June is a time for a mixed bag of fishing in the Ludington area. We have a near shore (within 5 miles) phenomenon of surface temperature breaks that hold a variety of fish during the month of June, especially steelhead. It is the best time to catch a true “grand slam” of the Great Lakes consisting of steelhead, brown trout, lake trout, coho salmon, and king salmon. Before I leave port, I always make sure to check the MSU Coastwatch site (http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/) to find where the breaks are of the near shore warm water to the cold lake water. I have found if there are any clouds on the site map of the Lake Michigan area it may be highly inaccurate.
When you want to target a variety of species you must cover a variety of depths in your presentation. A simple spring multi species spread includes outside boards with 1-4 colors of lead and orange spoons for steelhead. Try a full core with a magnum or regular spoon on a board, a 300 copper on a board with a magnum spoon on the other for kings or lakers. A high mono diver back 45 feet with a small orange doger/fly for coho, a wire diver with a flasher/fly or meat rig set back 100-200 feet for kings. The downriggers should be set near the bottom, for lake trout with a spoon or doger/fly or a spoon for kings or lakers.
A thing to remember for spring fishing is that the water is cold on one side (normally the outside away from shore in June) of a surface break; the fish may be in the inside or outside of it and any species caught at any depth until the thermalcline sets up vertically in the lake. A cold water king, caught in May or June, will fight twice as hard as the same fish caught in August because of the colder water. It will drive you nuts that you catch a large king near the surface, and the next one comes on a 300 foot copper line.
The lake will begin to set up in layers as the days grow warmer nearing the end of June. A thermocline will be the main focus for catching fish at that time. Until then, pay attention to the surface of Lake Michigan and run a variety of lures at a variety of depths. The fish are hungry after a long winter!
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