Ludington or Manistee? Choosing a Base for a Michigan Fishing Trip

Pick Ludington if you want a family base with a big state park, Hamlin Lake for easy walleye and panfish, and the Pere Marquette for fly fishing. Pick Manistee if your trip is built around the river below Tippy Dam, you want several small inland lakes nearby, or you want to fly in to a small airport with jet service.

For a Lake Michigan charter alone, it is close to a coin toss. The table above shows each town’s seasons, costs and logistics. Here is how we would decide.

Lake Michigan trolling

Both ports run the same kind of trip: an early start, deep trolling with downriggers, and Chinook, coho, steelhead and lake trout over a season. Ludington bills itself as Michigan’s number one salmon fishing port. DNR reports describe Ludington boats working straight out, south toward Pentwater and north to Big Sable Point, and Manistee boats running straight out, north and south, sometimes toward the same Big Sable Point. Summer depths in both run from roughly 60 to 300 feet of water.

Manistee has one extra option: Onekama, just up the shore, where boats fish spots such as the Barrel for Chinook and lake trout. Lake trout show up often in Manistee reports as the steady fish on a slow salmon day.

The real difference is the harbor bite. In late summer, Ludington’s Chinook gather in the harbor, the channel and Pere Marquette Lake. At Manistee they stage at the piers, in the channel and in Manistee Lake. Both give small-boat and shore anglers a shot without a charter. See choosing a fishing charter and private vs shared charters.

The rivers: Pere Marquette or Big Manistee

This is the biggest difference between the two towns.

The Pere Marquette runs free from east of Baldwin to Ludington with no dams anywhere on its system, and 66.4 miles of it are a National Scenic River. It has salmon in late summer and fall, steelhead from late fall into spring, and resident brown and rainbow trout all year. The stretch from M-37 to Gleason’s Landing is flies-only, catch-and-release water, and Baldwin is the river’s fly-fishing town, with outfitters and guides who fish it in every season. In summer, every watercraft on the national forest stretch needs a Forest Service permit. Much of the corridor is private, and the river draws thousands of anglers a year, so expect company in the peak weeks.

The Big Manistee is a bigger river, controlled by Tippy Dam. The 26 miles below the dam are part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, with steelhead, Chinook and coho from natural reproduction and stocking. The DNR describes fall anglers lined up shoulder to shoulder below the dam. Most anglers fish spoons, spinners, plugs, spawn or beads, from the bank near the dam or from a guided drift boat. The Manistee also has a late-October coho fishery, and in summer walleye and pike take over the lower river.

Our call. Fly anglers and anyone who wants trout water should lean Ludington and the Pere Marquette. Anglers who want a big fall salmon river with easy bank access at the dam, and who do not mind a crowd, should lean Manistee. Both are steelhead rivers from late fall into spring. Before you fish either, read the current Michigan Fishing Regulations, since rules change by stretch. Our guides to the Pere Marquette and the Big Manistee go deeper.

Inland lakes: Hamlin or the Manistee lakes

Ludington has one big lake. Hamlin Lake is roughly 5,000 acres on the edge of Ludington State Park, open all year for walleye, bass, perch and bluegill, with a boat launch, an accessible kayak launch, a small fishing pier and paddlesport rentals. It also has a long reputation as a winter bluegill lake.

Manistee has several smaller choices. Manistee Lake, behind the harbor, gives you salmon in late summer and fall plus pike, smallmouth and perch. Portage Lake at Onekama is the panfish lake: in a DNR creel survey, perch were the main fish kept and largemouth bass the main fish caught. Bear Lake gets regular DNR walleye stocking and has a lakeside campground with a fishing pier. See our Manistee inland lakes guide.

Pick Hamlin for one easy, well-equipped lake inside a state park. Pick Manistee for variety, and for lakes that connect to Lake Michigan through a channel.

Families and non-anglers

Ludington has the edge here. Ludington State Park sits between Hamlin Lake and Lake Michigan, with swim beaches on both, 21 miles of trails and a walk to Big Sable Point Lighthouse. Stearns Park Beach is in town, and the SS Badger runs crossings and shoreline cruises in season.

Manistee has three city beaches, a riverwalk, Orchard Beach State Park on the bluff, and the DNR’s Little Manistee weir, where the public can watch steelhead egg collection in spring. Both towns have piers that are fun on calm days and dangerous in waves; read our pier fishing and safety guide before you go. For more ideas, see fishing with kids and the family trip type.

Getting there

Ludington sits where US-10 meets US-31, about an hour and a half from Grand Rapids, three and a half hours from Detroit and four from Chicago. Gerald R. Ford International in Grand Rapids is the nearest airport with airline service, and the SS Badger carries cars across Lake Michigan from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, from mid-May to mid-October.

Manistee is on US-31 north of Ludington. Manistee County Blacker Airport has Contour Airlines jet service to Chicago O’Hare, and Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City is the region’s larger airport. Flight schedules change, so check before you book.

Drivers from the south and Wisconsin will find Ludington easier. Fliers who can connect through O’Hare may find Manistee easier.

Do both

You do not have to choose. Ludington and Manistee are neighboring ports on US-31, so you can base in one and drive to the other. A few ways to split it:

• Charter from either, river from the other. Book a Lake Michigan trip from whichever port has the open date, then fish the river that suits your style.
• Fall run week. Fish the Pere Marquette and the Ludington harbor early, then try Tippy Dam or Manistee Lake later in the week. See the fall salmon run guide and fall salmon fishing.
• Family week. Base at Ludington for the state park and Hamlin Lake, and take a day trip north for Portage Lake or the city beaches.

Whatever you choose, read the DNR weekly fishing report before you go, and check our fishing licenses guide. Anglers 17 and older need a Michigan license. For more options in the region, see northern Michigan and Traverse City.