Category Archives: Michigan Fishing Reports

Michigan River Fishing Report 08.01.2014

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Salmon and Lake Trout Trolling:

Frankfort, Michigan

Catching Steelhead 10-15 miles off shore. Summer Steelhead on the big lake are typically caught in the top part of the water column. When they are hooked, these fish put on a spectacular aerial show. The salmon fishing is starting to pick up along the bank at first light with fish running 40-70 feet down. As the salmon bite slows in the morning, big lake trout are being caught off of West Platte Bay.
Capt. Andy Odette

Leland, Michigan

Salmon catches out of Leland have been spotty lately. A couple of recent hard north winds have brought in a few more fish. The lake trout fishing remains constant with the best actions being around 100 feet.
Capt. Brady Anderson

West Grand Traverse Bay

Lake trout fishing remains hot most days, with a couple of salmon bites per trip. 60-80 feet has seen the most consistent action, but dropping down to 100-120 feet has also produced good results, especially in the afternoons.
Capt. Brady Anderson

East Grand Traverse Bays

Lake trout fishing has been exceptional all season, and still remains outstanding. Most of the fish have been coming from 60-90 feet of water, close to the bottom. First light has seen some salmon bites the past few trips, and hopefully salmon action will continue to pick up as August rolls in.
Capt. Adam Collett

Lake Trout Jigging

West & East Grand Traverse Bay

Jigging has been very good lately, with many bites per outing. Larger jigging spoons have produced better recently, with most bites coming from 70-85 feet of water. Depending upon the current in the bays, fish have been caught as shallow as 50 feet, and as deep as 125 feet. Lots of fish right around the 20" minimum are coming boat-side, as well as plenty of fish above the 25" slot limit, providing steady action. Anglers are allowed to keep 1 fish over 25" on the Bays, and we have seen quite a few fish over 10 pounds. Anglers may have to hunt around a bit to find the bigger fish but the time can be well worth it when the bigger fish are found in 65-85 feet of water.
Capt. Ben Wolfe

Platte Bays

Lake trout jigging has been mostly good, with some very big trout being caught when they can be located. Fish here are a little more subject to fluctuating water temperatures, as Platte Bay is on the main portion of Lake Michigan, just north of Frankfort. When the lake trout are active and happy, they can be targeted in 65-85 feet of water. Jigging down to 100 or even 120 feet can produce when the fish get a little pickier. Jigging spoons in a variety of colors and sizes have all worked well as of late.
Capt. Ben Wolfe

River Fishing

Big Manistee River

The river temperature is still approx. 67 degrees. Trout at the Tippy Dam can still be taken on fly and gear presentations. Small streamers will do best for fly anglers preferring to fish during the middle of the day, while caddis flies are showing in the early evenings, providing great action on dry flies. Small mouth bass remain active in the river, readily chasing soft plastics and weighted flies like clousers. Summer steelhead are also showing themselves, with impressive aerial displays and runs when hooked.
Capt. Jeff Mallory

Au Sable River

Mousing has been very productive at night with savage strikes in key stretches. Tricos are going strong in early mornings. Browns have been active. Fishing for browns has been good, followed by blue winged olives aka BWOs.
Guide Bear Andrews

Boardman River

The streamer bite was good on the Boardman River several days ago, with the best action picking up after dusk.
Guide Bear Andrews

Upper Manistee River

There is some late hex activity on the upper Manistee, below 612 providing fly anglers a last few attempts at fishing the big mayfly patterns. Terrestrials are starting to play a role as well.
Guide Bear Andrews

Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass

Grand Traverse Bays

Fishing on GT Bays remains very good, even as fish are transitioning to deep water for summer. Drop shot rigs continue to be a key presentation as the fish drop into their deep water patterns. When there is wind, the fish may come shallow, providing anglers with a nice shallow-water bite. Shallow is a relative term here on the Bays, meaning water ranging from 4 feet to 14 feet or so. Spinnerbaits work well when it’s windy, and finesse presentations when it’s calm. Natural colors tend to work best in the super-clear waters of the bays, but there are times when a bright color can provoke a reaction strike from aggressive smallmouth bass.
Capt. Ben Wolfe

Inland Lakes

Bass fishing on the inland lakes, whether it is for largemouth or smallmouth, is always a bit slower during the summer. Deep weed edges are the ticket to finding summertime bass here in northern Michigan. Presentations like bladed jigs work well for largemouths, while double willow spinnerbaits work better for smallies when it’s windy. Dropshot rigs or jigs presented adjacent to the weed edge or ripped through the weeds can lead to some thunderous strikes. While summer bass fishing on the inland lakes can be tougher, big fish can still be caught, as evidenced by a 6.56 pound smallie caught on Lake Leelanau a couple of days ago.
Capt. Ben Wolfe

Michigan River Fishing Report 04.28.2014

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It’s an exciting time here in Michigan, and the fishing possibilities are now seemingly boundless. Last week saw the ice finally melt in northern Michigan, and with the recent inland lakes and river walleye opener, the bass catch & immediate release opener, as well as the trout opener, opportunities for anxious anglers are huge. With so much ice covering the water until several days ago, anglers have been chomping at the bit to get out, and now they finally have their chance.

