Great Lakes shoreline and river mouths fishing report - May 21st

 

 

 

Summer like weather of late has made for some very good fly fishing for carp in the shallow bays and flats of Lake Huron!  Two excellent places to look for these carp this time of year is Tawas Bay and Squaw Bay.  Carp do like it warm and best action is in late morning till evening on bright sunny days.  Top flies right now are small lead eyed crayfish & sculpin patterns and best fished on a floating line.  Also very small minnow patterns will produce.  Currently there is still good numbers of Smallmouth Bass in the shallow waters right now.  Best Smallie action of late has been just off of these shallow flats and along the first drop off. 

 

 

For information and photos of upcoming fishing - updated Nov 3rd (click here)

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 4th - Lots of baitfish in close now!!  Found a bunch of Lake Trout on first drop off and did see one giant brown feed twice on surface.  Now is time to streamer for those that love the lake fishing.

 

 

 

 

 

December 1st - Lake Trout are showing up on the shoreline throughout Lake Huron and just love eat!  Not a lot of browns but there are some around and that should only getting better as water continues to cool.

 

 

 

 

Kyle with his first Atlantic Salmon that he caught swinging a fly on a floating line.   What a great fish!  With the warmer weather now more Atlantics are up in the Rapids right now.

 

 

 

July 20th - Releasing a Atlantic on the St. Marys River that was caught streamer fishing with a smelt pattern.

 

 

 

 

Here are the flies I use when streamer fishing the St. Marys River for Atlantics.

 

 

 

 

April 28th - Chris with just a giant size Northern Pike while fly fishing the shoreline of Lake Huron!  Had a really good time fishing this afternoon and we caught some nice Browns, Smallies, Pike and Walleyes.  Murdich Minnows, Bush Pigs, Phantom, Great Lakes Deceivers all produced well.  Was little shocked that we could not find any Lake Trout and late those have been around in pretty good numbers.  Below are photos are from today.

 

  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

April 26th - Lake Huron shoreline is starting to heat up of late and there have been some big Smallies and very nice Lake Trout around with a few Browns.

 

 

 

 

April 20th - Bait fish continue to grow on the shoreline of Lake Huron and so do the big trout!  Had excellent fishing this evening and landed three big Lake Trout.  Our Great Lakes Deceiver was top pattern today!

 

 

 

 

April 13th - A big Lake Huron Smallmouth Bass!  Fly fishing the shoreline is one of my favorite places to fish this time year.  Been seeing a little bit of everything of late Browns, Lakers, Walleyes, and Steelhead and have come very close to a couple big trout.

 

 

 

 

 

Late March - Ice out was a good one in Thunder Bay this year!  Lots of these couple year old Browns and few Atlantics.  Nice to the recent stocking in the this area is working!

 

 

 

 

For those that would like watch some fly fishing on Lake Huron for trophy brown trout here is a video (October 16th) shot and edited by Robert Thompson.  Look forward to fishing and shooting more videos with Rob in the future!

 

http://www.thirdyearflyfisher.com/stillsLH.html?1256757164259

 

 

 

December 21st - Shoreline fishing is getting pretty limited after such a cold December with lots of ice building.  Most of the river mouths are still open and good place to look for Steelhead, Browns and Lake Trout.  Bait fish patterns that imitate Emerald Shiners and Goby patterns are top producers this time of year.

 

 

 

 

December 4th - Some huge Lakers and a few Browns have moved in the first drop off on the shoreline of Lake Huron with the recent cold weather.  There are some giant Lake Trout around right now with some pushing 20lbs.  Ice is coming fast!

 

 

 

November 15th - Some nice trout are on the shoreline of Lake Huron right now and they are feeding heavy on bait fish this time of year.  Big Browns have been hard to come by of late but have seen some of late.  The last week many of the rocky piers and reefs have been holding good numbers of walleyes and whitefish.

 

 

 

 

Oct 26th - A 20lb Lake Huron brown trout being release back in the Lake Huron.  Now is the time for those looking for the ultimate challenge on a fly rod!

 

 

 

Oct 10th - A brown and lake trout on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Seeing more trout of late showing up in close!  Conditions have not been the best of late with lots of sunny calm days and fishing has been the best very early in morning or just after dark.  Lots baitfish are moving into the shoreline structures & marinas now and look for the best fishing of fall coming very soon.

