7/26/2018 Upper Peninsula, Michigan Fishing Report

Wind and rain have made fishing difficult especially on the Great Lakes.  Walleye were found in deeper water in Saginaw Bay and Lake Erie.  The pike and muskie bite has picked up.  The inland lakes continue to produce panfish, bass, pike, catfish, bowfin and some walleye.  

Upper Peninsula

Lac Vieux Desert:  Legal walleye were taken on natural baits in deeper water.  Perch anglers jigging in 10 to 15 feet caught sub-legal walleye.  Pike and largemouth bass were found in three to four feet along the weed beds with spinners, crank baits and top-water lures.  A couple muskie were caught here and there. Panfish anglers continued to catch limits of bluegills, crappie and perch but were doing a lot of sorting to get the keepers.  Natural and artificial baits did best in six to 12 feet over the weed beds.  

Little Bay De Noc:  Walleye anglers reported spotty catches with most targeting the Escanaba River area or south near Breezy Point.  Anglers are still reporting a lot of undersize fish in the Escanaba River but better reports in the “Black Bottom” when trolling or drifting a crawler harness in 14 to 26 feet and near Breezy Point in 16 feet.  Fair to good perch catches off the mouth of the Escanaba River with crawlers in and around 18 feet, and just south of the “Narrows” in 28 to 32 feet.  Smallmouth bass anglers reported fair to good catches from Hunters Point to Squaw Point using plastics or crank baits in 10 to 14 feet, Gladstone area near US-2 and south to the Escanaba River in eight to 16 feet.  Good catches near the Ford River but many were small.  Those targeting pike did well off the mouth of the Day's River trolling spoons, spinners or crank baits in and around 20 feet.  Salmon anglers reported a few catches 50 feet down in 100 feet near the Minneapolis Shoals.   

• A good source of up to date Little Bay De Noc Fishing reports is to follow the this page on facebook: Little Bay De Noc Fishing Reports

Big Bay De Noc:   Had all smallmouth anglers.  The Nahma area off the Golf course was good with plastics in eight to 10 feet along the weeds.  Ogontz was on fire with good numbers of large fish along the weed lines as far south as Martins Bay.  Several anglers caught and released as many as 40 large fish.  Most of the bass were still in shallower water.  At Fairport, salmon anglers were getting fish but not many limit catches when using spoons 50 to 60 feet down in 105 feet off Big Summers Island.  Some found fish 60 to 70 feet down in 140 feet.  A good number of fish were 20 pounds and more.  

Marquette:  Fishing pressure was down after the cold windy weather.  Before that, good numbers of lake trout were caught when trolling near Granite Island.  Orange was a good color.  The bite was good out near Stannard Rock however they were not getting the large fish that the reef is known for.  

Au Train:  The better fishing was along the east bank near Au Train Island in 160 feet.  The fish were suspended throughout the water column so troll multiple lines at different depths. 

Munising:  Had few anglers because of the weather.  Those heading out did catch a couple lake trout.  Pier fishing was slow.

Grand Marais:  Lake trout anglers did well taking limit catches off the breaks near Five Mile Reef.  Pier fishing was slow however when the northwest winds were favorable, anglers did manage to take a few limit catches of whitefish.  

St. Marys River:  Cisco catches were very good on the Drummond Island side where the best islands to fish were Big Trout, Little Trout, Maple, Butterfield and Burnt with brown or red tear-drops tipped with a wax worm or natural Cadis fly baits.  Focus on the south side of the islands and just two cranks off the bottom in 20 feet.  Lake whitefish and a few Menominee were also caught. No reports of cisco being caught at Lime Island or Round Island in Raber Bay.  Walleye were in eight to 12 feet on the north side of Lime Island and hitting crank baits early or late in eight to 12 feet.  Those trolling a crawler harness and bottom bouncer over the rock piles at Round Island caught walleye.  

Detour:  Continues to have excellent fishing at the Detour Reef and the lighthouse as water temperatures were holding steady compared to other areas in Lake Huron.  Anglers caught eight to 10 pound Chinook, seven to nine pound Atlantic salmon, and lake trout 24 to 29 inches.  Chinook and lake trout were caught 55 feet down in 80 feet with black and purple spoons and the Atlantics 20 feet down in over 60 feet with orange and gold spoons when trolling between 3-3.5 miles per hour.  The thermocline at the Detour Reef was 55 feet down in 80 feet.  

Cedarville and Hessel:  There were no reports of any yellow perch caught in Cedarville Bay recently.  Pike fishing was good in the early morning until about 9 a.m.  Try Musky Bay, Conner’s Point to Little La Salle Island and Urie Bay when trolling copper colored crank baits just off the weed beds in eight to 12 feet.  Snows Channel was good early morning or late afternoon until dark when trolling black bucktail spinners with yellow spotted blades.  Fish were taken on creek chubs in four to six feet along the weed beds in Duck Bay.  A few yellow perch were caught from the finger docks in the Hessel Marina with a piece of crawler and slip bobber.  A couple splake were caught along the southwest side of Marquette Island at Coates Pointe when trolling or jigging a hammered copper spoon in 12 to 14 feet.  For splake, look for rocky structure in water that is between 48 and 55 degrees.