Baitman Fishing report

Bait Man Morning Briefing

What a great holiday weekend. First time all winter we’ve had three nice days in a row, and a lot of people got out ice fishing for the first time this season.The Fife Lake Tournament and Interlocheness 8 were both big successes. Great turnout, lots of fish caught, and good to see people back out enjoying it.Fishing overall was pretty good as conditions improved. The snow settled down around the Interlochen area, making it easier to move around again.Long Lake was good.Green Lake was good for perch and smelt.Duck Lake was good for pike and bluegill.Big Glen Lake has been good for perch, but guys are moving around a lot to find the bigger fish. Same thing on Crystal Lake. You’ve got to hunt for them. Crystal is also producing some nice lake trout and a few burbot.Out on East and West Grand Traverse Bay, the lake trout and cisco bite has been excellent. A few perch are being caught, especially out of Bowers Harbor and around Clinch Park.Up north, Burt, Mullett, and Black Lake were strong this weekend, with Burt Lake seeming to produce the best mix of perch, walleye, burbot, and some really nice big perch.Otsego Lake was good.Houghton Lake was good for perch and walleye.Higgins Lake was good for trout and smelt.The Gladwin area saw lots of pike and panfish caught, and the Clare and Harrison area was excellent.Hilltop Sports in Greenville reports lots of crappie and perch being caught between the dams.Osborn’s Sport Shop reports Portage Lake was good.Tangle Tackle in Manistee reports good catches of perch, crappie, pike, and a few walleye.Captain Chuck’s in Ludington reports lots of perch on PM Lake.Hamlin Lake has been producing walleye.White Lake by Whitehall and Muskegon Lake have been giving up perch.Pilgrim’s Village reports Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac were very busy.Skip’s Sport Shop in Grayling reports a good day on Lake Margrethe.Skegemog and Bear Lake have been producing with the nicer weather.Fletcher’s Floodwaters has been excellent for pike, crappie, and bluegill.It finally felt like winter worked in our favor for a few days. Let’s hope it keeps tightening up.Tight lines, Baitman out … See MoreSee Less