@Travel Marquette
DNR Fishing Report
July 31, 2024
The Family Friendly Fishing Waters map shows family-friendly fishing locations across the state that are easy to access and have a high likelihood of catching fish. You can filter the locations by what type of fish you want to catch, what kind of fishing you are looking for (boat, pier, shore), which amenities you would like (swimming, restrooms, etc.) and entrance fee.
All anglers 17 years of age and older are required to have a fishing license.
Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers trolling found lake trout and salmon in waters above and below 100 feet deep. Successful trips were most common in the morning. Some anglers spent their mornings in Huron Bay with some success jigging as well.
Traverse Bay/South Portage Entry Canal: Trolling anglers found lake trout, Chinook salmon, coho salmon and brown trout. Fish were caught throughout the water column, with most of the kept fish being caught in around 120 feet of water. Some anglers also found luck jigging for lake trout.
St. Ignace: Anglers were trolling spoons and Spin-n-Glos off the southeast and northeast shores of Mackinac Island between 80 and 100 feet of water. Good colors to use were blues, purples, oranges and chartreuse. At the Carp and Pine rivers, walleye and perch anglers were using nightcrawlers and leeches on slip bobbers when drifting or casting. Good colors to use when trolling nightcrawler harnesses were reported to be golds, purples, chartreuse and bronze. At the Pine River, shore anglers caught bullheads and suckers using nightcrawlers.
Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers reported fair fishing. Anglers had success jigging or drifting live bait. Another successful method was casting gliding, snap-style lures. Anglers were targeting “black bottom” and center reef first, as well as in front of the Escanaba River. Anglers fishing near the Escanaba River reported catching white bass.
Manistique: Anglers were targeting areas from 80 to 150 feet of water with success, catching both steelhead and Chinook salmon. Salmon were starting to head toward rivers, and anglers reported catching fewer adult salmon in areas that had been productive earlier this month.
Les Cheneaux/DeTour: Anglers reported doing well on lake trout in both areas. In Hessel, anglers were going out the west entrance, and in DeTour they were trolling in the flats. There were a few pink salmon as well as an Atlantic salmon caught in DeTour by anglers trolling around the lighthouse with spoons. The walleye bite seemed to slow in Scott's Bay, but anglers were still going out around 11 p.m. for the night bite. In Hessel, anglers were catching a few small pike at the marina as well as in Mismer Bay and in the middle entrance. The smallmouth bass bite was tough, but there were a few days that anglers were able to find some nice ones. There were also a few Chinook salmon caught out of the east entrance. Perch anglers fishing in the marina reported that the perch were there, but they had trouble getting them to bite. However, there were some good catches out of a few of the channels in the area as well.
Marquette: Good numbers of lake trout were caught while jigging or trolling around White Rocks and out toward Granite Island. The most successful boats made their way out toward the Clay Banks west of Granite Rock. Watermelon was still very good, along with green and orange Spin-n-Glo spoons or green/silver flasher/fly presentations, for lake trout. White plugs or chartreuse and silver jigs were still hot around the northeast side of White Rocks, especially with a little cut bait. Trolling between White Rocks toward Granite Rock or Clay Banks at lower speeds of 2.0 to 2.2 mph in around 160 to 180 feet of water was a popular combination for success.
Au Train: Lake trout sizes and numbers continued to do well from anglers jigging in approximately 160 feet of water north to northeast of Au Train Island, especially with cut bait. Big lake trout were caught while trolling in deeper waters around 160 to 180 feet north to northwest of the Au Train Island in the flats or out toward the Laughing White Fish Clay Banks. Wonder bread, multicolored glow spoons or green/silver flasher flies were good color combinations. A little bit of cut bait jigging or trolling with cowbells did very well at deeper depths as well.
Ontonagon River: Fishing on the river was good over the past week, as many anglers reported successful trips. Walleye were caught in good numbers throughout the day. Anglers recently had the most luck finding fish when jigging.
Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: Over the past week, these ports saw a fair number of anglers as fishing efforts remained healthy. Lake trout were caught in good numbers, with an occasional coho salmon in the mix as well. Reports show that anglers had the best luck finding fish when trolling in deeper waters.
Black River Harbor: Recent catches consisted of lake trout in fair numbers. The fish that were caught were found by those trolling deeper waters.
Fishing tip: Catching big pike in the summer
Most anglers consider winter the best time to catch a trophy-sized pike, but following a few key pointers can make summer pike fishing worthwhile.
When it’s very warm out, think about where pike will hide – places with cooler water. These spots include along the thermocline (the transition layer between the warmer surface water and the cooler, deep water below), where cold-water streams/rivers flow into lakes or around springs.
Look for bodies of water that aren’t densely populated with pike, so those present may have a chance to grow fairly large. Also consider locations that have special regulations like size limits.
Lastly, focus on bodies of water that have a good pike forage (prey fish) base – particularly other species that prefer cooler water.
Want to learn even more about fishing for this species? Check out the northern pike page on the DNR’s website.
This report is intended to give you an idea of what is going on around the state. Updates come from Fisheries staff and conservation officers. With more than 11,000 inland lakes, the Great Lakes and thousands of miles of rivers and streams, not all locations can be listed. However, it is safe to say if a species is being caught in some waters in the area, they are likely being caught in all waters in that section of the state that have that species.