The Summer Transition Tips for Success

The days are longer, the air warmer and the Great Lakes are doing what they always do . . . transitioning from their spring patterns to summer mode. What does this mean to fishermen? If we want to continue filling coolers we need to adjust where and how we fish.

The Water is Changing

The thermocline is setting up. This changes everything as the fish go down in the water column.

Longer days, warmer air, more direct sunlight are warming the surface waters, radiating warming energy down into the water column. The thermocline is the boundary between warm water above and cold water below. Two separate layers of water that do not mix. Without going into the science (see Lake Michigan in Motion or Big Water Wisdom to learn more) this becomes a major boundary in the water column. It often has current running along it, it is full of dead matter and nutrients baitfish feed on, and it is a boundary and fish relate to it! Many days you will want to keep at least one side planer (lead core or copper) running in or just above or below this boundary (thermocline).

Precise thermocline depth is dynamic. It will move up and down over the summer depending on wind direction & velocity. The wind’s steer the currents which move the thermocline up and down, and in and out from the shoreline. Knowing how winds impact local currents off your home port will help you know where the thermocline and cold water is before leaving the dock. Learning how local currents influence the water off your port and interact with local structure will help you locate fish.

If you want to learn more about how currents impact the fish and water stratification off your port book a one-on-one Salmon Coaching session with Dan.

The Fish are Changing

Salmon are amazing creatures with two purposes—to feed and reproduce. They get to do the later once in their life and, for mature fish, that time is rapidly approaching. As the spawning urge increases, the salmons body physiologically changes. We can see this as their skin toughens and starts to change from mint-silver to a darker, golden or olive shade. The males head begins to change and their teeth change. Inside, their biological clock is driving them to head back to their birth or stocking site. Their mood begins to change and they are not as focused on feeding, but on finding home. The closer they get to spawning the less they feed and ultimately, their stomachs atrophy and they stop feeding.

Mature fish, which are roaming the open lakes their entire lives will begin migrating “home.” They form large schools and feed aggressively during this period as they are genetically programed to bulk up to prepare their body for what nature thinks is a long migration up a river and then their bodies are producing eggs and milt to continue their legacy. These migrating schools of mature fish will hold off key structure offshore of the rivers and harbors they will ascend. As time goes on, these fish will progressively work shoreward and eventually go into the harbors and rivers never to return. They stage in the same areas every year, based on winds and currents!

What many don’t realize is that immature kings will follow the mature kings offshore. For this reason, you will often find groups of smaller kings around the larger fish. Once the mature kings head inland, the immature fish will disperse back out into the lakes.

Target Species may Change

Depending on where you fish on the Great Lakes, you may find that the fish you were catching in spring are long gone but they have been replaced by different species. For example, if you fish in Indiana or Illinois, the once plentiful coho have or will be migrating away. Now you have to shift your focus to species that may have migrated into your region or other fish that are offshore, such as kings, lake trout or steelhead.

If you are targeting different fish, you will need different lures and tactics than you used

understanding of local structure and you will be well on your way to full coolers. We go in depth on current analysis at our winter Salmon Schools but I also work with anglers across the Great Lakes on the impact of currents with their local structure over Zoom in my one-on-one Salmon Coaching.

In the summer you may find yourself fishing relatively close to shore with the right winds, or well offshore if warm water forces fish offshore. Experienced anglers keep a detailed log book with Lat/Lon locations of areas that are productive each month of the year. Really fishy dudes will learn to tie their hot locations to the local wind regimes and season!

Tactics & Lures Change

Spring finds the fish utilizing the entire water column, but often the largest concentrations are found higher up in the water column, often the top 20 feet. In summer the fish are usually down so we need to use tactics to get our gear down. Whether that is 50 feet or 200 feet down, Great Lakes fishing is all about getting down to the fish.

Off some ports as the transition unfolds you will use a combination of spring tactics/lures and summer strategies simultaneously. This will require you to specifically target certain layers of the water column for individual species. Obviously, you will want to pick lures accordingly. Once the lakes fully set into their summer patterns, you will focus your firepower on the colder depths below. Depending on your boat, experience and budget this can be accomplished with downriggers, divers (wire or braid), copper, lead core or weighted steel and Torpedo divers. Since spawning bound salmon & trout are moody, some days flashers/flies will be best, other days spoons. As July roles into August, plugs such as Dreamweaver, Silver Hordes and J-Plugs will start to produce.

Dial in your summer with a custom one-on-one Salmon Coaching with Dan!