I wanted to take a post to discuss where and why we fish in certain areas through out the season. 

Spring starting early on before the water warms up from early May until roughly Memorial day we like to target deep water deep as in 120-200 feet of water. The water is actually warmer out in the deep water than it is in the shallows. Once the sun starts shinning and the water starts warming up the fish storm the shallows. This is my favorite time of the year to fish Trout we get the chance at a mix bag from Lake Trout, Steelhead, Salmon, and Brown Trout. I like to target anywhere from 20-60 this time of year. This fishery is totally dependent on the weather. Rule of thumb if history repeats itself we will be able to enjoy this fishery from Memorial Day until about July 4th is when they start moving out. But I have seen this fishery be red hot at least the first hour of the day well into July. Then those fish will move deeper after they do a heavy feed for thing in the morning outside of temp.

Summer

Fishing in summer evolves day to day but most trips we are targeting 65-120 depending on currents water temps. The most important thing is you have to fish the fish. There are times they will be way out of temp chasing after bait fish especially early or late in the day. Those sunrises and sunsets on the water of Grand Traverse Bay are incredible while the sound of fish on fill the air. 

Fall 

Depending on species we are targeting this is a fun time of year to be fishing Traverse City. For the Lake Trout it seems to be in the 100-120 along the drop offs. If they aren’t in that range we will fall off into the 140-160 feet usually we will find them in either of those depth ranges. They can be trickier to get to bite this time of year after being chased after all season. But staying persistent and changing lures to find what they want and you can catch a nice cooler of fish. The Salmon are a different story we really like to target them from 60-110 feet of water depending on the location we are fishing. Fishing Downtown we are working the shallower water even up to 30 feet some days. Along ole Mission Peninsula or Leelanau Peninsula the typical depth is 80-110. But it all is dependent on time of day we are fishing and location, location, location.

That is a basic breakdown on the depths we fish on any given day through the whole season. If you want to learn more and get a hands on experience give us a call we would love to take you out to enjoy a day on the water while on a fishing charter in Traverse City!

Captain Brady Anderson
ph: 231.590.4866
email: stormhawksportfishing@gmail.com
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