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The amount and diversity of the fishing opportunities in Michigan is truly amazing. From the Great Lakes and its estuaries and bays to the tributary streams and rivers to the thousands of natural lakes in the Wolverine State, you can find a multitude of opportunities any time of the year for just about any fish species.

Following is a month-by-month collection of Michigan’s best fishing destinations that you’ll surely want to visit this year.

JANUARY
Pere Marquette Lake – Steelhead
Most anglers know what fierce battlers steelhead are. Imagine trying to land one through the ice! That’s exactly the kind of fun you can expect when targeting steelhead on Pere Marquette Lake.

Use Slammer tip-ups to suspend wigglers and spawn bags in front of cruising steelhead. A hotspot for steelies is on the east end of the lake in 5 to 10 feet of water. The rainbows cruise the dropoff there and schools of fish move in and out. Fall-run rainbows are joined by silvery spring steelhead as March approaches. Use caution as the ice conditions can be treacherous. The rainbows average 5 to 10 pounds, but 15-pound trophies are common.

Contact: Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800-542-4600 or go online at www.ludingtoncvb.com for information on amenities and bait shops in the area.

Other Options
17,000-acre Burt Lake has a reputation for producing outstanding catches of winter walleyes and perch. Perch topping 15 inches are not uncommon. Walleyes are an added bonus and will run from 15 to 19 inches.

You’re likely to catch a variety of different-sized pike and have the chance for a trophy on Muskegon Lake. Pike in the 27- to 30-inch range are typical, and 15- to 20-pounders are caught every winter.

FEBRUARY
Saginaw Bay – Walleyes
If there’s a better winter walleye location than Saginaw Bay I’d like to see it. The Bay is absolutely brimming with walleyes right now and winter is one of the best times to fish them. One prerequisite though is cold weather. Anglers will find good ice on the bay in February. Walleyes concentrate in the 17- to 24-foot depths straight out or southeast from the Linwood Road access. Jigging spoons tempt walleyes that will average 15 to 20 inches. Big walleyes are not as common as they once were, but the chance for double-digit trophies still exists. Limits are common.

As spring approaches, the walleyes begin moving toward the mouths of the Saginaw and Kawkawlin rivers. Fishing on last ice can be dynamite in water as shallow as 4 feet. It’s also the time to catch a real trophy. Contact: Frank’s Great Outdoors, (989) 697-5341, www.franksgreatoutdoors.com.

Other Options
Upper and Lower Crooked lakes are outstanding winter panfish destinations. Both lakes are good for bluegills and crappies. At 417-acres, Lower Crooked Lake is shallow and produces hot first-ice action.

Van Buren County’s Cedar Lake is a top winter panfish lake. Cedar Lake has good access and fishes well on first ice. The lake is known for producing good-sized bluegills.

MARCH
Crystal Lake – Lake Trout
It takes most of the winter for 9,711-acre Crystal Lake to freeze. The Benzie County lake receives regular plants of lake, brown and rainbow trout, and that produces an excellent winter fishery. For lake trout, try off Lobb Road and Railroad Point and from Herdman’s Point to the Warren Road access. Concentrate on the 70- to 100-foot depths. Live smelt or shiners and tip-ups or Slammers will take lakers that average 5 to 10 pounds. 20-pound fish are caught every winter. Heavy jigging spoons are another option.

Look for browns and rainbows in the 10- to 40-foot depths off Beulah where creeks enter the lake. The trout like wigglers and spawn. Crystal also has an excellent perch population. Try wigglers or minnows for the perch in 25 to 60 feet of water on the east end of the lake. Contact: Benzie County Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-882-5806.

Other Options
The Muskegon River from Croton Dam to Newaygo represents some of the finest spawning gravel in the state. Steelhead seek out the gravel beginning in March. The water is up and discolored by then, which is perfect for hot shotting from a drift boat or jet sled.

340-acre Thunder Lake is the best crappie lake in the U.P. The Schoolcraft County lake is good for crappies up to 16 inches. The lake receives a fair amount of fishing pressure in the summer, but winter finds the lake nearly deserted.

APRIL
Detroit River – Walleyes
Thousands of pre-spawn walleyes enter the Detroit River from March through April. Fat pre-spawn females topping 10 pounds are common during the first two weeks of the fourth month. Great-eating males that average 1 1/2 to 5 pounds provide steady action. Good catches continue through May. A main focus of the fishery is the Trenton Channel near the town of Trenton. Popular launch sites include Elizabeth Park and Erie Metro Park.

A proven technique is to vertical jig with 3/8- to 1/2-ounce leadhead jigs sweetened with a minnow. Use a trolling motor to slip the current to keep your line as vertical as possible. Avoid packs of boats if the bite slows. Switch jighead colors occasionally and use stinger hooks if you getting a lot of short hits. Walleyes are caught the length of the river up to Wyandotte and right off downtown Detroit when the bite is on.

Contact: Trenton Lighthouse Tackle at (734) 675-7080.

Other Options
Manistee is one of the top brown trout ports of spring on Lake Michigan. Most of the trout are 3 to 5 pounds, but fish topping 20 pounds are common. Troll the harbor mouth, south to Gurney and Cooper creeks and north to Bar Lake.

New Buffalo is on fire for Coho in April. Target 10 to 30 feet of water using in-line planer boards and divers pulling spoons, dodger/flies and crankbaits. Cohos have an affinity for orange. The 1 1/2- to 3-pound salmon are delicious.

MAY
St. Joseph River – Salmon
The warming waters of Lake Michigan and the tepid outflow of the St. Joseph River concentrate trout and salmon in May. Look for warm
water from the St. Joseph River and the discharge of the Cook Plant near Bridgman to attract salmonids. Anglers catch a hodgepodge of Chinook and Coho salmon, brown trout, steelhead and lake trout.

Troll the beach in 5 to 15 feet of water early in the month with in-line planers and shallow-set divers. Try a hodgepodge of spoons, body baits and small dodgers and flies. Later in the month try near the pier heads in the 40- to 60-foot depths for silvery kings. Magnum-sized spoons and plugs tempt them. As waters warm, anglers head offshore to 200 feet of water, where steelhead and lake trout add to the catch.

Contact: Tackle Haven at (269) 925-0341, or go online at www.tacklehaven.com.

Other Options
Turbid water, stumps and warming waters make Belleville Lake a prime destination for spring crappies. Besides good numbers, Belleville gives up trophies, too — up to 14 inches.

Spring fly hatches, receding water and warming temperatures make May the prime time for Black River brook trout. The trout like spinners, worms and flies.