BIG RAPIDS – Recent rainy weather is likely to have an impact on fishing.
In Mecosta County, fishing “was pretty good before we got all this rain,” Tanner Havens of Frank’s Sporting Goods said. “That’s going to kind of slow it down and blow it all out. It’s starting to pick up. They’re getting a few (crappies) from what I’ve heard. I haven’t heard about the perch. I’ve heard they’re catching walleyes on the river. I had a guy come in who said there’s a lot of 13- and 14-inchers out there.
“With this warm rain, there should be some skamania coming up which is basically summer run steelhead. They should be getting them at Croton Dam.”
In Osceola County, Brad Cox from Big Buck Country Sports in Leroy said anglers continue to come from all over and said the recent rains should help with trout fishing.
In northwest Michigan, anglers at Frankfort trolling in 100 to 150 feet of water and setting lures 70 to 100 feet down trolling south to the herring hole are reporting small Kings in the area, the DNR said.
“It’s been windy,” Christine Murphy, of the Frankfort Tackle Box said. “Brian (Murphy) got out Wednesday morning and then Tuesday and Monday. They limited out. It’s good fishing out there when you can get out.”
Anglers trolling and jigging north off Point Betsie are reporting good numbers of lake trout hitting on spin-n-glows and swedish pimples. Steelhead near the surface are hitting on orange spoons. Water temperatures are climbing, and bait pods have been reported in several areas.
Anglers are advised to try running a high line with an orange spoon for that occasional steelhead.
The bank at Onekama is picking up with activity, and anglers are reporting very good lake trout catches with a couple kings and steelhead mixed in.
Spoons and flies have been working best with blue and green the most popular colors. Anglers should try sticking with the bait pods.
“We have a few skamania coming into the river,” Bud Fitzgerald, of Tangle Tackle Co., of Manistee said. “There’s very few lake trout. I haven’t seen any summer fishing show up yet, but probably soon.”
Salmon fishing was mostly slow at Manistee. A couple scattered kings were caught along the shelf in 120 to 200 feet of water. Steelhead were caught in the top 30 feet and lake trout were caught in around 100 feet of water. A few steelhead were caught on the north pier using alewife and shrimp, and a few cisco were caught on spoons, the DNR said.
Steelhead catches have been consistent at both ports so anglers fish a spoon high up in the water column to maximize your potential catch.
At Ludington, salmon fishing was slow although a couple kings were caught near Big Sable Point. Steelhead and lake trout fishing was better. Steelhead were in the top 30 feet from 70 out to 200 to 300 feet of water the DNR added. The piers were slow. Most of the action has been around Big Sable Point. The Ludington Bouy is a great source of information to get up-to-date lake temperatures and wave conditions, the DNR said.
“Its been slow for the salmon, steelhead and trout on Lake Michigan,” Corey Houser of Captain Chuck’s in Ludington said. “They’ve been finding a few walleyes on Hamlin. The fly hatch has been slowing them down. The same with bluegills and crappies. Trout fishing on the Pere Marquette River has been pretty good with the fly hatches.”
Fishing Tip: Fishing deep for post-spawn bluegill
Courtesy of the Michigan DNR
After spawning, bluegills will move to deeper water for the rest of the summer, and larger bluegills can be hard to locate. They can be found living near the top of the thermocline (the layer of water between the deep and surface water), where water temperatures approach 69 degrees. Depending on the lake, this depth usually will be somewhere between 12 and 18 feet.
To locate this depth, either use a lake thermometer, available at most larger tackle stores, or contact the nearest DNR office. If the lake has a public access site, fisheries biologists will have surveyed it and will have a temperature-oxygen profile of the lake. This chart will identify the depth with a temperature near 69 degrees.
Try fishing at this depth, where the 69-degree temperature is close to the bottom – usually at the deep edge of weed beds. Use light line (4-pound test or less) tipped with a white ice-fishing teardrop jig baited with a wax worm. Some anglers use slip bobbers, while others fish European style with very long fiberglass poles. Early morning and dusk are most productive.
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