Upper Peninsula Weekly Fishing Report – Sept. 2, 2020

Marquette: A few trolling for salmon from the Lower Harbor to the mouth of the Chocolay River had no luck. Lake trout fishing continues to be good from the White Rocks to the Little Presque Isle area along the drop-offs in 140 to 180 feet. The fish are staging for spawning. The Carp River had a few shore anglers casting; however, the current was strong with high water levels. The Chocolay and the Dead River Tourist Park area also had high water levels.

Little Bay de Noc: The better walleye fishing was still south, although a few more catches were reported throughout the bay. In Kipling anglers trolling the Second and Third reefs reported fair catches using crawler harnesses or stick baits in 25 to 32 feet.  Fish were caught in the Ford River area to Round Island with the same in 10 to 20 feet at night. Fair to good catches at the Minneapolis Shoals in 20 to 30 feet. Perch anglers in Kipling reported fish in the Butler Island area using crawlers in 10 to 25 feet. Several large northern pike were reported around the Escanaba ship docks trolling crankbaits, spoons or bucktails in 8 to 14 feet early morning. Smallmouth bass are starting their fall patterns, as some anglers reported catches in the “Black Bottom” area using plastics along the breaks and weed lines in 14 to 18 feet. Though very few salmon were caught in the bay, now is the time to start checking the rivers.

Manistique: While it is still early, a few boats were out about 2.5 miles looking for staging fish, but only a few catches were reported.

Manistique River: A few salmon are in the river, along with a fair number of brown trout. While there may not be a large run this fall, there should be enough fish to make it worthwhile. Walleye anglers are still doing well. Most were trolling or casting jigs with crawlers at night.

Munising: Lake trout were caught near the White Rocks, Wood Island Reef and in Trout Bay. Strong winds helped cool water temperatures, which should be in the mid to upper 60s now. Pier anglers were out but had to leave due to waves coming over the pier. Water levels on the Anna River were very high.

Raber: Walleye slowed in Raber Bay. A few pike were caught between Little and Big Lime Island when trolling or casting a spoon with a red eye in 6 to 10 feet. Anglers are reporting nice catches of smallmouth bass at Round Island. Try orange spotted tube jigs in 4 to 8 feet off the rocks.

Detour: Chinook salmon fishing slowed considerably this week at the Detour Reef and lighthouse. The few caught were in deep water. Try 55 to 60 feet down in 100 to 140 feet and look for structure. Pink salmon are still being caught near the lighthouse. Good lake trout action south of the lighthouse along the 90-foot flat with spin-glo’s behind flashers. Hot colors were orange and white or chartreuse.

Cedarville and Hessel: A few Chinook and pink salmon were caught near the Cedarville Quarry when trolling near buoys 3-5 in 80 feet. Yellow perch were caught across from Viking Boat Works near the cattails in 8 feet with worms and shiners. Good largemouth bass throughout the Les Cheneaux Islands when fishing near structure. Good smallmouth action at the Middle Entrance with dark orange spotted or green tube jigs in 6 to 8 feet. At Hessel, larger schools of splake were reported at the marina fishing pier. Fish were caught when jigging orange and gold spoons in the early morning. Yellow perch 8-9 inches were caught on shiners and worms at the finger docks in the marina.

Carp River: Anglers were still catching walleye and perch drifting and bottom bouncing leeches and worms, though leeches seemed to work best.

Nunns Creek: One or two anglers were casting spoons for salmon at the mouth, but no fish were caught.

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Fishing Tip: Avoid these mistakes to experience great fishing

Did you know simple mistakes can make or break your fishing adventures? Check out these basic things to avoid if you want to have better success on the water:

• Make sure your reel is filled with line – don’t wait until it gets to half-empty and risk losing a great catch due to an inadequate amount of line.
• Check your knots – monitor their strength and durability after each fish. If the strength gets compromised, cut the line down a few feet and start again.
• Set the hook – don’t forget to do this each time you even think you’ve got a bite. Why waste a great catch just because you forgot to set the hook?