Weekly Fishing Report – August 11

The expected upcoming milder weather should bring good fishing across the state.

Southeast Lower Peninsula

Lake Erie: Walleye are being taken from Stony Point north to the Bell area. Most were caught in as close as 23 feet of water. Reports of perch being caught from the East Buoy and McDonald’s area. A few great catches of smallmouth bass in the Brest Bay and Bell area.

Detroit River: has been good for smallmouth bass.

Lake St. Clair: Walleye are being caught at the south end of the Dumping Grounds, Puce and Belle River area. Most successful anglers are using bottom bouncers and harnesses. Fish are being caught from the Clinton River Spillway in 12 to18 feet of water at first light in the morning using bottom bouncers. Nice perch and lots of reports of smallmouth bass being landed.

Port Sanilac: Perch are spotty but some good catches are still being made. Move from weed bed to weed bed to find active fish. Good catches for lake trout, steelhead, coho and a few chinook can be found in 80 to 130 feet of water. Pier fishing is slow at all locations, with a few small panfish and catfish taken.

Harbor Beach: Good walleye action from 40 to 50 feet of water north toward Port Hope. Good catches of steelhead and lake trout from 80 to 130 feet of water.

Caseville: Walleye action is still good, but you may have to move around to find active fish. Try fishing in 20 to 40 feet of water. Trollers after trout and salmon are doing well in 80 to 130 feet of water. Steelhead are in the top 40 feet and lake trout are near the bottom. A few chinook are also being caught. Smallmouth bass are being taken by shore anglers at the mouth of Bird Creek.

Saginaw Bay: Walleye were still being taken near Buoys 1 and 2 in 13 feet of water off Pinconning, and some from the weed beds between Maisou and Heisterman Islands. Perch fishing is starting up and they are being taken from 20 feet of water near the Spark Plug, east of the Spark Plug in 30 feet of water, from northeast of the Black Hole, and from certain locations in 12 to 14 feet of water on the west side of the Bar. Catches were averaging 10 to 20 large perch per boat per trip with quite a few 10 to 12 inch fish.

Tawas Bay: Trollers after walleye are either going around Tawas Point and then north to the area off Au Sable Point while fishing in 35 to 80 feet of water, or crossing Saginaw Bay and fishing the reefs between Caseville and Port Austin. Pier anglers are getting a few perch but have to sort a lot to get some 7 to 8 inch fish. They’re also getting an odd bass or two. The Tawas River is producing mostly catfish and drum.

Southwest Lower Peninsula

St. Joseph: Perch fishing has been really good in 35 feet of water north of Rocky Gap. Pier fishermen have been reporting a few on the north side. Steelhead from the pier has been very slow however. Trollers are doing pretty good in 50 to 80 feet of water on a west/southwest troll with small spoons that are blue in color.

St. Joseph River: Is producing walleye and a few steelhead in the creek mouths.

Saugatuck: The past week has produced consistent fishing in the 65 to 90 foot depth with limit or near limit catches of lake trout and chinook salmon and steelhead. The piers have produced pretty good steelhead fishing as well.

Holland: Has had a nice mix of decent sized steelhead and lake trout. Best depths were in 80 to 110 feet of water early, then 110 to 130 later in the day. Perch fishing was good when fishing in 30 to 35 feet of water

Grand River at Grand Rapids: Anglers have reported a few early browns along with catches of Skamania, coho and chinook. Crawlers, spawn bags, spinners #4 and #5 and body baits were the popular choice of bait. Smallmouth bass were caught on tube baits and pike on sucker minnows, spoons and body baits. Riverside Park saw crappie and bluegill.

Grand River at Lansing: Fishing is slower than usual because of the high water. At Brenke Fish Ladder anglers are catching catfish using crawlers and leeches. Moores Park Dam reports early morning anglers are limiting out with bluegill but it slows down considerably after 9 a.m.

Lake Delta: Anglers are catching limits on catfish and bass.

Jordan Lake: Is producing good bluegill fishing.

Northeast Lower Peninsula

Rogers City: A mixed bag of salmon, lake trout and steelhead have been taken, along with an occasional walleye. Good depths have been from 45 to 90 feet of water. Anglers are achieving this using lead core, downriggers and dipsey divers. Good colors have been blue and silver, white and black, greens and some cut bait with flashers. Good places have been straight out from the harbor, north towards the State Park and Forty Mile Point and south towards Swan Bay and Adams Point.

