Captain Chad Dilts from Sport Fish Michigan gives us his latest Michigan fishing report for July 22nd, 2024.
Michigan Fishing Report: 7-22-2024
Lake Michigan fishing has only been getting better with the warm, stable weather we’ve had. The salmon and lake trout are feeding and there is some great fishing to be had. Overall the inland fishing has slowed down a bit but there still plenty of fish that are biting.
Michigan Fishing Report: Salmon
The Salmon fishing has been great and anglers are running into some really nice kings and cohos. The best numbers of salmon can be found in 80 to 90 foot of water zone over 140 feet. Lead core on planer boards with smaller spoons has been the best for those morning fish. Making sure you get out and setup before the sun comes out. The best bite has been first thing in the morning. As the sun comes up move into deeper water into 200 feet of water. That’s how we’ve triggered bites in the middle of the day. Smaller spoons have still been the ticket and we haven’t had a ton of success using magnum spoons. Meat rigs on down riggers are also catching lots of salmon.
Michigan Fishing Report: Lake Trout
The vertical jigging bite for lake trout has remained great and plenty of nice fish are coming to hand. Finding fish has been super easy this season with a well defined thermocline setting up on Lake Michigan. We’ve been catching lots of lake trout in 100 to 150 feet of water. Look for bait and fish on the defined thermocline line that’s about halfway down. Fishing around structure has been really good as well. Heavy jigging spoons and jigs have been the ticket.
Michigan Fishing Report: Walleye
The inland walleye fishing has slowed down as the dog days of summer have arrived. Water temps are up and walleyes have transitioned into deeper water and offshore structure. A few fish can be caught trolling crawler harnesses along slopes of humps or deeper weed lines.
Michigan Fishing Report: Smallmouth bas
We’ve been seeing a lot of bass out on the deeper on main lake structure and cruising the open water basins in twenty-five to thirty feet of water. Guys are having success using FFS and casting drop shots or small minnow soft plastics at these fish. Some fish can be caught along the rock piles with drop shots and ned rigs fishing deeper than ten feet of water.
