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FISHING GUIDE · LAKE MICHIGAN

Lake Michigan Salmon and Trout Fishing Guide

Lake Michigan has a big stocked fishery for chinook and coho salmon, lake trout, steelhead and brown trout. Boats troll near shore in spring, then run out to 70-200 feet of water in summer, and fish come back to the piers and rivers in fall. Each state has its own license and limits, and you need the license of the state whose water you are in.

📍 Lake Michigan, fished from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan ports. Michigan ports include Ludington, Manistee, South Haven and St. Joseph; Wisconsin ports include Milwaukee (McKinley and South Shore ramps) and Kewaunee; Indiana's main access is Michigan City (Trail Creek) and the Port of Indiana.

Map: spots, ramps and marinas

★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)

Open the full U.S. Great Lakes map →

Quick facts

What you can catch

Month by month

JanuaryStream and warm-water discharge fishing for steelhead, browns and some salmon (Indiana).
FebruaryIce leaves the southern shore mid-February to April; Skamania steelhead spawn peaks in February.
MarchBoat and shore anglers catch coho near shore on the southern end. Kewaunee River egg facility opens late March.
AprilCoho near shore; winter-run steelhead spawn mid-March to mid-April.
MayCoho move offshore by mid-May; boats start fishing deeper water.
JuneOffshore trolling 70-200 feet for chinook, coho, lake trout and steelhead; Skamania start returning to Indiana streams.
JulyOffshore trolling 6-20 miles out from the Indiana shore, often in Illinois or Michigan water.
AugustChinook and coho start staging and returning to streams late August.
SeptemberStream runs build. Michigan DNR reported late-September salmon at Ludington, Manistee and St. Joseph piers and harbors.
OctoberSalmon in rivers and harbors; Kewaunee River facility reopens in early October. Lake trout spawning run off Indiana starts mid-October.
NovemberSalmon runs end early November; winter-run steelhead enter streams mid-November.
DecemberSteelhead in streams; warm-water discharges for browns and steelhead.

Tips

Rules and license

Michigan DNR; Wisconsin DNR; Illinois DNR; Indiana DNR · Official rules page ↗

  • Michigan: all-species license covers salmon and trout (no stamp): $26 resident, $76 nonresident, $11 resident senior 65+, $10/day. Great Lakes limit 5 trout and salmon, no more than 3 of one species except up to 5 chinook, coho or pink; 10-inch minimum.
  • Michigan lake trout: ports Arcadia to New Buffalo (incl. Manistee, Ludington) open all year, 15-inch minimum, 3 lake trout/splake per day.
  • Wisconsin: fishing license plus Great Lakes Trout and Salmon Stamp ($10) needed for trout and salmon on Lake Michigan and its tributaries; 2-day Great Lakes license $14 includes the stamp.
  • Wisconsin Lake Michigan: 5 trout and salmon in total, 10-inch minimum; no lake trout possession in the Mid Lake Reef Complex.
  • Illinois: Salmon Stamp ($6.50) needed to take salmon or trout in Lake Michigan; nonresident annual license $31.50. Limit 5 trout and salmon (10-inch minimum), lake trout 2 per day; perch 15, closed May 1 - June 15.
  • Indiana: fishing license plus Trout/Salmon Stamp ($11) needed to take trout or salmon; annual license $23 resident, $60 nonresident. Limit 5 trout and salmon, no more than 3 lake trout, 14-inch minimum.
  • Indiana: no fishing within 100 feet of the Trail Creek sea lamprey barrier, and no fishing from the South Bend and Mishawaka fish ladders.

Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.

Boat ramps and marinas

The map above shows 181 boat ramps and 113 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.

Sources

Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.