The salmon fishing out of Whitehall continues to be very consistent as we kick off June, and the wall of fish we’ve been talking about is still sitting right around 140 feet of water.
Most mornings we’ve been starting in 100 feet and making northwest trolls out toward 140 feet. As soon as the sun starts climbing over the dunes, the graph begins filling up and the rods start firing. Evening trips have been the exact opposite. We’ve been setting up in 200 feet of water and slowly working our way in as the sun gets lower, eventually finding ourselves back around 140 feet where we’re consistently marking and catching fish.
Best Rods Right Now
Our most productive setups over the last week have been:
- Low divers with mag spoons back 80–120 feet
- High divers starting around 80 feet back early
- High divers moved back 120–150 feet later in the day
- Copper lines 200ft, 225ft, 250ft, 300ft
The Yeck Magnum and standard 4 Eyes and Yeck Magnum Bad Toad continue to dominate the spread.
Honestly, these spoons are on six or more rods every trip and haven’t come off the boat in weeks. Every time I think about changing something up, those rods remind me why they keep staying in the water.
Speed Has Been Important
We’re still paying very close attention to our Fish Hawk system every trip.
One thing we’ve noticed lately is that speeds from the surface down to 60 feet can vary by as much as 0.5 mph depending on currents. That’s a big difference and one of the reasons we focus much more on speed at the ball than GPS speed.
Our most productive speed continues to be between 2.8 and 3.1 mph at the ball. Staying in that range has kept our spoons working properly and has consistently produced bites throughout the day.
Bait Everywhere
One thing that’s really standing out right now is the amount of bait we’re seeing.
White Lake Channel is absolutely loaded with alewives. During a recent morning trip, I noticed several anglers on the pier with salmon, which was great to see and usually a good sign that fish are beginning to spend more time around the channel area.
Offshore, the amount of bait has been even more impressive. Out in 200 feet of water we’re marking bait almost nonstop along the bottom. There are large schools everywhere along with multiple bait classes showing up on the electronics.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this much bait consistently, and that’s something every Lake Michigan fisherman likes to see.
Still Fishing North
Most of our fish continue to come from areas about 6–8 miles north of port.
We’ve spent a lot of time up there lately because the fishing has simply been too consistent to leave. The marks have been there, the bait has been there, and the salmon continue to cooperate.
Looking Ahead
With alewives continuing to move into White Lake, we’re getting close to that time of year when things can slow down a little.
June often brings a transition period as salmon begin following bait into different areas and spread out more than they do during the peak spring bite. That’s a pretty normal pattern on this side of the lake and something we see almost every year.
Even if fishing backs off a bit, there are still plenty of fish around and plenty of bait in the system. We’ll keep covering water, making adjustments, and staying on them as summer fishing continues to develop.
Overall, the Whitehall salmon fishery continues to look very healthy heading into June, and the combination of active fish and massive amounts of bait has us excited about what’s ahead.