Little Bay de Noc Fishing Reports

Captain Ahab · Member

May 18-25 Walleye Report

mmccullen · Newbie

Mike,

Thanks for your post, we are headed up to stay at Sal-Mar Resort June 5 to 10 and are looking forward to some good fishing, we are some what new to Little Bay De Noc, where is the Seond Reef & Center Reef? Our last trip up there was in Aug. and we hit the area when it was a 100 degree's our whole trip, to say the fish were deep is a under statement. We will try what you guys did and hope our luck is as good as yours. Thanks Mike Mccullen

Captain Ahab · Member

Hey Mike,

In prior years, we would to go to Little Bay de Noc the same week as you're going (guess you could say the 4th week of the season?) and did well then, too.

As far as Center Reef and Second Reef, most maps will have these areas marked. If you don't have a map, I'd definitely pick one up (I like Hotspots Maps). Center reef is pretty expansive, but to give you a general area, it's basically the northern-most part of the bay. It goes from just north of the Days River Can (it's green, stay east of it) all the way to the north shore. Most of my success has been on the east side of the reef.

Second Reef is south of the Days River Can. The area I was referencing (may include parts of Third Reef and First Reef) is basically from the sand bank west of the can south to the green can that marks the end of Butlers Island. The nice thing about that stretch is that you can continue one troll for a long way.

Judging by the weather, you may catch the start of the mayfly hatch (I know we did a few times in early/mid June). Contrary to some people's opinion, you can still catch fish during the hatch. Slow down and decrease the bait size. Also, if you're game for it, fish the after dark bite. In addition to the previously mentioned places, we've done well off Gladstone Beach/Van Cleve Park, the area in front of the Esky River mouth, and Ford River/Breezy Point.

Good luck and let us know how you did!

-Mike

catman · Guru

Captain Ahab wrote:
Hey guys,
I know this one's a little late, but I had a case of the "back from vacation" inbox blues at work which has kept me more busy than I planned. On with the report...
Arrived Saturday 5/18 at 6AM... slept for a few hours before hitting the water at 10 AM. Trolled 3 colors of lead through the narrows... 4 fish, all 20-23". Marked fish everywhere. Off the water by 3 to help other group unpack. Back out for the evening, two fish between the two boats.
Sunday - Fished early bite and dusk. Tough day. Flat water and high skies didn't help. 3 or 4 fish for the group all day.
Monday - Rain/East wind moved in. Mid-morning bite persisted from 8AM through mid afternoon. Ended up one short of a five-man limit. Three fish above slot (24s and a 25). Center Reef, trolling at .8 - 1.2 mph with silver double bladed and purple harnessess on boards worked well. Hint: my brother-in-law overcame his fear of leeches... he wanted to catch fish. Most guys (95%) in the area were drifting and jigging and seemed to be catching far less fish. Wind made it tough to troll, but we noticed it was more productive for us. Did not fish the night bite as it was time for a fish fry.
Tuesday - 3 fish in the morning, tough bite. Night bite was hot after dark. Fished well into the night and filled the rest of a 3 man limit between Second Reef and Center Reef. One fish was 28+". Fog was thick and bugs were even thicker. I think I killed more by inhaling than I did by swatting.
Wednesday - Didn't fish until evening as we were pretty tired from the prior night. Fished the night bite and did well again on Second Reef. I think it was a 10 fish night for 3 of us and I can't remember how the other boat did. Wind pushed us off the water by 11:30.
Thursday - Did not fish the AM. Fish fry and some relaxing for our tired bones. Boat washdown to get rid of 2 nights of epic bugs. 1/2" of dead bugs in front of the windshield. UNREAL! One boat fished the night bite and ended up with 6 between 3 guys. Slow compared to prior nights. Second Reef again.
Friday - Slower for us. Two fish between 5 of us on two boats. Full moon really shut them down. Bites were light on crankbaits (had a number of fish short-hit a crank and not get hooked?!?!).
Saturday was pack-up and go home. Overall, a great week. I have to say, I've been fishing the bay for a number of years and have not seen a spring with so many large fish. I would say the average fish was around 20 inches with many fish pushing the slot. Beyond catching fish, we marked tons and tons and tons of fish. I think we did more "Whoa, check out those marks!" this year than we ever have. As always, had a great time and look forward to our next visit.
-Mike

Great report. Totally agree about still catching walleye if the Mayflies are hatching. Just downsize and you will still catch fish. Actually, we have not seen a really tough summer bite in many, many years like we used to see when the alewives came into spawn. If you have never fished out here while the alewives are in the bay, you do not know what a tough bite is!!! And warm water doesn't force the fish deep. The best fishing we have seen out here has been when the water temp. hits 80 degrees...