those who persisted did manage to enjoy limited success. Overall, walleye fishing was for those trolling harnesses or crankbaits. Anglers casting snap-style jigs also struggled. They said their electronics indicated that walleye were scattered and did not identify any real concentration. Yellow perch anglers reported slow fishing but anticipated a better bite as water temperatures cooled down.

Big Bay de Noc: Smallmouth bass anglers primarily fished along the Garden Peninsula, near Fayette and Garden Bay. They mainly fished the bottoms of drop-offs. However, some reported contacting a few bass in areas that warmed up during the sunny days. This led to fishing deeper and dragging sucker minnows or goby imitation baits slowly near or on the bottom. Windy conditions affected anglers’ ability to fish deep, as well as to fish in less protected areas. High wind days generally had a negative impact on overall success rates.

Keweenaw Bay/ Huron Bay: Anglers reported fair salmon fishing. Coho salmon were caught while trolling spoons, crankbaits, and flasher/flies in the upper portions of the water column within the bays and around river mouths. Boat anglers also reported catches of lake trout, rainbow trout, and splake. Shore anglers had some success catching coho salmon and splake.

Traverse Bay/Portage Entry: There was extremely low fishing effort from these ports last week. However, anglers reported good lake trout fishing. Anglers trolling spoons and flasher/flies reported most lake trout were caught shallow around structure in 30 to 60 feet of water. Anglers jigging reported most fish were caught in 70 to 100 feet using natural presentations.

Grand Marais: Fishing activity was very slow. However, anglers reported catching a few coho salmon and rainbow trout at the mouth of the Sucker River. They had success casting spoons and spinners, as well as using spawn.

Munising: The coho salmon bite slowed down a bit. Boat anglers did decent on coho salmon while trolling the bay at shallow depths. Anglers at the mouth of the Anna River caught coho salmon, splake, and the occasional rainbow trout. They had the most success casting spoons and spinners or using spawn.

St. Ignace: At the Carp River mouth, there were reports of salmon and steelhead. Salmon anglers cast spoons for the late-run salmon, while steelhead anglers floated beads or bottom-bounced spawn. At Nunns Creek, most salmon were spawning and were slow to bite. However, anglers still had some luck floating spawn or casting stick baits.

Les Cheneaux/DeTour: Fishing activity was slow over the last week. There were a few salmon around that are staged but slow to bite.

— By The Michigan Department of Natural Resources