# Rivers on south coast of U.P.?



## sgc (Oct 21, 2007)

Is there no longer a salmon run? My favorite river along US 2 hasn't seemed to have a salmon run now in a few years. Usually mid September is good but hasn't been now for a while. Why?


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Did the DNR stop planting it? They do make changes in the plants from time to time, and recently re-started some Lk MI trib plants in the UP I believe. 

I have caught wild Coho in a Lake MI trib where they were never planted. It seemed like they were holding in a bend where gravel was washing in from an unpaved road, but more likely there is true spawning gravel higher up in that particular system, but that would require a lot of heavy bushwhacking to ever see, and those headwaters are a Type 1 that can’t be fished @ Coho time anyway. 

My understanding is that wild runs vary from year to year and that #s can depend on the spring weather when the eggs hatch. Too much ice at the wrong time will lower smolt production. I know some Superior tribs that haven’t had a strong run recently; some fish each year, but nowhere near a peak level as seen a few years ago.


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## Halothanedreams (Jan 31, 2019)

Every year is different. That's how it is, it just is. Try the Manistique. You can catch fish all year. Not joking.


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## Teggs (Mar 20, 2013)

The run was much later this year than last, by about 3 weeks. keep trying. watch your flows online for the streams you like and fish them when they are optimal. should be plenty of fish to throw at.


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## sgc (Oct 21, 2007)

Teggs, how do you watch flows online?


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## Fishnfreak (Apr 27, 2018)

sgc said:


> Teggs, how do you watch flows online?


I'm guessing the USGS River streamflow data:
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/mi/nwis/rt


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## sgc (Oct 21, 2007)

"Fish them when they are optimal". Does that mean when discharge is like 90%?


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## Teggs (Mar 20, 2013)

No. every river flows much different from the next. Every river has its own “prime time” or “fishable level” which is what i mean when i say “optimal flow”. fishing when the flow is low and water is clear often wont produce many fish or spooky fish for multiple reasons. fishing when the water is too high and cloudy can often be tough drifts and hard to land fish. every river has a “cfs” or cubic feet per second, which tells you how fast the river is flowing. every river has optimal cfs in which the fishing will be good. Fishing a river a handful of times a season will give you an idea of when the prime fishing will be and you can easily judge when to fish based off the flows. keep an eye on it every time you go out. for instance, say you get to your particular river and the cfs is 300 and it water looks low and clear. Note that as a low time. check your river the day after a rain or go check it after multiple rains and get a feel for how high and fast it flows. Say the high for cfs is 2000 and water is up over the banks. you then know that is too high and water needs to drop. so then you know 300 is too low but 2000 is to high. So you go back and check it until you find the optimal cfs for catching salmon. Coho will push into a river system when your cfs is above normal, they enjoy slightly “cloudy” water and super cold weather. as long as the cfs stays up, like after a rain then the fish will continue to push into rivers. usually when the cfs maxxs out and begins to drop the fishing will be good. sorry about the long ramble, i hope this helps. also every river is super different. some rivers are awesome fishing at 300cfs, some rivers are awesome fishing at 3000cfs. all depends on the river


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## sgc (Oct 21, 2007)

Thanks


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