Salmon & Trout
Many people come to Lake Michigan for the excellent fishing for salmon and trout. Throughout the lake, you can find excellent fishing destinations for chinook salmon and coho salmon to go along with lake trout, brown trout and steelhead. There are so many fishing charters that target salmon and trout around the lake. From spring through fall, most of these charters are on the water every day as they follow the hot bite in their areas. There are also many tributaries that provide excellent shore fishing for salmon and trout during their spawning runs.
Smallmouth Bass
The smallmouth bass fishing on the Great Lakes is some of the best in the country. Lake Erie might have Lake Michigan beat for big fish, however, you can definitely make an argument for Lake Michigan when you start talking about the best “big smallmouth bass” destinations in the country. In many of the bays, it is not uncommon to see 5 pound smallmouth bass with bigger fish in the 6, 7, 8 and even 9 pound range possible. It is truly an amazing fishery for big smallmouth bass. Below are some of the best smallmouth bass destinations along Lake Michigan.
| Bays de Noc | Grand Traverse Bay |
| Charlevoix, MI | Rowleys Bay, WI |
| Door County, WI | Sister Bay, WI |
| Egg Harbor, WI | Sturgeon Bay, WI |
| Ephraim, WI | Washington Island, WI |
| Fish Creek, WI |
Walleye
The better walleye fishing is also found in the bays of Lake Michigan. The same bays that are awesome for smallmouth bass will also be home to walleye as well. You will usually find the walleye in deeper water than the smallmouth bass, so you need to fish deeper water than you would for smallmouth bass if you want to consistently find them. In these bays, it is not uncommon to hear of anglers catching 10 pound walleye. It is truly an amazing fishery for numbers and big fish too.
| Bays de Noc | Green Bay, WI |
| Door County, WI | Marinette County, WI |
| Egg Harbor, WI | Oconto County, WI |
| Ephraim, WI | Sister Bay, WI |
| Fish Creek, WI | Sturgeon Bay, WI |
| Grand Traverse Bay | Washington Island, WI |
Muskie
Muskie are not very common in Lake Michigan, but there have been some reports of anglers catching an occasional muskie in southern Lake Michigan and the bay of Green Bay is home to some impressive fish. If you’re looking to target them, the bay of Green Bay holds bigger numbers of them and there are some fishing guides and charters that do target them there. Some very big fish are caught in Green Bay, but don’t expect to find large numbers of them. Throughout the rest of the lake, they are hit or miss. You may hear of a report here or there, but you won’t find large numbers of muskie. You may also run into a big muskie in Grand Traverse Bay as well in the Traverse City, Michigan area.
| Green Bay, WI |
Northern Pike
Northern pike are definitely secondary when it comes to the fishing on Lake Michigan. However, there are definitely good enough numbers of them to target them and some very big fish live in the lake. Your best bet is to fish the bays and harbors in the spring and fall months. During the summer, pike will go out and roam the deeper waters that are home to lots of baitfish and cooler water temperatures in the hottest time of the year. There aren’t a ton of weeds throughout Lake Michigan, but in the places where you can find weeds, you have a shot to find some pike. You will see reports of northern pike in the upper 30 inch range and even over 40 inches coming from Lake Michigan’s waters. They may not always be easy to find, but if you can find them, there is a chance you may catch a trophy.
Perch
Perch are very hit or miss throughout Lake Michigan. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t some outstanding perch fishing on Lake Michigan. Throughout the lake, perch may move in and out of areas in very large numbers. When this happens you will usually know about it because the reports will come in and people will usually be out in good numbers targeting them. Lake Michigan has a lot of perch and good numbers of big perch. However, the problem for most anglers is that these perch move in and out of many of the areas on the lake, so it can be very challenging to consistently find them. There are some places throughout the lake that have been a little easier to catch them consistently such as Chicago, the Grand Traverse Bay and in the southern part of Lake Michigan in northern Indiana.
| Bays de Noc | Grand Traverse Bay |
| Charlevoix, MI | Green Bay, WI |
| Chicago, IL | Oconto County, WI |
| Door County, WI | Southern Lake Michigan |
Largemouth Bass
Largemouth bass are secondary on Lake Michigan, however, you can find some bass throughout the lake in the harbors and in some tributaries. Smallmouth bass are found in larger abundance, but there are definitely some places where you can catch largemouth bass on Lake Michigan.
Carp
Carp are found throughout Lake Michigan. In many areas, there are lots of them and they grow very large in Lake Michigan. Most people will not target them, but if you do, make sure you have a large enough net to land them.