U.P. Michigan Salmon Run

I am thinking of driving up and hitting any trib
on the south shore of Lake Superior. I have a drift boat
and 14 v aluminum. Looking to go after salmon and/or rainbows
and browns.
Any advice on the area would be appreciated.

Good Luck, can't offer any advice to you.

I just got back from the Salmon River this weekend. Saw 2 kings, and shitload of coho's. The snaggers did real well, fly guys not so much.....

Do you have a particular river or area in mind? I'm in Marquette. I can tell you this, with one of the (if not the most) driest summers on record, our rivers are shit right now. Lake Superior also isn't known for it's large population of salmon. From a numbers standpoint it's a far cry from Lake Michigan. That being said, there are some fish moving up, but nothing to write home about. Your best bet right now for numbers of fish would be the Manistique River in Manistique, but that's a Lake Michigan trib and quite a shit hole to boot. The run there is just starting to heat up and should peak in the next two to three weeks. You could run your 14' up to the papermill and backtroll or just climb into the waders and bring your fly rod or spinning rig with thundersticks. Lake Michigan put up some big fish this year so catching a legitimate 30lb'er is definitely a possibility.

If rainbows or lake run browns are your thing.....wait until end of October or so. They're following behind the spawning kings right now, but still not at their peak of the fall run until around the first week of November or so.

Anyway, let me know what you're thinking and I can hook you up with more info than you'll probably need.

I'm thinking of skipping the run and heading inland around Manistique in Hiawatha Forest. Looks like there is a lot of water on the map around there. I'm planning on heading up during the first week of October. Thanks for the info hfb.

1st week in Oct = Muskie huntin' time.

Keep in mind our inland trout season closes on Sept. 30th. A lot of the great trout streams will be closed then. Make sure you check the regs before heading up if trout are in your plans. Schwerty is spot on about musky, though. Closest you can get to ice up the better off, too.

You could find some good coho fishing in the Two-Hearted below Reed Green Bridge or the mouth of the river in early October, though. Awesome piece of land up there, but make sure you pack everything you need as there's not much in the way of stores or access to supplies once you get back in the bush.

Crap...completely spaced on the regs.
Thanks for the headsup