The weather forecast is looking good for anglers planning to fish over the Easter holiday weekend. Before heading to your fishing destination, visit www.AAATraffic.com for the latest traffic, construction, weather and road conditions that may affect your route.
Bergland anglers are doing well for perch pretty much all over and around mud flats. Ice is still strong enough to hold a four-wheeler.
Off of the Marquette area, a few Coho are being caught by anglers in small boats fishing in 25-feet of water. Otherwise angling activity is slow overall.
Around Escanaba the ice is deteriorating fast and anglers are just not getting out at this point. Angling action is in a transition period at this point.
Weather around Drummond Island has created poor fishing conditions. There is still plenty of ice on the Bays and a few perch are being caught on Whitney Bay.
Around the Manistique area, poor conditions exist for Lake Michigan and Indian Lake. Ice is in bad shape and unsafe. Steelhead action is picking up on the Manistique River.
Around Sault Ste. Marie the weather has been miserable with snow and cold temperatures causing for very limited angling opportunities. The St. Mary’s River is still covered with ice. Lake George the ice is very skeptical, but a few anglers are pulling in some perch.
Near Brimley, a few anglers are fishing through the ice at the mouth of Pendills Creek when the wind is blowing in the right direction.
Munuscong Lake is giving up a few perch and the ice is still good.
There is perch to be caught around Cedarville, however the ice is very uncertain and a few anglers have fallen in this past week. The smelt run should be starting very shortly around St. Ignace.
Information Providers: Bayview Bait & Tackle-Escanaba; Gogebic Grocery-Marenisco; Top O’Lake Sport-Manistique; Gander Mountain-Marquette; Hank’s Sporting-Sault Ste. Marie; Johnson’s Sports-Drummond Island; Wilderness Treasurers-Munuscong Bay and ACE Hardware-St.Ignace.
Northwest:
Burt Lake is giving up a few suckers on crawlers and Crooked Lake has open water and boats can now get out. River fishing is starting to get in gear.
Frankfort area anglers are starting to catch steelhead from the Betsie River and steelhead are starting to show up on Crystal Lake where anglers fishing off shore are working very hard for the fish.
In the Kalkaska area good action taking place for smelt on Twin Lake and the Boardman River is giving up good counts of steelhead on wax worms and spawn.
The Boyne, Jordan and Sturgeon rivers are plentiful with steelhead. Fly fisherman are using egg and nymph patterns and bait anglers are using spawn sacks. Fly Fishing with streamers is taking place on the open branches of the Manistee and Au Sable river systems with good results.
Near the Cadillac area, Pine and Manistee rivers are giving up good numbers of steelhead on spawn and flies. Mitchell Lake has open water now and a few perch and crappie are biting.
Information providers: Alphorn-Gaylord; Backcast Fly Shop-Frankfort; Jack’s Sports-Kalkaska; Pilgrim’s Village-Cadillac and Young’s Bait Shop-Alanson.
West:
Windy and cold weather this week in the Ludington area has slowed the fishing activity a bit. Anglers that are fishing off the north and south piers for steelhead and brown trout are finding decent results. The Pere Marquette River is producing some catches of steelhead.
Lake fishing in the Baldwin area is not so great this week due to cold weather. Fly fishing is good on the Pere Marquette near the river beds. The weekend is expected to be very good as the warmer weather returns.
Muskegon anglers fishing Lake Michigan off the break wall are doing well for steelhead using spawn. Muskegon River and White River are both giving up steelhead catches on spawn on the higher sections of the rivers. Anglers fishing Muskegon Lake and using minnows are getting larger fish, using spikes gets a lot of fish but a lot of sorting is also necessary. The perch action is great for anglers fishing in small boats around the channels and the Sand Dock. Perch seem to be biting on everything and the average per boat is 30-40 fish but a lot of sorting is needed.
The action is hot on Chippewa Lake for speckled trout. The lake has wide open water and anglers are pulling in limits easily. The average fish is eight or nine inches and minnows are doing the trick.
In the Grand Rapids area, good action continues on the Grand River near the Sixth Street Dam where the steelhead are hitting on spawn, flies, and wobble glows.
On the Rogue River in Rockford the cold water tributary is also producing nice counts of steelhead on wobble glows, spawn and flies.
Off of the White Hall and Holland piers the walleye action is good when using Rapala Husky Jerks
Information providers: P.M. Sports-Ludington; King Sports-Baldwin; East Bay Store-Chippewa Lake; Shoreline Bait & Tackle-Muskegon; Gander Mountain-Grand Rapids and Wolf Lake Motel & Resort-Baldwin.
Southwest:
Off of the Benton Harbor pier anglers are pulling in some nice Coho and brown trout. KO Wobblers, Thin-Thin Spinners and spawn seem to be working well. Otherwise the cold weather has slowed activity in the area.
Angling activity has not been so good around the New Buffalo area thanks to cold weather and windy conditions. The rivers are muddy and lakes dirty, however with warmer weather in the forecast for the weekend, angling action should be good.
Kalamazoo had some rotten weather this week slowing angling action. Some steelhead are hitting just below the Allegan Dam on the Kalamazoo River. The walleye are really coming in and averaging 8-10 pounds and anglers are getting 5-6 per person, however fish must be released at this time. Fishing on the St. Joe River near Berrien Springs Dam is good for steelhead. Fish are hitting on Storm Wiggle Warts and spawn sacks.
