Fishing Report

Perch fishing has been good in 30 feet of water over submerged weed beds with sizes running 8 to 10 inches and some limits being taken.

Good walleye fishing continues in the north end of the river near Port Huron. Those hand-lining at St. Clair and Algonac are reporting good catches as well. Smallmouth bass are being caught in Port Huron along the mouth of the Black River and near most all of the tributaries along the St. Clair River. Crawlers and crayfish are working the best. Anglers are reporting very good perch fishing in the lower end of Lake Huron near Port Huron.

Good walleye fishing continues near the Dumping Grounds. Those trolling crawler harnesses with a bottom bouncer are doing the best. Bass fishing has been good while perch fishing has been slow.

Walleye fishing remains excellent in the river. Good catches are being reported in the Trenton Channel using crawlers. The Trenton Channel is producing good catches of yellow perch and smallmouth bass as well.

Walleye fishing in the central basin has been excellent. Fish have been caught in 38’ of water north of Cranberry Creek, 4 to 5 miles N of Lorain, 4 to 5 miles NE of Lorain (E of the old trash dump), 6 miles N of the Cleveland Crib in 50 to 58 ‘ of water, 4 to 5 miles N of Eastlake in 45’ to 55’ of water, 3 to 6 miles NE of Fairport Harbor in 50 to 70’ of water, and 3 to 6 miles NW of Geneva in 50 to 70’ of water. Fish have been caught on worm harnesses or monkey puke, bloody nose, watermelon, killer bee and copper/back spoons trolled with dipsy divers or trolled with jet divers off planer boards. Fish are suspended and anglers are fishing down 30 to 50'. Yellow perch fishing has been excellent 2 miles N of Wildwood State Park in Euclid in 42 to 45' feet of water, 2 miles N of Bratenal in 40', 2-3 miles N of Ashtabula in 50-55’ of water, 2 to 3 miles N of Conneaut in 50-55’ of water. Fish have ranged from 7 to 11 inches. Perch spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish. Smallmouth bass fishing has been excellent on Ruggles Reef between Huron and Vermilion, and along the shoreline from Fairport Harbor to Conneaut in 10 to 25’ of water. Fish have been caught on tube jigs, jigs tipped with minnows or leeches, or by trolling crankbaits. White bass fishing has been fair 1/2 mile N of Eastlake CEI power plant. Anglers are using agitators with white, yellow and green twister tails. Shore anglers are catching white bass at the Eastlake CEI pier using agitators with white, yellow and green twister tails and small spoons.

Walleye fishing continues to be excellent with many limits being caught. The best fishing has been along the Canadian border from Middle Sister to North Bass Island, nearshore from the Toledo harbor light to Metzger’s Marsh in 19 to 21’ of water, around “A†and “B†cans of the Camp Perry firing range, and 2 to 4 miles east of Niagara Reef towards Green Island. Drifters are using mayfly rigs or worm harnesses with bottom bouncers, while trollers are using worm harnesses with inline weights or bottom bouncers and jet or dipsy divers with spoons. The best spoon colors have been patterns that include gold or purples. The best yellow perch fishing in the western basin has been around the Toledo water intake, off of Lakeside, and N of Kelleys Island around Gull and Kelleys Island shoals. Perch spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.

Anglers are catching atlantic and chinook salmon from the Shipping Channel to the #3 Green Can and around the Lighthouse. Most of the action is coming on hammered spoons in fluorescent or green. Herring and a few lake trout have been caught on the north side of Drummond Island near Pigeon Cove and Cherry Island while casting wax worms or mayflies.

Lake trout fishing this past week has been fair with most of the fish ranging between 2 to 5 pounds. Try targeting waters 150 to 200 feet deep. Those seeking splake and whitefish reported slow catch rates.

Boat anglers targeting lake trout are heading out of the Upper Harbor and trolling north or east in 140 to 200 feet of water. Most boats reported limit catches. Those jigging for lake trout reported fair success.

The bite has slowed for much of everything including yellow perch and northern pike. In Traverse Bay, the lake trout fishing did slow, but anglers are still catching fish when trolling in 130 to 150 feet of water or jigging in waters 160 to 240 feet deep. Try herring dodgers with a green peanut when trolling or white barracuda type jigs with cut bait when jigging.

Fishing has been a bit on the slow side, but those willing to travel up towards Big Sable Point have caught chinook, steelhead and lake trout while working the waters 90 to 150 feet deep. A few of the boats traveling down towards Pentwater have caught some really nice chinook salmon.

Fishing is starting to pick up. Anglers have been successful just south of the port fishing anywhere from the bottom to the top 25 feet in waters 65 to 130 feet deep. They have caught chinook, coho, steelhead and lake trout. Those fishing in the harbor and off the piers had no luck as there is still a lot of bait fish in the harbor.

Decent numbers of chinook along with a few lake trout and steelhead have been caught near the Saddle. Good colors for spoons have been greens, blues, and silver.

Good catches of chinook along with a few steelhead and lake trout have been caught. The better fishing appears to be north up towards Point Betsie when trolling in 90 to 150 feet of water with spoons, cut bait or flies. Good colors have been greens, blues, orange, and glows.

On the East Bay, good numbers of whitefish have been caught off Deepwater Point in 60 to 70 feet of water using spawn. Lake trout were caught by anglers trolling along Willow Point, the South Bank, and off Elk Rapids in 70 to 100 feet of water using cowbells, spoons, and spin-n-glows. Those fishing the shallow waters near Elk Rapids and along the South Bank caught smallmouth bass on tube baits. On the West Bay, anglers continue to catch good numbers of lake trout around the Gravel Pit and White Walls areas in 60 to 120 feet of water. Cowbells and spoons produced the most fish.

South winds have pushed warm water into the area and this has slowed fishing in Lake Michigan for the past week. Lake trout that could be found in 80 feet of water have now moved out to waters 110 to 130 feet deep.

Lake trout have moved out to deeper waters up to 120 feet deep. In Little Traverse Bay, bass were caught in water 12 to 15 feet deep on artificial baits

Good fishing was reported when trolling spoons and flies about halfway down in waters 100 to 130 feet deep.

Chinook salmon have been caught in waters 50 to 150 feet deep. Spoons and flies in green, blue, orange and watermelon have caught fish. A few yellow perch have been caught off the South Pier.

Chinook and steelhead can be found trolling 50 to 70 feet down in waters 80 to 130 feet deep. Spoons with flies in the colors green and silver, blue and silver, chartreuse, or black and white were good choices. Try fishing for yellow perch in 40 feet of water at the Rock Pile, which is about one mile southwest of the pier.

Boat anglers are catching good numbers of chinook, coho and lake trout. Yellow perch fishing remains slow, but some smaller fish were caught in 25 to 40 feet of water. Pier anglers are catching good numbers of freshwater drum off both sides of the pier. Light numbers of summer steelhead have also been caught.

Though fishing has been on the slow side, a few boat anglers have managed to catch some chinook, coho and steelhead while trolling spoons and body baits in waters 65 to 120 feet deep. Good colors were blue, green, black, white, orange or anything that glows. Perch have been caught in 40 to 50 feet of water.

Those fishing reported slow catch rates. The weeds are very high and thick and this is making it difficult for anglers to find fish.

Catch rates have been a little slower as the spawning appears to be over. Most of the fish caught now were taken in 6 to 8 feet of water near M-115, or along the shoreline using Rooster tail jigs and worms.

Is still producing good catches of lake trout and bass. Whitefish have slowed down some, but a few were still being caught on the west end of the lake.