Lake Michigan
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Lake Michigan Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Lake Michigan. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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- Species
Smallmouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureOpen Water/BasinBrought my buddy out on this windy day to potentially hook into some shallow smallies staging, or already on beds, and boy did he connect! Jack caught a TANK on the old reliable KVD Dreamshot 4-1/4 in the classic KVD Magic color, in addition to another couple aggressive males. Great fishing weekend in Chicago!
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueBobbersSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureBoulders
The water was very choppy with cloudy skies nothing was getting bit. I threw out a strike king minnow on a bobber and got a couple bites.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonSummerStructureBoulders
It was a hot calm day fishing the marina about 90° f bluebird skies and not much of a breeze. The water clarity was very good today and there was barely any chop on the water. I started out running some moving baits but didn't get any hits so I decided to switch up to a finesse approach. I just recently picked up these crush City Ned BLTs and have been wanting to try them so I rigged them wacky drop shot and about the third cast a smallmouth crushed it. The color of the bait was ghost morning Dawn and I think I may have found my new favorite color for smallmouth.
SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueSoft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)SeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureBouldersCovering water and hitting anywhere with a shadow. Throwing the swimsuits as far as we could was crucial for my client and I this day. Not every shadow had a fish but most did.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueSpinnerbaitsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureBaitfish
High winds this day created a nice chunk to the wind blown shoreline. Big post spawn fish were up there looking for a meal. covering water with a spinnerbait was the best approach this day for my clients.
SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonSummerStructureBouldersIt’s getting hot, and these fish are looking for shade and starting to really key in on finesse near their cover spots. Caught another fish on a deep diving crankbait, but they’re officially on their summer patterns as far north as Lake Michigan in Chicago. The new Mustad Alpha points were from the product testing, and they did GREAT. Especially them being weedless dropshot hooks, which I’ve never used before. Super pleased with them!
Species
TroutTechniqueSpoonsSeasonSummerStructureBaitfishWe fished the morning bite out of Manitowoc, concentrating on the areas with as many aelwife as we could find. Targeted trolling depths were 85-105 FOW for kings. Downriggers with Moonshine spoons trolled down at depths with temps around 42-45 degrees were the most consistent rigs for kings. Steelhead were hitting moonshine spoons behind planer boards.
- Species
Lake TroutTechniqueTrolling Deep (20'+)SeasonSummerStructureOpen Water/BasinTrolled spoons and J-plugs for lakers and king salmon out of the Milwaukee port. Dodger flies didn't produce while spoons did the best.
