By Staff
At New Buffalo, chinook and coho have been caught in 120 to 145 feet of water on blue and green spoons and J-plugs. Perch anglers are taking some nice fish in 40 to 50 feet of water on minnows and crayfish. Sorting will be required as some fish are running on the small side. Not many anglers are fishing off the rocks, but river anglers are reporting good catches of northern pike, smallmouth bass and crappie in the evening hours.
At St. Joseph, boat anglers are catching chinook, lake trout and steelhead in 65 to 110 feet of water on green or blue spoons, plugs and flies. Anglers reported catching a few limits of perch. Pier anglers are catching crappie, freshwater drum and perch, but the heavy boat traffic has made pier fishing difficult. Fish have been spotted going through the ladder in the lower St. Joe River. Anglers are encouraged to fish the lower section of the river due to the high numbers of smallmouth bass and catfish in the river. Fishing was slow from Niles to Buchanan. Excellent smallmouth bass fishing was reported from Buchanan to Berrien Springs when drifting live or artificial bait. Walleye fishing has been slow but steady. Fair to good fishing continues on the Dowagiac River on spawn.
Salmon and trout fishing was slow at South Haven. Anglers are trolling both shallow and deep trying to locate fish. Perch fishing has been very good with limits caught south of the piers in 20 to 35 feet of water. A lot of small fish have been taken, but enough eight- to 10-inch fish were caught to fill bag limits.
Pier fishing has been fair. Smallmouth bass have been caught when casting lures or using live bait. Fishing slowed in the Kalamazoo River, with only light numbers of coho and steelhead reported at the Allegan Dam. Temperatures are still running in the 70 degree range. Walleye fishing has been slow to fair. Catfish have been caught throughout the river on crawlers and cut bait.
Slow fishing reported in the Grand River near Grand Rapids. Light numbers of salmon and brown trout have been caught on crawlers and Rapalas near the Sixth Street Dam. Walleye have been caught on crawlers off the wall, and carp are prominent in the river. Closer to Lansing, carp and catfish have been caught on corn and crawlers. Northern pike and smallmouth bass can still be found near the dams. Bluegills are hitting on crawlers and wax worms. Large bluegills have been caught when slow trolling in deep waters at Sleepy Hollow State Park with crawlers, wax worms and grubs. In the Rogue River, a few nice brown trout have been caught at the dam and downstream towards the Golf Course on flies. Bass and northern pike have been caught on spinners.
At Grand Haven, the salmon are back out in 110 to 175 feet of water. Anglers are trolling 60 feet down with blue or green spinners and flies. North winds along with cool rains will move salmon closer to shore. Pier fishing has been very slow due to warm waters and no bait fish to attract salmon.
At Muskegon, salmon fishing has been good 60 to 70 feet down in waters up to 150 feet deep. Warm water slowed the pier fishing. Salmon fishing in Muskegon Lake has been fair. While salmon are starting to move into the Muskegon River and the White River, only light numbers of fish have been caught on spawn and flies as the run has not started yet.