Fishing Report

Good catches of chinook with a few steelhead mixed in have been caught while trolling to the north. The best fishing has been in and around the Barrel. The bait of choice seems to be orange chilly willies, green dolphins, and angry gnomes. Pier fishing has been decent for smallmouth and largemouth bass on the north pier.

The chinook catch has started to pick up with fair numbers of lake trout and steelhead mixed in. The best action has been while trolling the bank in 115 to 145 feet of water, 55 to 65 feet down. Lemon ice, angry gnome, blue dolphin, or plain silver spoons have been good baits to try. Pier fishing remains slow.

On the East Bay, anglers are catching good numbers of whitefish off of Deepwater Point in 60 to 70 feet of water using spawn. Good numbers of lake trout were caught by anglers trolling along Willow Point, the South Bank, and off of Elk Rapids in 70 to 100 feet of water on cowbells, spoons, and Spin-N-Glows. The smallmouth bass action has been good around Elk Rapids and along the South Bank on shallow flats on tube baits. On the West Bay, anglers continue to catch good numbers of lake trout around the White Walls area in 60 to 70 feet of water. Cowbells and spoons produced the most fish.

Lake trout are being taken off of Southpoint in 80 to 100 feet of water with spoons and Spin-N-Glows. A few small chinook were taken in over 300 foot water depths.

There is a good variety of catches. Chinook, steelhead, coho and a few brown trout are being caught. The fish are spread out over large areas of water.

Pier anglers continue to catch steelhead with cooked shrimp. No perch catches have been reported. Boat anglers have been struggling but have managed to pick up a mix of steelhead, chinook and lake trout during the early morning and late evening hours. They are fishing in waters 50 to 110 feet deep 35 to 65 feet down on downriggers. During the daytime the best bet is fishing 70 to 110 feet down in waters 85 to 120 feet deep. Spoon colors of choice are purple and blues, glow blues, green, orange or yellow.

Pier fishing remains slow. Pier anglers are catching a few steelhead using cooked shrimp as bait. Boat anglers are having luck catching chinook and a few steelhead in waters 50 to 110 feet deep while fishing 35 to 65 feet down on downriggers. Bait colors of choice have been green, orange, yellow or blue. No perch fishing to report.

Boat anglers are picking up plenty of chinook and steelhead straight out in 80 to 120 feet of water while fishing 30 to 60 feet down with spoons. Perch are hitting well just north of the port in 25 to 30 feet of water on minnows.

Pier fishing is slow with very few fish being caught. Boat anglers are catching good numbers of steelhead and fair numbers of chinook in waters 80 to 140 feet deep while trolling. Perch fishing is slow but some have been caught in waters 40 to 60 feet deep while still fishing with minnows.

Boat anglers are reporting good catches of chinook straight out from the piers in water 55 to 80 feet deep. The best fishing has been about 20 feet off the bottom. Pier anglers are catching perch in front of both the north and south piers. Most catches have been small but a few big ones were caught in 20 feet of water just south of the south pier.

Good catches of bluegill and crappie were taken when fishing the weed beds near Muddy Bay in about 12 feet of water. Leaf worms, wax worms, leeches and live minnows worked best. Walleye are being caught in 10 foot of water with leeches or crawlers. Northern pike fishing has been spotty and the fish are running small. Bass fishing continues to be good all over the lake.

Recent windy weather had put a damper on fishing. Lake trout are being caught in 100 feet of water on minnows and cowbells. Perch fishing has been good near the Sunken Island and north of Treasure Island in 45 to 50 feet of water. Shiner minnows or wigglers have worked well. A few smallmouth bass have been caught as well.

Walleye fishing remains excellent. Limit catches are being taken from waters 35 to 40 feet deep and about four miles straight out from the mouth of the Au Gres River. Crawler harnesses have been the bait of choice.

Fishing has been slow lately. Pier fishing was fair with a mix of an occasional small perch, smallmouth bass, or northern pike being taken. Trolling for walleye was generally slow. Anglers had luck near Alabaster and down near the Charity Islands. Lake trout and salmon have been taken near Au Sable Point.

Walleye and catfish are being caught off the pier heads. Boat anglers are catching good numbers of lake trout in waters 80 to 100 feet deep with a Spin-N-Glow behind a flasher. Those targeting chinook are catching them in 80 to 120 feet of water with black and red spoons.

Anglers have had fair success with lake trout. An occasional chinook or steelhead can be caught between 100 and 130 feet of water.

Anglers are catching salmon and lake trout in various water depths. Cormorant control efforts continue here so anglers should not be alarmed due to the noise.

Evening fishing for walleye has been successful near Sulfur Island and Grass Island while trolling crawler harnesses. The stiff winds have helped anglers drift fish. Those targeting northern pike are trolling Rapalas 25 feet down near Sulfur Island.

Salmon fishing hasn?t kicked in yet. There are fish out there but not many anglers targeting them. Those that have ventured out are having luck fishing straight out between the lighthouses and south out from Stoneport. Try fishing from the top down to 70 feet in waters 70 to 120 feet deep. The main ingredients to successful salmon fishing has been to find food, structure and cold water ranging 47 to 53 degrees.

Salmon fishing continues to be very good. The hot spot has been anywhere from Seagull Point and north. The 40 Mile Point light has been good as well. Anglers are fishing downriggers or dipsey divers 30 to 70 feet down in 70 to 120 feet of water. Good colors have been greens, blues, black and white, purples, and oranges. A few small steelhead and lake trout have been caught up high using bright orange or silver on dipseys and lead core.

Anglers are catching chinook and lake trout while trolling a couple of miles out from the river. Spoons of various colors have worked the best.

Walleye fishing remains to be hot on both sides of the bay in areas near the Black Hole off Linwood, the Callahan Reef and the Slot. Depths vary from 5 to 7 feet on the Callahan Reef to 20 feet around the sailing buoys and east of the Spark Plug. Crawler harnesses and Hot-N-Tots are both producing and purple is the hot color. Walleye are also being caught at the north end of the Slot off Sand Point and out at the Charities. Another good spot is off Oak Point north of Caseville in 30 to 40 feet of water. Bass anglers are doing well in Wildfowl Bay. Shore anglers are catching plenty of catfish all along the bay.

Coldwater fishing has been pretty slow due to the persistent northeast winds keeping boats ashore. Some perch activity has been reported in 15 to 20 feet of water. Lake trout, steelhead and a few salmon are scattered in 60 to 100 plus feet of water as the thermo cline hasn?t developed yet. Pier anglers are catching mainly rock bass and a few occasional smallmouth bass.

Walleye fishing in the river remains good from Port Huron to Algonac. Many anglers are catching their limits ranging from 15 to 18 inches. Drifting with bottom bouncers, vertical jigging, slow trolling, and whipping are all producing good results.

Good to excellent catches of walleye were reported throughout the river. Crawlers or crawler harnesses are the bait of choice. Plenty of yellow perch are being caught as well as an occasional white bass.