Salmon & Trout Fishing Tips & Articles

 Salmon & Trout Fishing Tips & Articles
Artwork provided by Rodd Umlauff

The Great Lakes encompasses the largest mass of freshwater lakes in the world, providing one of the major freshwater salmon and trout fisheries in North America. This includes native species; lake trout, rainbow trout(steelhead), brown trout and introduced (stocked) during the mid 1960’s of salmon; coho and chinook(king)to reduce the alewife populations. Trolling dominates the main lakes fishing presentation, but many well known streams and rivers attract fly fishing enthusiasts. The Great Lakes offers numerous sport fishing opportunities that is valued to Local and State fishery based economies in the billions of dollars annually.

The Great Lakes record salmon and trout are:
Lake Trout 63.12lbs 2000 on Lake Ontario Ontario
Rainbow Trout (Steelhead) 31.19lbs  2004 on Lake Ontario New York
Brown Trout 36.72lbs 1997 on Lake Michigan Illinois
Chinook Salmon 47.81lbs 1991 on Lake Ontario New York
Coho Salmon 33.44lbs 4 oz 1998 on Lake Ontario New York.

The World record salmon and trout are:
Lake Trout 72lbs 1995  N.W.T. Canada
Rainbow Trout 42lbs 2oz 1970 Alaska
Brown Trout 40lbs 4oz 1992 Arkansas
Chinook Salmon 97lbs 4oz 1985 Alaska
Coho Salmon 33lbs 4oz 1989 New York

Here are some salmon & trout fishing tips and articles in helping you catch more fishing salmon & trout:


Seasons for Salmon & Trout on the Lake Michigan’s Southern Basin
By: Capt. Rick Bentley Independence Fishing Charters 

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While varying sometimes widely from lake to lake as well as by region in which you fish certain Great Lakes, we can generally classify the fishing season here into three different sub-seasons; Spring, Summer & Fall.

Spring Tactics on Lake Michigan
By: Capt. Rick Bentley Independence Fishing Charters

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The waters at the south end of Lake Michigan begin to warm first due to the fact that they are indeed just that, furthest south and because it is shallower. After a long winter in the upper midwest , Coho Salmon are migrating to the south end of the lake in search of this ‘warmer water’ (39-50 degrees) and are ready to go on a massive feed. The shores off of Indiana will see the first schools of Coho and they do so sometimes as early as February. From there, as the waters along the east and west shorelines begin to also warm, the schools of Coho will begin to move north and in my home port of Waukegan, the Coho run will be in full swing by April or May.

Chinook Fishing in Summertime
By: Capt. Rick Bentley Independence Fishing Charters 

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While the Spring Coho run that occurs near my port of Waukegan, IL is truly a special time of year as it kicks off the season and with fast action, summer sets aside a whole other set of anticipations and excitement. Summertime on the Great Lakes is special not only because the weather is great and everybody seems a little more relaxed but it also means that the season for catching big Chinook Salmon has arrived.