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Lake Michigan Salmon and Steelhead Runs

32 tributaries on this map, 811.0 miles of run water, across Michigan and Wisconsin. 32 rivers have something inside a window as of 1 October 2026.

The salmon lake. Michigan's west coast and Wisconsin's east coast run the same fish on the same calendar from opposite shores. Thirty-two rivers on this map run fish out of Lake Michigan, 816.8 miles of corridor between them. The Ford River is the longest at 107.3 miles, then the Cedar River in Menominee County at 66.2, the Pere Marquette at 59.5, the Little Manistee at 57.3 and the Muskegon at 52.0 below Croton Dam. The Wisconsin side is represented in the top rank by the Sheboygan at 40.7 miles below Millhome Dam, the East Twin at 40.4 with no ceiling, and the Milwaukee at 29.8 below Grafton Dam.

Chinook, coho, steelhead and lake-run brown trout run all thirty-two, on windows of Aug–Oct and Aug–Sept, Sept–Nov and Sept–Oct, Oct–May, and Oct–Nov and Sept–Nov. Lake sturgeon appear on five rivers, April into June, and lake trout on three, October into November.

The run calendar across Lake Michigan

One row per species, one cell per month, and the number in a cell is how many of these rivers have that species inside its window that month. Two densities rather than a gradient: the source is month-grained curated guidance and a smooth ramp would claim a precision it does not have.

Chinook salmon — 32 rivers
Coho salmon — 32 rivers
Steelhead — 32 rivers
Lake-run brown trout — 32 rivers
Lake sturgeon — 5 rivers
Lake trout — 3 rivers
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in the window at peak — outlined cell is the month this page was built in.

Where these rivers are

32 run rivers on 2 shores, drawn one shore at a time and each river in the colour of its own run stage today. One frame over all of them would be mostly open water, and these shores sit under 2 different rulebooks.

Lake Michigan — the Michigan shore26 run rivers on this shore, 26 inside a window today Peak run · First runners
Lake Michigan — the Wisconsin shore6 run rivers on this shore, 6 inside a window today Peak run

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.

Every Lake Michigan run river

RiverStateMilesCeilingStage today
Ford River MI 107.3 no barrier First runners · Chinook salmon
Cedar River (Menominee County) MI 66.2 no barrier First runners · Chinook salmon
Pere Marquette River MI 59.5 no barrier Peak run · Chinook salmon
Little Manistee River MI 57.3 no barrier Peak run · Chinook salmon
Muskegon River MI 52.0 Croton Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Grand River MI 42.2 Sixth Street Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Sheboygan River WI 40.7 Millhome Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
East Twin River WI 40.4 no barrier Peak run · Chinook salmon
White River MI 36.6 Hesperia Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Kalamazoo River MI 36.4 Allegan City Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Manistee River MI 29.9 Tippy Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Milwaukee River WI 29.8 Grafton Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Days River MI 28.1 no barrier First runners · Chinook salmon
Kewaunee River WI 26.1 no barrier Peak run · Chinook salmon
St. Joseph River MI 24.3 Berrien Springs Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Jordan River MI 23.2 no barrier Peak run · Coho salmon
Platte River MI 17.3 Platte River Weir Peak run · Chinook salmon
Oconto River WI 14.0 Stiles Peak run · Chinook salmon
Black River (South Haven) MI 13.1 no barrier Peak run · Chinook salmon
Betsie River MI 12.5 Homestead Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Whitefish River (Delta County) MI 11.7 no barrier First runners · Chinook salmon
Pentwater River MI 10.4 no barrier First runners · Chinook salmon
Peshtigo River WI 9.4 Peshtigo Peak run · Chinook salmon
Rogue River MI 5.6 Rockford Dam First runners · Chinook salmon
Brevoort River MI 5.5 Brevoort Lake Dam First runners · Chinook salmon
Boyne River MI 4.0 Boyne River First runners · Chinook salmon
Menominee River MI 2.3 Lower Menominee River Dam First runners · Chinook salmon
Manistique River MI 1.5 Manistique Papers Dam First runners · Chinook salmon
Escanaba River MI 1.4 Escanaba No 1 Dam First runners · Chinook salmon
Boardman River MI 1.1 Union Street Dam Peak run · Chinook salmon
Big Sable River MI 1.1 Hamlin Dam First runners · Chinook salmon
Bear River MI 0.1 Lake Street Dam and Flume First runners · Chinook salmon

Stage as of 1 October 2026.

What runs Lake Michigan

The rest of the run

Open the lake-run map →Every run river, with where the fish are holding today.Or get BirdTrout on the App Store