A fter a long cold winter and spring, it seems the temps are starting to finally warm up a bit. But that does not mean the ice on Lake Michigan magically disappears in a few days. We did have some offshore winds that blew out the ice along the lakeshore but I think that was just to taunt us. The ice quickly blew back to the shoreline with the first west wind we had.
As far as the month of May goes on Lake Michigan, around Muskegon it’s one of our favorite months. Normally, we load the boat with small-eater sizes and silver fish the whole month but the past three years have been a little different. These years in May we have had our best catches of mature 4-year-old kings. During the Muskegon Salmon Assault, the past three years we have boated more than twenty kings each year and that event takes place around the middle of the month. In my opinion, the abundance of cold water has something to do with those big kings, and smaller fish too, congregating around the mouths of any inlet that has warmer flowing water.
With all the ice cover Lake Michigan had this winter I think we will see the same result. One tip I can give you is fish larger bait like the Stingray sized spoons or Michigan Stinger or Big Weenie Brand paddle and fly combos. Also, don’t over look fishing meat rigs. Many people do not realize that the alewives this time of year are large, so we always try to match the hatch. May is a great month on the lake to stock the freezer so get out and have some fun.