Great Lakes Pier Fishing Primer

You want to catch steelhead or maybe whitefish, in the Great Lakes this winter? Then head for piers at the river’s mouths.

The fishing is simple no matter what lake you’re on, as they all have steelhead milling around near the rivers. Most anglers on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan use three rods, all three with bait: spawn bags for steelhead; waxworms, or single eggs for whitefish. They poke rod holders—commonly a 12 inch section of PVC pipe, hose-clamped to a piece of rebar—in cracks or holes in the pier’s concrete, cast out and wait, and watch the rod tips for signs of bites. Nine to 10 foot spinning rods with sensitive tips are the norm. Reels with a “bait-runner” feature work well for this style of fishing, since they allow fish to take line with little pressure after they bite.

To keep the baits from washing into each other and tangling, anglers rig a pyramid sinker to slide to a swivel, which links the main line with a 24 to 36 inch leader. Main line is most often eight or 10-pound test mono or a superbraid in a similar diameter; six to eight pound mono or fluorocarbon leaders work well. To keep the ever-present current from washing the leader into your main line, put a mid-size split shot (about an eighth of an ounce) on the leader mid-way between the swivel and the hook. Pyramid sinker sizes range between an ounce and three ounces, depending on wave action. Hooks for steelies are number six “octopus” styles, which feature a short shank and upturned eye.

Anglers all have their own deep-seated beliefs about proper spawn bags. Some think steelhead spawn works best; others swear by brown trout spawn, and still others stick with salmon spawn from last fall’s harvest. It’s a Michigan thing to only use fresh or once-frozen spawn tied into bags, although some anglers have come off that stance. Commercial cures that dye eggs bright colors and add some scent, while also making them tougher, have gained many followers. Cures, available from companies such as Pro-Cure, Pautzke’s and Atlas-Mike’s, also help eggs store better in the fridge or freezer between fishing trips.

Whitefish, which lurk in the deeper, offshore parts of the lakes most of the year, come shallow behind spawning lakers and other fall spawners, to feed on their eggs. Whitefish have tiny mouths, so most anglers targeting them use a number eight or number 10 hook with one to three individual eggs, boiled to be solid and stay on the hook without collapsing.

Anglers who fish piers without handy holes for supporting rod holders have improvised holders that attach to guard rails, or they wheel a cart rigged with a set of rod holders attached.

Three final pieces of advice: Dress warm, bring ice cleats to counter a coating of ice on the pier, and make sure your net’s handle is long enough to dip a fish without leaning out too far. The last thing you want is a swim in an icy Great Lake.