Fishing in the Great Lakes, A Michigan Captain's Guide to All Five

Five lakes hold one-fifth of the fresh surface water on this planet and 177 species of fish. Most anglers who fish them will only ever really know one.

My name is Captain Ben Heinbokel, and I've run Net Dreams Fishing Charters since 2009. I fish two of the five for a living, Lake Erie out of Monroe in the spring and Lake Michigan out of Manistee in the summer. Twenty-plus years of hard-earned Great Lakes knowledge tells me the same thing every season. 

These lakes are not one fishery. They are five very different bodies of water that happen to be connected, and the fish, the depths, and the seasons change dramatically from one to the next.

This guide breaks down fishing in the Great Lakes lake by lake. What bites, when it bites, where to launch, and an honest answer to the question everybody asks me on the dock. Which Great Lake actually has the best fishing?

The Great Lakes by the Numbers

Before the lake-by-lake breakdown, here's the scale we're talking about. These figures come from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and they explain why anglers drive four hours to get here.

• 177 fish species live in the Great Lakes basin, 139 of them native

• One-fifth of the world's fresh surface water sits in these five lakes

• $5.1 billion is the estimated annual value of the Great Lakes fishery

• 75,000+ jobs are supported by that fishery

• 9,000 miles of shoreline, which is more coastline than the East Coast and Gulf Coast combined

• Michigan borders four of the five, every lake except Ontario

That last number is the one I care about most. If you live in Michigan, you are within a day's drive of four world-class fisheries. Very few anglers anywhere can say that.

Why There Are Salmon in the Great Lakes at All

Here's a question I get on the boat every summer. Why are Pacific salmon swimming in a freshwater lake 2,000 miles from the Pacific?

The short version starts with a problem. A small invasive baitfish called the alewife got into the lakes and exploded through the 1950s and 1960s. With sea lamprey having wiped out most of the native lake trout that would have eaten them, nothing was left to keep alewives in check. They overran Lake Michigan. Massive die-offs washed millions of dead alewives onto beaches, and the shoreline stank for weeks.

Fishery managers made a call. Starting in the mid-1960s they stocked Pacific salmon, Chinook and coho, to eat the alewives and control the population. It worked better than anyone predicted. The salmon fed hard, grew fast, and within a few years Michigan had accidentally created one of the best salmon fisheries in the world.

That's why a 30-pound king salmon can be caught 200 miles from any ocean. Every salmon trip I run out of Manistee traces back to a baitfish problem somebody solved sixty years ago.

Lake Michigan, Salmon Country

Known for trophy Chinook salmon, coho, steelhead, and deep-water summer trolling.

Lake Michigan is my summer water, so this is the section where I can tell you exactly what I see rather than what I've read. It's the only Great Lake entirely inside the United States, and it produces the biggest salmon most Michigan anglers will ever hook.

What you'll catch here. Chinook salmon, called kings, are the headline fish. Mature kings regularly push past 20 pounds and fish over 30 pounds show up every season. Coho salmon run smaller but fight above their weight and come through in two waves, an early-season push and a fall run. Steelhead patrol the surface layers all summer. Lake trout hold deep and stay catchable nearly year-round. Brown trout hang near tributary mouths early in the season, and yellow perch fill in around the harbors when the water cools.

The detail that actually matters. Salmon in Lake Michigan don't live at a depth, they live at a temperature. Kings want water between 42 and 59 degrees. In July and August the thermocline, the boundary layer where warm surface water meets the cold water underneath, typically sets up somewhere between 40 and 70 feet down. Find that layer and you've found the fish. That's why I run live sonar and a Lowrance HDS 12 on the Tiara. I'm not guessing at depth, I'm reading the temperature break and putting baits in it.

We troll it with Traxstech downriggers to get baits down clean and Church TX-12 planer boards to spread lines out wide and away from the boat. Speed matters more than most first-timers expect. Somewhere between 1.8 and 3.0 mph covers most salmon presentations, and a two-tenths change in speed can flip a slow morning into a fast one.

Where to fish it. Manistee is my port, and it's not a sentimental choice. More master-angler Chinook are recorded out of Manistee than any other Michigan port. The near-shore water drops off fast and the salmon migration corridors run close enough that we're often on fish inside a short run from the harbor. Ludington, Frankfort, St. Joseph, and Grand Haven all hold good fish too.

