Upper Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report – Aug. 26, 2020

Keweenaw Bay: Those fishing Keweenaw Bay and Huron Bay caught lake trout when trolling or jigging. A few limit catches were reported. Traverse Bay is also producing a decent number of lake trout along with a few coho. Boat anglers are having to do some searching to find fish.

Marquette: Anglers are catching lake trout about 5 or 6 per trip but no limits. Most were fishing the drop-offs in 150 to 180 feet from the White Rocks to Granite Island, the Clay Banks and near Little Presque Isle. Surface water temperatures were still warm, from the mid 60’s to near 70 degrees near shore. Still no real Chinook or coho action other than a few scattered reports.

Little Bay de Noc: The best walleye fishing continues to be in the southern waters near Round Island and out by the Minneapolis Shoals when trolling a crawler harness or stick baits in 10 to 30 feet at night or early morning. Fair perch catches near Kipling with worms in 10 to 20 feet and near the ship docks in Escanaba in 30 feet. Good smallmouth action when casting plastics in 6 to 12 feet at the mouth of the Ford River.

Manistique River: Salmon are in, but the numbers are low. The better catches were from shore up near the gates of the dam. Several brown trout were also reported in the area. Walleye fishing was excellent, with many limits reported. Shore anglers fishing the “Bass Hole” by the overpass bridge reported excellent catches just using crawlers in the fast water. Boat anglers headed to the high dam spillover area also did well fishing the fast water with a jig and crawler.

Manistique Lakes: Fishing slowed, but a few walleyes were caught just before dawn and shortly after dusk with crankbaits and crawler harnesses.

Munising: Had no real salmon action yet; however, boat anglers reported fair catches of lake trout near Wood Island Reef, Grand Portal and Trout Bay.

St. Marys River: Was producing walleye, pink salmon, Atlantic salmon and pike.

Raber: Good walleye catches reported on the north end of Lime Island when trolling a crawler harness just off the weed beds in 12 feet in the early morning. A couple musky were caught from the north end of Raber Bay to Point Aux Frense with a large bucktail spinner with yellow spotted blades in 8 feet.

Detour: Salmon fishing improved at the Detour Reef and Lighthouse, with anglers getting Chinook, Atlantic and pink salmon. Chinook were hitting chartreuse and white J-plugs 55 feet down in 90 to 100 feet, and pink salmon were up higher at 35 to 40 feet down. Lake trout were found in 90 feet 2 miles south of the lighthouse. They continue to hit orange and white spin-glo’s behind flashers.

Cedarville and Hessel: Had fair catches of yellow perch at Island #8 Bridge, off Hill Island Road, Connors Point and near the Viking Boat Works in Cedarville Bay in 12 to 14 feet with worms and shiners. Good pike action at the Middle Entrance to the Les Cheneaux Islands when using large minnows and creek chubs two cranks off the bottom in 20 feet. For Hessel, perch were caught from the finger docks. Fair pike action at the marina in the early morning with large minnows in 8 feet.

St. Ignace: A couple coho and steelhead were caught in St. Martins Bay when trolling spoons in 60 to 100 feet. Those targeting walleye near the mouth of the Pine River in 10 to 30 feet had no luck. On the Carp River, a few walleye and perch were caught by those fishing from the wall. Most were drifting and bottom bouncing worms and leeches.

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Fishing Tip: Glow lures can be popular with Great Lakes salmon

Salmon fishing on the Great Lakes is really hitting its stride, as many species are getting ready to begin their upstream migration.

One tactic that can be particularly useful when targeting Chinook is fishing with glow lures. This species often can be caught near the surface in low-light conditions, and glow lures make that opportunity even more appealing.

In particular, glow lures work well in the early morning hours before the sun comes up or at night. Many believe this type of lure attracts salmon because it can be seen in the dark from longer distances and encourages them to strike.

Are you interested in targeting Chinook salmon this late summer/early fall? Check out our salmon webpage.