Northwestern Michigan
Leroy- Reports are guys are getting out and gills are biting with good pike action Call Eye’s Have It for latest info 231-768-5653
Baldwin- The little lakes around Baldwin are safe and pan fish has been fair. Call Baldwin Bait @ 231-745-3529 or Ed’s Sport @ 231-745-4974
Big Glen- The lake is froze with 3 to 6 inches of ice, they are catching perch, trout and ciscoe’s. Had many reports of guys catching 12 to 14 inchers but just a couple a trip so far Fishhook@ (231) 256-9496
Little Glen- Has ice the perch are biting fair Call Fishhook@ (231) 256-9496.
Lake Leelanau: North Lake Leelanau has ice, South Lake Leelanau is froze with 5 to 8 inches of ice and fair walleye, perch and pike. Call Fishhook@ (231) 256-9496 for latest info
Manistee Lake by Kalkaska- Good fishing this week with perch, pike, walleye and a few gills in the canals ice is 10 to 15 inches Call Jacks Sport Shop 231-258-8892
Spider Lake and Arbutus- 10 to 12 inches of ice with pike and pan fish biting, a huge pike was caught out of there last week Call Roy’s General Store @ 231-946-5633
Lake Dubonnet- Lots of fisherman fishing this lake with great pike action with some pan fish
Duck Lake: Lots of fisherman off of Strawberry Point and the penisula
Green Lake: The smelt fishing has been great with reports of 100 or more at night quite a few guys out today. Spikes and waxworms on Hali Jigs
Long Lake: They are fishing the whole lake with the better bite off of Cresant shores and a great perch bite. They are catching nice perch but lots of short walleye. Call MC Sports @ 231-933-6158
Skegemog- Has completely froze over and lots of people are walking out also quads a driving with many shanties on the lake. They have been seeing some nice muskie’s Call Jack’s Sport Shop@231-258-8892
Fife Lake- Has ice and a few big pike have been caught, along with perch There was a bunch of guys off the access site today. Call Lakeside Party @ 231-879-4346
Portage Lake- They were out in force today on Portage with a awesome perch bite as a big school has moved in from Lake Michigan. Many limit catches with perch running up to 14 inches. Also they have been catching whitefish this week along with pike and walleye. Call Osborne’s@ 231-889-3775
Hamlin Lake- Has safe ice and many out and about catching crappie and gills. Call PM Expeditions@ 231-425-8913 or Hamlin Grocery@(231) 843-2058
Bear Lake- Has 12 to 15 inches of ice today with a few getting out catching pike. Osborne’s@ 231-889-3775
Lake Missaukee- Has safe ice with a good crappie, gill and pike bite. report 10 to 15 inches of good ice with pike and gills are biting good Call Miller Corner@ 231-839-0440 or Hopkins Outfitters@ 231-839-FISH (3474)
Cadillac and Mitchell- Has Safe Ice!!!!, Lake Cadillac they are fishing off the causeway and it has looked like a city on the ice this week Call Pilgrim Village for latest info@ 231-775-5412
Pentwater: Pentwater Lake is froze and the perch fishing has been great also a few pike. There was 50 shanties in front of Pentwater Angler and said the perch bite was on today. Call Pentwater Angler for the latest info@ 231-869-5357
Whitehall: White lake has ice with good pike and perch bite today. Call armstrongs@231–894-6753 or Johnson’s Outdoors @ 231-893-6688
Betsie River: Continues to produce some steelhead.
Big Manistee River: Is fishable and should have a fair to good number of steelhead including some fresh fish. Many are fly fishing below Tippy Dam.
Little Manistee River: Is producing steelhead and the occasional brown trout however the river will close to fishing on January 1st and will reopen on April 1st.
| Pere Marquette Lake: Had decent northern pike action for those using tip-ups.
Pere Marquette River: No word on steelhead activity however water levels were still quite high. |
Crystal Lake a few guys went in the drink Tuesday so be careful and there is open water in the middle.
