Curly's Photo and Fishing Blog
Summer is Here
Mayfly hatch has started today on Margrethe and Houghton Lake with bluegills showing up on the beds in most lakes in Northern Michigan. This coming Saturday, June 20th is the opening day of bass season on the Detroit River, Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River. Panfish activity has started to pick up along with walleye, pike, bass and catfish. Mayfly hatches have just started in certain areas around the state.
Finally warm weather is here and the fish are biting.
Sturgeon Joe at Otsego Lake is saying the perch and walleye fishing has been fair on Otsego Lake.
Dave at Four Season Party Store in Houghton Lake says off of Long Point the walleye bite is still good when they can get out.
Saginaw Bay - Hot spots for walleye over the last week have been the Spark Plug, Callahan Reef, 10 feet of water off Kitchen Road and the mouth of the Kawkawlin River, the Slot from Quanicassee northeast to Sand Point and the Bar on the west side of the Slot. Pretty much wherever anglers went they caught walleye as long as they were in 10 feet of water or deeper, and most were getting their limits. The action near Sand Point and Wildfowl Bay slowed maybe because the fish moved out to deeper water. Channel cats were hitting in the Hot Ponds. Slow fishing at Caseville except for a few bass taken off the pier.
Mullett Lake - Anglers have been targeting smallmouth bass along the drop-offs with tube baits, jerk baits, and spinners. Walleye anglers are trolling on the north end with crank baits, spinners or crawler harnesses. A few pike and perch were caught.
Burt Lake - Walleye have been caught on stick baits and bottom bouncers. Some fish were taken high in the water column and others at 25 feet.
Lake Margrethe near the Grayling area is giving up fair to good catches of walleye in 15-18 feet of water. Live leeches and drift fishing seems to work well. Pan fish and blue gill are hitting in good numbers on wax worms, Chubby Jigs and live bait. Small mouth bass are biting in shallow waters on most inland lakes in Crawford County.
Higgins Lake - Perch are being caught but it will be short lived because the Brown Drake hatch is underway. Lake trout are deep and hitting on body baits or live bait.
Houghton Lake - Walleye have been caught when trolling crawler harnesses or leech rigs in 6 to 8 feet of water. Some big bluegills and sunfish are hitting on wax worms or leaf worms in 3 to 6 feet of water. The Mayfly hatch is currently underway.
Lake Charlevoix - A fair number of walleye and smallmouth bass have been caught.
Lake Bellaire - Construction at the Fisherman’s Paradise access site has been completed. The access site is now deeper and the dock extends further out, so it should be much easier to launch a boat. Walleye anglers are taking fish in the early morning and late evening when trolling near the Grass River outlet, the northern drop-offs, and the northwest arm from the Narrows to the Eckertly Road access site. Try crawler harnesses, jigs with leeches or rapalas. Fair to good smallmouth bass action along the west side of the lake, the flats on the north shore, and near the Grass River. Perch were caught in the northwest arm in 4 to 15 feet of water. Try leaf worms or crawlers. Rock bass are hitting in 7 to 10 feet.
Lake Skegemog near Kalkaska is producing bass and pan fish on wax worms, night crawlers, sucker and perch minnows. Elk Rapids Dam has some nice blue gill fishing available. Guernsey Lake has decent trout activity.
Lake Missaukee - Pan fishing improved and lots of pike have been caught.
Portage Lake - Fishing was slow due to the recent Mayfly hatch. Bass anglers are still taking fish in 8 to 10 feet of water. Boat anglers trolling in the afternoon caught some nice pike along with the occasional large bluegill or perch. For walleye, anglers trolling near the channel at night have caught fish on small body baits.
Manistee -Boat anglers fishing off the Shelf are still taking trout and salmon. Anglers are fishing the top 60 feet at various depths. A few scum lines were found by those venturing out towards deeper waters. Green and orange spoons were still the top producers. Pier anglers were still picking up the occasional chinook or brown trout when casting spoons.
Ludington - Salmon and trout have been caught in 70 to 140 feet of water between the Bath House and Betsie Point. Good colors were green, blue and orange. Pier fishing was slow.