 

 

 

 

September 27th - Streamer fishing for Kings and Coho in beautiful Platte Bay.  Took writer Tim Tebeau and photographer Todd Z from the Traverse Magazine out streamer fishing in Lake Michigan this evening. Tim is writing article on fly fishing the shoreline of the Great Lakes and we got some great photos. Due out in August 2011.  Big Chinook just smashed a Glow Pig streamer.

 

 

 

 

 

July 18th - Excellent fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the St. Mary's today and found a nice big rainbow!  Fish were feeding heavy during the afternoon rain on smelt and were were just crushing my smelt patterns.  The Phantom was the top fly today. 

 

 

 

 

 

July 8th & 9th - Tom with a couple of very Atlantic Salmon caught streamer fishing with smelt patterns on the St. Mary's River.  The bite was not the best the last couple of days but finding Atlantics everyday.  Hex hatch seems to be winding down which should improve the streamer bite this coming week.

 

 

 

 

 

July 7th - A couple of bright silver Atlantic Salmon on the St. Mary's River.  Now is the time for those that like to streamer fishing and should have good fishing throughout July.

 

 

 

July 4th - Chris with a big Lake Huron Smallie!  Great action today and small flies were the best - crayfish and sculpin patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

July 2nd - Just a beautiful Atlantic caught on the St. Mary's River.

 

 

 

 

 

May 26th- Ronnie and Steve with some excellent Smallmouth on the shoreline of Lake Huron!  So many nice flats to wade this time of year with lots of action.  Floating lines and small crayfish and shiner patterns are top producers right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 23rd - The carp have come early this year on the flats of Lake Huron.  Lots of action today and some great smallmouth fishing.

 

 

 

 

 

May 2nd - Brandon with a beautiful Atlantic Salmon at the mouth of the Au Sable River!  These are such a cool fish and numbers each spring seem to be increasing in Lake Huron.

 

 

 

 

 

May 1st - Smallmouth fishing has been excellent of late on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  You find structure that is holding baitfish and fish are very aggressive right now.  Many of stocking sites in Lake Huron (Steelhead and Chinook) are great places to look for giant smallies.  Those fingerling Chinook Salmon are a huge food source and will stay in relatively shallow water for the next month.

 

 

 

April 4th - Lake Huron is starting to produce some big Lake Trout!  Good numbers are on the shoreline feeding heavy right now.

 

 

 

April 3rd - Lake Huron Atlantic Salmon.  The last couple years the numbers of these salmon keep increasing every spring on the shoreline of Lake Huron.   Such a cool fish and they just smash baitfish streamer this time of year.

 

 

 

March 31st - Good streamer fishing continues on the shoreline of Lake Huron!  Water temps are just moving over 40 and big trout are getting very active. Many of the Lake Huron browns do spawn right at ice out and now start feeding heavy (like one in photo). Key places to fish right now are areas where perch & smelt spawn.

 

 

 

March 30th - Aaron with a real nice Lake Huron steelhead caught on a streamer.  The big lake is starting to warm up quickly and the big trout along with the smallmouth are getting very active.  This time of year you find the bait fish and you will find the trout!

 

 

 

March 16th - A beautiful Lake Huron steelhead.  Ice out is here and a great time to fly fish the shoreline for those giant Lake Huron trout - Brown Trout, Steelhead and Lake Trout.  I'm always looking for new lines that work better in the big lake and my new favorite is the Rio OutBound T-11.  Longer head than some of the other sink tips and very quick sink rate.  100' cast are very easy with this line and it sure worked well today. Top streamer today was the Umpqua Murdich Minnow in chartreuse/white and this is one of our top producers for shoreline fishing.

 

 

 

March 16th - The perfect place to watch the sunset - on the sunrise side of Michigan casting streamers for big trout.  There is still a little ice in the way in some some spots but with water temps in the upper 30's it will be gone very soon.

 

 

 

March 1st - Fly fishing along the ice in Lake Huron.  One Lake Trout today but still a bit early for most of the shoreline.

 

 

 

Dec 5th - Tom Olenczuk with big Lake Huron Brown Trout!  Bitter cold and windy this morning on the shoreline but some good fishing.  After a very warm November many of the Browns are still  a ways off from spawning.  Lake temps are dropping fast and hopefully ice fishing holds off for a while.  No ice this morning but there was slush coming out of the shallows.  The last two days of cold and wind has put some huge schools of baitfish on the first drops - big trout are just feeding heavy.