Northeast Michigan
Lewiston- Both East and West Twin are froze and perch, pike and walleye are biting Call Mid Lakes Market @ (989) 786-3227
Mio- Mio Pong has froze and a few are getting out on the lake. Call Jig’s Bait Shop@ (989) 826-3467
Lake St. Helen- Fishing has been good with 10 to 15 inches of ice lots of pike, with pan fish on the bite with a few walleye being caught. Call Macomb’s Tackle Box @ 989-389-2100
Pratt Lake and Wiggins Lake– has safe ice and many have been doing good on pan fish and pike. Call Chappel Dam@ 989-426-7503
Wixom and Sanford Lake- Reports are the lake is safe and fisherman have been getting out on the shallow bays catching crappie, gills and pike. Call Sanford Sport Shop@989-687-5161 or Sandy’s Market@ (989) 435-9688
Secord Lake has had a great bite this week Sandy’s Market@ (989) 435-9688
Fletcher’s Floodwaters- Those using tip-ups caught some nice pike. Crappies were taken on minnows, wax worms or spikes. Call Bill’s @989-742-4874
Black Lake- Has 6 to 9inches of ice and a good walleye bite Call Parrots Outpost for the latest ice conditions (989) 733-2472
Mullet Lake- Has been good for perch the last few days call Mullet Lake Party store@ (231) 627-4644 or Topinabee Market@ 231-238-9578
Burt Lake: Perch and walleye fishing has been good. Call Pat & Gary’s Party Store 231-238-6776
Grand lake and Long Lake- Both lakes are safe and fisherman are venturing out catching perch and pike, Call Bucks@ 989-595-2121
Otsego Lake- The ice is safe and many shanties are on the lake. A few sturgeon have been caught off the State Park and good perch, pike and a few walleyes on Otsego Lake. Perch fishing has been fair on Bradford, chub Lake trout fishing has been good. Call Northern Sports@ 987-448-2014
Lake Margrethe- The lake is completely froze with 10 to 15 inches of ice and good fish being caught. There are quite a few shanties on the lake. Call Skip’s Sport @ 989-348-7111
Higgins Lake- Has from 6 to 8 inches of ice and the ice looks great today as they missed the snow storm South-end of the lake there are lots of shanties on the lake with great pike and perch right now. Good Lake Trout, pike and perch. The south end report of limit catches of perch. Smelt fishing has picked up the two days with reports of some catching 100 a night . Call Phoenix Park 989-821-7220 or Sports Barn 989-821-9511 for latest ice conditions
Houghton Lake- Ice fishing is on Good pike, perch and walleye. Dave @ 4 season says off of long point good perch and walleye are being caught. They are worried about the snowstorm today as much more snow will get slush back again.
Lyman’s has started putting their shanties out call them for your reservations@ 989-422-3231 Also Dave @ Four Season Party Store has his Shanties out and said last night they did good on the walleyes and pike. Call him @ 989-422-5230.
Angelos Party Store also has shanty retail call him @ 989-202-4422 ask for Lou.
Korbinski’s also rents shanties and has a full line of bait and Tackle call Rod@ 989-366-9500
Lake Avalon: In Montmorency County is producing a few bigger splake.
Alpena: The boat ramps are frozen in. A few perch were caught in the harbor.
Au Sable River: The ramps are usable. Steelhead were caught from Foote Dam all the way down to Oscoda and the mouth. Boat anglers are back drifting plugs or casting spawn.
Tawas: Was producing good numbers of decent size perch in 12 to 15 feet of water in the bay. Perch were also caught inside the State Harbor. Walleye were a little deeper in 15 to 20 feet of water and hitting at dawn or dusk. Those spearing have taken a few pike.
Au Gres River: Anglers were catching sublegal walleye and a few perch.
Rifle River: Is under a flood warning. Anglers may want to avoid the river until water levels have a chance to recede.
Upper Peninsula Report
Newberry- Has good ice on most the small lakes with pike biting fair.
Munuscong Bay –Dan’s Resort in Pickford reports : Has lots of snow on the ice and scattered areas of slush. Anglers still need to use caution east of Roach Point. The walleye bite was slow. Anglers were jigging or still-fishing with minnows. For perch, most are jigging or still-fishing with minnows.. Call Dan’s Resort @ (906) 647-8753
Manistique– Ice is forming good on Indian Lake and Big Manistique and they look to be fishing this weekend Call Top O Lakes Sport@ 906-341-5241
Lake Gogebic: Had good walleye fishing with a number of legal size fish taken by those using tip-ups or jigging rapalas in 7 to 11 feet of water near the weed beds. The perch bite was fair in 12 to 17 feet of water.
