IRON MOUNTAIN - The Michigan Department of Natural Resources in its weekly report reminded anglers that November is a good time to fish if you do not like crowds.

Fishing starts to take a back seat to hunting and that opens up space on the lakes, rivers, piers, docks and shorelines.

Locally, there was some positive news from walleye fishermen, but little other activity reported.

"Most everyone is getting ready for deer season," said John Grier at Whispering Pines Outpost in Breitung Township. "There were guys are out after walleye. They've been having success with suckers on white and pink jig heads."

Dean Lindblom of Country Bait and Tackle reported "nice walleye" being caught out of the Menominee River.

Bird hunters appear to still be doing well, according to Don Ciochetto at The Sport Shop in Iron River.

"Fall fishing has been pretty good, too," he added. "I heard about some guys doing well with rainbows and lake trout."

Tom Bean at Crystal Bait mentioned that the deer appear to be entering pre-rut throughout the area, with many hunters reporting deer on the move and good scrapes and rubs being found.

"Deer are starting to move around," Patti Teske at Florence Sport and Bait said. "We've registered a 14-pointer, a couple of nice eights and a nine so far during archery season."

Wisconsin DNR reports indicate that white-tailed deer are now actively in the rut across the state with scrapes and rub lines now very common. Peak rutting activity should be expected for one to two weeks. This is also the time when vehicle-deer crashes are at their peak, as bucks will actively be pursuing does and will become much less wary. During the rut it is common for deer to be active throughout the day, but peak activity is usually near dawn and dusk, so this is the time when drivers should be especially on the lookout for deer suddenly moving across roads.

The Michigan DNR reported the following fishing conditions across the Upper Peninsula:

Menominee - Those fishing off the Cedar River at night did well for walleye. Anglers were trolling in 18 to 25 feet of water with a variety of stick baits and rapalas.

Menominee River - Shore anglers are doing well catching walleye up near the Hattie Street Dam. Some limit catches were reported by those using jigs, zip lures, and rapalas. Those targeting trout and salmon had a slow week. The chinook are getting sluggish and not biting and the brown trout were jumping but not biting. Steelhead were close to shore however only a few of those caught were landed. Try yarn with a small hook, spawn or spoons.

Little Bay De Noc - Is producing fair to good catches of walleye between the Black Bottom and head of the Bay. The better catch rates came when trolling crank baits in 20 to 35 feet of water off the southern end of the Black Bottom or 30 to 40 feet of water off the Second Reef and the Terrace Inn. Evening anglers fared best on the reefs in Kipling when trolling crank baits in 10 to 28 feet of water. Good numbers of large walleye were caught. Good northern pike action off the north end of Saunders Point when trolling in 10 to 23 feet of water.

Big Manistique Lake - Was producing some walleye and perch.

South Manistique Lake - Was producing a few perch and lots of small pike.

Keweenaw Bay - Anglers trolling for salmon picked up some nice lake trout in front of the Fall's River in 30 to 70 feet of water. The salmon bite was slow but anglers did manage to catch coho, steelhead and lake trout at the head of the Bay. Spoons and spinners were the ticket.