Lake Huron
Walleye
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Great Lakes · Lake Huron (Saginaw Bay) · Saginaw Bay, MI
Saginaw Bay fishing conditions
Saginaw Bay is a shallow, fertile arm of Lake Huron and one of the best walleye and perch fisheries in the Great Lakes. This page shows live wind, waves, water temperature and lake level from NOAA stations, the National Weather Service forecast, and a rough daily bite estimate for walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass.
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Bite estimate
Rougher estimate · 0–9Rough estimate
Lake Huron
Yellow perch
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Lake Huron
Smallmouth bass
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Conditions now
Wind
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Waves
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Water temp
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Barometer
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Lake level
NOAA CO-OPS Essexville, MI (9075035), feet above Low Water Datum (chart datum). The Great Lakes have no real tides; level swings come from wind setup, seiches and the seasons.
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NWS forecast
National Weather Service point forecast for Saginaw Bay, MI.
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Stations used for Saginaw Bay
| Source | Location | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDBC 45163 | Saginaw Bay Buoy, MI (GLERL) | bay buoy · seasonal (pulled for winter) | 23 nm |
| NDBC SBLM4 | Saginaw Bay Light #1, MI (NWS) | light station · year-round | 11 nm |
| NDBC GSLM4 | Gravelly Shoal Light, MI (NWS) | light station · year-round | 26 nm |
| CO-OPS 9075035 | Essexville, MI | water level (ft above Low Water Datum) | near spot |
| GLERL GLSEA | Daily satellite lake-surface temperature at 43.75, -83.75 | water temp fallback | on the lake |
| NWS forecast | Point forecast for Saginaw Bay, MI; gridded wave forecast on the lake | forecast | at spot |
| NWS LHZ422 | Nearshore marine forecast: Inner Saginaw Bay SW of Point Au Gres to Bay Port MI | official marine forecast | zone |
Where they fish: Walleye trolling and perch jigging on the inner bay out of Bay City, Linwood and Quanicassee; shallow water gets rough fast in wind.
FAQ
Where does the Saginaw Bay fishing data come from?
Wind, waves, water temperature and pressure come from NOAA NDBC stations 45163, SBLM4, GSLM4 (first station with a recent reading wins; seasonal buoys are pulled for winter). Lake level is from NOAA CO-OPS station 9075035 (Essexville, MI). When no station reports water temperature, Swelldex uses NOAA GLERL's daily satellite analysis (GLSEA). The forecast and wave forecast come from the National Weather Service.
What does the Saginaw Bay bite score mean?
It is a rough 0–9 estimate of how good conditions look for walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, based on wind and waves, surface water temperature, the time of year, the barometer trend and forecast storms. It does not count fish and it is not a safety rating.
Why is there no tide table?
The Great Lakes have no meaningful tides. Instead, Swelldex shows the lake level against chart datum and how much it moved in the last 24 hours; fast changes usually mean strong wind setup or a seiche.