Imp Lake: Had good splake fishing.
Keweenaw Bay: Catch rates were slow off the L’Anse Marina with only a couple lake trout, rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon and coho caught. A few smelt were taken out from the Baraga Marina but ice conditions were not consistent. There is open water from Morin Fireworks on the Baraga side to the L’Anse side, just north of Jentoff’s Dock.
Chicagon Lake: Fishing was fair with a few walleye caught just before and just after dark by those using tip-ups with sucker minnows in 10 to 15 feet of water. Perch ranging from 6 to 9 inches were caught just off the edge of the weed beds. Those jigging spoons caught a couple lake trout off the west side in 30 feet of water. No reports yet of any whitefish being caught.
Iron Lake: Fishing has picked up with a few nice catches of bluegill up to 7 inches however most are sorting through a lot of small ones to get a few keepers. Try small jigs tipped with a wax worm. Crappies are still being caught during a small window of opportunity just before dark. For pike, the action was steady with tip-ups but the fish were running small.
Groveland Mine Ponds: Have good ice conditions. Island Lake was producing mainly bluegills and a few yellow perch. Lots of smaller bluegills and a few crappie were caught in East Lake. West Lake was hit-or-miss. Some anglers found and caught good numbers of bluegill while others caught few. South Lake finally had some anglers. They caught a few nice yellow perch and some crappie straight out from the boat launch in 25 to 30 feet.
Lake Antoine: Has reports of good ice conditions. Those jigging have caught a good number of small bluegills and yellow perch on wax worms. Those fishing in 15 feet of water or deeper did catch bigger fish. No reports on walleye or pike.
Little Bay De Noc: Ice conditions were improving as anglers were moving to the southern end of the Bay. Ice thickness varies from the northern end down to the Escanaba River. Walleye catches were slow this season but with anglers moving south fishing has improved. Fair to good catches were reported between the Escanaba River and south to the beach area when using jigs or tip-ups in 25 to 30 feet of water. Fish were marked out from the Terrace Bay Inn but they were most likely whitefish. The bigger walleye were caught in the waters of the Southern Bay. In the Northern Bay, the better catches came from the Center Reef when using tip-ups in 6 to 23 feet of water. Smaller perch were caught southeast of Butler Island and off the southern tip of the Third Reef in 14 to 28 feet of water by those using minnows and wigglers. Northern pike were active throughout the bay however the better spots were the Center Reef and out from the Escanaba Power Plant. Those fishing near Sand Point were starting to catch whitefish when jigging spawn or minnows in 75 to 85 feet of water.
Cedarville and Hessel: Cedarville has good ice. The perch fishing in Musky Bay was good however catch rates tapered off. Anglers have been harvesting nice catches of perch averaging 9 inches in 10 feet of water. Perch fishing at Hessel was slow. Most were using mousies, minnows or wigglers in 10 feet of water.
Southeast Lower Peninsula Fishing Report
Lake Erie: Those fishing the Metro Park marina caught bluegills on wax worms or red spikes.
Huron River: Is producing the occasional steelhead. Try spawn or Little Cleo’s. Blue and silver was a good color.
Detroit River: Has some flow ice coming down. Those fishing Airport Bay caught a few perch averaging 9 to 12 inches. Try minnows or wigglers.
Harbor Beach: The Edison Channel had open water. Ice fishing was limited to the inside of the City Harbor where anglers caught a few small perch.