 

 

Dec 5th - We start early this morning and found a number of species all in the same area - browns, lake trout, walleyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 4th - Everything changed today on the shoreline of Lake Huron - Winter finally came!  Here is the proper gear when searching for Lake Browns in the early morning hour before light - graph/GPS to find them and my Big Buddy heater to keep hands warm in between casts.  High winds and very cold temps this morning put big numbers of baitfish very close to shore on the first drop off.  Did not find any Browns this morning but the Lake Trout were feeding heavy and landed 3.  I keep getting asked how long will this fishing last and that all depends on the weather.  There is no ice yet but coming soon.  The big lake cools down from the shoreline out, which means the colder water is on the shoreline and in the marinas and will freeze first.  Temps this morning were 35-36 in close so ice could be coming soon.  Had temps around 39 out off the shoreline so it will take some time before all is over.  Typically these temps are ideal for Browns to be on the shoreline and hopefully we can find a few tomorrow morning.

 

 

 

December 2nd - Eli Berant with a very cool steelhead caught streamer fishing the shoreline of Lake Huron.  One of Eli's new patterns was the hot fly today - Orange/Gold Bush Pig.

 

 

 

December 2nd - Just a beautiful Lake Huron Lake Trout that inhaled a Great Lakes Deceiver.  Big trout was released after photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 29th - Eli and Eric with some very nice Lake Trout fly fishing the river mouths and shoreline of Lake Huron.  Eli has been tying some great new patterns for our lake fishing and they are paying off!  If you like looking at big streamer he has some good ones on his web site at:  http://www.greatlakesfly.com 

 

 

 

 

 

November 29th - Jeff Boks with a  very cool looking Lake Huron Lake Trout.  These trout are just so aggressive this time of year.  You got to love a fishery where the trout will just smash a 5" to 7" long fly!  Should have some good fishing till shoreline freezes up - hoping that does not come till after Christmas. 

 

 

 

November 14th - Tom Olenczuk with a nice Lake Huron Lake Trout.  Big trout inhaled a Murdich Minnow.  Not a lot of action today on the shoreline with the bright sun and warm weather but still finding a few big trout to chase our flies.

 

 

 

November 11th - With the bright sunny conditions we started early this morning and almost caught a big trout out in Lake Huron.  Fly pulled out with big trout right below boat.  Had a few browns slashing on the surface at first light but once sun came up action was over.   Need to get back to those gloomy wet days of October!

 

 

 

October 28th - Just a perfect evening fly fishing Lake Huron!  The Lake Trout have been doing so well in Lake Huron this year and we found a bunch of them today.  As the lake temps keep dropping more bait fish keep coming into the bays & river mouths and these big trout are following them right in.  The addition of a good GPS/graph is paying off huge this year - those big trout can't hide in that deeper water now.  Second drop off to around 16' of water was the key this evening.  Our Great Lakes Deceivers and Murdich Minnows in Chartreuse/White were our top two flies today.

 

 

 

 

 

October 16th - A huge brown trout on the shoreline of Lake Huron that just crushed a Great Lakes Deceiver in Fire Tiger!  Right now there are not a ton of these big browns around but there are some big ones in Lake Huron.  New Sage Xi3 9' 9wt did the job today.  We had video camera running on this one and will post video soon.

For those looking for streamers for fly fishing the Great Lakes and our trout streams this fall we have just added some new patterns to our online fly sales (like the one in this 20lb brown trout's mouth) Trophy Trout Streamers

 

 

 

 

Oct 11th - A beautiful Lake Huron brown trout being released!  Big trout was caught on Great Lakes Alewive pattern. 

 

 

 

October 3rd - Today was my first day to get to fly fish the shoreline of Lake Huron this fall and very nice to find some big browns around!  The big lake has been cooling down quick of late and with temps in the 50's browns and lakers are starting to show up in the shallower bays, river mouths and rocky points.  The shoreline of Lake Huron sets up so well for streamer fishing this time of year and these big trout are all looking for fish to eat.  I'm always looking for the perfect gear and today had my two top 9wts with me - Sage Xi3 and Winston BIIMX.  The Xi3 was lined with a Rio OutBound WF9I/S3.  This is one of my most common setups and the type 3 sinking head is ideal for waters 3' to 12' deep.  The BIIMX was lines with a Rio OutBound T-11 which has an extremely fast sink rate for deeper water.  When it comes to flies our Great Lakes Deceivers, Murdich Minnows, Alewives, Gobies and Half & Half are all top patterns.  Today top fly was a new goby pattern that I just got from our top streamer fly tier Eli Berant (http://www.greatlakesfly.com/).   Fished on the T-11 OutBound line down deep and with a slow retrieve is what worked today.  I will be adding a number of our new lake patterns in the next couple of days to our online sales.

