Great Lakes Fishing Report & Forecast: January & February

Our fishing report is brought to you buy our valued partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and with our men on the water, Cannonball Runner Charters and Grand Bend Fishing Charters!

Lake Huron

A Year In Review

It’s been an amazing season on board the Huron King! We saw a nice run of coho and some very large kings in early May. Once the water warmed up, the walleye moved into our area in full force and we caught the highest number we’ve ever caught! July through Mid October produced great mixed bag catches of salmon, trout and walleye, with many Grand Bend Grand Slams of at least 4 different species on a single trip!  

The winter months are all about maintenance and making preparations for the new season. Before freezing up we ensure all our pumps and plumbing is winterized, as well as change out all of the filters, fluids, and impellers on our engines. We ensure all our hooks are sharp and organize our spoons by size, color and brand. Old fishing lines are swapped out and equipment is checked and re-checked to ensure we are ready for the new season.

If you are looking to book a charter for 2026, now is the best time to book. We always sell out in July and August, so you don’t want to delay and booking early will give you the greatest selection of dates.

Some of our top-producing baits this year have been pro king spoons in both standard and magnum sizes, as well as Bomber Long A lures. Variety is key on Lake Huron, so we focus on covering various depths of the water column with our spread to maximize our catches with down riggers, divers, lead and copper lines.

Our Raymarine and FLIR electronics are what we rely on out there to keep our customers safe and on the fish. Our Axiom 2 Pro units are equipped with Realvision Max sonar to ensure we don’t miss fish, bait, and structure. Our FLIR M232 thermal camera allows us to be on the water during low light conditions and still see like it’s daylight. Our Quantum 2 Doppler radar is a key piece of equipment for the many foggy days we experience. Even if conditions are perfect when you leave port, fog can roll in anytime. Investing in the best marine electronics is necessary especially for running charters. Our Sirius XM marine weather has been a big help for keeping a safe distance from storms and lightning as well as monitoring wind and wave conditions across the lake. 

All the best for 2026 and we hope you’ll get to enjoy time on the water with friends and family! 

Captain Ryan Sharpe

Website: http://www.grandbendfishingcharters.com

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Lake Erie

 Another exceptional year of fishing on Lake Erie has wrapped up, and anticipation is already building for what’s ahead. In 2025, the Ohio Division of Wildlife issued over 700,000 fishing licenses to residents and nonresidents. While not all anglers head to Lake Erie, a 2022 report revealed that 37% of license holders made at least one trip to its waters.

Walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, steelhead, and many other common sportfish continue to attract anglers to Lake Erie. However, a lesser-known species reached a historic milestone in 2025. For the first time, lake sturgeon were reintroduced into the Cuyahoga and Sandusky rivers this past fall. Initial reintroduction efforts in Ohio waters began in 2018 when lake sturgeon were released into the Maumee River. These efforts will continue for the next 20 years. 

Once widespread, lake sturgeon historically spawned in 19 Lake Erie tributaries. Today, natural spawning is limited to just two: the Detroit-St. Clair River System and the Upper Niagara River. Overharvest and habitat degradation in the 1800s led to a dramatic population decline, and the species is now listed as endangered in Ohio.

Lake sturgeon are true giants of the Great Lakes, capable of growing over six feet long, weighing more than 100 pounds, and living for over a century. However, they are slow to mature, reaching reproductive age between 10 and 20 years. These fish imprint on their home rivers as juveniles and return there to spawn, making river-specific stocking critical to long-term recovery. By stocking the Maumee, Sandusky, and Cuyahoga rivers, the Ohio Division of Wildlife hopes to reestablish a spawning population in each of these rivers. 

Since 2018, the Toledo Zoo has raised sturgeon for the Maumee River using water from the river itself. On average, 3,000 fish are stocked annually, and survival rates have been promising. Several tagged sturgeon have already been recaptured and reported to the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Each sturgeon that is released has a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag that is used to track the fish. 

The first sturgeon released into the Cuyahoga and Sandusky rivers in 2025 were raised in Wisconsin through a partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ongoing monitoring will help evaluate the success of these new populations.

Although very rare, it is possible for Lake Erie anglers to catch a lake sturgeon. If you are lucky enough to catch one, please handle the fish as little as possible before releasing it unharmed. To aid in the restoration of this species, the Ohio Division of Wildlife asks that any sturgeon catches are reported along with any photos or measurements, if possible. To learn more or report a lake sturgeon catch, visit wildohio.gov. (For Sonia: link to https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/animals/fish/lake-sturgeon) 

Sarah Schott has been a Wildlife Communications Specialist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife since 2022, with her career beginning as a part-time employee in 2020. She grew up along the shores of Lake Erie and enjoys hunting, fishing, traveling, cooking wild game, and exploring the outdoors in any way possible. 

Photos courtesy of Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Lake Ontario

It’s winter time and snow is falling. Temperatures are dropping. It’s a great time to meet up with people at sports shows or boat shows. A lot of people will be trying to decide to brave the elements and go out ice fishing, or go sit by a cozy fire and work on stuff for next year. 

Some will decide to go to fishing classes, some recreation anglers will decide they want to try to be a professional and take a charter captain’s course. If you are the kind that are gonna be the diehards, hit the ice and go to the rivers, Chaumont Bay is gonna be a number one fishing destination. They're gonna be fishing for giant walleye up to 15 pounds and they’re gonna be fishing for northern Pike. You’re also gonna have a lot of people out there perch fishing, as this place is a number-one perch ground with no limit. You’ll wanna try all the rocky points for the walleye and a little shallow for the northern Pike. Perch are gonna be moving around on a regular basis. You’re gonna see lots of anglers be courteous to those near you.

