Coho, Chinook, and Smallmouth Line Up for Indiana's Memorial Weekend Push

What's Biting

What's Next

**Salmon Trolling Window**

The next two to three days carry solid trolling potential for both coho and Chinook salmon. Memorial Day weekend boat traffic is always heavy on southern Lake Michigan, so an early start, well before sunrise, puts you ahead of the crowd and into the low-light feeding window that salmon favor. Without live buoy data this cycle, target depths are a judgment call. As a general guide for late May, coho often suspend in the upper 25 to 50 feet of the water column, while early-season Chinook can hold deeper depending on where the thermocline is establishing. Trolling spoons and stickbaits on lead-core or planer-board setups is the standard approach for both species. The WI DNR Lake Michigan Fishing Report credits the strong 2024 coho and Chinook returns to robust alewife forage. Those baitfish classes should still be abundant in southern Lake Michigan this season, keeping salmon actively feeding through the late spring period.

**Smallmouth Bass: Post-Spawn Opportunity**

Late May is a transitional moment for smallmouth. Males typically finish guarding nests by mid-to-late May in southern Lake Michigan, and as water temperatures push upward through the month, both sexes begin recovering and feeding aggressively. Tactical Bassin highlights paddle-tail swimbaits as consistent producers for Great Lakes smallmouth in clear water, particularly for covering water quickly when fish are school-oriented in the prespawn-to-postspawn window. Rocky points, nearshore gravel, and emerging weed edges are the structural magnets. Early morning and late evening remain the most reliable windows, especially under the current first-quarter moon phase, which tends to concentrate feeding activity around low-light periods rather than peak midday.

**Memorial Weekend Timing**

Anglers on the Michigan Sportsman Forum are discussing bay days and salmon trolling runs for the holiday weekend, reflecting solid confidence heading into the stretch. First-quarter moon means a moderate solunar pull: not the peak feeding frenzy of a full or new moon, but reliable enough for consistent action with the right presentation. If wind builds, as it often does on big water over holiday weekends, wave height and drift speed become key variables. Keep a close eye on the NWS marine forecast before launching. When conditions cooperate, a split-day approach of trolling offshore for salmon in the morning and working nearshore structure for smallmouth in the afternoon is a productive Memorial Weekend pattern on this shoreline.

Context

Late May is historically one of the stronger shoulder periods on the Indiana section of Lake Michigan's shoreline. Coho salmon stocked as spring fingerlings in prior years typically become available in the nearshore zone throughout the second half of May as water temperatures climb into the upper 40s to mid-50s Fahrenheit. Chinook tend to arrive in greater numbers as summer builds and warming surface temps push fish into deeper, cooler water. Late May marks the beginning of that offshore Chinook window rather than its peak.

The 2024 season's record coho harvest, documented by the WI DNR Lake Michigan Fishing Report, is an encouraging benchmark for the broader southern Lake Michigan basin. Record coho and Chinook returns across Wisconsin's Lake Michigan waters reflect lake-wide forage dynamics, and the alewife abundance the WI DNR credits as the driver of those returns benefits all Great Lakes states sharing the same basin, including Indiana.

No Indiana-specific charter reports or tackle shop data came through this cycle, making it difficult to confirm whether 2026 is tracking ahead of, behind, or in line with seasonal averages. IL/IN Sea Grant operates nearshore buoys on Lake Michigan that typically provide real-time temperature and wave data for anglers planning trips to the southern basin. None of that buoy data populated for this report, which limits precision. Historically, when late-May water temps along the Indiana shoreline settle in the upper 40s to low 50s Fahrenheit, nearshore coho fishing is considered at or near its seasonal peak. Warmer years tend to push the best salmon action offshore and later into June. Without current readings, this report reflects seasonal norms rather than confirmed 2026 conditions. Verify local temperature and wave conditions before heading out.