IRON MOUNTAIN — Cloudy skies could help anglers during today’s Michigan trout opener, but there’s a chance of rain and thunderstorms across the Upper Peninsula.

High temperatures today may reach into the 70s. Rain is likely Sunday as highs dip into the low 50s.

The newest episode of the DNR Wildlife Division’s “Wildtalk” podcast is available. The April show focuses on the great blue heron, the largest heron in North America. There’s also a chat about wood frogs and DNR wildlife biologist Pete Kailing drops in with an overview of hunting and trapping opportunities available this month.

Find the link at https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/managing-resources/wildlife/wildtalk-podcast.

Email DNR-Wildlife@Michigan.gov with any questions.

The lower Menominee River was producing some catches of walleyes, the Wisconsin DNR said. Vertical jigging with minnows and pulling 3-way rigs with flies or hard plastics worked best.

The Michigan DNR reported this Upper Peninsula activity:

Little Bay de Noc: Anglers reported good perch fishing. Anglers were catching both pre- and post-spawn fish. Those fishing near the narrows with minnows or worms on perch rigs caught perch, with limit catches reported. Smallmouth anglers reported slow fishing but anticipate the fishing to improve soon as water temperatures rise.

Manistique: Anglers continued to contact steelhead in the river. Most anglers were drifting beads or spawn. Anglers reported an abundance of suckers present in the river.

Marquette: Boat anglers fishing the lower harbor had some luck fishing for coho salmon. There were yet to be any fish caught in the upper harbor. Anglers who were floating down the Chocolay River had success catching steelhead and brown trout. The Carp River remained steady for steelhead, and at the mouth whitefish were caught off crawlers. Spawn bags and wax worms were still working well for steelhead in both the Carp and Chocolay rivers, along with champagne or orange beads. Trolling blue and silver spoons as well as fire tiger stripe-patterned Rapalas seemed to be popular for catching coho salmon in the lower harbor. Most fish were caught in 8 to 20 feet of water and closer to shore.

Au Train: The smelt were reported to have started moving up the rivers, with the coho salmon right behind them in the lake. Good numbers of coho salmon and steelhead were reported to have been caught while trolling or casting. Most fish were caught in 8 to 20 feet of water and closer to shore. Blue and silver spoons seemed to do well for coho salmon. Fire tiger or bright orange and gold Rapalas were reported to have worked well for brown trout and steelhead out by the northwest side of the island and close to shore by the river mouths.

Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers caught a few splake and coho salmon while trolling. Anglers targeting lake trout while trolling and jigging found success and were consistently catching fish. Most fish were caught below 100 feet of water while trolling and below 150 feet of water while jigging. Fish were biting on a combination of artificial and natural baits.

South Portage Entry Canal/Big Traverse Bay: Anglers who were targeting lake trout had good fishing when either trolling or jigging. Anglers who were trolling were able to catch lake trout in roughly 100 feet of water, with fish dispersed throughout the water column. Anglers who were jigging found fish close to the bottom in deeper water.

St. Ignace: A few steelhead were caught out of the Carp River; however, anglers reported that another warm rain needs to come through for more fish to run up. There was still no sign of smelt.

Ontonagon River: High turbidity in the river water remained as a result of high runoff upstream.

Ontonagon/Silver City/Union Bay: Reports show that those who made it out caught coho salmon and brown trout in low numbers.

Black River Harbor: Anglers had luck finding coho salmon and brown trout in respectable numbers.