Another great spot is Oneida Lake, lots of perch fishing here and walleyes. The walleyes would be smaller than Chaumont Bay. And there is a 50 perch limit. The Finger Lakes will also be hot and there’ll be two types of fishing going on here. There’ll be a lot going for Lake trout and they will also be a lot of pan fishing going on.

Lake Champlain has many ice fishing tournaments of all kinds going on, so if you want some competition check out Lake Champlain. There are plenty of smaller lakes and ponds that offer crappy, pan fish, bluegill of all kinds, and a lot of those are hidden — look for activity. Tributary fishing for brown trout and steelhead will be really heating up on the Salmon River, Oswego River, and the Niagara River. You can either wade the streams or you can take a drift boat if you’ve never done this before. It's worthwhile, just dress warm. Also check the flow rates as waiting could be dangerous this time of year

If you like fish only, it’s great to go to some sports shows, meet and greet if you haven’t before. It’s a great time to book a charter.

By: Captain Edward Monette, Cannonball Runner Charters , Oswego, New York

Lake Michigan

Winter fishing is upon us! The ice is starting to form up enough to be able to get out on the water. With that being said, I would like to take a minute to remind everyone about some basic ice safety. First on the list is an ice jacket/ float coat. These behave similar to a Personal floatation device and are on the top of the list of things that can help save your life if things go wrong while enjoying the frozen waters. They are not only warm and windproof, but in general they can help keep you on the surface long enough to employ the second item on my list. Number two in line are a set of ice picks. These devices are usually worn around your neck and are tethered together until needed. They are simply a set of metal spikes with handles molded on and are legitimately life-saving devices that are cheap and easy to use. Third on my list of must haves is a spud for working suspect areas of ice. A good spud allows you to quickly identify if an area is ok or not. 

Now the fun stuff! There are almost limitless options in northern Michigan for ice fishing. Inland options include perch, walleye, pike, musky, sturgeon, bluegill, among others. My personal favorite option inland is spearing northern pike through the ice. It combines the best fun of fishing and hunting. It is a great way to spend some time staring down a hole waiting for something to show up. There are a lot of options to explore while enjoying these aggressive fish. There are a mind boggling number of options for decoys to attract them. I have had success with everything from a live sucker to a plane silver spoon jigged and fluttered in the water. Each strategy has its pros and cons and days of successful use. Just be mindful of size limits as a speared fish is generally a dead fish so we don’t want to waste resources.

Other options include whitefish and cisco, with the most popular area through the ice probably being Lake Charlevoix. If you’re unfamiliar with chasing them, there are a couple of reputable guides that can get you started in the right direction. Lake Charlevoix is known to hold jumbo-sized perch and really nice walleye if you can find them. The key for them is to keep mobile and use your sonar. 

Safety first and tight lines everyone! 

Best of luck, Captain Don

Lake Superior

Ice fishing in Chequamegon Bay / Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior is a popular and productive destination to fish. Nearly a third of the total yearly sport fishing effort and half of the yearly sport fishing harvest occurs during the ice fishing season. 

The ice fishing season generally starts mid to late December. Anglers fishing out of Ashland generally target Yellow Perch, Walleye and Northern Pike fishing the Eastern end of the Bay and along the Ashland shoreline. Anglers fishing near the Ashland lighthouse and along the Washburn side of the Bay target Brown Trout (ave size 18-23”, with 30+” fish caught every season), Splake (16-19”), Lake Whitefish (18-20”), Coho Salmon, Smelt and Burbot. Fishing presentations are generally the same while fishing on Chequamegon Bay. Most anglers jig with a variety of spoons, jigging raps, or blade baits. Sometimes tipped with a piece of minnow or wax worm. Size of your bait, colors and jigging cadence varies day to day so it is best to experiment until you determine what the fish want. Anglers also use tip-ups or automatic hook setting devices. Shiners are generally used with these devices. As the fishing season starts fishing success can be very good and continues as anglers stay on the “fresh bite” as they follow the safe ice as it expands North into the Bayfield / Apostle Island area. 

As the ice fishing season progresses and safe ice expands into the Apostle Islands, anglers start to fish deeper water for Lake trout (Bobbing). Anglers generally use a heavier rod and reel combo or a traditional “bobbing” hoop with wire line. A reel that holds lots of line is recommended since you may fish for Lake trout in 250+ feet of water but 90-180 feet of water is preferred. Heavier baits are generally used while fishing for lake trout since strong current may be present. Heavier spoons, tube jigs, swimbaits, jigging raps, or “beetles” (horizontal jigs) are popular bait choices. Adding a piece of cut bait to these may be needed to trigger the fish to bite. The average size lake trout caught through the ice is 21-23 inches, but 30-plus inch fish are frequently caught, with 35-40-inch fish occasionally caught.  

In the later period of the ice season starting mid to late February, Smelt start to make their way further into the Bay. As this occurs anglers start to target them. Sizing down your bait size is needed to catch these smelt. Burbot are more commonly targeted this time of year. Anglers fishing into the night may experience productive catches of Burbot. Fishing near the Ashland lighthouse is a popular area to target Burbot.   

Depending on the severity of the winter, safe fishable ice conditions may form late January into March in Saxon, Cornucopia and along the South Shore (Herbster, Port Wing and the Superior entry).

The St. Louis River, Wisconsin’s largest tributary to Lake Superior located on the far Western end of Lake Superior is also a popular location to ice fish. The 2025 open water fishing season was an excellent year for anglers catching walleyes. This upcoming ice fishing season should continue to be productive for Walleyes. (The daily limits and length requirements for various species in the St. Louis River may be different than they are on Lake Superior. Please see Wisconsin Fishing Regulations).   

The ice fishing season generally lasts until mid to late March with some years extending well into April.

By: Karl J. Scheidegger