Net Dreams runs Lake Michigan salmon charters out of Manistee through the summer season, roughly July through early September, when the king bite is at its heaviest. If you want the species-by-species breakdown, we go deeper in our guides to salmon fishing on Lake Michigan and the types of fish in Lake Michigan.

Lake Erie, the Walleye Capital of the World

Known for the highest walleye population density in North America, plus yellow perch and smallmouth bass.

Erie is my spring water. Monroe sits at the mouth of the River Raisin about 35 miles south of Detroit, right on the western basin, and the western basin is the reason Lake Erie carries the "Walleye Capital of the World" title honestly.

What you'll catch here. Walleye first, and by a wide margin. Fish in the 5 to 8 pound range are common, and 10-pounders are a real possibility every spring. Yellow perch stack up in huge numbers and make outstanding table fare. Smallmouth bass around the reefs and rocky structure will bend a rod harder than any walleye you hook. Farther east, the tributaries along Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York make up what anglers call Steelhead Alley, a stretch of stocked river mouths where steelhead pour in through fall and winter. It's some of the best river steelhead water in the country and it's a completely different trip from what we do in the western basin.

Why spring is the window. Walleye spawn on the shallow reefs of the western basin in early spring, and enormous numbers of fish move into a relatively small area. That concentration is what makes April through June so productive out of Monroe. We troll structure and open water with multiple presentations until we find what they want that day, then we stay on it.

The honest part. Erie is the shallowest of the five Great Lakes, averaging about 62 feet. Shallow water warms fast, grows more forage, and produces more fish per acre than any other Great Lake. Shallow water also stacks up rough in a hurry. A strong southwest wind can build a nasty chop on Erie faster than it can on any other lake out here. Some spring days we adjust the plan and some spring days we reschedule. That's not a sales pitch, that's just how Erie works, and any captain who tells you different hasn't fished it long enough.

Our Lake Erie walleye charters run out of Monroe from April through the end of June. There's more detail on the fishery in our guide to fishing on Lake Erie.

Lake Huron, the Longest Shoreline and the Biggest Pike

Known for northern pike, recovering lake trout, and more than 3,000 islands.

I'll be straight with you. Net Dreams doesn't run charters on Huron, so what follows comes from Michigan DNR reporting and from anglers I trust rather than from my own boat.

Huron has the longest shoreline of any Great Lake once you count its 3,000-plus islands, and Michigan owns a big share of it. Lake trout populations here have been recovering steadily, with natural reproduction returning to parts of the lake for the first time in decades. Walleye have come back strong in Saginaw Bay, which is now one of the better walleye fisheries in the state outside Erie. Northern pike reach impressive sizes in the weedy bays, and Huron is probably the best pike water among the five. You'll also find whitefish, yellow perch, and smallmouth bass.

Salmon are present but in smaller numbers than Lake Michigan or Ontario. The alewife population in Huron collapsed in the early 2000s and the Chinook fishery never fully recovered, though the change pushed walleye and native species into the space the salmon left.

For Michigan anglers, Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay near Alpena are the two names worth knowing. Both are in-state and both are reachable as a day trip from most of the Lower Peninsula. Our roundup of the best fishing spots in Michigan covers more of them.

Lake Superior, the Biggest and the Coldest

Known for lake trout, cold clear water, and the widest species variety of the five.

Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, and it fishes like a different planet compared to Erie. The water is deep, cold, and clear, which means fewer fish per acre but exceptional quality and a longer-lived fish population.

Lake trout are the bread and butter here and they're native, wild, and self-sustaining across most of the lake. Beyond that, Superior holds the widest variety of any Great Lake. Four salmon species swim here, Chinook, coho, pink, and Atlantic, along with steelhead, brook trout, splake, walleye, and smallmouth bass in the warmer bays.

The season runs roughly May through October, and it's short for a reason. Superior stays cold. For Michigan anglers, the entire southern shore of Superior is Upper Peninsula water, with Marquette, Munising, and the Keweenaw Peninsula as the main access points. Pack more layers than you think you need, even in July.

Lake Ontario, Trophy Salmon and Steelhead

Known for oversized Chinook salmon and a strong two-run steelhead fishery.