Rivers

The Big Manistee River is fishing well, despite the record high water levels from a couple of weeks ago. The water is still incredibly muddy, but the fish are there, and are biting. Many large steelhead are being caught, on beads as well as flies. Several fish in the mid- to upper-teens weight-wise have been landed, and many of these fish are still bright chrome, meaning they are fresh into the river. Trout in the Manistee are also feeding, and with steelhead fanning the gravel to make their spawning redds, bugs like stoneflies are being dislodged and the trout are gorging. It’s surprising that the fish can see anything in the dirty water, but even though the clarity doesn’t seem good to us, the steelhead and trout don’t seem to be too bothered. Brown trout, resident rainbow trout, and planter smolts have even been taking bugs off of the surface, so obviously they can see in the water better than we can!

Sturgeon showed up a couple of days ago on the Manistee, and one of our Wolfe Outfitters trips from this past weekend had the excitement of battling 2 of these prehistoric fish, despite not being able to land them. Bank anglers around Tippy Dam have also been hooking these behemoths, which are in the river for their annual spawn.

The Platte River got a small push of steelhead, but many of the anglers fishing its waters fished for walleye the day of the opener. Walleye spawning was delayed because of the slow, cold spring, and in conjunction with the walleye opener this past weekend, anglers were able to target and catch these awesome tasting fish. The Betsie River is still stained, and many of the fish are now above the Homestead dam.

Big Lake

Anglers fishing the big lake down by St. Joseph have been catching king and coho salmon, with hot action as the weather permits. Up by Frankfort, the brown trout are biting, and the fish are averaging a respectable 4-6 pounds. Trolling body baits has been the ticket of late, and early morning and evening seem to be the best times.

Grand Traverse Bays just had ice out and, in fact, there is still slush floating on the water. A few anglers have been getting out, trolling the deep breaks. The water is very cold, and with a few nice sunny days, the fishing should start to get better.

Inland Lakes

Waters are still extremely cold, and it has been windy. Despite that, boats have been getting out on the smaller inland lakes, fishing for walleyes and perch. It has been an incredibly long winter, and it’s almost May, so anglers are bound and determined to make the most of the now open water!

The smaller lakes in northern Michigan will warm faster with some sun than will the larger lakes like Torch, Elk, and Crystal Lake. Steep breaks, old weed lines and medium-depth flats are likely targets for a variety of species, including walleyes, bass, northern pike and panfish. Lake St. Clair in Southeast Michigan is now open for catch & immediate release bass fishing, and from the sounds of it, the fishing is getting better and better. This is the time to fish prespawn bass, and the big ones are feeding heavily.

Michigan River Fishing Report 03.25.14

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It’s true!  The recent warmer weather brought a small push of steelhead into the rivers, and this is just the beginning!    The cold nights and warmer days are melting snow at a great pace to keep the rivers fishing well without flooding.

Steelhead this year are running larger on average, thrilling anglers and our guide customers alike.   Bobbers have been the better way to go so far this spring so far, but Backbouncing spawn along the bottom has produced great results as well.

Word has gotten out that there are steelhead in rivers like the Big Manistee, and as a result, more and more anglers are showing up to take advantage of the angling opportunities.   Coupled with the brutally cold weather the winter through at northern Michigan, soft water anglers are itching to get back on the water.

Waters like the Manistee have anglers fishing up by Tippy Dam, for not only steelhead, but for the brown and rainbow trout that find their way up to the dam to take advantage of the food supply that clusters close to the dam.   Anglers have found fish downriver at Highbridge, Bear Creek and even Rainbow Bend.   With fish spreading out throughout the river, this bodes well to spread out the angling pressure as well.

Smaller rivers northward haven’t seen as many fish returning yet, but with as much ice as there is still on the lakes, and even on Lake Michigan, the run is just in its beginning stages.

Michigan March Steelhead

It may be cold out there, but big Steelhead are biting in the rivers!

 

March 19, 2014

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River fishing on the Lake Michigan tributaries has been decent for steelhead, but far from stellar. The run is just beginning in earnest on the smaller rivers that host a run of steelhead. Larger rivers like the Big Manistee have better numbers of fresh steelhead, with the bulk of the run still yet to come. The size of the steelhead this year is impressive, and anglers targeting these powerful fish will be pleased with their catches, even if numbers overall aren’t high. A recent trip out saw a near 18 pounder come to net for a few photos with an ecstatic customer before happily swimming away after release.

The slow thaw has many anglers breathing a sigh of relief, with water levels slowly rising, as opposed to the quick thaw and flood stage scenario that many feared. This is setting up for another great spring of steelhead fishing, that will likely last into late April as it did last year. Planter brown trout have also been caught recently, mostly on spawn. River waters are still very cold, with ice chunks banging into fishing lines.

As we look forward to the remainder of spring, expect a great push of steelhead into the Lake Michigan tributaries. While light lines are the norm for steelhead, they seem to be running large and angry, so a slight beefing up in line size might not be a bad thing.

March 12, 2014

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River Report:  The Big Manistee is starting to loosen up some of its icy grip, and this has both anglers and steelhead moving about.    A recent trip saw several nice adult steelhead come boat side, including some bright fresh fish.    Several nice brown trout were also caught, mixed in with some skipper steelhead.   With the gradual warmup, the snow and ice is melting at a nice pace, without blowing out the river, as was the concern with all of the snow we’ve had this winter.    The sun is out, the temperatures are warming, and spirits are high.    There is a little stain to the water, with the snow and ice melt, but visibility is near perfect for good steelhead conditions on the Manistee.

Other area rivers are beginning to thaw out as well, and anglers are starting to see some decent steelhead action on those rivers as well.