Fishing Report 10-29-25 - Lake Michigan

After the hot steelhead action over the weekend. I was anxious for another crack at some Lake Michigan trolling. Conditions were going to much different and there is no way that I was getting back to the same water. The forecast called for east winds with gusts up to 25. Problem number 2 is that I would be in the 16 foot War Eagle and solo. Not only did I have the wind working against me but that 3 rod limit was going to effect how much water I could cover.

Despite my chances for success, I went anyway. I did not trust that boat making it to the channel from Muskegon Lake. So Muskegon was out and the forever idle and 15 dollar launch fee kept me away from Grand Haven. So I headed further south to Port Sheldon. I had mixed feelings about this as I’m guessing it does not hold as many steelhead as the other 2 ports. However with the bubbler going and some structure around, I felt good about my chances for other fish like lakers and maybe some cohos or browns.

The wind was wicked but I had the place to myself. I only felt comfortable getting out to 35 feet in the gusts. The fear isn’t rough water as it is still pretty calm. It’s just that if something goes wrong, you are going to blow to where those waves are going to capsize you. Anchor is always ready to be deployed in the case of an emergency. As for the fishing, it was a dud.

I went 1-1 with a nice steelhead on a flat lined Brad’s Thinfish. Good thing that fish got ALLLL of that bait because it spent more time out of the water than in it. I mixed up my 3 rods a bunch between different flat lines, 3c, and 100 copper. I couldn’t get anything going from the beach out to that 35 foot zone.

One thing I found interesting about the steelhead was it had young of year alewife, bloater, and smelt in its stomach. I did see a decent amount of bait balls around so that was a good sign despite the weak fishing. That fish went into some fantastic fish cakes and fed the 5 of us for the night!