The arctic Vortex put and end to fishing for a couple days but today many are back out and catching fish. With the warm-up this weekend things should be back to normal
Northwestern Michigan
Green Lake: In Grand Traverse County is producing some smelt and big pike. The better fishing has been late afternoon this week with reports of 100 or more of smelt the last few days. red spikes, white spikes, waxworms with a hali jig have been the best bet. Ice is good at both landing with many shanties out off the south access .
Skegemog- Perch have been biting but fisherman a just getting back out.Call Jack’s Sport Shop@231-258-8892
Fife Lake- People are back out and catching some nice perch Call Lakeside Party @ 231-879-3341
Portage Lake- Osborn’s says big perch are biting and pike, walleye, and gills are biting Call Osborne’s@ 231-889-3775
Hamlin Lake- Thet are getting back out on the lake with pike, walleye, gills and crappie biting Hamlin Grocery@(231) 843-2058 and Capt. Chucks @ (231) 843-4458
Lake Missaukee- Fishing has been great with crappie pike , and gills on the bite. Call Miller Corner@ 231-839-0440.
Crystal Lake: Anglers are starting to fish for smelt however extreme caution needs to be used. This is a very deep lake and takes much longer to freeze.
Lake Cadillac: Is producing crappie for those using small jigs with a minnow or spike in 10 to 12 feet. Walleye are being caught by those jigging rapalas or using tip-ups but the fish are running small. Pike are being taken on tip-ups and by those spearing. Call Pilgrim Village 231-775-5412 latest info
Lake Mitchell: Is also producing a fair number of crappie especially off the State Park. Pike action was good for those using tip-ups or spearing. Call Pilgrim Village 231-775-5412 latest info
Manistee River: Steelhead fishing slowed with the cold temperatures and shelf ice. Pappy’s Bait is open for the season at Wellston shop hours are 8 to 5 right now call@ 231-848-4142 he gets reports daily on Tippy Dam
Pere Marquette River: Steelhead and brown trout fishing slowed with the extremely cold temperatures. Fish the deeper holes until it warms back up.
Long Lake, Lake Leelanau had a good bite going last week so with the warm-up things should be good.
Big Glen is froze but have not heard any reports on ice or fish bite.
Duck Lake by Interlochen has been good for pike and some gills off of Strawberry Point
Lake Bellaire has been fair for walleye and pike.
Clam LaKE HAS BEEN GOOD FOR PIKE
Northeast Michigan
Black Lake- Has good ice with perch being caught. Call Parrots Outpost for the latest ice conditions (989) 733-2472
Mullet Lake- Is producing perch for those using minnows and wigglers call Mullet Lake Party store@ (231) 627-4644 or Topinabee Market@ 231-238-9578
Burt Lake: Catch rates have been slow on perch un Maple Bay. Call Pat & Gary’s Party Store 231-238-6776
Grand Lake: Was producing a few perch. Try 15 to 25 feet of water around Grand Island.
Long Lake: Is producing walleye and perch. Call Bucks@ 989-595-2121
Otsego Lake- Fishing has been fair on Otsego Perch fishing has been fair on Bradford, chub Lake trout fishing has been good. Call Northern Sports@ 987-448-2014
Higgins Lake- Has ice however not all the ice is safe. Some areas still have thin ice. Deep snow is covering some of those areas up along with a large pressure crack. Anglers need to use extreme caution..
.Call Silver Dollar Express or Sports Barn 989-821-9511 for latest ice conditions
Houghton Lake- Ice continues to build thanks to artic temperatures in the region. Strong winds were blowing the snow around. Before the cold spell, anglers were catching pike and perch. Walleye action was fair to good along the south shore in 6 to 8 feet of water. The better fishing was after 6pm. Anglers still need to use caution and watch for snow drifts and pressure cracks. Angelo’s Party Store has shanties call for the latest info@ 989-202-4422
Dave at Four Season Party Store has his shanties out and they were catching fish before the big freeze, guy are getting back out today call Dave @989-422-5230
Lyman’s @ 989-422-3231 says pike walleye and perch
Korbinski’s call Rod@ 989-366-9500
Pappa’s Bait reporting walleye fishing off the middle grounds on Houghton Lake. 989-429-5780
VanEttan Lake: Has ice and good access at Ratliff Park and the campground off F-41. Anglers caught perch, bluegills, brown trout and steelhead.
Au Sable River: With the cold temperature, most of the river has ice making it difficult to fish. There are steelhead from the mouth to the dam. Most of the fish are lying in the deeper holes which are on the bends and layered with ice however it is possible to drift bait under the ice. Access to the river was limited after all the snow and the only sites that were cleared to launch boats were the River Store and the Whirlpool.
Lake Margrethe: Is producing some walleye. Call Skips Sport@ 989-348-7111 for latest info
Tawas: Had some walleye activity inside the harbor and over at Jerry’s Marina but catch rates were sporadic. Pike spearing has been hit-or-miss. Perch are running small; anglers report seeing bigger fish however they would not bite.
