Chinook Salmon

Where to go

Chinook Salmon lake by lake

Ranked by how good the fishing actually is, not alphabetically. If a lake is not on this list, it is because the fish is not worth targeting there.

1. 01

   Lake Michigan

   Lake Michigan is still the most reliable king salmon water in the United States, and the stretch from St. Joseph to Frankfort will put a 15-pound fish in the box on an ordinary July morning. You will work deeper and farther offshore than your father did, but the fish are there.

   Prime time: Late June through Labor Day, with the staging run building through the last two weeks of August · Depths: 50–120 ft down over 150–400 ft of water

   Full guide
2. 02

   Lake Ontario

   Pound for pound Lake Ontario produces the biggest chinook in the Great Lakes, and a 25-pound fish here is a good day rather than a career fish. The offshore run is shorter than Lake Michigan's and the south-shore ports put you over 400 feet of water within a few miles.

   Prime time: Mid-June through mid-September, peaking with the staging fish off Oswego and Mexico Bay in late August · Depths: 60–140 ft down over 300–600 ft of water

   Full guide
3. 03

   Lake Huron

   Lake Huron's chinook fishery is a fraction of what it was before the alewife crash of 2003, and anyone promising you a Michigan-style king box is selling something. Wild, naturally reproducing fish still run the northern end from Rogers City to De Tour, and they are lean, fast and worth targeting if you go in with the right expectations.

   Prime time: July through early September, best in the northern ports from Rogers City north · Depths: 40–100 ft down over 80–250 ft of water

   Full guide
4. 04

   Lake Superior

   Lake Superior is the least productive chinook water on the chain and a king here is a bonus fish, not a plan. The Minnesota North Shore and the Apostle Islands produce them most reliably, usually as a by-catch of a coho and lake trout program run in the top 60 feet.

   Prime time: Late June through August, with the best shot in July off the Minnesota North Shore · Depths: 20–80 ft down over 100–400 ft of water

   Full guide