Fishing the Bays De Noc, Michigan
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Bay de Noc Bites
by Chris Wahl
Although best known for its great Walleye Fishing there's more to Little Bay de Noc than just walleyes. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a body of water with as much quality fishing opportunities. Here's a month by month breakdown of the best bites. Check the Michigan DNR site for rules and regulation and license fees http://www.michigan.gov/dnr
January - walleye, perch, pike
Most activity is north of Gladstone, first part of January. Throw in splake and whitefish when the bay freezes south of Gladstone. Try tip-ups with suckers for pike and walleyes. Jigging spoons tipped with minnows and jigging baits by Rapala and Nils Master work great for walleyes and splake. Small minnows, grubs and wigglers work best for perch and whitefish.
February - walleye, perch, pike, splake, whitefish, burbot
Same baits work as in January. Starting mid month you will find burbot along the drop offs after dark. You can use any lure tipped with a minnow you want, as long as it glows in the dark. (Walleye and pike season closes on the last day of February)
March - Best time for jumbo perch and splake
2 and 3-inch shiners on perch rigs and jigging spoons are best. March is a transition month, so call ahead for ice conditions
April - Splake, browns and jumbo perch after ice out
Probably the bay's best kept secret! As soon as the ice is gone, the trout invade the shallows in search of smelt. Troll small Rapalas or Thundersticks behind planer boards in 3 to 20 feet of water, from Breezy Point all the way to the Wisconsin Border. Splake average 2 to 6 pounds with fish up to 10. Browns average 4 to 8 with monsters up to 20 pounds possible! Most perch action is at the north end of the bay. Perch minnows and wigglers on perch rigs catch most of the fish.
May - Walleye and pike season opens May 15
Most fish are caught on crawler harnesses tipped with crawlers, leeches or minnows. Trolling or casting the shallow after dark with minnow baits also produces well. Your best bet for big fish is usually around the Breezy Point area. Good numbers of eater size fish are found in the Escanaba River, off the Gladstone harbor, the reefs north of Gladstone and the north end of the bay.
June - Walleye, smallmouth bass, and stream trout
The Walleye fishing is good until the second or third week of the month that's when the alewives pull in to spawn. This provides the walleyes with an over abundance of natural food that's hard to compete with. Smallmouth action in the Escanaba River and the large flats between Escanaba and Gladstone are good. Try spinner baits, topwater baits, as well as tube jigs and other soft plastics. The Escanaba River near the town of Cornell is probably the best stretch of fly fishing water in the whole U.P.! Mostly browns in the 8 to 15-inch ranges, with some fish over 23 inches. Brook trout fishing in the numerous small local streams is also good at the time Try spinners and worms for the brookies.
July - Smallmouth, pike, salmon and walleyes
Smallies are spread all over the shallows and are almost untouched. Pike action usually starts around the end of the first week. Any place you find weeds, you should find pike. The Escanaba Harbor and Butlers Island area are good places to start. Salmon action around the Islands south of Escanaba starts around mid month.
Most of these fish are caught trolling spoons or dodger/fly combinations. Around the last week of July, the alewives and mayfly hatches are over and the walleyes finally start to eat again. Trolling or drifting harnesses is most popular.
August - Walleye, smallmouth, pike, perch and salmon
The first two weeks of August are some of the best walleye fishing we see all summer. Lots of 15 to 24 inch fish are caught using all different techniques, but mostly harnesses and trolling crankbaits. Smallmouth can be caught along the tops of drop offs with tubes and spinnerbaits. Pike are still in the weeds, waiting to jump all over your spinnerbaits, spoons or sucker minnows under a bobber. Perch are also being caught around the weedbeds. Try minnows or worms under a bobber or on a perch rig. Most salmon activity is still concentrated around the islands but small boat anglers off the Ford River Can, can catch a few fish, seven miles south east of Escanaba. These are mostly small kings with a few nice browns and splake mixed in.
Bays de Noc in August
by Dan Kotowski
August fishing on Big and Little Bay de Noc is exceptional. Both Bays boast some of the best Smallmouth bass and Walleye fishing in the country and this is the month to take advantage of it. If you like to fish structure, we have the water for you. Big bay has miles of rock shoals, islands and weed lines making it a Smallmouth bass fisherman’s paradise. Walleye fishermen work the deep sides of the same structure to pull their trophies. Seven pound Bass and ten-pound Walleye are what anglers seek on Big Bay de Noc. Little Bay has rivers, weeds, reefs, and mud flats to the north; rock shoals and deep breaks to the south. If you’re looking for numbers with the possibility for a trophy than Little Bay should be your choice.
