Northeast Lower Peninsula

Presque Isle: Anglers found success from North Bay to Thompson Harbor while targeting Chinook and coho salmon. Waters 40 to 70 feet deep were productive when running lines midway in the water column. Spoons in green, chartreuse, watermelon and purples were the most productive. Two- to four-color lead cores caught steelhead and Atlantics in waters 60 to 120 feet deep, while spoons in golds and oranges worked best. Lake trout were found straight out of the harbor in depths of 120 to 150 feet. Flasher/spin glows and spoons in white, yellows and greens caught the majority of the fish. Walleye anglers reported fishing as slow.

Alpena: Chinook, coho and a few steelhead were caught throughout the bay. Fish were reported to be scattered from the cement plant all the way to North Point in depths of 20 to 50 feet. Plugs and spoons in a wide variety of colors caught fish. Those trolling in 25 to 35 feet of water in the evenings reported a few walleye being caught on crankbaits. Purples, golds and black were the most productive. Pier anglers had success casting blue/silver and green/silver spoons early and late in the day. A few anglers had success casting glow spoons after dark. A handful of walleyes were caught by those who were casting crankbaits along the break wall to the yacht club.

Thunder Bay River: A few Chinook were caught while trolling the river mouth up to the walking bridge. Spoons, plugs and crankbaits were all productive. A few walleye were caught at the 9th Street Dam to Lamar Park by those who casted crankbaits after dark. Smallmouth bass were found throughout the river while using crawlers, leeches and spinnerbaits.

Rogers City: Chinook salmon staged off Swan Bay. The bite was on and off, with it being better some days than others. Fishing early in the morning or later at night seemed to yield the best results. Anglers were long-lining bombers and j-plugs off planer boards. The best depths were inside 40 feet of water. The fish were starting to turn dark, but anglers who did not want these salmon fished the bait and did decent catching younger Chinook, coho, steelhead, lake trout and walleye. These fish were in around 50 to 70 feet of water. Good colors to use were greens, yellows, blues and glow stuff early and late. Anglers also found success using downriggers, dipsys and lead core.

Au Gres: Anglers caught few decent walleye; however, those targeting perch did not have as much luck as they had hoped. In the general area of the Au Gres River mouth, anglers came back with a few decent-sized perch that were caught in anywhere from 20 to 50 feet of water. Around the Pine River mouth in the shallower waters, seemingly smaller perch were caught, but in higher numbers.

Cheboygan: Two gates opened at the dam, allowing for bobbers to be drifted more easily. Good numbers of salmon were at the dam, with mornings and, to a lesser extent, evenings being the best time to get a bite. Some anglers were casting lures, but spawn was the most effective bait by far. Boat anglers were targeting lake trout in deep water at the nearby reefs and points.

Tawas: Some walleye anglers reported catching a few, while others came back without seeing any. Chinook and coho were in deeper waters, with anglers catching a couple at the Tawas River mouth. Overall, fishing was reported as slow.

Northwest Lower Peninsula

Charlevoix: Anglers who targeted salmon near Medusa had limited success catching Chinook. Casting spoons, floating spawn and drifting flies proved to be successful when the fish were biting. Fishing into Lake Charlevoix produced some numbers of coho and Chinook. Those targeting lake trout deep had very limited success.

East Grand Traverse Bay: Salmon fishing significantly slowed down. The few anglers who were targeting salmon caught one to two per trip on spoons, plugs or flasher/flies. Those targeting lake trout did well in 100 to 150 feet of water on spoons and spin-n-glows. Smallmouth bass fishing picked up as well, with most boats getting 10 to 25 smallmouth bass per trip in 10 to 20 feet of water.

West Grand Traverse Bay: A few Chinook were caught in the hole in front of the Boardman River along with the occasional coho. Lake trout fishing was good around “Red 6” (red buoy near Marion Island).

Petoskey: Anglers targeting salmon in the Bear River had limited success bottom-bouncing and drifting spawn. Some anglers had success targeting smaller trout and salmon, with several small coho being landed. Those trolling on boats had the most success targeting salmon on the south side of Little Traverse Bay.

Frankfort: Fresh Chinook were still being reported out front in 40 to 60 feet of water, 20 to 30 feet down, with a very good evening bite just at sunset and plugs working well. Pier anglers casting spoons in the late hours landed Chinook and coho.