The Great Lakes provide some of the best fishing opportunities to anglers pursuing trophy-sized fish. There are plenty of destinations that give you the chance to catch numbers of fish, but it is hard to beat the opportunities for trophy-sized fish that the Great Lakes destinations will provide anglers.
Whitefish, walleye, yellow perch, and ciscoes are the foundation of the commercial fishery while salmon, trout, walleye, smallmouth bass, perch, northern pike and muskie help to create world class fisheries.
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is home to some outstanding fishing for walleye, smallmouth bass and yellow perch. It is arguably the greatest place to fish for walleye on the planet right now with huge numbers of quality fish in the lake. The smallmouth bass fishery is outstanding in certain parts of the lake. If you can find the schools of yellow perch, you can run into some huge numbers of jumbo perch as well. Lake Erie is an amazing fishery, so take a look below to learn more about the popular destinations you can visit on the lake.
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes. Due to the decline in the salmon numbers over the years, anglers have turned to lake trout out on the main lake basin. There are still some salmon to be caught, but you won’t find the numbers here like you will on Lake Michigan. For anglers that fish on Lake Huron in the United States, Saginaw Bay has become the biggest draw due to its excellent walleye and perch fishing. Across the border, anglers have good fishing for a variety of species of fish in the North Channel and in Georgian Bay. While the main lake basin is best for lake trout, you can experience some awesome fishing for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, northern pike, muskie, perch and more on many of the bays of Lake Huron.
Destinations in the United States
| Alpena, MI | Oscoda, MI |
| Cheboygan, MI | Presque Isle, MI |
| Drummond Island | Rogers City, MI |
| Harrisville, MI | Saginaw Bay |
| Les Cheneaux Islands | Sault Ste. Marie |
| Mackinaw City, MI | Tawas City, MI |
Destinations in Ontario
North Channel
| Algoma Mills & Blind River | Spanish |
| Bruce Mines | Thessalon |
| Manitoulin Island |
Georgian Bay
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is home to some incredible fishing. Salmon and trout get the most attention out on the main lake, however, once you go into the bays, you can experience excellent fishing for a variety of other fish such as smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, perch and even muskie. The lake is huge, so some areas will be better than others for certain species of fish and the time of year will definitely influence the fishing throughout the lake. If you’re looking to catch big fish plus catch good numbers of fish, there are so many good places you can fish around the lake. Take a look through this section to find your next fishing vacation destination.
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario offers anglers some very good fishing for a variety of fish species. The salmon and trout fishery is what many people think of when they think of fishing Lake Ontario. You can catch Atlantic salmon, chinook salmon, coho salmon to go along with brown trout, lake trout and steelhead. On certain parts of the lake, you can also experience world class fishing for smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike and largemouth bass. Mix in the perch and muskie and you have so many options for catching fish. Take a look below to learn more about our featured fishing destinations around Lake Ontario.
| Bay of Quinte | Pulaski, NY |
| Henderson Harbor, NY | Rochester, NY |
| Niagara Falls Region | Thousand Islands |
| Orleans County, NY | Toronto, Ontario |
| Oswego, NY | Watertown, NY |
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is a huge, deep lake with lots of cold water compared to the other Great Lakes. Some say that Lake Superior holds 50% of the water of the Great Lakes and only 2% of the fish. While this may not be 100% true, it does give you an idea of this lake compared to the other Great Lakes. While Lake Superior may not be loaded with tons of fish at every boat launch along the lake, there are some very good places to fish on Lake Superior and some of these places do give you a shot at good numbers of big fish.
While most of these destinations are known more for lake trout than salmon, there are still some good opportunities to catch a variety of salmon and other trout to go along with lake trout. There are also some excellent opportunities to fish for huge smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike and perch.
