T he Lower PM is past its prime in May for steelhead, however, as cold as it has been we will have drop-back fish actively feeding on their way back to Lake Michigan. Fish drop-back steelhead in the same way you would fall steelhead – on the current seams. The great thing about drop-back fish is that they are very aggressive and tend to jump a lot in the warmer water. Egg flies in a larger size are a great choice or spawn/plugs. Do not spend much time in a particular spot, if there is a steelhead there this time of the year, you should catch it in a few good casts.
May is the time for brown trout in Ludington. Trolling the beaches in about 10 feet of water with shallow diving stick baits such as Rapalas, Bombers, and Challenger produce fish. To show your lures to more fish, run either large planer boards with releases or inline boards such as Yellow Birds. Keep your body baits about 125 feet back. In addition, I like to run mono slide divers and two downriggers with standard size spoons. My favorite spoons for browns are a Yeck Bumble Bee or copper double orange crush. Another great spot to try is the harbor and along the mud line where the river water meets the lake.
Most of the browns we catch early in the year tend to be 2 to 6 pounds and shaped like a football. The larger browns are typically caught later in May when the alewives enter the harbor to spawn when the water inside the harbor is around 54 degrees. You could catch a king, coho, lake trout, or steelhead in the same water as browns this time of the year. As the month progresses we normally see our first spring kings in fishable numbers when the surface temperature of Lake Michigan o ff Ludington is about
52 degrees.