Saginaw Bay: Had good walleye fishing in 10 to 12 feet of water between Linwood and the mouth of the Saginaw River and in the old shipping channel. Anglers are trolling harnesses. Fish were caught out in the Slot from Quanicassee north to the Sunset Bay Marina. At Bay Port, catch and release bass fishing was more popular than walleye fishing with good numbers of smallmouth keeping anglers busy. Walleye fishing from Bay Port and Caseville was concentrated around the big buoy off Sand Point. Channel cat fishing in Wildfowl Bay is excellent right now. A couple flatheads were also caught.
Saginaw River: Had some of the best walleye fishing in the lower river between the Karn-Weadock Power Plant and the Coast Guard Station. Most are trolling fire-tiger hot-n-tots but some are vertical jigging. There’s a lot of bow-fishing activity for carp from Jones Road to the south end of the bay. Shore anglers at Smith Park in Essexville are taking catfish, freshwater drum and white bass.
Tittabawassee River: Walleye anglers are still doing very well on the lower river near the Center Road boat launch when trolling shad raps. Fire-tiger or silver and blue were good colors. Some were getting their limits. The white bass are in and catch rates were very good. The catch and release smallmouth fishing was excellent especially around the Dow Dam. The opener this Saturday looks to be very good.
Au Gres: Had a lot of walleye activity between Point Lookout and Pointe Au Gres. Limit catches were taken with crawler harnesses in 15 to 30 feet of water.
Au Gres River: Is producing some walleye. Those surfcasting at night caught walleye down near the Singing Bridge.
Outer Saginaw Bay:
Oscoda: Walleye catches have slowed but fish are still being caught. Late evening was best off the pier when drifting crawlers and body baits.
Au Sable River: Steelhead can still be found and they are in good shape. It seems fresh fish are coming in day by day. The water is a little high and dark from run-off but the reports were still good. Flies seem to work best in the warmer weather but crawlers, wax worms and spawn were also producing well.
Port Austin: Those trolling have caught coho and lake trout in 35 to 90 feet of water. A few walleye were caught off the North Wall. Shore anglers on Bird Creek caught some big bullhead on crawlers.
Tawas: Pier anglers caught walleye in the evening when casting body baits and jigs. A few pike were taken and smallmouth bass were caught and released. Those trolling did well for walleye in 20 to 30 feet of water out near Tawas Point. Some were vertical jigging over the artificial reef and doing well.
Tawas River: Shore anglers caught walleye and smallmouth bass. Those wading at the mouth caught walleye at night.
Weekly Fishing Tip: DNR highlights family-friendly fishing in Michigan
The DNR recently launched a new section of its website that will help inexperienced anglers find great spots to go fishing in Michigan. The Family Friendly Fishing Waters section of the website connects interested individuals with local fishing opportunities.
The Family Friendly Fishing Waters website can be found at www.michigan.gov/fishing and features a map of Michigan. Visitors can simply click on the county they are interested in fishing and be provided with a list of one or more family-friendly locations to fish. Every county in the state has locations featured.
The DNR designated water bodies as family-friendly based on their ease of access, high likelihood of success in catching fish, identified amenities, and other details. To build this section of the website the DNR asked for the public’s help in submitting locations from throughout the state that would be easy for new anglers to access and use.
Each water body’s online profile includes its geographic location, driving directions, parking information, hours of operation, species of fish available, typical bait used, and much more.
Potential locations will continue to be accepted by the DNR. Stay tuned to future editions of the Weekly Fishing Report for a link for submitting water bodies at the bottom.