Trailer ramp · Lake Huron · Michigan

De Tour Passage Boat Launch

Name: De Tour Passage
Address: MI, US
Telephone: 906-297-5947

A public trailer ramp on Lake Huron in Chippewa County, Michigan, with 2 lanes and 17 trailer spaces. Managed by DeTour State Harbor.

Directions Call 906-297-5947 All Huron launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — 2-lane ramp
Water: Lake Huron
Lanes: 2
Piers / docks: 1
Trailer parking: 17 spaces
Toilets: 1
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: DeTour State Harbor
Owner: DNR-PRD
Location: Chippewa County, Michigan
Coordinates: 45.9786° N, 83.9084° W

Before you launch

Lake Huron is big water

Saginaw Bay is shallow and builds a steep, short sea in a hurry; the open-lake ports along the Thumb and the northeast shore can be a long way apart. Know the next harbor down the shore before the wind tells you that you need it.

Saginaw Bay ice that separates from shore. Offshore wind on a shallow bay has stranded groups of anglers on drifting plates more than once, requiring air rescue. Never cross a pressure crack you cannot recross.
Shallow, steep chop in the bay. Eleven to twenty feet of water builds an ugly short-period sea in a moderate wind, far rougher for its height than deep water.
Long unserviced stretches of Michigan shoreline between Harbor Beach and Alpena. Marina spacing is wide; fuel planning matters.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Huron

Our Huron fishing guides name spots at or near De Tour Passage:

Chinook Salmon · July through early September, best in the northern ports from Rogers City north

Chinook Salmon Fishing on Lake Huron

De Tour Passage and Drummond Island: Current through De Tour concentrates bait, and cold St. Marys River water keeps the temperature honest into August. This is the far northern end of the fishery.

Coho Salmon · May through July, best in the northern third of the lake

Coho Salmon Fishing on Lake Huron

De Tour Passage: Cold St. Marys River water pushing through the passage concentrates smelt and holds coho later into summer than the open lake does. Fish the current seams on either side of the channel.

Lake Trout · May and June on shallow rock, July through September deep, with a heavy fall reef bite

Lake Trout Fishing on Lake Huron

Drummond Island and De Tour Passage: Cold current, clean rock and strong natural reproduction. Some of the most consistent lake trout water in the state, and protected enough for a smaller boat.

Brown Trout · Late March through May, with a second window from October into December near harbors and river mouths

Brown Trout Fishing on Lake Huron

Lake Huron brown trout are the most overlooked cold-water fish on the sunrise side of Michigan. From ice-out through May they hold in 8 to 20 feet along the Saginaw Bay shoreline and near the harbors from Port Austin to Alpena, and you will usually have the water to yourself.

Lake Sturgeon · June through September, outside the spring spawning period

Lake Sturgeon on Lake Huron

Lake sturgeon persist in Lake Huron in scattered, closely watched populations rather than as a general fishery, and nearly all of this water is release-only or closed to sturgeon fishing outright. Treat a Huron sturgeon as a fish to identify, handle correctly and release, and check the Michigan DNR rulebook for the exact water before you go.

Lake Whitefish · January through early March on the ice, with a fall reef window in late October and November

Lake Whitefish Fishing on Lake Huron

The Les Cheneaux Islands at Cedarville and Hessel are the most dependable whitefish ice fishery in Michigan, and the protected channels there make ice while the open lake is still rolling. Fish 25 to 60 feet on the deep flats between the islands and you are in the game.

Muskellunge Northern Pike Smallmouth Bass Steelhead Walleye Yellow Perch

Huron by season

SpringSaginaw Bay wakes up first SummerTrolling season on the bay, deep structure on the main lake FallBig walleye out deep, lakers up on the rock WinterSaginaw Bay is one of the great ice fisheries in America

Next ramp over

Nearest Huron launches

Maxton Bay12 mi · trailer ramp · 1 lane · MI
Cedarville22 mi · trailer ramp · 2 lanes · MI
Hessel Marina25 mi · trailer ramp · 1 lane · MI
Hammond Bay29 mi · trailer ramp · 2 lanes · MI
Bois Blanc31 mi · trailer ramp · MI
Hammond Point34 mi · hand / carry-in launch · MI

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses nearby

DeTour Reef Light2.1 mi
Pipe Island Light2.6 mi

Source

Launch facts are from the Michigan DNR, State Sponsored Developed Boating Access Sites, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with DeTour State Harbor before you tow. Fishing rules are set by theMichigan DNR.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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