 

 

 

 

September 20th - Good streamer fishing just after dark on the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  Shoreline is still a bit warm and in the warmer water best bite is in the dark hours.  Our glow Great Lakes Deceiver got the job done tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

September 6th - Matt Grajewski with an awesome King Salmon caught streamer fishing on the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  Shoreline water has been a bit warm of late but lots of Kings are holding just at and around many of the river mouths in Northwest Michigan.  This time of year when water temps are warm the key is streamer fishing before it gets light.  This big King was caught on a glow Murdich Minnow - such a great flies tied by Eli Berant.

 

 

 

August 23rd - Now is the time to start streamer fishing the shoreline and river mouths of Northern Lake Michigan for Chinook Salmon.  North winds the last couple days has brought cold water to the shoreline.  With cold water comes Alewives and feeding Chinooks!

 

 

 

July 24th - Excellent streamer fishing this morning on the St. Mary's River for Atlantic Salmon!  Right now these salmon are feeding heavy on smelt and stripping streamers with sink tips has been very productive.  Our best set up today was a fast action 8wt with a Rio OutBound Type 3 Sinking tip.  These are just great distance lines and ideal for streamer fishing the Great Lakes.   Used the new Abel Super 7/8 Quick Change reel today (pictured above) and it is my new favorite reel for chasing trophy trout & salmon in the Great Lakes!

 

 

 

 

July 24th - Stripping streamers along the shoreline in the St. Mary's River.  These Atlantic Salmon will chase flies right to the surface and moving fly quick is the key.

 

 

 

 

Here were are two top patterns today.  On the left a new down sized smelt pattern tied by Eli Berant that worked very well today.  On the right an Umpqua woolhead shiner pattern that has been a good producer this summer.   We are expanding our salmon/trout streamers in our online section in the next couple weeks - look for some new colors and glow flies.

 

 

 

July 23rd - Tom Olenczuk with a nice Atlantic caught on smelt patterns.

 

 

 

 

July 23rd - There are some giant Rainbows in the St. Mary's River this time of year along with the Atlantic Salmon.  There feeding heavy on the same thing - smelt.  Same streamer setup produced this big one.

 

 

 

 

July 15th - Excellent fishing for Atlantic Salmon today on the St. Mary's River.  Landed 4 today and had a lot of action with a number of other hook ups and follows to the boat.  Right now these fish are feeding heavy on smelt in the river and our most productive fly was a Half & Half in gray/white (corner of Atlantics mouth above).  Our most productive setup today was a Sage 9' 8wt TCX (fast action 8wt) with a Rio OutBound 8wt fly line with a type 3 sink rate.  These OutBound lines work extremely well for streamer fishing big water like the St. Mary's and are my go to line on the shoreline of the Great Lakes.  These lines are designed for long distance casting with a big fly and are ideal for stripping streamers.

 

 

 

 

July 8th - Eli and Chris fishing the piers of Northern Lake Michigan.   With the cool weather of late and strong north winds, shoreline temps have stayed very cool this summer.  Ideal for bringing Chinooks and Browns to the shoreline to feed on the Alewives.

 

 

 

 

June 24th - Extreme heat today made for some good fishing on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Carp and smallmouth were both looking for the same fly - small crayfish patterns.

 

 

 

 

June 24th - Carp fishing started a little late this year due to a very cold May.  Every time out of late fishing keeps getting better - should have excellent fishing for the next month.

 

 

 

 

June 16th - Beautiful Tawas Bay and bunch of carp working all the reeds.

 

 

 

 

 

May 25th - Chris Hawkins with a huge Great Lakes smallmouth bass!  Now is the time for those looking for big bass along the shoreline of the Great Lakes in shallow water.

 

 

 

 

May 23rd - Giant Smallmouth were pretty easy to find today on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Most of fish were in 6 to 10 feet of water hanging around rock piles and reefs.  When you found one you would get 2 or 3 in a row and now is a great time for big Smallies!  Top fly today was a Rattling Murdich Minnow in rainbow.

