IRON MOUNTAIN — Hot July temperatures are warming the waters and driving fish deeper, especially during the day.

Anglers fishing the bottom with crawlers were landing plenty of panfish, including bluegills, crappies and perch, according to Doug Whisler at Whisler Outdoors in Florence, Wis. “Quite a few 11-inch bluegills,” he said.

At Whispering Pines Outpost on M-95, John Grier said Lake Antoine remains a good spot for panfish.

“Guys that are trout fishing are doing good,” he added.

Pike fishing has been good, but a lot of the catches have been small, both Grier and Whisler reported. Walleye catches in the range of 18 to 26 inches were noted this past week.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources listed the following Upper Peninsula fishing activity:

Lake Gogebic: A few walleye were caught when trolling crank baits and crawler harnesses or when floating a leech under a slip bobber. Panfish seem to be moving into deeper water. Pike fishing was slow and most of the fish caught were sub-legal. The consistent fishing was for smallmouth bass.

Menominee River: Shore and boat anglers caught walleye, smallmouth, catfish and freshwater drum. Boat anglers trolling stick baits and bottom bouncers with live bait and shore anglers were using crawlers and minnows on the bottom.

Little Bay De Noc: The walleye action was slow. Most fish were caught from the Escanaba River south to the Ford River. Near the Escanaba River, anglers were trolling a crawler harness in 18 to 24 feet. Off Breezy Point, anglers were using a crawler harness or stick baits just off the break in 16 to 22 feet. Fair perch catches at Kipling and near the Day’s River Buoy with crawlers in 3 to 25 feet. Smallmouth bass were caught off Garth Point in 18 to 24 feet and Hunters Point in 20 feet. The better catches came from the Farmers Dock area in 10 to 26 feet when casting jigs with plastics or crank baits. The best trout and salmon action was 65 to 90 feet down in 120 to 130 feet past the Ford River Can.

Munising: The few boats heading out had mixed results as some got no hits and others caught several lake trout averaging 4 to 5 pounds. Pier anglers at the Anna River reported poor catch rates.

Grand Marais: Boat anglers managed to catch a few lake trout in the early morning in 100 to 120 feet. The fish were feeding on smelt. Pier anglers caught whitefish on a single egg but most of them were small at 11 to 12 inches.