Wixom Lake has been great for gills, pike and lots of crappie.Ice fishing is great here on Wixom Lake, Gladwin County. Be sure to stop at Sandys Market to get your bait!call (989) 435-9688
Sanford Lake has been fair call Sanford Sport for info on Wixom and Sanford @ 989-687.5161
Secord Lake has been great for big crappie.
Wiggins and Sugar Springs have been good for pike and panfish
Upper Peninsula Report
Menominee: The bay was slow because of rough ice.
Menominee River: Had anglers targeting panfish at the Mennekeaunee slough. They caught mainly perch and bluegills when jigging wax worms. Some are targeting pike off the Mystery Ship landing by setting up tip-ups with large minnows but catch rates were slow. Those near the Hattie Street Dam caught walleye on the Wisconsin side when jigging wax worms or minnows through the ice. Anglers fishing on the Michigan side had open water so they are casting rapalas for trout and walleye. A few brown trout and steelhead were also caught.
Little Bay De Noc: Has plenty of ice. Catch rates were good for perch and walleye in the northern parts of the bay before the extreme cold so they should return once it warms back up. The better walleye fishing was along the flats at Kipling and south near Gladstone when jigging rapalas in 25 to 28 feet. A few walleye were caught south of Aronson Island as well and a 21 inch splake was taken. Perch were caught near Kipling but the bite did slow. Try minnows and spikes in 10 to 23 feet. Some were fishing near the Escanaba Power Plant.
Munising: Ice fishing is on for whitefish and splake in the bay.
Manistique Lake: Has good ice on both lakes. Anglers caught perch and pike but the walleye bite was slow.
St. Mary’s River: Is producing a few whitefish in the upper river.
Munuscong: Has ice fishing but catch rates for perch and walleye were slow.
Cedarville and Hessel: Pike and perch fishing were slow in Musky Bay and Hessel Bay. Anglers still need to use caution and remember to carry a flotation device.
Southeast Lower Peninsula Fishing Report
Lake Erie: Those fishing in the Metro Park Marina and the Banana Dike caught perch on red spikes. No big numbers yet but some nice fish were caught.
Huron River: Try the deeper holes for steelhead until it warms back up.
Detroit River: Has a good amount of chunk ice which makes fishing rather difficult. There was a report of ice backed up near Horse Island.
Washtenaw County: Lake Independence was producing bluegill and pike.
Livingston County: Lake Chemung was fair to good for bluegill. Thompson Lake was producing pike.
Lake St. Clair: Has ice. Perch fishing has been fair to good, but varying a lot from day to day and from place to place. The better reports came from Geno’s and the Metro Beach area. Perch spearing is legal through the end of February. Pike spearing is now open and runs through March 15th. Muskie spearing is prohibited.
St. Clair River: Shore anglers at Port Huron are catching steelhead, brown trout and some whitefish however ice flows can affect this fishery from day to day. Conditions are best when there is a west wind pushing the ice away from the shoreline.
Saginaw Bay: Those fishing about four miles off Palmer Road have caught walleye. Perch fishing near shore was hit-or-miss and the fish were small. Walleye were caught in 20 feet of water off Linwood and near the Bay City State Park in the old shipping channel. Along the east side, walleye were caught in the Slot, two miles off Sunset Bay and in 14 feet of water off Thomas Road. Most of the activity at Sebewaing is concentrated in the marina with a couple spearing shacks. Some are spearing pike at Mud Creek but success was hit-or-miss. At Caseville, there are ice shanties in the marina basins and near the mouth. Anglers have taken a few walleye and lake trout near the mouth of the river. Not much activity north of Caseville. The state harbor at Port Austin is still closed so access is limited.
Saginaw River: Has all kinds of fishing activity all the way from Wickes Park in Saginaw to the mouth. They’re catching walleye from one end to the other, but down in Saginaw a lot of the fish were sub-legal. More legal size fish were caught at the Middle Grounds at the south end of town and near the M-25 Bridge near Veterans Park. Near the Independence Bridge, anglers were fishing around the destroyer and catching a few keepers. Few anglers were fishing near the mouth because of snowmobilers. Those trying for perch in the marina basins did not have much luck.
Tittabawassee River: Had no fishing activity because it is frozen over, but the ice is too thin for fishing.
Southwest Lower Peninsula Fishing Report
Most of the inland lakes have ice and are now fishable. With all the snow, anglers should continue to use caution because the snow has covered open water associated with inlets and outlets. Bluegills are hitting on spikes, wax worms and mousies in the morning and evening.
St. Joseph River: Has shelf ice and slush which makes steelhead fishing much more difficult.
Kalamazoo River: Steelhead were caught below the Allegan Dam however shelf ice is making it difficult.
Ingham County: Those fishing the inland lakes were catching some panfish.
Jackson County: The inland lakes are providing some great ice fishing opportunities.
Clinton County: There is ice on most lakes across the county but fishing seems to be slow with only a few crappie and bluegill reported.
Muskegon Lake: Some were perch fishing near the Sand Docks but the fish were scattered and the bite was slow.
Muskegon River: Yellow perch were caught at the Davis Bridge.