Fishing Lake Michigan Perch

Travel Bays de Noc!

Imagine the thrill of fighting a fish so long that your arms hurt. Imagine being back to the dock by 8 a.m. with a limit of hard-fighting, tackle-busting, great tasting King salmon. Imagine the aroma of fresh salmon cooking on the grill in a bed of onions, lemon pepper and butter. Hey...you don't have to imagine it, you can experience it, it's happening right now in the Bay de Noc area. Salmon fishing has been very consistent over the last ten years or so. The Michigan D.N.R continues to stock local rivers with salmon, and there is evidence of some great natural reproduction occuring in local streams also. As with any species, many factors determine numbers and size. The biggest factor in the Bay de Noc area is the abundance of baitfish. The main forage of salmon in the Bay de Noc area are alewives, a 3 to 6 inch fish that thrives in deeper, colder waters, providing the ultimate food source for hungry salmon. When alewife numbers are up, the average size of the salmon goes up, when baitfish numbers are down, the size of the salmon goes down. One thing that's for certain, whether a fish is 8 lbs or 20 lbs...they're all fun and provide some great sportfishing opportunities.

Big Bay de Noc provides some of the finest perch, smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye and salmon fishing in the Great Lakes. Perch, walleye, and northern pike are the prime interest in the winter months, although a 54", 43 pound sturgeon was taken through the ice off the tip of the Stonington Peninsula in mid-January 1996.

Perch along with other types of fish are served in a variety of ways by a wide variety of restaurants in Delta County. The Friday night fish fry is a community tradition, and as much an occasion to socialize with friends as it is to enjoy the bounty and benefits of living in a waterfront community.