Presque Isle: Anglers are reporting good catches of both salmon and lake trout, straight out of the harbor and south towards Stone Port and north towards the big lighthouse.

Rockport: Anglers have been taking walleye from the northeast side of Middle Island in depths of 30 to 35 feet. Anglers had luck while using crawler harnesses and body baits. Most of the trout and salmon action took place around the Nordimer Wreck. The fish are in 120 to150 feet of water. The salmon have been taken on lines running 60 feet down and the lake trout were caught off the bottom of the lake. Anglers had very good success while fishing for lake trout with spin glows. Salmon seemed to show no color preference this week.

Alpena: Warm temperatures have caused the walleye to spread out. Anglers caught only a few at various depths. Anglers fished waters as deep as 95 feet for walleye. Others ran into walleye at depths of 30 to 35 feet of water. Anglers using body baits seemed to be more successful this week. Anglers on the river have been catching catfish and smallmouth bass using leeches and crawlers.

Harrisville: Harrisville has been spotty at best. Lake trout are out deep in 130 to 150 feet of water, north of the harbor past the lighthouse and south to the Greenbush Water Tower. Lake trout are from top to bottom using downriggers, lead core or dipsey’s. Colors vary, from blue and silver, green and silver, or whites with black. Dodgers and flashes are helping out. Steelhead catches are on the rise, with scum lines and thermal breaks holding them. Anglers are fishing dipsey’s, lead core and planner boards with and without lead core, in oranges, blues, and silvers. Walleye are hanging around the harbor wall and up north around the lighthouse. They are hitting on crawler harnesses and body baits off planner boards in fire tiger.

Houghton Lake: Walleye anglers reported tough trolling with all the weeds, but they still managed to catch a few. Try using leeches and crawlers in 6 to 10 feet of water. A few nice pike have been caught on large sucker minnows next to the weeds in the morning and evening but nothing during the day. Bluegill were being caught in the weeds in the 5 to 8 feet of water range with leeches, leaf worms and wax worms. Some nice perch being caught using leeches and minnows from anglers fishing in the middle grounds on the east side in 8 to 12 feet of water

Oscoda: Lake trout are in 90 to 130 feet of water on downriggers or planner boards. Most catches have been to the north by the Greenbush Water Tower. Steelhead and salmon are being caught in the same area as lake trout and on most of the same baits. Walleye are in the river in 25 to 50 feet of water, hitting on crawler harnesses with bottom bouncers and body baits off planner boards.

Au Gres: Best walleye success was actually south of Au Gres toward the end of the shipping channel, north of buoys 1 and 2.

Northwest Lower Peninsula

Petoskey/Harbor Springs: Salmon action in Little Traverse Bay remains slow with only a few fish being caught. Salmon numbers should start to increase as we get closer to mid-August. Lake trout fishing has been good throughout the bay when fishing near the bottom with blue, green, and orange spoons, flasher and peanut, or flasher and spin glows.

Charlevoix: Salmon fishing has slowed a bit over the past week, with many anglers having limited success. The salmon that have been taken have been found scattered between Fisherman’s Island and North Point in 100 to 150 feet of water. Try fishing in 60 to 90 feet of water with green, blue, black, or orange spoons or for fish that won’t bite a big rotator or meat rig. Lake trout can be found in 100 to 150 feet of water, when fishing 10 to 30 feet off the bottom. Smallmouth bass action remains good in the Pine River Channel though the majority of the fish being caught are undersized.

Traverse City: The Bays have been slow for salmon but the West Bay has had some nice caches of lake trout both trolling and jigging. East Bay remains slow for trout and salmon but smallmouth fishing has picked up.

Elk Rapids: Has had some action around the dam with panfish and sublegal smallmouth.

Lake Cadillac: Bluegill and sunfish are showing up in deeper water. Best baits are leaf worms, crickets or wax worms. Walleye fishermen are catching a few in the deeper areas of the lake trolling crawler harnesses. Bass in the 14 to 18 inch class are consistently being caught on spinner baits and plastics. Pike are biting on white spinner baits as well.

Lake Mitchell: Bass and pike continue to provide good fishing for anglers. Crappie are biting best in early morning and evening. Try minnows or small jigs. The key is to keep moving until you find the schools. Bluegill and sunfish are showing up in deeper water. Best baits are leaf worms, crickets or wax worms.

