Curly's Photo and Fishing Blog
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Fishing Slow this Week
The bite is slow everywhere this week as the huge cold front that swept thought early Saturday morning has shut down the bite so bring on the warm weather to inspire the bite.
Suttons Bay has a good perch bite this week with wigglers working best.
Tittabawassee River - The walleye opener was excellent despite cold windy weather. Limit catches were common. Smallmouth bass are being caught and released and the white bass have started to show up. Walleye fishing should continue to be good for another couple of weeks providing we do not get any storms with heavy rainfall.
River and creeks have been slow but with warmer weather look for things to get better.
Traverse City - In the East Bay, steelhead fishing has been very good off the mouth of Mitchell Creek. Fishing off Dock Road has been good in the early morning for brown trout and steelhead. Whitefish have been caught off the Bluffs and in the south end of the bay off the white wall. Excellent lake trout fishing throughout the bay with limit catches reported. Off Elk Rapids, the fishing was spotty. In the West Bay, fishing was slower for lake trout and whitefish but steelhead were caught off the mouth of the Boardman. Excellent perch fishing in Sutton’s Bay with limit catches.
Onekama - Pier fishing in the evening has produced some pike, largemouth, and the occasional walleye. Perch fishing in front of the channel has been good for the past week but the last couple of days anglers reported smaller fish.
Little Bay De Noc - Perch fishing has been fair with most anglers fishing near Kipling where the deeper water produced more fish. Try jigging or drifting with worms and minnows in 23 to 40 feet of water.
Houghton Lake - The crappie are moving back out to deeper waters. A few walleye were caught when trolling with leeches just off the bottom.
In the Boyne City area, walleye has slowed due to weather but perch (8-13” size) continue to be active off of Raspberry Bay and Lake Charlevoix. Minnows are getting good results. Suckers and steelhead are both active in the Boyne, Bear and Jordan rivers.
Bay City anglers had it’s worst walleye season opener in 21 years due to waves, winds and cold temperatures on Saturday. And unfortunately the cold weather has stuck around through today limiting angling opportunities. A few walleye are being caught, but anglers are working really hard to get them.
Upper Peninsula:
Not great weather for fishing in the Upper Peninsula today. With the temperatures dipping into the 20’s at night the angling activity has slowed.
Around Munuscong Bay, sucker fishing is just starting to pick up. Perch action is fair on Cedarville Lake.
In the Bergland area, the ice is moving around and approximately 20-yards off of the shoreline at this point. Anglers able to get out to the middle of Lake Gogebic are ice fishing where the ice is about a foot thick.
Escanaba fishing is slow due to windy and cold conditions today. Little Bay DeNoc is giving up a few splake on crank bait and Rapalas. Perch action has slowed as well and the fish being caught have been on minnows and wigglers.
Northwest:
In the Gaylord area, Twin Lake is offering up good catches of walleye. Trout action is fair due to weather. Fly fishing is decent on the Boyne and Jordan rivers. Anglers are doing well when using Hendrickson’s, nymph patterns and streamers.
Cadillac anglers are doing really well catching crappie and pike on Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac.
In the Boyne City area, walleye has slowed due to weather but perch (8-13” size) continue to be active off of Raspberry Bay and Lake Charlevoix. Minnows are getting good results. Suckers and steelhead are both active in the Boyne, Bear and Jordan rivers.
In the Kalkaska area, trout action is decent on Manistee Lake and walleye activity is good on Torch, Elk, and Twin lakes. Rapalas are working well. Skegemog Lake is producing some nice catches of small mouth bass on jerk baits and spinners. Steelhead action is decent on the Boardman River and near the Elk Rapids Dam when using spawn, wax worms or wigglers.
Around the Manistee area, pier fishing is slow this week due to the weather conditions, but perch action has picked up on Portage Lake. Tippy Dam is also producing a few perch.
West:
Ludington has limited activity this week since temperatures plunged to 37 degrees yesterday. Fishing action is stalled until the temperature rises.
In the Muskegon area, Lake Michigan is producing decent catches of salmon, plenty of catfish, and anglers are doing well catching and releasing bass. Walleye are active in the channel and near the break arms while perch seem to be slowing down. Muskegon Lake is giving up fair amounts of blue gill, specs and some perch.
Around the Chippewa Lake area, angling action has slowed a bit due to the colder weather, but expect to find decent numbers of specs and blue gill in the channels.
In the Baldwin area, anglers are doing well for brown trout when using spinners and Rapalas, and worms are best on blue gill in the Baldwin and Pere Marquette rivers.
Southwest:
The cooler temperatures in the southwest is causing for limited fishing activity this week.
In the Benton Harbor area, cold temps are keeping anglers off the lakes and out of the bait shops.
Same story in the New Buffalo area where the drop in temperature has caused very limited angling activity this week. A few walleye are being caught off the pier near the rock pile on clown Rapalas, and one angler pulled an 11 pound walleye from Lake Michigan yesterday. Coho should become more active this weekend when the warm weather returns.
Around the Kalamazoo area, the Dowagiac River is very high and the water is dirty. A few steelhead, but mostly walleye are being caught in the Kalamazoo River. Anglers are finding steelhead active in the Pere Marquette River on eggs and streamers. Tippy Dam action is slow this week, and pike are on the rise on Scott Lake.
Northeast:
In the Oscoda area, perch are active near the Boy Scout Camp when using purple or green flies, and eight second leeches and wax worms. Walleye action has slowed due to cooler conditions.
Around Grayling, fly fishing conditions are rated as fair. Lake Margrethe is giving up decent counts of walleye when trolling in 15-feet of water and a few blue gill can be located in the shallow waters.
Houghton Lake activity has slowed this week due to cold weather and gusty winds. It seems that the crappie and blue gill have moved out to the middle of the lake and only a few walleye have been caught when trolling.
Higgins Lake action is slow with only a few rainbow trout being reeled in this morning.
East:
Bay City anglers tell AAA that it was the worst walleye season opener in 21 years due to waves, winds and cold temperatures on Saturday. And unfortunately the cold weather has stuck around through today limiting angling opportunities. A few walleye are being caught, but anglers are working really hard to get them.
In the Linwood area, walleye are active in the Manistee River but most other fish are elusive.