IRON MOUNTAIN — Cooler weather will take hold in advance of Michigan’s firearm deer season opener, which is 15 days away.

Daily high temperatures are expected to remain mostly in the 40s beginning Sunday. The long-range outlook from AccuWeather for the Nov. 15 opener is a high of 42 degrees.

Lake-effect snow is possible along the way, but no lasting snow cover is yet predicted.

Fall is a great time to target smallmouth bass with Great Lakes pier fishing, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Smallmouth bass migrating downstream will gorge on minnows at the river mouth, allowing some very nice fish to be taken, the agency said in its weekly report.

The DNR’s Western Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council will meet Wednesday in Marquette Township. The session will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern time at the Marquette Township Community Center, 1000 Commerce Drive.

Among the agenda items, staffers will provide hunting season projections and check station information. The latest on chronic wasting disease research and a demonstration of the new online deer harvest registration will be presented.

For public comment instructions, or additional details, please contact Kristi Dahlstrom at dahlstromk@michigan.gov or 906-226-1331.

The DNR reported this Upper Peninsula activity:

Ontonagon: Fishing was slow for anglers as they had to put some work into locating the lake trout. Anglers should be prepared to change up the colors of spoons. The 60 to 100 feet of water range seemed to hold the majority of fish.

Union Bay: Lake trout fishing was pretty good when trolling spoons in 100 feet of water. Lake trout were in the three-to-five-pound range with a few 10 to 15 pounders being caught as well.

Keweenaw Bay: Anglers were reporting increased numbers of rainbow trout and coho salmon while shore fishing and trolling near shore. Around Huron Bay the main catch continued to be lake trout with the occasional brown trout and rainbow trout. Coho and Chinook salmon were appearing in larger numbers at the lower reaches of the Falls River as well as at the rivers leaving the head of Keweenaw Bay. Anglers targeting salmon should try flasher flies and spoons with bright colors.

Munising: There were some scattered catches of coho and splake in Bay Furnace and at the Anna River dock. Anglers at the Anna River dock were casting spoons or assorted crankbaits and stick baits. Some rainbow trout were caught around the three-to-five-pound range.

Big Traverse Bay/ South Portage Entry: Anglers were reporting catches of brown trout and rainbow trout out of the mouth of the Portage canal. Most fishing in this area was taking place near shore and most anglers were trolling for salmon with some success. Shallower depths with lures not too far from the surface produced the most success.

Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers were catching a few very respectably sized fish. Anglers were mostly trolling harnesses or drifting live bait. Smallmouth anglers did well with multiple groups contacting large fish and good numbers in some instances. Most were drifting or casting minnows in deeper waters. Perch anglers were having mixed success when heading out of Kipling.

Big Bay de Noc: Smallmouth anglers were reporting good catches out of Fayette. Perch anglers were reporting good success when heading out of Nahma or Garden.