Captain Lee Haasch hits Lake Michigan hard in May for a mixed bag of lakes, browns, kings and steelhead.

May is always a special time when everything seems to wake up. Lake Michigan is no exception, and in the northern half, that means that besides the brown trout and lake trout that we have been targeting, sometime during this month, we can expect to see steelhead and king salmon show up. Last year, we experienced an extremely cold, late spring with a lot of windy days—very unusual weather patterns that led to a very late warm up of our fishing grounds. This year, mid-winter weather patterns left us with milder temperatures and a little warmer-than-normal surface water temps, which should bring us a much earlier start to our salmon season.

Every spring, lakes transition into summer by “turning over;” that is, the warm water rises to the top and the colder surface water sinks to the bottom. This triggers baitfish like alewives to migrate to the shallows to spawn and brings the king salmon from the depths to the shorelines. Springtime also brings lake trout to the shallows to feed on the gobies feeding along rocky structure along the shoreline.

Early May was always a good time to target lake trout, and back in the ‘70s, that also marked the opening of lake trout season. We used to fish them in deeper waters in spring, bouncing bottom in 100 feet of water with wire line rigs pulling dodgers and flies. But since then, the lake has become increasingly clearer and baitfish biomass has decreased. And with the emergence of the round goby in the shallows, lake trout have adapted to feeding on the abundant food source in shallower water at this time of year. We have been able to target the trout in half the depth with lighter tackle, using baits that match the colors of these exotic baitfish. This has not only become an effective way to box these tasty fish, but capturing lunker lake trout on lighter tackle is challenging and fun. Anytime you can slide a net under a 25-pound fish, you have completed an epic battle!

May is a special time, getting the boat back into action and targeting big fish feeding in the shallows after a long winter. I enjoy the shallow-water fishing early, with those football-shaped brown trout smacking Rapalas behind planer boards. Another delicacy for me are those white-spotted lake trout that seem to always inhabit the shallow water in spring. Lakers slide into the shallows and feed inside of 50 feet of water most of the winter and spring, until warmer water temps push them back out a little deeper in early June. Drag something orange or yellow, and if you run into a pod of lakers, hang onto your rods, because the action is going to start!

Springtime fishing with cooler water temperatures and most baitfish inhabiting the shallow waters makes for fun near-shore fishing opportunities. I expect to see a real smorgasbord of fish to target in shallow water this spring. This season should also start seeing an uptick in king salmon and steelhead numbers due to increased plantings in recent years, and lake trout are showing good natural reproduction and strong numbers going into 2023.

Springtime is spawning time for steelhead, and when those silver streaks are done depositing their eggs in the tributaries, they return to the lake and begin a feeding spree on any leftover smelt in the area, or on shoreward-cruising alewives. It doesn’t matter if you are pulling Rapalas for browns or Moonshine spoons for lakers; if it looks like a meal and flashes in the clear water, the steelhead will find it. Acrobatic, aerial shows are included! Then, as the water warms up, the kings will appear. Once we get all the gamefish actively feeding, it’s game on for the remainder of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing kings and steelhead joining the game sometime round mid-May this season. That should complete the mixed-bag magic for May and roll us into another fantastic summer fishing season!

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