Saginaw Bay: Ice fishing is on once again. Perch fishing was slow at Palmer Road because the water was muddy. Walleye anglers heading out to the Catfish Hole managed to catch a few. Anglers need to use caution along the west side of the bay because of all the pressure cracks including a large one that may be as much as 50 feet wide. Some are going way out and driving across the pressure cracks with little regard for the consequences of what could happen. Heading out after dark is not recommended. Walleye anglers going four to five miles off White’s Beach caught fish. Walleye were caught off Erickson Road in 18 to 20 feet of water but the trip was not easy because anglers will have to head north almost to Pinconning to get around the big pressure crack. Walleye were caught out near the Spark Plug which is at Buoys 11 and 12 however this location is a long ways out! Ice near the mouth of the Saginaw River was marginal at best as the current remains strong. Both the river and the south end of the bay are very muddy. Walleye anglers are going out from Callahan Road and fishing between Essexville and Quanicassee. Perch fishing at Quanicassee was slow due to the muddy water. Walleye anglers have done well eight to ten miles off Thomas Road however there are some soft spots between the shoreline and the fishing holes so anglers need to use caution. A couple machines have gone through the ice near the soft spots. The creeks and the marinas have extremely muddy water.
Saginaw River: Was iced over from Zilwaukee to the mouth however the ICE IS NOT SAFE at this time as it is composed of re-frozen ice flows and slush. Some great ice sculptures can be found as large sheets of ice have been thrust upward at all angles and frozen into place.
Tittabawassee River: Fishing was still impossible.
Southwest Lower Peninsula Fishing Report
Even with the cold, ice conditions are variable because of the snow and wind. The small isolated lakes have some ice and were producing bluegill, crappie and pike.
St. Joseph River: Steelhead are still being caught but the bite is slow. Anglers were getting just a fish or two per trip.
Kalamazoo River: Steelhead anglers are still taking a couple fish even though the bite has slowed.
Gull Lake: Is producing some bluegills. Some are night fishing for smelt in the South Bay and the Second Bay. Catch rates were slow to average.
Grand River at Grand Rapids: Has some ice flow coming down. Steelhead are being caught by those using jigs with spawn and wax worms or wobble glows in bright colors like orange and chartreuse. Some are back bouncing. Walleye were hitting on bucktail jigs with shiner minnows and rapalas. Hot colors were chartreuse and silver, orange and gold or black and chrome. The ice near Millennium Park was not safe.
Grand River at Lansing: Those fishing near the dams have caught a few walleye and pike on minnows.
Lake Lansing: Anglers are taking pike on tip-ups however the fish were small.
Reeds Lake: Those ice fishing caught perch on shiners in 15 to 40 feet of water. Bluegills were in 25 to 40 feet and crappie were 10 to 15 feet down in 35 to 40 feet. Pike are hitting on sucker minnows 2 to 4 feet off the bottom in 8 to 30 feet.
Muskegon River: Water levels were receding however the water is still muddy.
FISHING CONDITIONS ON LAKES CADILLAC AND MITCHELL
Snowmobilers, start your engines! Finally have a couple of inches of fresh snow, with more predicted every day for the next week. Should be a descent accumlation by the weekend.
There’s no shortage of ice either. Both Cadillac and Mitchell have a minimum of 6 to 12 inches of good, clear ice. Ice fishermen are happy to drive their quads and snowmobiles back and forth to their favorite spots. Temperatures are predicted below 10º this week – more ice. Better ice. Spuds are for safety. Hand augers will work. Power augers may add to your life span.
Keeper size bluegills and sunfish are finally being caught. Good numbers mixed with crappie are coming from the Causeway area on the west side of Lake Cadillac. Fish 12′ of water using red spikes and small jigs.
Hard core walleye anglers are doing best on Lake Mitchell. Light line tip-ups baited with medium size minnows account for most. Local anglers fish with a tip-up or two and jig a spoon or Rapala on a third line. The walleye will tell you whether they want the minnow or jigging bait.
Pike fishing has been good on both lakes. No one blinks at 30 inch pike any more. Excitement begins in the 35/36″ range. There have been that many. Hammer handles are still common but it’s a numbers game.
Crappie numbers and size are improving. Mitchell and Cadillac have equally good numbers. Walleye anglers accidentally catch the 12/13/14 inchers on tip-ups. Limit catches are mostly crappie, a few gills and maybe a desent perch or two. Crappie out number the other panfish.
The rain in Northern Michigan did not hurt the ice and might of helped it as it knocked the snow down so it can freeze solid for better walking and no slush to bog snow machines.
