Upper Peninsula Fishing Report
Upper Peninsula Fishing Report provided by the DNR (updated 9/19/2024):
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers caught mostly lake trout this last week. Some reports indicate that a few salmon were moving further down into the bays with cooler water temperatures and favorable winds. Most fish were caught while trolling and were found primarily in water shallower than 120 feet deep.
Big Traverse Bay/South Portage Entry Canal: Anglers who were trolling mostly caught lake trout with the occasional salmon mixed in. Lake trout were also caught during jigging events near drop offs in anywhere from 70 to 150 feet of water.
St. Ignace: Boat fishing has declined as of the past couple of weeks. Shore anglers at the Carp River cement footing pier caught a few salmon during the early mornings and at night. Pink and Chinook salmon have been slowly making their way into the river. Anglers were primarily using spoons, and good colors to use were purple/green, purple/white, and pink/blue. Fishing for walleye at the Pine River slowed down drastically, as anglers did not see many fish throughout the past week. The salmon run seemed to slow at Nunns Creek, with not many caught within the past week. Shore anglers were casting spawn, spoons, or spinner baits. The warmer weather pushed the fish further out in the lake.
Little Bay de Noc: Anglers reported coho salmon in the Escanaba River and around the mouth. Although coho salmon were present in these areas, getting them to bite was tough. Walleye anglers reported fair fishing and had to work hard for any bite. The east shoreline and black bottom were productive when drifting crawler harnesses or jigging. Yellow perch anglers reported fair fishing when launching out of Kipling and around the Escanaba River.
Manistique: Little to no fishing activity in the lake; most anglers were focusing on the river. The pink salmon run was reported to be in full swing. Shore anglers reported good fishing for pink salmon when drifting beads, swinging colorful streams or bright reaction baits such as spinners and jerk baits. Anglers targeting Chinook salmon reported slow fishing and anticipate the push with the next rainfall. Slow fishing activity for walleye.
Marquette: Lake trout were still caught consistently with the most successful anglers making their way out towards the clay banks west of Granite Rock or out toward the sand hole east of the upper harbor’s break wall. The upper harbor still seemed to be the popular choice for anglers to leave from on days that the weather cooperated. Excellent numbers of lake trout were caught jigging or trolling around the northeast side of White Rocks. Low numbers of salmon were caught by anglers. Steelhead numbers continued to increase around thermocline in 30 to 60 feet of water. Black/green UV Devil Dancers or gold/orange from Finn Spoons did well for anglers along with the tried-and-true watermelon and fire tiger patterns. Jigging either a chartreuse/silver or white tube jig worked well around the northeast side of White Rocks, especially with a little cut bait. Trolling between White Rocks towards Granite Rock or the clay banks in around 130 to 160 feet of water was a popular depth range for lake trout and 30 to 60 feet for steelhead and pink salmon.
Au Train: Most boat anglers that made it out fishing did quite well. Lake trout were caught by anglers jigging with cut bait in approximately 160 feet of water north to northeast of Au Train Island. Most anglers trolling reported catching lake trout while in waters around 130 to 180 feet north to northwest of the Au Train Island in the flats or out towards the Laughing White Fish Clay Banks. Hot pink/white Spin-n-Glos, multicolored glow or UV spoons or green/silver flasher flies were all good color combinations. Jigging or trolling with Wonder Bread or chartreuse cowbells produced very well at deeper depths of 130 to 180 feet of water, especially with a little bit of cut bait.
Ontonagon River: The river saw very low angling efforts over the past week. Fishing was very slow, with common catches consisting of walleye in low numbers. Anglers reported having the best luck when fishing in the early morning hours.
Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: These ports saw very strong fishing efforts over the past week. Reports show that lake trout were caught in high numbers, with many anglers reaching their possession limit in relatively short trips. Anglers had success in finding these fish when trolling across a variety of water depths.
Black River Harbor: Over the past week, fishing efforts from the harbor were reported as fair. Anglers reported catches consisting of lake trout in good numbers. These fish were caught by most when trolling in deeper waters.
Les Cheneaux/Detour: Anglers in Hessel were catching a good number of northern pike at the marina using chubs. There were also good numbers of smallmouth bass caught at the marina as well. The perch fishing was reported as slow throughout the area. The water temperature warmed back up which pushed the splake back out of the marina and brought the smallmouth bass back in. In Detour, anglers caught good numbers of lake trout while trolling in the flats, as well as picking up a few pink salmon and Atlantic salmon.