 

 

 

May 23rd - Walking the flats of Lake Huron looking for pods of feeding carp.  This fishery is just getting going and peak time to come is June.  Water temps this afternoon were around 60 which is still a bit cold.  We did find a few nice pods of carp today but all were on the move.  These fish like it warm and best time of day is late morning till later afternoon.  For those looking to give this a try we do have have guides available for June.   Typically for guide trips on the flats we do a 6 hour trip and 10am to 4pm is a very common time frame.  These trips can be done in conjunction with evening trout trips on the Au Sable.

 

 

 

 

April 24th - Doug Davis with a huge silver brown trout on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  This is the time of year where there is lots of baitfish right on the first drop off and look for big trout to be feeding heavy.

 

April 24th and 25th - With the warm weather of late there is plenty of other fish besides trout on the shoreline that really pull hard.  Alewives patterns have been the hot fly.

 

 

 

 

April 5th - Andy Spellman with a nice big Lake Trout on the shoreline of Lake Huron.

 

 

 

 

 

April 3th - Just a nasty rainy, snowy, windy day on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  It was to rough for my boat but never to rough to fly fish!  My new Sage 890-4TCX with a Rio OutBound T-11 line handled very well in these high winds.  The Lake Trout have been very aggressive of late.

 

 

 

April 3rd - Jeff Boks with Lake Huron Lake Trout.  This such a great time of year to fly fish the shoreline!

 

 

 

 

April 2nd - Sunrise on Lake Huron in Thunder Bay.  Of late there have been some very nice brown trout and lake trout caught in Thunder bay and the surrounding area.   No big trout for us today but Adam Peterson did get a couple nice big smallmouth bass.

 

 

 

March 31st - Lots of big Lake Trout on the shoreline of Lake Huron right now!  These big trout are very aggressive and will just crush a streamer.  Excellent fishing today.

 

 

 

March 10th - Finally got to streamer fish out near the mouth of the Au Sable today.  Could not make it to far into Lake Huron due lots of ice.  Had one good hit and short run but fly (Great Lakes Deceiver) pulled out.  Felt like a very good fish but hard to say which species.  Typically at the mouth of the Au Sable right now you will find steelhead, lake trout or walleye.  Maybe even a big brown trout!  Ice out is coming soon and I will hitting the shoreline hard with my streamers.  Will have lots of reports very soon.

 

 

 

Nov. 30th - Some good action this evening on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Two big Lake Trout and lost one nice brown trout at the boat.  Fishing has been good of late if you can take the weather on the shoreline.  Winter seems to be here and of late lots of wind & snow.  Right now most marinas are freezing over and boat landing are not good. 

 

 

 

Nov. 24th - Brandon made lots of great casts looking for that big Lake Huron trout.  Had good conditions for shoreline fly fishing ( a little snow, some rain, thick clouds) but no hookups.  We did see a few good trout on the surface and two good hits. 

 

 

 

Nov. 23rd - Rob Thompson working a drop off on a cold nasty day!    Single digits this morning made for a slow day on the river and lake.  We had one good hookup on a steelhead in the river and couple of hits.  Looks like Winter is coming early this year.

 

 

 

Nov. 9th - A young steelhead out in Lake Huron.  Tough fishing conditions today with high winds, a little snow, and some nice ice pellets.  Finding pods of baitfish is the key right now and today most were in 15'-20' of water today.

 

 

Nov 9th - The Lake Trout are looking very nice this fall and are very aggressive this time of year!  We have been finding Lakers every trip out of late but not finding many browns yet.

 

 

Nov. 3rd - A real nice Lake Trout that just inhaled a 6" long Great Lakes Deceiver.  Did see a few big browns today but all were out in bit deeper water.

 

 

 

Oct 29th - A beautiful Lake Huron Lake Trout in spawning colors.  Been finding some Lakers very regularly of late on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  These trout are just finishing up spawning and look for them around rocky structures.  As spawning ends look for these fish to get even more aggressive.  Gobies are very plenty in Lake Huron and are a main food source for the Lake Trout all summer long.  Today's best pattern was one of our sculpin patterns that is a perfect match for a goby.

 

 

 

 

Here are two of our best goby imitations and are very production for lake trout and brown trout in Lake Huron.

