Lake Michigan Salmon Run

[cfruncek]

I, like many, will be taking it easy from bass fishing for a little while as the Salmon make their run inland to spawn. Usually I stick to fishing the harbors because you can catch fish that are still somewhat alive and edible especially at the start of the run. 

 

Just wondering if anyone else out there shore fishes for salmon on the great lakes and what lures/presentations produce for you

 

A few of my favorites are the bomber fat free shad and just your standard salmon skein and slip bobber rig

[slonezp]

Crankbaits and KO Wobblers

[Lund Explorer]

I limit my salmon fishing to pier heads whenever the water temps get down into the 50's, usually in August or the early part of September before the fish go from chrome to whatever you want to call that brown color they take on as they start to die.  On this side of the lake, that means we watch the winds as a heavy Easterly or Northerly wind can flip water temps almost overnight.

 

To or three rods on every trip.  One for casting spoons like a glow in the dark 3/4oz Little Cleo, with the others setup for bait fishing.  Without a doubt, live alewives are the top choice.  Dead baits include whole smelt, spawn, and on occasion, shrimp.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

I cast spoons in Lake Ontario and rarely leave without catching a fish, be it a brown or a chinook.

[ibobpeb]

I absolutely love throwing medium crankbaits and 3/4 oz spoons for salmon & steelhead on Lake Michigan. August - November is my favorite time of year because I get to target multi-species of fish. Last week I caught my personal best largemouth... then on the same day I went to a pier on Lake Michigan and caught an 11 pound coho salmon. I usually bring 2 rods with me, 1 to rig bait fish on a float and the other rod for casting cranks/spoons. 

 

Some of my favorite cranks that I've caught them on are Berkley Flicker Shad 1/2 oz firetiger, Rapala Rippin' Rap 07 Helsinki and Firetiger colors, KVD 5XD chartreuse sexy shad..

 

My favorite spoons to use are the KO Wobbler 3/4 oz in Gold Florescent Orange Stripe during the day, and Glow Blue and Glow Green at night. Wonderbread glow is also a great spoon - many tackle companies make this one so I can't remember the brand. Kastmasters and Little Cleos work as well. 

 

For bait fish I catch alewives off the pier jigging with small naked gold hooks. A casting net works even better. Then I use a #2 wide gap hook to rig the alewife behind it's dorsal fin.. using a slip bobber setup. 8'6" - 10' rods, M-MH, 12 lbs mono or copoly line. 

 

It has been a really good year and I'll be sad when the snow returns.