Curly's Photo and Fishing Blog
Fishing Report for Northern Michigan 7/10/08
We had a great holiday with lots of people and boat traffic, so the fishing was slow but will pick up as the holiday rush is over. The thermometer is rising, warming the waters and creating for improved angling action in many locations.
Grand Traverse Bay has been good for lake trout with the whitefish moving into deeper water
Lake St. Helen has been good this week with bass and bluegill biting.
Lake Missaukee - Is producing some nice panfish also walleye and bass.
Little Bay De Noc - Walleye have been caught off Breezy Point when trolling or drifting crawlers just off the break in 10 to 14 feet of water. Best fishing was in the early morning or late evening. Gladstone has produced several nice catches of walleye and perch for those jigging or trolling with crawlers in 20 to 30 feet of water. Good smallmouth action near the mouth of the Ford River when casting spinners or crank baits. Good perch fishing was reported around Garth Point when jigging in 10 to 20 feet of water.
Big Bay De Noc - Walleye anglers reported the best catches off Garden Bluff in 20 to 30 feet of water when trolling or drifting crawlers. Good fishing from Ansell’s Point out to the “Boot” and south to Big Bay Reef when trolling crawlers in 20 to 25 feet of water. Good smallmouth action in Garden Bay when casting crank baits or spinners along the weeds. From Fairport, salmon action is starting to pick up. Those trolling 80 to 90 feet down in waters up to 105 feet deep have done well with cut bait. Steelhead could be found about 30 feet down.
Brevoort Lake - Anglers are still catching walleye. Walleye are hitting on crawlers.
Manistique has been good for fishing. Walleye and bass are decent.
Skegemog Lake - The bass are still hitting on the east side of the lake near the mouth of the Torch River and on the west side between the public access site and the Narrows. A few pike were also caught. Rock bass have been caught all over the lake when using spinners or crawlers in 5 to 20 feet of water and bluegills are hitting on crawlers.
Big Glen Lake - Perch are still the favorite and can be found on the east end of the lake near the ski area. The mayflies are finally gone and the trout are hungry. Anglers have once again caught several lake trout and rainbow trout when trolling in 50 to 100 feet of water. The lake trout are hitting on green and black spoons and the rainbow trout on silver rapalas.
Little Glen Lake - Perch anglers are doing well on the west end of the lake.
Around Grayling, The walleye are biting on Lake Margrethe with Pike fishing sporadic on inland lakes and river fishing is fair to good with live bait, Hendricksonâ??s, and flies.
Hamlin Lake - Panfish and bass are being caught in moderate numbers..
Wixom Lake - In Gladwin County is producing some nice rock bass.
Lake Charlevoix - Perch anglers are finding fish at 30 feet but they are small. The bass are off the beds and along the drop offs. Those fishing the channel of the Pine River have caught smallmouth using live bait and artificial worms. Freshwater drum and catfish are also starting to show up.
Saginaw Bay - Walleye fishing in the bay has been incredible with lots of limit catches taken. Crawler harnesses and Hot-n-Tots were taking most of the fish, but some anglers were also using small spoons. Anglers from Standish, Pinconning, Linwood, and Bay City were fishing 20 to 24 feet of water near the Black Hole or the shipping channel between Buoys 1 and 12. For the east side of the bay, the Slot and 10 to 12 feet of water out on the Bar (the area between the Slot and the middle of the bay) were producing well for anglers coming out of Quanicassee, Sebewaing, Bay Port, and Caseville. As far as walleye fishing goes, it just doesn’t get any better than this!
Upper Herring Lake - Walleye and largemouth bass have been caught during the day when trolling the weeds with either a crawler harness or a plastic worm.
Long Lake - The walleye are hitting on crawler harnesses after dark. Also Lake Leelanau has reported in with a good walleye bite. Warmer weather walleye are hittiing leeches real good
Portage Lake - Bass anglers are catching good numbers of fish along the south shore. Big bluegills can be found in waters 15 to 20 feet deep. Boat anglers trolling in the afternoon have caught small walleye and those trolling after dark are catching a mix of walleye and pike. Lots of small perch and rock bass have also been caught.
Hamlin Lake - Fishing has slowed due to the mayfly hatch. Anglers targeting bluegills are having a tough time finding fish willing to bite. Those fishing the North, Middle and South Bayou’s have caught some fish using wax worms or a piece of crawler but the better action seems to be up around Wilson Hill Park and the Boy Scout Camp in 8 to 12 feet of water. Smallmouth bass were caught in 10 to 15 feet of water on Lower Hamlin’s east side when using tube baits near the bottom.
Muskegon Lake - Boat anglers are catching walleye at night. Both boat and shore anglers are catching bass and bluegills.
Whitehall - Fishing has picked up with a few more chinook and lake trout coming in, but they have been small. The fish were caught in 80 to 120 feet of water and the lake trout were coming off the bottom.
White Lake - Walleye have been caught early or late when trolling or drifting. Look for both large and smallmouth bass around the points and along the weedbeds. For northern pike, try trolling with large spoons or plugs, casting into the weeds or bobber fishing with large sucker minnows..
East & West Twin Lakes - has picked up for walleye and bass with leeches and crwlers working best..
Houghton Lake - Fishing has been great with lots of walleye being caught but many are small
Tittabawassee River - The lower river continues to produce very good walleye fishing around the Center Road access site. A lot of smallmouth bass have been caught and released and a lot of white bass have been caught.