Brevort Lake near Allenville and north of St. Ignace is producing walleye and anglers are doing well when they can get out. Wind, rain and chilly temperatures limited angling activity this week but the weekend is looking up.
Manistique anglers are dealing with chilly temperatures and rain this week, but when anglers can get out the fishing is good on Indian Lake for decent counts of walleye.
Little Bay De Noc -Water temperature have made it up to 60 degrees but the walleye bite was still slow and many fish were sub-legal. The better catches were coming around Strawberry Island and south to the Center Reef when trolling or drifting crawlers in 4 to 32 feet of water. Fish shallow up near the island. Walleye were also caught between No-See-Um Creek and the “Fingers.” Good smallmouth action around the Bay including Garth Point and Hunter’s Point. Perch fishing was fair for those jigging or drifting worms in 8 to 18 feet of water around Butler Island.
Big Bay De Noc - Walleye were caught especially in the north end of the bay when trolling or drifting crawlers in 8 to 20 feet of water. Bass were caught near Ogontz when trolling or drifting crawlers in 6 to 10 feet of water. Smallmouth bass were on the beds in South River Bay and some perch were caught in 8 to 12 feet of water in Garden Bay.
Grand Marais - The better whitefish action was in the early morning and at night. Limits of lake trout were caught in 120 to 270 feet of water.
Cedarville and Hessel -Even with cooler temperatures, anglers were catching good numbers of northern pike and fair numbers of smallmouth bass. Northern pike are biting in the Moscoe Channel, Cedarville Bay and Mackinac Bay. Most were casting spinner baits or stick baits.
AAA Fishing Report
Upper Peninsula:
Anglers in and around the Bergland area are finding plenty of walleye trolling with planer boards and Reef Runners. Fish are suspended in the Mud Flats.
Life is good in the Lâ??Anse area where fishing is good for lake trout and jigging with cut bait. Anglers are most successful when fishing in the early morning or evening hours and in waters 150-170 feet on both Huron Bay and Keweenaw Bay. King salmon seems to be hit-or-miss with anglers fishing in 30-40 feet during the early morning or late evening hours using downriggers, dodgers and spoons. During the day anglers are finding better results fishing in 100 feet of water. Crappie are on beds now.
Marquette anglers are finding that the walleye are just starting on many inland lakes. It appears that the cold water has slowed the trout and salmon fishing a bit off of the area.
Escanaba anglers are finding that the walleye fishing is either hot or cold but when the fish are biting they are hitting on crawlers and crank baits in good numbers. The fish are pretty spread out with the north end and center reef the best locations. Ford and Escanaba rivers are giving up decent counts of bass and a few perch can be had off of the campground area near Gladstone.
A Mayfly hatch in the Manistique area has slowed angling activity. Warmer weather has finally arrived in the area and anglers with plenty of patience are getting a walleye here and there on Indian Lake.
Itâ??s a slow go this week for Sault Ste. Marie anglers, very limited angling activity to speak of.
Excellent walleye fishing taking place on Munuscong Bay with anglers getting great results with crawler harnesses with a bottom bouncer, Wally Divers and jigging. Excellent walleye action is also taking place at the mouth of the Gogomain River with anglers drifting or trolling.
Good fishing for anglers headed to Scott and Maxton bays around Drummond Island for walleye. Anglers are using crawlers, crawler harnesses and stick baits with good results. Pike, small mouth bass and an occasional sunfish are also biting on both bays. Walleye are active at the mouth of the river to the Potanissing Bay.
St. Ignace anglers are either getting limits on walleye or getting nothing at all out on Brevort Lake. Warmer weather has finally arrived in the area and the fishing should really start to pick up.
Northwest:
Crooked and Pickerel lakes near the Alanson area are producing plentiful walleye, pike and bass on crawlers. Lake trout are biting on Lake Michigan. A Mayfly hatch just happened.
