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Pink salmon Run in Michigan

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, humpy — 20 Michigan rivers on this map carry a run of it, Lake Huron and Lake Superior. 20 of them are inside a window as of 1 October 2026.

Pink salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, the humpy, is the smallest salmon in Michigan's rivers — one to four pounds, with large oval spots on the tail and, on a ripe male, the hump the other name comes from. Twenty Michigan rivers carry it, all of them on Lake Huron or Lake Superior; it is absent from the Lake Michigan calendar entirely.

The run is Aug–Sept everywhere it is recorded, and on the Superior rivers the peak is September. Naturalised in Lake Superior since the 1956 Thunder Bay escape, it is heaviest in odd-numbered years — a two-year fish, so the run has a rhythm the other species do not. The longest corridors on the Huron side are the Rifle River at 55.0 miles and the Carp River in Mackinac County at 42.4, with the Ocqueoc at 13.5, the Au Sable at 10.2 and Thunder Bay River at 1.0. On Superior, the Sturgeon River in Baraga County runs 41.3 miles, the Big Iron 24.6, the Ontonagon 23.7, the Two Hearted 22.6 and the Chocolay 20.5.

Where these rivers are

20 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.

Lake Superior — the Michigan shore11 run rivers on this shore, 11 inside a window today Peak run
Lake Huron — the Michigan shore9 run rivers on this shore, 9 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.

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.

RiverLakeWindowPeakMilesStage
Rifle River Huron Aug–Sept — 55.0 Tail-off
Ocqueoc River Huron Aug–Sept — 15.4 Tail-off
Au Sable River Huron Aug–Sept — 10.2 Tail-off
Thunder Bay River Huron Aug–Sept — 1.0 Tail-off
Carp River (Mackinac County) Huron Aug–Sept — 42.4 Tail-off
Sturgeon River (Baraga County) Superior Aug–Sept Sep 41.3 Tail-off
Big Iron River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 24.6 Tail-off
Ontonagon River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 23.7 Tail-off
Two Hearted River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 22.6 Tail-off
Chocolay River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 20.5 Tail-off
Trap Rock River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 19.2 Tail-off
Salmon Trout River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 18.4 Tail-off
Firesteel River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 16.4 Tail-off
Tahquamenon River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 16.4 Tail-off
Swan River Huron Aug–Sept — 11.4 Tail-off
Anna River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 7.6 Tail-off
Tawas River Huron Aug–Sept — 6.0 Tail-off
Nunns Creek Huron Aug–Sept — 5.1 Tail-off
Falls River Superior Aug–Sept Sep 5.0 Tail-off
Cheboygan River Huron Aug–Sept — 1.7 Tail-off

Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.

Identification

The smallest salmon in these rivers, with large oval spots on the tail and, on a ripe male, the hump the other name comes from.

Size

One to four pounds.

Behaviour in the river

Naturalised in Lake Superior since the 1956 Thunder Bay escape and heaviest in odd-numbered years — a two-year fish, so the run has a rhythm the others do not.

Tackle and tactics

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.

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