Is salmon fishing that bad........

[Fishrmac]

No we caught 3 in our 2 trips. Never fished that area before but spent 5 hours in 2 trips for a total of 7-8. 3 lakers, 3 nice kings, 1 steel, most of which had good ales in them. I understand stocking was cut, weather has been really tough but fish are out there, just gotta be lucky to find some feeding I guess

[Far Beyond Driven]

I haven't marked a bait ball outside of the plume this year. Last two fish I caught the king was completely empty, the steelie had about 300 bugs in it. Both were plenty fat though.

Glad the reports of bait seem good. Hopefully they find enough to eat, as the lake is way more sterile than its ever been. I grew up a half mile from the pond and could smell the rotting bait on a good wind. I also remember green water and four riggers with j plugs 3' off the ball...

[eltrain84]

Fishrmac, were you fishing the Islands in Leland?

[Fishrmac]

Eltrain84 -

We fished just west of the harbor out of Leland at that first drop off from 50-130ish. 3 of 4 lakers came in the 50 water and the kings and steel were as we were heading off the break any west direction.

Such a cool spot to fish with that kind if drop off to key in on a path

[eltrain84]

Thanks Fishrmac for the response. I will be up this Thursday till Sunday for my 7th annual Leland trip. I usually fish the islands but it's good to know that fish are near shore if the weather isn't cooperative. Absolutely my favorite area to fish on Lake Michigan. Good work on the fish.

[steeliebob]

You can count the number of fishing boats at the St Ignace boat launch on any given Saturday on three fingers or less. I have done it several times this summer.

[Mega Byte]

If the food chain problems on the Great Lakes were bad enough, there was a story yesterday about Asian carp being found in Lake Ontario: http://nycity.today/content/283729-asian-carp-makes-way-lake-ontario

[SeaCatMich]

If the food chain problems on the Great Lakes were bad enough, there was a story yesterday about Asian carp being found in Lake Ontario: http://nycity.today/content/283729-asian-carp-makes-way-lake-ontario

At least these were Grass Carp and not Big Head or Silver carp. While we don't want them either, the latter two are the plankton eaters. Overall, I doubt that any of the species of Asian carp would have a major impact on the fisheries or food supplies of the open waters of the Great Lakes other than Lake Erie. There just isn't enough food left thanks to the zebra & quagga mussels to sustain them. Lake Erie's western basin, Saginaw Bay and any of the rivers though are a different story.

[sailtroller]

There is bait and a lot of kings everywhere around Milwaukee right now. Most of the kings being caught are wild fish. Milwaukee isn't supposed to have as much natural reproduction as Michigan so its possible that the Michigan kings are hanging out on the Wisconsin side. I saw a guy at the fish cleaning station last night who caught 15 kings from 4pm to 8pm and most of them were 15 to 20 pound fish. Just thought I'd mention since it seem kind of doom and gloom over there in Michigan.

[Far Beyond Driven]

Oddly i did the salmon ambassador thing last year and most of the hatchery fish caught in west michigan are not michigan plants. Maybe they pass each other in the middle?

[bite me]

I agree, come to northern Lake Huron, plenty of fish to be had you just need to have a little knowlage and a bit of patience! 15 yrs ago the Kings damn near jumped in the boat!! It's a bit of a challenge now, but that's what I love about fishing, sure every one loves to catch, but those bad days make the good ones that much more rewarding! Imo

[sparky30]

They have been here for years, we have shot them in almost every port along lake michigan for years bowfishing, the DNR just wont admit there here.

[True Gritt]

Is salmon fishing that bad this year that the only reports are from the same few ports every week?

Water finally set up a week and a half ago in the southern ports (st.joe,south haven, saugatuk) but a month ago we had the water turn twice on us then a hard north wind blow with 10ft waves that set us back but now fishing is picking up. July is always a bad month to fish tho but now that august is here fishing will get better expessially with water temps rising.