Lake Michigan Fishing, Lake Michigan Salmon Fishing, Lake Michigan Fishing Charters


Lake Michigan Fishing * Lake Michigan Salmon Fishing * Lake Michigan Fishing Charters * Lake Michigan Charters

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Lake Michigan Fishing

Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located entirely within the United States. Nearly 119 miles wide and over 380 miles long, Lake Michigan has more than 1,600 miles of beautiful shoreline. Averaging 275 feet in depth, Lake Michigan reaches 928 feet at its deepest point. Lake Michigan is the 5th largest lake in the World.

Lake Michigan is known for its world-class Trout and Salmon fisheries, and also features a strong Whitefish, Walleye, Large and Smallmouth Bass, Steelhead and Yellow Perch fishery.

Lake Michigan Fishing Records

Brown Trout - 21.68 lbs

Chinook Salmon - 32.75 lbs

Coho Salmon - 16.25 lbs

Lake Trout - 22.12 lbs

Rainbow Trout - 19.84 lbs

Lake Michigan Fishing Report

South Haven - Boat anglers are catching good numbers of chinook salmon when trolling in waters 30 to 80 feet deep. Pier fishing has been fair with summer run skamania hitting on spoons in the early morning. Perch fishing remains good when using minnows in 20 to 30 feet of water.

Grand Haven - Boat anglers are starting to catch a few chinook salmon when trolling in waters up to 150 feet deep. Lake trout were caught shallow while the chinook were caught out deep. Downriggers were set about 55 feet down with spoons such as the Dolphin. Carmel and blue were good colors. Pier fishing shut down due to the lack of baitfish around the piers. Perch were caught south of the port in 50 to 70 feet of water but many were small.

Muskegon - Lots of whitefish have been caught off the pier and along the channel. Anglers have caught some steelhead off the piers when drifting or floating small spawn bags. Orange has been a good color.

Charlevoix - Salmon were taken at various depths when trolling spoons with flies off North Point in the early morning. A good number of fish were taken about 80 feet down and those fish ranged between 7 and 14 pounds.

Traverse City - In the East Bay, those fishing off Dock Road in the early morning have caught some brown trout and steelhead. West winds in this location have improved the fishing. Whitefish have been caught off the white wall along the southern end of the bay. Jigging worked best. Lake trout fishing has been excellent with limit catches taken. Many fish were over 25 inches.

Manistee - High winds have made fishing on the big lake a challenge however a few browns were caught by boat and pier anglers. Some perch were also caught.

Lake Michigan Chinook Salmon Fishing Tips

Chinook salmon in the twelve to seventeen pound class are a regular part of most Lake Michigan trips. Big Chinook Salmon are a cold water species so look for them in temperatures below 45 degrees. The exception is when they come into spawn. At this point in their life temperature is not important. Keep your baits in 45-degree temperature and you will increase your odds on the big salmon.

Several methods are used for Lake Michigan salmon trolling. Downriggers are a popular method to run tackle with many variations possible. In sunny conditions increase your downrigger leads to 100 feet or more. By running long leads you work water undisturbed by noise and turbulence of the boat.

Leadcore is another good choice on Lake Michigan. A weighted line with a fluorocarbon leader is attached to a planer board. The planer board is run well off to the side of the boat out of the travel path. Leadcore is graduated to allow five feet of depth for every color. Five colors will run lures approximately 25 feet down 10 colors fifty feet and so on. This allows you to fish any depth you want and is a killer for huge kings.

Chinook live four and a half years and it makes sense that they will be the biggest at the end of their life cycle. These monsters will be the most aggressive and easiest to get in the months of July thru September.

Lake Michigan Fishing Species

Lake Michigan Chinook Salmon