Weekly Fishing Report: April 20, 2022

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Weekly Fishing Report - April 20, 2022

fishing map Southwest Lower Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report Southeast Lower Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report Northeast Lower Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report Northwest Lower Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report Upper Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report

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Southeast Lower Peninsula

Lake Erie: Walleye were caught roughly five miles out from Bartnik boat launch at Sterling State Park towards Stoney Point in about 16 feet of water while trolling with tiger bandit artificial lures. Anglers should try setting trolling speeds for 1.5mph and work 15 to 18 feet with anything warm colored or gold metallic on a day with good sunlight for good results

Detroit River: Anglers were reporting limits of walleye. Water between the steel mill and Mud Island in Ecorse was a great spot, but all points along the river were decent. Anglers had the most luck in 16 to 30 feet of water. Red, green and black were hot colors and plastics worked better than live bait. Anglers targeting white bass were doing well.

Saginaw Bay: A few walleye were caught on the east side of Spoils Island while trolling with crank baits. Fishing for yellow perch was slow with mostly small fish caught from Quanicassee all the way to Caseville. Anglers that did best only had a handful of keepers. Anglers were starting to get a few panfish in the area cuts and rivers.

Port Sanilac: Anglers did well fishing for coho salmon with an occasional steelhead caught off the pier. Boat anglers were catching good numbers of coho while trolling both north of Port Sanilac, off White Rock in 17 to 25 feet of water, and two miles south of Port Sanilac in 10 to 15 feet of water. Anglers were doing best while trolling with planer boards and jointed Flicker Shad's. Pier anglers were also doing well in Port Sanilac picking up a few coho and an occasional steelhead while casting Krocodile spoons off the north pier.

Harbor Beach: Coho salmon, steelhead and lake trout were showing up in shallow water, 8 to 14 feet, using body baits with planer boards. Pier anglers were catching coho salmon while casting artificial lures from the break wall.

Lexington: Boats trolling for salmon and trout were doing well, some better than others. Anglers were fishing shallow, 8 to 12 feet, using boards with body baits. An occasional walleye was caught along with salmon and trout. A few perch, coho, steelhead and Atlantic salmon were caught using a variety of small body baits, minnows and wax worms.

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Southwest Lower Peninsula

St. Joseph: Pier fishing was slow for coho but some were caught on spawn. The few boats that made it out had to fish around the piers. There were a few coho caught by trollers while using crankbaits.

South Haven: Pier fishing was very slow for coho and trout. The few boats that made it out were catching lake trout in 60 feet of water.

Muskegon: The pier action slowed down for brown trout and steelhead. A few round whitefish were caught on spawn.

Grand Haven: The brown trout action was slow on the pier. When weather conditions allowed, boat anglers found the yellow perch action to be slow.

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Northeast Lower Peninsula

Tawas: Anglers caught some brown trout, lake trout, coho salmon and walleye while using body baits in 10 to 20 feet near the artificial reef and inside Tawas Point. A few walleye, smallmouth bass and northern pike were caught in the Tawas River at Gateway Park while casting jigs tipped with plastics and some suckers were caught off crawlers.

Rogers City: The launch docks were in. A couple of boats made it out but had nothing to report. Anglers may want to try casting from the breakwall. Use orange and gold spoons with silver on them or chartreuse and silver spoons.

Alpena: Boat anglers were trolling the river mouth with limited success for lake trout and Atlantic salmon. Spoons and body baits were the best choice. The best depths were inside 30 feet and staying in the river plume. A few anglers ventured behind the plant and caught an occasional brown and Atlantic salmon. An angler targeting smallmouth bass fished Squaw Bay and caught a good number of pike.

Thunder Bay River: One chute at the dam remained open and the water was high, muddy and very fast. A couple steelhead were caught. Anglers did best when bottom bouncing spawn either on the bottom or under a float.

Au Gres: There were some good catches of walleye out near Pt. Lookout in 10 to 20 feet of water off body baits. Some walleye were caught down near the mouth of the Rifle River in 5 to 10 feet of water off body baits.

Singing Bridge Access: Anglers reported that the steelhead fishing was slow.

Eagle Bay Marina: Perch fishing slowed down as most of the fish have spawned. There were a few caught in the marina off minnows as well as some bluegill and crappies caught off minnows and waxworms.

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Northwest Lower Peninsula

Portage Lake: The lake was completely free of ice but due to high winds anglers did not venture out.

Manistee: Fishing was slow but a few brown trout, lake trout and coho were caught while trolling the shorelines. A couple steelhead and a coho were caught off the north pier while using spawn. A few brown trout were caught off the south pier before the high winds set in during the week.

Ludington: Fishing was slow for the most part, but a couple brown trout were caught near the harbor. Fishing at the piers was slow too.

Frankfort: Anglers were fishing on the ice free breakwall. Catches were very slow as water temperatures remained on the cold side.

Little Traverse Bay: The ice was starting to shrink at shore and thin a bit. Steelhead fishing was slow. The area inside of the breakwall and around the city dock was mostly open water and the rocks were clear of snow and ice. There were a few anglers fishing along the beach inside the breakwall. There were a few steelhead caught off the breakwall on spawn.

Bear River: Steelhead anglers were concentrating mainly on the area at the mouth of the Bear River. Anglers were catching a few steelhead, with a couple of small brown and brook trout mixed in. There were also a couple pike around at the mouth of the river, and suckers are moving in but still in low numbers. Suckers were caught all the way up to the dam. Most anglers were using spawn bags or beads.

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Upper Peninsula

Smelt runs have not yet started in the Upper Peninsula. Many areas along the lakeshores of Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan still have ice formations in front of and near river mouths. Cold temperatures and slow snowmelt in most areas have slowed the progression and timing of smelt runs. In some locations along Lake Superior, ice anglers were still catching smelt through the ice.

Little Bay de Noc: Most of the bay had open water. Anglers are waiting for the docks to be put in and the remaining ice to clear out.

Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers were fishing mostly in river mouths and from piers in search of spring steelhead. Some anglers found success with spinners, yarn flies and spawn sacks. Water was becoming more open in most areas.

South Portage Entry/ Big Traverse Bay: Some anglers were fishing from piers in areas where ice was not along the shore, however these areas are few and far between. Anglers looking to catch fish off Superior may still have some success fishing river mouths while the snow melt and precipitation rises river levels.

Munising Bay: A few anglers reported catches of coho with a few splake as incidental catches. A few boats launched near the Anna as there was some limited open water. Sand Pt was not fishable through the ice as there were large cracks and open water starting in the channel. Ice was moving near the public launch and other access points.

Grand Marais: There was some fishing activity on the Sucker River, however still limited as the entire shoreline had ice. River levels were high with strong current. A few pier anglers were doing well for coho and rainbow trout with the rainbows consisting of females and males – averaging around 2 to 6 lbs. The best bait was spawn. A few pier anglers were starting to target whitefish while fishing single eggs with a few limits reported. Pier access was somewhat limited depending on which direction the wind was blowing as there was substantial ice flows which were preventing access. The end of the pier was not accessible.

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Fishing Tip:

What’s this oily sheen in the water? If it shatters when you poke it with a stick, it’s likely due to natural bacterial processes. If it clings together, take a picture, note your location and report it to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS).

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This report is intended to give you an idea of what is going on around the state. Updates come from Fisheries staff and conservation officers. With more than 11,000 inland lakes, the Great Lakes and thousands of miles of rivers and streams, not all locations can be listed. However, it is safe to say if a species is being caught in some waters in the area, they are likely being caught in all waters in that section of the state that have that species.