Boyne City anglers are finding good luck fishing on Walloon Lake for bass, walleye and northern. Splake, blue gill, crappie and bass are hitting in good quantities on Deer, Susan and Thumb lakes. Body baits and crawler harnesses seem to do the trick. Off of the Lake Charlevoix channel in the late evening hours anglers are getting nice numbers of bass, walleye and northern. Walleye are biting around 4 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Torch and Skegemog lakes in the Kalkaska area are both abundant with pike, lake trout and bass. Most inland lakes have a variety of fish bedding such as blue gill, pan fish and sunfish. Overall most rivers and streams in the area are producing good action for trout fishing with spinners.
Killer angling action taking place in the Gaylord area, the streams and rivers are alive with activity. The Black, Sturgeon and Pigeon rivers are producing very good counts of steelhead, and Rainbow trout. Several hatches have occurred including Brown Drake, Sulfur, Caddis and Mahogany Dun. Fishing is best mid to late afternoon. Bradford Lake is doing well for walleye on crank baits and Otsego Lake is a bit slow but some small and large mouth bass are biting.
Great fishing for anglers headed for the Cadillac area. Sunfish, blue gill, Rock bass, crappie and perch are plentiful on both Mitchell and Cadillac lakes. A variety of baits and techniques are working. Blue gill still have not bedded and anglers are typically not getting limits, but fishing is steady. Lake Michigan is giving up good numbers of bass and pike.
West:
Good action off of the Ludington area on Lake Michigan where anglers are fishing in 120 feet of water for steelhead, Brown trout and salmon. Fish are god size and a variety of spoons are working well including Mixed Veggie, Blue/Green Dolphins, Wonder Bread, Kevorkian and Lemon Ice. On Hamlin Lake blue gill, bass and Northern pike are in good numbers. Pike are coming off their beds on the upper portion of the lake and around the bayous. Worms, minnows and jigs seem to be working well.
Warmer weather in Baldwin has greatly improved the fishing activity. Trout action is good on the Pere Marquette, Little and Big Manistee rivers. Several streamer patterns are working. Bass Lake some large size bass are being caught, five to six pounds seem to be the norm. Large mouth bass are hitting on crank baits, while rubber worms with a spinner in front is working well on Rock bass.
Muskegon area anglers are finding mid-June doldrums with angling activity on the slow side. Some anglers are pulling in a few blue gill on Muskegon Lake using bobbers, wax worms and spikes. Salmon activity is taking place on Lake Michigan in 300-350 feet of water. Anglers fishing the Muskegon River are doing well on trout with flies.
Chippewa Lake is really good for pan fish with many anglers obtaining limits easily. A few bass are hitting on crawlers and the fish are good size. Minnows seem to be the bait of choice.
Around the Grand Rapids area the Grand River is producing nice numbers of catfish and crawlers are working well.
Northeast:
Around Grayling trout are starting on the Manistee and Au Sable rivers and a Brown Drake hatch has occurred. Lonesome Lake in Crawford County and Guthrie Lake are both producing fair blue gill numbers and some bass can be found in shallow waters. Lake Margrethe is producing nice blue gill in the shallows and near the south end.
Oscoda anglers finally have some nice weather and improved fishing conditions. Cooke Dam Pond is producing good blue gill and bass, Foote Dam Pond is giving up pike, perch, lots of bass and a few crappie. Van Etten Lake anglers are reeling in nice numbers of pike, perch and walleye. The Au Sable River has decent walleye and sucker activity and an occasional steelhead in the mix. Overall good fishing in the area and the following baits are popular, minnows, leeches, night crawlers, wax worms and leaf worms.
Houghton Lake anglers continue to find good walleye action while drifting and trolling along with a few blue gill, Northern Pike and crappie. Anglers fishing from shore are getting carp with bows.
Higgins Lake anglers are finding Rock bass everywhere on the lake using crawlers. Perch fishing is good in 30 to 40 feet of water. Lake trout fishing is good using Swedish Pimples.
Good fishing in the Au Gres area for walleye. Anglers are going straight out from the boat launch in 30-40 feet of water and using crawler harnesses with good results. The Au Gres River is giving up some pike, bass and an occasional walleye.
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