Through an aggressive stocking program and careful management, when you talk about Bays de Noc, the first thing that comes to mind is Walleye.
August Walleye’s on the Bays are usually found on the deep side of structure during the day and on top that structure at night. That isn’t a surprise, because that’s common for Walleye on most bodies of water. What is different about Bays De Noc is the water clarity. The water in Big and Little Bay de Noc is clear, very clear. This makes the use of planer boards a must. Keeping the baits away from the boat decreases your chance of spooking the fish, even in 30 feet of water.
Casting floating or suspending large body baits over weeds or rocks at night is one of the favorite ways to catch Eye’s on the Bays. The same baits can be trolled over the reefs with equally good results.
Pulling crank baits or crawler harnesses deep is the preferred method of going after Walleye in the daylight hours. Trolling the deeper water near structure or even over the tips of structure is where to find August Eyes. Keeping the baits in the water column where you mark the fish or over their heads is the key. Again the water clarity is a big factor in where you run your baits. Walleye will come up 10 to 15 feet in the clear water to take passing bait, so don’t get caught running your baits below the active fish. Snap weights, lead core line, split shots, in-line sinkers, whatever you feel comfortable using will work to get the baits down.
There is no one crank bait of choice on the Bays; anglers have had success using just about every bait you can imagine. Color choice does make a difference. Natural colors, blue/silver, black/silver, and purple are the preferred.
Crawler harnesses with hammered silver or copper blades are the most common. The favorite harness for anglers is made locally by Captain Keith Wils. “Walleye’s Choice” harnesses have placed or won many of the tournaments held here on the Bays in the last several years.
September - River run salmon, smallmouth, pike, perch
The kings start to show up in local rivers by mid month. The Ford and Escanaba Rivers and Escanaba harbor are good places to start. We've had our best luck catching these monsters (15-25 pounds average) on J-13 Rapalas and Fastracs after dark. For some reason, this is the best time of the year for big pike. Troll or cast large spinnerbaits, bucktails, and cranks around weedbeds and drop offs for the shot at the 40 plus incher. Smallies and perch are basically the same as in August.
October - river run salmon, smallmouth, perch walleye
Salmon runs are over by mid month. Small mouth are caught along the drop offs in 5 to 35 feet of water. Most are caught on tube jigs or leadhead jigs tipped with redtail chubs. Lots of 14 to 18 inchers with fish over 22 inches possible! The few guys fishing for perch do well in the upper bay, using minnows around the reefs and river mouths. The big walleyes start to show up at this time. However you like to fish them (daytime/nighttime, livebait/artificial, casting/trolling) you can catch them doing it.
November - Big walleye
Let's face it, this is the time of the year that Little Bay de Noc is the fishery it's known for. Good numbers of large walleyes, lots of 24-29 inchers with a shot at fish over 32 inches. If you are looking to catch a fish to put on the wall, this is the best time to do it. Remember only 1 over 23 inches may be kept per day.
December - Walleye, perch, pike
Another transition month. Walleyes can be caught until the launches are frozen. Walleye, perch and pike can be caught around Kipling at first ice using live bait under bobbers or tip-ups and jigging spoons tipped with minnows. Call ahead for ramp and/or ice conditions.
Boat Landings
Little Bay de Noc
- Escanaba Municipal Marina, Escanaba
- Escanaba River, Wells
- Gladstone Marina, Gladstone
- Kipling, 1 mile north of Gladstone
- Twin Springs, 8 miles south of Rapid River, on the Stonington Peninsula
- Farmer's Dock, Stonington Peninsula
- No See-Um Creek, South of Escanaba on M-35
- Boon-Dockers Store (private) Stonington Peninsula
- Days River, North & South (DNR) North of Gladstone (ice access only)
- Rapid River, 1 mile south of Rapid River
Big Bay de Noc
- Fayette State Park, on the Garden Peninsula
- Little Fishdam River 2 miles east of Isabella on US 2
- Nahma 4 miles south of US 2
- Ogontz Bay, South of US 2 on County 503
- Garden Bay, 1 mile south of Garden
Lake Michigan
- Portage Bay State Forest Campground 6 miles east of Fayette
