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Atlantic salmon Run in Michigan
Salmo salar — 1 Michigan river on this map carry a run of it, Lake Huron. 1 of them is inside a window as of 1 October 2026.
Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, is the narrowest of Michigan's lake-run fish: one river carries it, the Au Sable, and one lake feeds it, Lake Huron. The window there runs September through November with an October peak, over a 10.2-mile corridor. In the Great Lakes it is a stocked fishery rather than a naturalised one, and it enters warmer and earlier than the Pacific salmon beside it.
It is not hard to separate from the fish it shares the river with. The spots above the lateral line are X-shaped, the wrist to the tail is narrow, and there is none of the black gum a king carries. Five to fifteen pounds is the size range. No other state on this site carries a page for the species, and the records here do not extend beyond that single Huron river — everything else Michigan's lake-run calendar holds belongs to other fish.
Where these rivers are
9 run rivers on Lake Huron — the Michigan shore, each in the colour of its own run stage today.
Drawn 1 October 2026. The ground is the subbasin mesh the app scores in, so the coastline is where the mesh stops rather than a separate shoreline; the mark at each river is its mouth, drawn for every river including the handful whose whole run corridor is under a mile and has no line to show.
Where it runs, and when
Ranked by the rivers the staging estimator models first — the sixteen systems with a USGS temperature gauge behind them — then by corridor miles. Neither is a measure of fishing, and nothing on this page ranks a fishery.
| River | Lake | Window | Peak | Miles | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Au Sable River | Huron | Sept–Nov | Oct | 10.2 | First runners |
Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.
Identification
X-shaped spots above the lateral line, a narrow wrist to the tail, and none of the black gum a king carries.
Size
Five to fifteen pounds.
Behaviour in the river
A stocked fishery in the Great Lakes rather than a naturalised one, and it enters warmer and earlier than the Pacific salmon beside it.
Tackle and tactics
- Fly: 7–8 weight, swung streamers and wet flies, 8–12 lb tippet.
- Spinning: a medium rod, 10–14 lb line, spoons and small crankbaits.
Regulations
Great Lakes tributary rules are not the inland trout rules, and they differ by river and often by reach. Michigan's regulation summary is here; the state's own guide is the regulation.