Upper Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report – Oct. 21, 2020

Marquette: Fishing activity was on the upswing, with more boat anglers and shore anglers on the Carp and Chocolay rivers and the Lower Harbor breakwall. Boat anglers had better success taking a mix of brown trout, steelhead, coho and lake trout. Boats were trolling from the green can outside the Lower Harbor around the end of the breakwall and down toward the mouth of the Carp and Chocolay rivers. A couple lake trout were caught off the breakwall, and the action should only get better. Those trying for Menominee offshore were getting a few. The Carp River was producing a few coho along with the occasional steelhead when using spawn. On the Chocolay River, anglers were lucky to get one or two coho and the occasional brown trout per trip.

Little Bay De Noc: Most walleye anglers fished the Kipling area and reported fair catches when trolling stick baits or a crawler harness in 15 to 25 feet. Fish were found south of the Ford River when trolling stick baits in 10 to 20 feet. Some nice perch catches were taken in the Gladstone beach area and in the “Narrows” when using minnows or crawlers in and around 20 feet. Bass were still stacked in deeper water off the Farmers Dock.

Manistique River: The area up by the dam where anglers gain access has been gated and posted, denying access. This has pushed shore anglers downriver, where fishing was good. Most of the salmon are dark and rough-looking, but many large fish are still being reported. Steelhead are starting to show up in good numbers. There are still a good number of walleye throughout the river, with many being caught by salmon anglers using crankbaits.

Munising: Angler activity is winding down, with mainly locals fishing at this point. Boat anglers did manage to get a mix of coho and splake when trolling between Munising and Sand Point. The coho were a mix of male and female and were somewhat silver.  Pier and shore anglers reported slow catch rates, with only the occasional coho, splake or steelhead caught on Cleo’s, orange and silver spoons or spawn.

St. Marys River: Those fishing off Raber reported good catches of walleye on the north end of Lime Island. Try trolling planer boards between Lime Island and Round Island with orange or chartreuse crankbaits. The mouth of Carlton Creek is producing some nice catches of walleye early morning or evening when trolling silver and black crankbaits just off the weed beds in 8 to 12 feet. Carlton Creek is located 2 miles south of the Raber boat launch.

Lake George: Was producing a good number of walleye, pike and smallmouth.

Detour: Those fishing up near Sweets Pointe reported good catches of walleye when trolling planer boards over the rocky shelves in 8 to 10 feet. Most were using silver and black crankbaits. Fish were also caught using slip-bobbers tipped with shiners two cranks off the bottom in 8 to 12 feet. Sweets Pointe and Sweets Bay are good places to target walleye on windy days.

Drummond Island: A few catches of yellow perch were taken in Scott Bay.  Anglers should try the south side of Ashman Island in 10 to 12 feet, where the clear water meets the stained water, when using both worms and shiners.

Cedarville and Hessel: Perch fishing has been slow throughout the Les Cheneaux Islands. Try drift fishing or jigging to locate schools of fish throughout the islands. Good pike catches were reported throughout Snows Channel when trolling a large 12-inch crankbait from Dollar Island east to Musky Bay in 6 to 10 feet. Hessel had no reports of yellow perch in the marina.

Carp River: Those drifting spawn bags for steelhead did not have much luck.

Fishing Tip: Fall Great Lakes pier fishing for smallmouth

Fall is a great time to target smallmouth bass with Great Lakes pier fishing, a tactic underutilized by many anglers. As the lakes and rivers cool, minnows will congregate around the piers. Large, educated river smallmouth migrating downstream in the fall often will drop their guard when gorging on minnows at the river mouth, allowing some very nice fish to be taken on minnows that otherwise would be very slow to bite.

Find more information and tips on the smallmouth bass page on our website.