Off of the St. Joe pier anglers are getting a few Coho and brown trout, but the anglers trolling in boats along the shoreline are doing the best. Gotcha flies and small stinger spoons are working well.
Hogset Lake is producing some blue gill with anglers fishing in 15-feet of water and getting the fish in 2-feet of water just under the surface on spikes.
Lake Cora is producing perch on wigglers and minnows in 25-feet of water.
Around the Three Rivers area Corey and Hardwood lakes are decent for blue gill and crappie with minnows and red wigglers working well.
Information providers: Tackle Haven-Benton Harbor; D.& R. Sports-Kalamazoo; Fisherman’s Luck-Three Rivers and Captain Cook’s-New Buffalo.
Northeast:
Anglers fishing just below the Foote Dam Pond in Oscoda are doing ok for steelhead using wax worms, spawn and flies.
Poor angling conditions on Houghton Lake due to ice floating. The canals are open but the water is extremely cold and not much moving just yet, overall a transition time of year. It is a week or so away for crappie fishing.
Higgins Lake has ice breaking up and floating. No activity at this time.
Fishing has slowed this week in the Au Gres area thanks to cold weather. Anglers are pulling in a few walleye from the mouth of the river and from the boat launch on Rapala Husky Jerks.
Information providers: Lyman’s-Houghton Lake; Sports Barn-Higgins Lake; Wright’s Sport Shop-Au Gres and The Dam Store-Oscoda.
East:
The Rifle River is good for suckers on worms. Quanicassee is decent for small perch around the Iron Bridge, boat launch, Akron Road and Palmer Road. Anglers getting out in small boats are finding some action around Bay Harbor Marina.
Pink perch rigs are working well for anglers fishing for perch on Eagle Bay in the Standish area.
Lexington, Port Sanilac and Port Huron angling action is picking back up after a few days of very heavy north winds. Around Lexington the Coho action is good in 10-15 feet of water on body baits, popular color is orange. The Boardwalk in Port Huron has some nice activity from the Thomas Edison Inn to the Black River. Red eye spoons and big Emerald shiners are working well. Smelt action is good at night and bringing in a lot of other fish.
Information providers: Anderson’s Pro Bait-Port Huron; Michigan Sportsman-Bay City and Eagle Bay Marina-Standish.
Central:
Angling activity has been extremely slow this week due to snow and cold weather. Suckers continue to be plentiful on the Chippewa River.
Despite adverse weather Lansing fishing remains good for big carp and nice catches of steelhead near the Eckert Power Station at the Moores Park Dam.
At best, mediocre fishing taking place on Devils, Wamplers, Vineyard, Clark and Sand lakes. Snow and cold temperatures hindered angling opportunities earlier this week. By the weekend warmer temperatures in the forecast should improve crappie conditions.
Information providers: Knutson’s Live Bait-Brooklyn; Jakes Outdoors-Mt. Pleasant and Grand River Bait and Tackle-Lansing.
Southeast:
Near Metro Beach the blue gill and crappie action is good. Around Harrison Township walleye and perch activity is good in front of Beacon Cover and the spillway. St. Clair Shores anglers are finding murky waters and tough fishing due to the high winds and adverse weather earlier this week. The Detroit River is giving up nice numbers of walleye vertical jigging.
Anglers fishing the Detroit River are killing the walleye in the lower Trenton channel averaging 10-20 per boat. Anglers seem to be doing the best in shallow water jigging with pink, gold and chartreuse lures, stinger hooks, walleye minnows, four-inch Finesse Tails and gulp grubs. A few walleye caught have weighed 11 and 12 pounds. Walleye activity is also hot from Trenton to Wyandotte in the early morning hours or late evening hours with some anglers limiting out. Those anglers are using a jig with artificial worms. The Detroit River is also giving up some pike on pike suckers under a bobber.
Anglers fishing around Grosse Ile are finding spotty perch action while some perch and blue gill are being caught around south Gibraltar. Around Rock Wood the Huron River is doing well for dip netting suckers and steelhead. Flies, spawn, minnows and Cleo’s are working well.
In the Flat Rock area the Huron River is producing steelhead at the dam on flies and spawn. Between the two dams anglers are using a jig with a wax worm. Suckers are hot just below the dam on flies and jigs.
Off of the Monroe area, Silver Creek near Pointe Mouille is producing blue gill and perch. Bolles Harbor anglers are fishing off the pier and pulling in some decent number of bullhead, perch and crappie. Minnows are doing the trick. The Huron River in the area is dirty.
Belleville Lake is producing nice catfish on pike chubs. Ford and Belleville lakes are both doing well for perch and crappie and the hot spot is near Rawsonville Road. The weekend should be really good for pan fish, steelhead and crappie. Little jig heads with pink and green flies and a hologram sparkle are working well. The Huron River is giving up a few steelhead. Most ponds in the area are hot for fishing.
In Ohio the Maumee River continues to be super hot for walleye, as well as Crain Creek and around Turtle Island.
Information providers: Pro-Fishing & Archery-Harrison Township; Little Dipper Bait & Tackle-Flat Rock; Erie Party Shop-Monroe; Lakeside Fishing Shop-St. Clair Shores; South Street Tackle-Belleville; Gander Mountain-Taylor and Bottom Line Bait & Tackle-Rock Wood.