Ontario is the smallest of the five by surface area and the only Great Lake Michigan doesn't border, so it's the least relevant lake on this list for most of my readers. It still deserves a mention, because pound for pound it grows some of the largest Chinook in the entire Great Lakes system.

Chinook and coho salmon are the draw, supported by an aggressive stocking program and a healthy baitfish base. Brown trout and lake trout round out the trolling fishery. Steelhead run the tributaries in both spring and fall, and bass and walleye fill out the nearshore water. Late spring through fall is the productive window.

If you're chasing a personal-best king and you're willing to travel past Michigan's borders, Ontario is the trip.

Which Great Lake Has the Best Fishing?

There is no single best Great Lake. There's a best lake for the fish you actually want to catch, and the honest answer changes depending on what that is.

Lake	Signature species	Best season	Known for
Erie	Walleye	April to June	Highest walleye density in North America, shallowest and most productive
Michigan	Chinook salmon	July to September	Biggest kings, deep-water trolling, Manistee master-angler port
Huron	Northern pike, lake trout	May to September	Longest shoreline, 3,000+ islands, strong Saginaw Bay walleye
Superior	Lake trout	May to October	Widest species variety, coldest and clearest water
Ontario	Trophy Chinook	Late spring to fall	Largest average king salmon in the system

Where I can speak first-hand, here's my take. For sheer numbers of fish in the boat, Erie in the spring is hard to beat and I'd put it first for anyone who wants a full cooler and steady action. For the single most exciting fight available in fresh water, a mature

Chinook off Manistee in August wins, and it isn't close. Kings will empty a reel before you've gotten your feet set.

For the other three, I'm relying on Michigan DNR data and other captains rather than my own logbook. Superior gets the nod for variety and remoteness, Huron for pike and for Saginaw Bay walleye, Ontario for the biggest average salmon.

If you're picking one trip this year and you live in Michigan, pick by season. Spring means Erie. Summer means Michigan. That's how I schedule my own year.

Ready to Fish Michigan's Great Lakes?

Michigan borders four of the five Great Lakes, and Net Dreams fishes two of them. Walleye out of Monroe on Lake Erie from April through June, salmon out of Manistee on Lake Michigan from July into September. Same 30' Tiara, same all-inclusive setup, same captain who has been reading these two lakes for over twenty years.

No over-the-top promises here, just real fishing with somebody who knows the water. Bring your group, we'll handle the rest. Book Your Michigan Fishing Charter with Captain Ben

Frequently Asked Questions

What fish can you catch in the Great Lakes?

The Great Lakes hold 177 fish species. The most commonly targeted are walleye, Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead, lake trout, brown trout, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, northern pike, and whitefish. Which ones you'll find depends heavily on the lake, with Erie leading for walleye and Lake Michigan for salmon.

Does the Great Lakes have good fishing?

Yes, and the numbers back it. The Great Lakes fishery is valued at roughly $5.1 billion annually and supports more than 75,000 jobs across 177 fish species. Lake Erie holds the highest walleye density in North America and Lake Michigan produces Chinook salmon over 30 pounds most seasons.

Which Great Lake has the best fishing?

It depends on the target species. Lake Erie leads for walleye numbers, Lake Michigan for salmon size, Lake Superior for species variety, Lake Huron for northern pike, and Lake Ontario for trophy Chinook. Michigan anglers can pick by season, with Erie best in spring and Lake Michigan best in summer.

What's the biggest fish in the Great Lakes?

The lake sturgeon is the largest fish in the Great Lakes. Adults can exceed six feet, weigh well over 100 pounds, and live longer than a century. They are a protected species across most Great Lakes waters with very limited harvest seasons, so nearly all sturgeon encounters are catch and release.

Can you eat fish caught from the Great Lakes?

Yes, and most anglers do. Each state issues fish consumption advisories based on species, size, and location, since contaminants build up in older and larger fish. Michigan publishes an Eat Safe Fish guide with specific serving recommendations. Check your state's current advisory before eating your catch.

How much does a Great Lakes fishing charter cost?

Rates vary by port and season. Net Dreams charges $650 for Lake Erie walleye trips out of Monroe and $700 for Lake Michigan salmon trips out of Manistee, both for one to four anglers. Larger groups up to six are accommodated. Rods, reels, bait, tackle, and fish cleaning are included.