 

 

 

October 25th - Here are my most common three setups for fishing the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Sage 890-4TCR with a Nautilus CCF8 reel spooled with a Rio Outbound WF-8-F line and a small shiner pattern.  When browns start slashing at bait along surface this is what I go to.  Extremely productive in very low light and shallow water.  Sage 790-4TCX with a Abel Super 6 reel spooled with a Rio DC 24' 250 grain sink tip and a perch pattern.  The 24' tip is ideal in high winds which are very common in November.  In 4' to 10' of water this setup works great and one that I use the most when fishing the shoreline.  Sage 990-4Xi2 with a Sage 3400D reel spooled with a Outbound T-11 and a chartreuse minnow pattern.  Great casting setup in high winds and it will really get down in deeper water.  Works ideal in 8' to 15' of water.

 

 

 

 

October 11th - Jeff Boks with a huge Lake Huron Brown Trout.  You got to love stripping streamers for a 20lb plus brown trout!  The next two months is the ideal to look for these trophy browns on the shoreline.  Our Great Lakes Deceivers, Alewive, and Perch patterns are all top producers right now.

 

 

 

September 28th - Finally some cooler weather today!  Still good numbers of silver Chinook Salmon in Lake Michigan.  These are just such great fish and this one just nailed a big baitfish streamer.

 

 

 

September 13th - Coho Salmon are moving into the shoreline of Platte Bay and are being caught just outside the mouth.  These fish are very aggressive and will just smash a streamer.  This evening fished one of the new TCX Sage rods.  The 9' 7wt TCX worked just perfect for these open water salmon!  This new series is a ultra fast action rod and extremely light weight.  Casted a 250 grain 24' Rio sink tip and a large baitfish pattern with very little effort.   We do have the entire series of 9'ers (5wt thru 10wt) in stock now.  If interested or any questions just drop us a email at kelly@michiganstreamside.com

 

 

 

Sept 4th - A nice King Salmon and just nailed a big baitfish pattern being stripped on sink tip.  Today's rain really got the fish going in the lower sections near Lake Michigan.  Found a great new pattern that has been producing well this year and it is stuck in this ones mouth.  It is a new pattern from Umpqua Feather Merchants called the Murdich's Minnow.  We have been using this pattern all summer and it was also our top producer for Smallmouth Bass.  So far it is also our top producer for Kings in the lower river and around the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  We are a Umpqua dealer and do carry these in stock. 

 

 

 

August 31st - A beautiful sunset at the mouth of the Betsie River.  Right now there are big numbers of salmon in harbor just outside of Betsie Lake.  You can see them rolling around on the surface every morning and evening.  The fishing has been pretty slow the last few days but there are a few being caught here.  This can be a great place to streamer fish and look for fishing to improve with next north winds.  This time of year water temperature is what produces good or bad fishing.  Below is surface temp graph and shows what has happened of late.

 

 

August 31st - Here is a surface temperature graph of Lake Michigan around the mouth of the Betsie River.  As you can see all of shoreline is very warm and this is the cause for poor fishing the last few days.  Salmon are used to feeding heavy in water that is 50-56 degrees all summer and now water is around 70 at the mouth of the river.  Also bait fish follow this low 50's water temperature and there is no bait on the shoreline now.  If you look down a few dates on this report page August 16th shows what happens with good north or east winds.  The lake temps roll over and all the cold water is on the shoreline.  This can happen over night and typically causes excellent fishing.  With all of staging salmon at the mouth right now next temperature drop should produce some excellent streamer fishing.

 

 

 

 

August 25th - Mike & Noah Sargent with a nice silver Chinook Salmon in the very lower Betsie River.  Fishing was a bit slow this evening but there were good number of salmon out and around the mouth.  Fish very just not on the bite this evening but we did find one to smash a big baitfish streamer.  Look for good numbers of fish to start moving thru Betsie Lake very soon.

 

 

 

August 17th - Eli Berant and Chris Lanfear with some very nice Chinook Salmon on the shoreline of Lake Michigan right at day break.  This time of year look for these Kings to be very aggressive and they are still feeding heavy on Alewives.  Today was right after a good north wind and lots of baitfish were right near the shoreline and river mouth.  Eli and Chris put double digit numbers into the net!

 

 

August 16th - Here is a surface temp graph of Lake Michigan around the mouth of the Betsie River.  The last couple of days there has been strong north winds and you can see what happens.  Warm water is pushed out cold water comes in.  When this happens look for excellent streamer fishing in and around the river mouths, piers and lower ends of rivers for bright silver King Salmon.

