# Lake Michigan help



## BigKev (Jun 16, 2008)

I know this is a shot in the dark but any of my fishing friends ever fish salmon in the Lake Michigan waters from the Indiana access. Was supposed to go to Lake Ontario for salmon but that’s not happening now. Looking into going to Michigan City, In. in a couple weeks and wondering if anyone could give me some insite? Looking for a salmon bite. Thanks in advance


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

All I know is that we went out of St. Joseph last year hoping for Kings and the captain said Kings are more prevalent in the upper end of Lake Michigan. We killed the Lakers though.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I am in the same boat as you with Olcott. Was just starting to look at info for Lake Michigan. I'll let you know if I come across any reports or good info


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## BigKev (Jun 16, 2008)

I talked to a charter in Michigan city and he said it’s mostly coho, steelhead and lakers with the occasional king mixed in right now. Might have to suffice right now. 


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

Same here, we had plans to head to Oak Orchard tomorrow. Well that all changed about noon today. So goin to Manistee Mi. tomorrow instead. None of us have ever salmon fished Lake Michigan before. Will actually be my first time salmon fishing period!


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## dcool (Apr 14, 2004)

I used to fish out of Elberta every year for kings. Haven't been in years, but used to do really good on the kings there. It is just below Frankfort.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I don't salmon fish anymore. but we always moved to south haven after the spring coho fishing at new buffalo. if you get an east wind it brings the cooler water closer to shore along with the fish. but most times the fish are deep. Manistee is probably the best place to fish this time of yr. the deep water is close to shore, so it's a short run to the deep water. we liked south haven because it was a shorter drive for us. we used riggers with big spoons and J-plugs. but using natural bait has been big lately. google marinas in the area you plan to fish. call them for fresh info on what the fish are doing.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

dcool said:


> I used to fish out of Elberta every year for kings. Haven't been in years, but used to do really good on the kings there. It is just below Frankfort.


BEEN THERE MANY TIMES GOOD FISHING


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## loomis82 (Nov 27, 2012)

Lake Michigan has been a struggle for consistent number of kings. Been getting some and some big ones. The lake trout bite has been non stop. Steelhead have also been tough. Fishing down that south will be tough especially for kings. Try to get north... need to get to at least Holland and north of there. Michigan city is awesome during the spring time


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## kingeider (Apr 27, 2010)

I agree that Lake Michigan has struggled with their salmon population. from what I hear, they have a baitfish shortage problem that doesn't have an end in sight. I used to go up there years ago but switched to Lake Ontario and never looked back. I know some diehard Lake Michigan salmon anglers who finally thru in the towel on Michigan this year to try Lake Ontario but now they won't be able to get up there and may have to resort to going back to dragging the bottom of Lake Michigan to catch greaser's. hopefully this year the salmon and steelhead bite improves up there.


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## loomis82 (Nov 27, 2012)

Been tons of alewifes. There is actually a lot of bait fish


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## kingeider (Apr 27, 2010)

Perhaps I stand corrected. I have been told by biologists that the main reason there aren’t many salmon is because there aren’t many baitfish. It’s often difficult to pinpoint the cause of a fish population’s decline and I’m sure there are other underlying issues. Either way, a visit to the cleaning station at Olcott is a different experience than a trip to one on Michigan. Maybe it’s changed this year. I hope so because Lake Michigan used to be an awesome fishery- not so much anymore.


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## GalionLex (Oct 19, 2014)

I just got back from the Traverse City area of Lake Michigan. My wife and I have friends who allow us a week to stay with them and other mutual friends on Lake Leelanau. We have been going up the first week of July for close to 20 yrs. now. Over that time we always had some king salmon action even though primetime was a few weeks off. However, the last few years have been virtually non existent for salmon. The state of Michigan has drastically reduced their king salmon plants in recent years in fear of a forage fish crash. The good news is that the alewives seem to be doing much better now. I marked a lot of bait a few weeks ago both on the main lake and grand traverse bay. The ports of Ludington, Manistee, and Frankfort should be heating up now through the end of August. I feel that if you want some good Lake Michigan "silver" fish opportunities you may want to consider the west side of the lake.... Wisconsin. PS... I did catch some really big lakers two weeks ago. They are eating well !!!!


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

loomis82 said:


> Been tons of alewifes. There is actually a lot of bait fish





kingeider said:


> Perhaps I stand corrected. I have been told by biologists that the main reason there aren’t many salmon is because there aren’t many baitfish. It’s often difficult to pinpoint the cause of a fish population’s decline and I’m sure there are other underlying issues. Either way, a visit to the cleaning station at Olcott is a different experience than a trip to one on Michigan. Maybe it’s changed this year. I hope so because Lake Michigan used to be an awesome fishery- not so much anymore.


because the baitfish population was down the state of Michigan cut its stocking program by almost half a few yrs ago to give the baitfish a chance to recover. i don't know if they have started back to stocking more salmon or not yet. you should be able to google Michigan salmon stocking. and remember it takes 4 yrs for the big fish to show up.


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## Muddy (May 7, 2017)

I lived in Cedar Grove Wisconsin back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. We caught a lot of kings in the Sheboygan River during the run and in the lake during the summer. The fishing was awesome for Kings, Cohos, Browns, and Steelhead/Rainbows back then. I don’t know what it’s like now.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I heard the baitfish are coming back which is good. I talked to a charter and he said the state stocked a lot of salmon this year but obviously it will be a few years before that impacts anything in terms of catching. I think water temp is also a big thing now with the water temps being up. I think some cooler water will turn them on. It also does seem like the bite is better on the wisconsin side. My buddy is headed up to the UP next week so hopefully he will have a report so we know what to do the first week on August. His cousins caught 3 majors last week up there in a trip.


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