Lake Michigan Coho and Chinook Primed for the Late-May Push

What's Biting

What's Next

The full moon falls on May 31, and first and last light on June 1 and 2 are the priority windows. Low-light transitions around a full moon consistently concentrate salmon and trout activity in the upper water column, so plan to have your spread in the water at least 30 minutes before sunrise and stay through the first two hours after. Late-afternoon bites can also fire as surface temps cool slightly and bait schools move toward structure.

For salmon off Sheboygan, the late-May trolling program typically means covering the depth zone between 30 and 80 feet with a mix of spoons and paddle-and-fly rigs. With strong Chinook and coho populations documented by the WI DNR Lake Michigan Fishing Report supporting current fish numbers, the fish should be in position. Stagger your spread vertically rather than running everything at one depth, and target water where surface-temp transitions suggest a forming thermocline. Early-June patterns typically show Chinook dropping deeper while coho can often be caught closer to the top of the column, so adjust accordingly as the week unfolds.

The Rowley's Bay launch at Newport State Park reopens at 4 p.m. today, giving Door County anglers a new staging point for the weekend. The rocky northern shoreline along the Sturgeon Bay approaches and the Green Bay channel transition holds post-spawn smallmouth. Tubes, finesse jigs, and drop-shots worked along rocky points in 10 to 25 feet should be productive as smallmouth finish the spawn cycle and shift to aggressive summer feeding. The full-moon period also tends to extend the topwater bite window on smallmouth; try walking baits or small poppers over rocky shoals just after sunset.

Brown trout remain a realistic target from Sheboygan's piers through early June. Early-morning casts with smaller spoons or stick baits along current seams near the pier heads can produce before boat traffic picks up. If trout have moved off the pier faces, try drifting a small spoon along the breakwall at varying depths until you locate fish.

Context

The WI DNR Lake Michigan Fishing Report frames the current season against an exceptional recent baseline. The 2024 harvest was the strongest in more than a decade: a record 210,000-plus coho and over 160,000 Chinook, the best Chinook total since 2012. The DNR credits recent alewife year-class strength for the improved stocked salmon survival, meaning the forage base that drives the salmon fishery is in solid shape heading into 2026.

The whitefish picture is more uncertain. The WI DNR announced a virtual public meeting in October 2025 to gather stakeholder input on proposed new Total Allowable Catch numbers for lake whitefish in Lake Michigan and Green Bay for the 2026 fishery. Any resulting TAC adjustments could affect harvest targets through the season. Anglers targeting whitefish should verify current limits with state regulations before heading out.

The DNR also held public meetings in late 2024 on smallmouth bass management for Green Bay and northern Lake Michigan, a signal that managers are closely tracking that fishery. Smallmouth are an increasingly significant sportfish on both sides of Door County, and active management attention suggests population data is under active review.

In a typical late May, surface water along the Sheboygan shoreline is transitioning through the upper 40s to low 50s, setting the stage for the peak offshore salmon program in June. Door County, sitting at the interface of Lake Michigan and Green Bay, often presents the most layered late-spring bite, with salmon accessible on the lake side and a mix of warmwater species available in the bay. No real-time comparative catch data was available for this report, but the WI DNR population signals suggest 2026 is positioned at or above recent seasonal norms.