 

 

 

July 13th - Good streamer fishing for Atlantic Salmon on the St. Mary's River today!  Landed three, lost one, and a few other good hits on our streamers.  Right now there are lots of small smelt in the river and salmon are feeding heavy on them.  Long sink tips (Rio DC 200gr 24' fly line) and a good assortment of smelt looking patterns is needed.  These Atlantic's can be very tough to catch some days but other they are very aggressive and you can see them smashing bait fish on the surface.  The St. Mary's is in great shape right now and salmon fishing should remain excellent for a while now or until so very high heat comes.

 

 

 

July 13th - John & Liz with a nice Atlantic Salmon on the St. Mary's River that Liz caught.  John lives right in Sault St. Marie Canada and runs a guide service on the river.  Streamer fishing for these Atlantics has been very good of late. 

 

 

 

June 9th - Excellent carp fishing on the shoreline of Lake Huron!  Landed a bunch fishing the afternoon with good numbers of pre spawning fish around.  Should be good fishing on the flats for the next couple of weeks.

 

 

 

June 9th - Today's top pattern was size #8 lead eyed crayfish pattern.

 

 

 

June 1st - A big Smallmouth Bass on the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Now is the time for big bass and carp in the shallow water.

 

 

 

June 1st - Beautiful Tawas Bay has lots of great water to wade fish for Smallies and Carp this time of year!  Afternoons are peak times right now.  Should have excellent fishing for next couple of weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

May 28th - The shoreline of Lake Huron is going very well right now!   Excellent action on Smallies today.  Bass are in very shallow right now and with the water temps in upper 50's to low 60's they are very aggressive.  Today float lines (Rio Outbound) and with our chartreuse/white Half & Half was by far the best setup.  Early afternoon good numbers (below) of Carp moved into very shallow water and there was good action for a couple of hours.  Small lead eye crayfish pattern produced a few good hook ups.  Look for carp action to just keep getting better with peak numbers typically being the first couple weeks of June.

 

 

 

 

 

May 11th - A big Lake Huron Smallmouth Bass!  The shoreline is warming up and a number of different species are feeding on bait fish patterns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 5th - Paul Gray working the shoreline of Lake Huron with a streamer rod right as the sun is coming up.  Ice was still a bit in the way but at least it is melting fast.  This time of year look for browns in very shallow water.  Many are still thinking about spawning and these fish are always looking for baitfish.  Top patterns right now are alewife and smelt patterns.

 

For those looking for some beautiful angling and wildlife artwork you should check out Paul's web site at: http://www.ptbruleestudio.com/  His art work is based mostly on personal experiences and is a must see!

 

 

 

December 6th - Lots of ice growing in Lake Huron right now!  Making for some pretty tough fishing conditions.  All harbors and boat ramps are iced in that I know about.  Still lots of open water in Lake Huron but without a major warm up shoreline fishing is very limited.  It did not seem quit fair this fall with extreme warm weather in the early portion of the fall and now extreme cold weather in the late fall/early winter but that is the way it goes.  There are still some places to look in Michigan for open water fly fishing for trophy browns this time of year.  If I find something good will put some info on this fishing report.  Last year we had major warm up in late December and excellent fishing so you never know what might happen.

 

 

November 28th - Extremely high winds on shoreline of Lake Huron today and pretty cold temps.  That is ice under Lake Trout and unfortunately it is starting to build up in some sheltered area and harbors.  Conditions are a little tough right now but there are a few trout around.  Forecast is for wind and cold weather for the next few days.

 

 

 

November 9th - Robb Smith with a nice Lake Trout caught on a small perch patterns.  Did see a couple of browns today but still not a lot of them on the shoreline yet.  Typically we have excellent fishing on the shoreline of Lake Huron during deer season which is coming later this week.

 

 

November 1st - Fighting Lake Huron steelhead!  This time of year river mouths in the northern portion of lake typically hold a few nice steelies.

 

 

  

October 28th - Fished some deeper water along shoreline of Lake Huron looking for big brown trout today.  We found some big schools of baitfish and some really nice walleyes & whitefish.   With the colder weather moving in look for trout to pick up this coming week.

 

 

 

October 16th - No trout today but did have some pretty good action fly fishing the shoreline of Lake Huron.  Baitfish are moving in close to the shoreline and a number of warm water species are there feeding on them.  Today two Northern Pike and one nice Smallmouth Bass.  We should be finding some trout real soon as Lake Huron continues to cool down.

