There Are No Fish In Michigan

[Gerry Zagorski]

Just got back from 10 days in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I made a few halfhearted attempts to fish but came up empty. The great lakes shore fishery is tough this time of year since the water warmed up and the fish are all out in the deep and the coastlines are shallow and waste deep 100 yards out.

They are into their Whitefish up there and the tribes pretty much have the Commercial Market cornered. Every restaurant you go to has Whitefish and Perch on the menu and if the tribes don't fish, you won't get it.

Did not see a lot of people fishing there, it seemed like I was the only one. Last stop we made was in Frankfort MI on Lake Michigan and as luck would have it, they had a Salmon Tournament going on and I met and talked to a few fishermen there https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fr...qpbl?entry=ttu

This time of year until early October the Salmon run is on and the fish are coming in from Lake Michigan into the bays and rivers making them pretty easy to target...Most people troll for them at the mouth of and in the inlet and some jig... We saw several fish come clear out of the water.

The guys I spoke to and spent some time with had a boat and most of the action is apparently an hour or two before and after sunset and sundown. They usually fish the mornings, come back in and relax and head out again the evenings. They typically get 5-10 Salmon each time they head out, The average fish is in the teens with an occasional 25 plus pound fish.

Nice people up there for sure.... They invited me out fishing the following day but we had to leave for the airport first thing in the AM I did however get an invite for this time next year. Pretty tempting and I would bet this would be right up the alley for many of you here on the site.

[Wilson]

That was my experience as well.
Real nice people. Do you check out the locks on the Canadian border?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Wilson

That was my experience as well.
Real nice people. Do you check out the locks on the Canadian border?

The Soo Locks was on the list but too much other stuff to do and it was a bit out of the way from our other stops. I heard it's cool though.

[Wilson]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

The Soo Locks was on the list but too much other stuff to do and it was a bit out of the way from our other stops. I heard it's cool though.

We took the tourist boat ride that goes through the locks.
It was an unique experience to say the least. I saw a solo fisherman in a small row boat land a very nice Salmon in Lake Huron. That was the only fish of substance I saw the whole week!

Did you at least make the Mac Woods sand dune ride?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Wilson

We took the tourist boat ride that goes through the locks.
It was an unique experience to say the least. I saw a solo fisherman in a small row boat land a very nice Salmon in Lake Huron. That was the only fish of substance I saw the whole week!

Did you at least make the Mac Woods sand dune ride?

Missed that one.... We did get to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park though

[bulletbob]

The giant, massive glacial lakes are not as productive as people think.. The fishing can be world class but it can also go into huge long term slumps, where very few fish are caught for weeks on end. take it from someone that lived in NY and NJ and fished extensively in both states.. Yes, there are big fish in the giant lakes[ great lakes, finger lakes etc.. however, they often don't come easy,, They can be tough to find, impossible to catch at times etc..Also, they are often commercially fished.. Even the finger lakes and several of the big upstate lakes ,,legal or not.. There are many restaurants here that serve bullhead, or yellow perch dinners.. Those fish are caught by pin hookers and sold. Not sure if its still going on, but I recall years ago that many stores close to lake ontario were selling frozen yellow perch, crappies, walleyes,bullheads etc.. I mean LOTS of those "game" fish were stacked deep in freezers, with pretty high prices on them so someone was catching them.. Someone was buying/eating them as well... Lots of pin hookers up here, and even some of the very big lakes have had their perch populations decimated by commercial pin hookers.. Trout and salmon not so much, they don't seem to have the demand as white fleshed fish.... At least not in my area... Even the largest lakes can be grossly over fished, I have witnessed it myself.. just as with salt water, the fish are NOT everywhere. They have , temps, habitat, feed that they prefer and key on, and sadly modern fishermen know when where and how, and will take a lot of fish out, even from the largest lakes.. These are not inexhaustible fisheries, just because of "big water".. same as the ocean really.. Fish are always there... Until they aren't... bob