Upper Peninsula:
Around the Bergland area trolling seems to be working well for anglers fishing for walleye with crank baits, some perch are also hitting which is unusual. Lake Gogebic has a mayfly hatch taking place currently.
Around Escanaba, Little Bay DeNoc is really good for walleye just about everywhere on the Bay, including the north end and the reefs. Ford River is also giving up plenty of walleye. Anglers are floating with jigs. The salmon action is very good all over Fairport and the south end of Escanaba and Cedar River.
Manistique anglers are hitting Lake Michigan for most fishing action about 5-7 miles out in 80-feet of water for salmon. Big spoons are working well and silver particularly. Indian lake is giving up decent catches of blue gill still on beds.
Sault Ste. Marie anglers are catching a few herring out of Raber Bay and Cedarville. Tear drops and wax worms seem to be working well.
Around St. Ignace, Brevort Lake activity has slowed due to a mayfly hatch and a few salmon are hitting in Moran Bay.
Munuscong Bay has a variety of fish being reeled in that includes walleye, pike and perch on wax worms, night crawlers and orange, chartreuse and purple leeches. Herring are active around Lima Island.
Scottâ??s Bay near Drummond Island is good for decent herring activity, while the walleye fishing is a bit slow. Pike are active just about everywhere on Pontaganissing Bay on chubs and lures. Only a few salmon are being caught.
Northwest:
Around the Frankfort area, anglers are going out fairly far in Lake Michigan for decent catches of salmon and steelhead using imitation baits. The Platt River is providing good catches of blue gill, brook trout, small mouth bass and a few walleye. Live baits, crawlers, worms and wax worms are working well. The Betsie River is giving up decent numbers of brown trout.
In the Alanson area, Crooked Lake has warmed up bringing fish to the surface. Perch, walleye and a few bass are hitting on crawlers.
Manistee anglers are doing well in Lake Michigan for salmon in 80 feet of water and fishing in the top 50 for best results. Fish catchers, spin doctors, flies and spoons seem to work best. The Big Manistee River has blue gill setting up in 12-feet of water.
In the Kalkaska area, Manistee Lake and Lake Margrethe anglers are doing well for walleye, and perch are decent on leeches and baby crawlers. Kettle Lake is providing decent numbers of blue gill and Lake Skegemog is giving up plenty of bass on spinner baits and Rapalas.
Around the Cadillac area good fishing is taking place on both Cadillac and Mitchell lakes. Bass are active, and crappie are hitting on minnows and beetle spinners in the early morning hours. Pike are just about everywhere on both lakes and in the 26-30 inch range.
Around the Gaylord area, the Manistee and Black rivers are great for walleye and bass. Otsego Lake is good for bass and walleye when anglers troll and use jigs tipped with night crawlers. Lake Margrethe is giving up nice counts of walleye and bass on Rapalas.
West:
In the Baldwin area anglers are busy catching just about everything on the river. Pan fish are active in the shallow waters and worms, crawlers and flies are working well.
Chippewa Lake has had too much boat traffic causing for fishing activity to slow a bit. Blue gill and some pike are active.
In the Muskegon area, despite rainy weather anglers are doing well on Lake Michigan in 80-130 feet of water for salmon. Anglers are fishing 60-90 feet down and doing the best in the early morning hours or later in the evening. The best baits include glow in the dark, watermelon spoons and caramel, green and blue dolphins. Muskegon Lake is giving up plenty of yellow belly perch on minnows and bass mostly around the marinas.
Southwest:
Angling activity has been slow this week in the Holland area, but anglers getting out on Lake Michigan are finding that some perch are biting in 30-40 feet of water on minnows or cut bait. Salmon are decent in the evening hours between 9-10 p.m. fishing in 70-120 feet of water
Weather slowed activity in the Benton Harbor area this week, but aggressive anglers that did get out caught decent numbers of Coho salmon on varied colors of green lures.
Some large sized salmon are being caught around the New Buffalo area off of the Harbor in 100-150 feet of water when using orange spoons. Minnows are doing the job on perch in 27-28 feet of water.
Around the Three Rivers area bass, crappie and a few perch are hitting on red wiggles and wax worms.
Northeast:
Around Alpena, bass and walleye action is good when anglers use crawler harnesses. Lakers and salmon are hitting near the 9 Mile can on a variety of spoons. Walleye are on the move in Thunder Bay and hitting on night crawlers and leeches.
Higgins Lake is much improved this week with rock and small mouth bass hitting near Sunken Island. Lakers are active near the North State Park on Rapalas and spoons, and plenty of perch are hitting, however they are very small in size.
Excellent angling action in the Oscoda area, walleye, blue gill and crappie are abundant on Cooke Dam Pond. Foote Dam Pond is giving up good numbers of pike, perch, bass and a few walleye. Van Etten Lake is providing decent catches of pike, perch and walleye and the AuSable River has some great fishing taking place for catfish, walleye and a few perch. A variety of baits are working well that include Cray fish, minnows, night crawlers and leeches.
Good action on Houghton Lake especially around the weed beds where most fish are being caught. Walleye, bass and blue gill are hitting on wax worms, Hot N Tots and crawlers.
East:
Bay City and Linwood anglers are doing very well on walleye and reeling in limits in very short timeframe. Trolling works well when using crawler harnesses, some anglers are getting decent results with spoons. The average walleye ranges between 17-22 inches. Catfish are active around Quanicassee.
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