If a good portion of the amount of salmon we are seeing in August in Lake Michigan near Ludington show up in the Pere Marquette River, there are going to be some happy anglers. Our kings this year are fat and healthy. Our summer was off to a slow start until the first part of August when the fish returned to their home port where they were born to stage and run up the river. We are also catching a decent number of coho salmon, and they should continue throughout the month. Plugs and meat rigs will continue to work well the first half of the month for the mature kings. When the water starts to cool down on the lake during the second half of September spoons will turn on when we start heading offshore for 2-and 3-year-old kings and steelhead. Look at the surface temp maps and look for the coldest water you can find for steelhead, the preferred surface temperature is 52 degrees.
For the river, the lower end from Indian Bridge to the mouth will fish best until the water hits around 55 degrees and the kings will then head upriver to spawn and complete their life cycle. Thundersticks and other shallow diving plugs and large spinners will be the baits of choice for the mornings on the river. After the bite slows down, skein drifted under bobbers will keep the rods bent. The best fishing normally occurs a few days after a full moon, that seems to trigger them to run up the river. We had our first mini push of kings into the river in July, and I suspect that they will run early this year (around August 20th) The last two years the marginal river run we did have was not until the last days of September. Good luck on the lake and river this September and see you on the water!
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