 

 

 

October 11th - The shoreline of Lake Huron with a bunch of seagulls feeding on baitfish.  By watching for seagulls, diving duck, and cormorants schools of baitfish can be located.  This time of year once you find baitfish you typically find some species of fish feeding on them.  Brown Trout, Lake Trout, Smallmouth, and Walleyes are all common this time of year.  Trout are just starting to show up on the shoreline and numbers will improve as weather keeps getting colder.  Today we had a little action while fishing Hammond Bay.  No big browns but did landed a couple of Lake Trout and a nice Smallmouth Bass.

 

 

 

 

 

Salmon streamer fishing photos - late summer 2007

 

 

 

September 3rd - It does not get much better than this!  Silver King Salmon inhaling big streamers.  Hot fly this morning was a glow chart/white Great Lakes Deceiver.  Forecast is for cool and wet late this week - should make for some excellent salmon fishing.

 

 

 

August 31st - Streamer fishing at its finest!  Tom Bushy and Tom Olenczuk with a double digit morning stripping streamers for King Salmon near the mouth of the Betsie River.  This open water salmon fishing is just unbelievable with so many good places to fly fish and very aggressive salmon.  Our chart/white Great Lakes Deceiver was our top pattern today.

 

 

 

August 30th - Tom Bushy with a big King Salmon that smashed a streamer right at dark!

 

 

August 27th - A big fresh King Salmon caught streamer fishing right near the shoreline of Lake Michigan at the mouth of Arcadia Lake.  Right at dark is prime time for these salmon to be most aggressive.   Fished a few new glow patterns this evening with excellent success.  A glow baitfish pattern (green & white) tied as a tube fly with a few glow beads between the fly and hook did the job this evening.  I get asked a lot which fly lines we are using to streamer fish for these early salmon.   I have tried many and my favorites are the Rio Outbound and DC 24ft Sink Tip.  Typically in the rivers sink tips and in open water the Outbound lines are preferred.  This time of year its hard to beat the Sage 9' 9wt. Xi2 for our salmon streamer fishing.

 

 

August 25th - Kris Walley with huge King Salmon that inhaled a big Fire Tire Streamer out in Betsie Lake near Lake Michigan.

 

 

August 25th - Tom Olenczuk with a Chinook Salmon right near Lake Michigan.  These salmon are very aggressive before they make there spawning runs up the river.  This time of year there are a number of great places to fly fish for these salmon - Manistee Lake, Portage Lake, Betsie Lake are all great places to fish right now.

 

 

August 25th - Kris Walley & Tom Olenczuk with some early morning salmon out near Lake Michigan.  Hard to beat stripping streamers in open water for these aggressive Kings!

 

 

 

 

August 21st - Mike Sargent with a fresh King Salmon out in Betsie Lake.  Glow streamers work great this time year just after dark.

 

 

August 21st - Mark Delaney with a nice big King Salmon that smashed a Alewive pattern first thing in the morning.

 

 

August 20th - Mike Kmita fighting & landing a big Chinook Salmon out in Betsie Lake.  This is a great place to streamer fish for these early salmon.  Salmon are just starting to move in from Lake Michigan and everyday fish numbers are increasing.

 

 

 

  

Lake Huron & Lake Michigan brown trout, salmon and smallmouth photos from the 2005 & 2006 season  (click here)

Lake Huron brown trout photos from the 2003 & 2004 season  (click here)

Steelhead photos from the 2005 season  (click here)

Trout photos from the 2005 & 2006 season  (click here)

 Trout photos from the 2004 season  (click here)

Salmon photo gallery  (click here)

We do have fall dates open for those looking for guided float trips.   If interested in trips or any questions you can contact us via email or give us a call at 989-848-5983.

Current water levels at Parmallee Bridge - Trout waters

Current water levels at Mio Dam on the AuSable River - Trout waters

Current water levels at Alcona Dam on the AuSable River - Smallmouth Bass & Trout waters

Current water levels at Foote Dam on the AuSable River - Steelhead waters

 

Streamer fishing - always good, especially Spring and Fall
Hendrickson (late-April/early-May)
Brown Drake (late-May/mid-June)
Isonychia (mid-June)
Hexagenia Limbata (mid-June/early-July)
White Fly/Ephron (late-August)
Terrestrials - hoppers and ants (mid-July thru mid-September)
Salmon (late-August thru mid-Oct)
Steelhead (Oct thru mid-May)