Curly's Photo and Fishing Blog
Fishing Season Opens this Weekend
Fishing season opens this weekend as walleye, pike and trout opens in the lower peninsula, with the UP trout opener this weekend.
Suttons Bay has a good perch bite this week with wigglers working best. Also the pier at manistee has been very good for perch with minnows working best.
Houghton Lake the crappie and sunfish are coming into the canals with minnows working best for crappie and worms for sunfish.
The panfish are coming into the mudfats of many inland lakes south of M-55 and waxworms, leaf worms, and wigglers are working best, minnows for the crappie.
Wixom Lake has a crappie run this week
Streams are down in the lower peninsula, but the UP the rivers are very high.
Most lakes are reporting a good bite on their lakes as fishing season starts this weekend
Hearing lots of walleye in the Saginaw River and the Titibawasse River.
Northwest:
In the Gaylord area, fair activity for steelhead in the Jordan and Boyne rivers. Streamers, nymphs seem to work well. Walleye and trout season opens in the area Saturday.
Good fishing around the Boyne City area, Raspberry Bay and Lake Charlevoix are producing good catches of perch in 45-50 feet of water. Wigglers and perch minnows are working well. Crawlers are working well on steelhead on the Walloon, Boyne and Jordan rivers.
In the Kalkaska area, perch fishing is good on Lake Skegemog and Elk Rapids continues to produce decent steelhead catches. Saturday trout season opens in the area.
Around the Manistee area, angling activity has been a bit slow this week for brown trout. Some perch and walleye are being caught off the north pier mostly at night. Steelhead is slow in the rivers.
Alanson anglers are catching salmon in the Bear River and perch in the shallow waters of Crooked Lake.
In the Ludington area, Hamlin Lake is producing good action for blue gill. Pere Marquette River is good for suckers. Lake Michigan is giving up walleye on Rapala count downs, and steelhead, browns near the north pier.
Northern and trout season opens in the area Saturday.
Around the Baldwin area, not much fishing activity this week, but by Saturday the activity will heat up for the opening of trout, walleye and pike season. In the Muskegon area, Lake Michigan is producing good walleye catches near the break arms when using count down Rapalas or husky jerks, perch are active on minnow and wax worms, but expect to do a lot of sorting. Blue gill are plentiful on Muskegon Lake and steelhead are being reeled in when using spawn with floaters inside.
Northeastern Lower Peninsula
Rogers City - The launch ramp is in. Boats are targeting shallow waters up to 20 feet deep inside Calcite Harbor, Swan Bay and north of Calcite near the Trout River where warmer waters can be found. Try trolling planer boards with long leads and small body baits. Good colors are orange and gold, chartreuse and silver, blue and silver, fire tiger, brown or peach. Use bright colors in the stained water. Casting from the breakwall has been slow.
Rockport - The docks are not in. Boat anglers are just starting launch, but windy conditions have kept most off the lake. A small atlantic salmon was caught in about 16 feet of water just north of the launch site.
Oscoda angling activity is improving with walleye active at the mouth of the AuSable River and steelhead can be found on the beds and high banks. Perch are abundant on Cooke Dam Pond.
Houghton Lake has some great fishing taking place for crappie, and blue gill being caught in the channels. Minnows are working best.
AuGres the mouth of the river is good for walleye fishing.
Higgins Lake - Is very slow this week
Houghton Lake has a great crappie bite this week..
Upper Peninsula
Around Munuscong Bay, Sault St. Marie and the St. Ignace areas, the suckers and steelhead are running in all of the rivers. Minnows and spawn are working well on steelhead. Smelt are running in the Carp and Nunn rivers. Perch remain active on Lake George.
Copper Harbor angling is on the rise with splake being caught out of the Harbor, and a few steelhead being caught off the docks. Trout season opens Saturday in the area.
In the Bergland area, Lake Gogebic is giving up some perch on wigglers. The ice is leaving the shoreline at this point.
Around Escanaba, a bit of ice remains on Gladstone Harbor. Some brown trout are running in the Cedar River, but most of the rivers are running fast and very high so activity is very slow. Trout season opens Saturday for the area.
GRAYLING — Firefighters are working to contain a fire that’s roaring through hundreds of wooded acres west of Grayling today.
The fire started at about 3:30 p.m. 4/24/08 after a spark from a passing train ignited the grass, said Dennis Robinson, assistant director of Crawford County’s emergency management office.
U.S. 127 and I-75 are closed near Four Mile Road and residents are evacuating a nursing home and roughly 100 homes in Karen Woods Subdivision, Robinson said.
Evacuees who need to head south are advised to take M-72 to M-18, he said.
“It’s a large, very large fire,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s as large as the one we had 15 years ago.”
Department of Natural Resources officials said the blaze quickly covered more than 700 acres.ce is out on the lakes in the lower, but some ice still in the UP.
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FISHING CONDITIONS ON LAKES CADILLAC AND MITCHELL FROM PILGRIM VILLAGE FISHING SHOP 231-775-5412
As we predicted last report, the Causeway Area on Lake Cadillac was the first place for crappie. Shore fishermen and boat anglers have been taking advantage of this early bite. Limits have been common. Nothing sophisticated to catching them. Use light line, bobber, Aberdeen hook and small minnows for bait. Nothing tricky.
Other areas are starting for them. The City Dock on the east side of Cadillac is good as are the cove areas on Mitchell. The warm weather is waking up both lakes. As a bonus, some are catching sunfish along with crappie. They’ll be next as the crappie thin out. Lots of pictures this week of crappie catches.
The last Saturday of April things will get serious. Pike, walleye and trout season opens. Get you “Honey do’s” done. Spring fishing begins for real!
Manistee River, even though sucker fishing has started there’s still good numbers of steelhead. See picture of JP Matlak from Tustin. He caught his on a chartreuse wobble glo, a nice 32 incher caught at Tippy Dam. They are still catching monster walleye at the dam. This year they may still be there for the opener. Normally they have a clock in their heads and are gone.
This week those lucky first period turkey hunters will be in the field instead of fishing. More room for us on shore or at the boat launches.
Remember - you now need a 2008 fishing license. The DNR does not accept excuses. No rate increase this year. All Species license are still only $28.00 .
NORTHERN MICHIGAN WEATHER
Apr 24 Tonight
Overcast with showers at times. Low 53F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Apr 25 Tomorrow
A few showers in the morning then becoming windy with isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High around 70F. S winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Apr 25 Tomorrow night
Windy with scattered thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 48F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Apr 26 Saturday
More clouds than sun, windy. Highs in the low 50s and lows in the upper 30s.
Apr 27 Sunday
Few showers. Highs in the mid 40s and lows in the low 30s.
Apr 28 Monday
Rain and snow showers. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the low 30s.
Apr 29 Tuesday
Rain and snow showers. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the low 30s.
Apr 30 Wednesday
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the mid 40s and lows in the low 30s.
May 1 Thursday
Occasional showers possible. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the upper 30s.
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