Upper Peninsula

Traverse Bay: Anglers have enjoyed a good fish bite over the past week. Good success reported trolling for lake trout between Big Louie’s and Gay Points as well as 5 and 7 mile reefs. Best action is in 90 to 180 feet of water and bobbing in 240-260 feet of water.

South Portage Entry: Nice catches of lake trout off of big reef.

Marquette: Good action for lake trout was reported fishing the “clay banks” and Granite Island area in depths of 100 to 140 feet of water. Anglers report a hatch of adult flying ants on the surface near Granite Island where lake trout were feeding. Lake trout are averaging 3 to 4 pounds with a few reports of fish over 20 pounds. Best choices of baits were assorted spoons of silver/copper/melon colors. A few anglers did well on coho salmon and lake trout trolling outside the lower harbor breakwall in 40 to 50 feet of water which were feeding on large schools of stickleback. No reports of any chinook salmon. Good reports of lake trout from Stannard Rock with a few fish reported at 20 to 30 pounds.

Little Bay DeNoc: Walleye action picked up this week with fair to good reports throughout the Bay. Catches were spotty at times but good numbers of fish were marked from Breezy Point south to Round Island. Most trolled crawlers in 12 to 16 feet of water. First and second reef anglers trolled or drifted crawler’s w/harnesses in 12 to 20 feet of water. Good perch catches reported in Kipling out from the Power Plant in 12 to 24 feet of water and also off the northeast tip off Butler Island in 10 to 18 feet of water. Northern pike were very active all around the Butler Island area and into the Buckeye Bay. Most cast spinners and spoons in 12 to 18 feet of water with several 40 inch fish reported.

Big Bay DeNoc: Walleye anglers fished the Peninsula Point area into the Minneapolis shoals. Good smallmouth catches reported in Kate’s Bay in 3 to 12 feet of water and Porcupine Point in 6 to 14 feet of water casting plastics and cranks. Note: the Fish Dam launch will be closed for a few weeks for renovation.

Fairport: Salmon anglers reported fair catches out in the “Gap” trolling spoons in 80 to 125 feet of water and 40 to 80 feet down. Several nice catches of rainbow trout were reported trolling spoons or flies in 100 feet of water and 50 feet down. A 29 pound and a 31 pound chinook were reported caught here this week.

Au Train: Surface water temperatures have increased to the upper 60s this past week with the continued warm weather this summer. Lake trout success has slowed this past week with most anglers catch averaging three to five fish. Best success continues to be two to three miles north of Au Train Island and Wood Island in depths of 180 to 220 feet of water. No reports of any salmon.

Detour: Fishermen are trolling the shipping channel to the #3 green can and lighthouse area and the Drummond Island side to the #2 red can with some boats continuing 3 miles south for their lake trout limits. Anglers are fishing green flashers with flies, or white spoons with a red nose. Upstream on the St. Marys River at Munuscong Lake, walleye and northern pike are hitting in the channel on crawler harnesses with round or smiley V blades in red and gold or white and purple.

Cedarville and Hessel: Anglers fishing Hessel Bay for northern pike and yellow perch are having excellent results. Northern pike are hitting in 8 to 13 feet of water while anglers still fish with chubs. A limited number of anglers are venturing out to 60 to 70 feet of water for salmon. Musky Bay and Government Bay are also good locations for pike. Anglers are fishing in 10 to 15 feet of water. Perch catches are great out of Hessel Bay along the south shore, off the Marina dock, Haven Island and the 1st cut of Snows Channel. Anglers are fishing minnows or crawlers in 8 to 13 feet of water.

St. Ignace: Saw an increase in fishing pressure with anglers going out for chinook salmon, lake trout, rainbow trout and steelhead. Salmon are averaging from 5 to 15 pounds. Anglers are fishing from the Coast Guard area across the bay to the old four fuel tanks and the NE and SW corners of Mackinac Island. Common colors include silver or green flashers with flies, orange crush and watermelon. The primitive launch east of the Mackinaw Bridge remains a good opportunity for northern pike, small and largemouth bass. Anglers fishing along the bull rushes are casting weedless hooks with night crawlers, or casting spinner baits. Early morning or early evening is the best.