Pike from Higgins Lake.
More then half the Winter’s over and catches aren’t as easy as first ice. The fish are there! Late afternoons into the dark has been the best bite. Cut more holes than what you need and hole hop when the fish are lethargic, there’s always one or two that want to play.
Northwestern Michigan got from 10 to 18 inches of snow tuesday , Wednesday so things have been slow as deep snow has hampered fishing and quads having a tough time but wind did blow a lot of snow off the lake.
Ice fishing continues around the state. Anglers in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula need to use caution and watch for honeycomb ice which forms after a quick thaw and refreeze.
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. No fish up the rivers so far.Call Baldwin Bait @ 231-745-3529 or Ed’s Sport @ 231-745-4974
Big Glen- The lake is froze with 8to 12 inches of ice, they are catching perch, trout and ciscoe’s. Had many reports of guys catching 12 to 14 inchers but there is no pattern on the bite as it has been later in the day and when they bite it last for about an hour. Most are going out till they hit 40 feet of water off the access site and catching some perch and ciscoe’s Call 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 and a good perch and walleye bite, South Lake Leelanau is froze with 8 to 12 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- 16 to 20 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
Duck Lake: Lots of fisherman off of Strawberry Point and Duck Lake peninsula
Green Lake: is producing bluegill and a few small perch. For pike, try tip-ups off the State Park. Smelt are being caught just not in big numbers. Try just off the Music Camp which is north of the State Park. Spikes and waxworms on Hali Jigs for smelt.
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- They a driving trucks out on the ice and good perch and pike bite, Also Elk Lake is froze with lakres biting..They have been seeing some nice muskie’s with a 54 incher being caught. 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 but report have been slow after the snow. Call Lakeside Party @ 231-879-4346
Portage Lake-Osborn’s contest was a big success with lots of big fish being caught out of portage lake. The perch bite has slowed this week with all the snow but pike are still on the bite. Call Osborne’s@ 231-889-3775
Hamlin Lake- Has had a good bite this week with pike, walleye crappie and gills being caught. 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 and a jumbo perch bite the last two weeks. Osborne’s@ 231-889-3775
Lake Missaukee- Has been fair with crappie, pike and gills with walleye being slow this week.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- 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 also he has a perch tournament this Saturday
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.
Crystal Lake Has safe ice and a great lake trout bite the last week, also getting out of Lobb Rd. for perch, whitefish and smelt. Chimney Corners for Lakers in 90 to 150 feet of water
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- Fishing has been fair around Mio with many pike being caught.. Call Jig’s Bait Shop@ (989) 826-3467
Lake St. Helen- Fishing has been good with 14 to 20 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 9 to 15 inches 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. The walleye bite has been slow but perch and pike have been fair.There are quite a few shanties on the lake. Call Skip’s Sport @ 989-348-7111
Higgins Lake- Smeltville is in full force off the west access site with some doing good on the smelt but lights are the key right now. Has from 10 to 14inches 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. Awesome 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 off the west access site . 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. he hurt his back so he had to take his shanties off the lake but fishing is good
Lyman’s has their shanties out call them for your reservations@ 989-422-3231 the bite has been good arounf his shanties with guys in the sleeper catching walleye at night. Also Dave @ Four Season Party Store 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 : Had good walleye and perch fishing for those jigging in the deeper water. Try off Rocky Point in 10 to 15 feet.. For perch, most are jigging or still-fishing with minnows.. Call Dan’s Resort @ (906) 647-8753
Manistique– Ice is good on Indian Lake and Big Manistique and the Call Top O Lakes Sport@ 906-341-5241
Lake Gogebic: Had good walleye fishing. Most are using tip-ups or jigging rapalas in 7 to 11 feet of water. Catch rates for perch were just fair in 12 to 17 feet.
Copper Harbor: Much of the ice broke up and blew out into the lake. There was still some ice around the State Dock but catch rates were slow.
Keweenaw Bay: Anglers fishing for smelt between Baraga and Bucks Marina have caught fish on teardrops with wax worms in 30 to 50 feet of water. Lake trout were caught out from Jentoff’s Dock and Whirl-I-Gig Road. Try 180 to 230 feet of water. Some lake trout anglers have ventured out to the broken up pack ice that has frozen in place however this does not mean the ice is safe just because others are out there. Coho and lake herring have been nonexistent. A few whitefish were caught east of the Baraga Marina in 70 to 90 feet of water.
Chicagon Lake: Catch rates were fair with a few walleye taken just before and right after dark. Try tip-ups with sucker minnows along the edge of the weeds in 10 to 15 feet of water. Perch caught during the day were smaller. Bluegills are showing up in 10 to 17 feet of water. The whitefish action was slow with only a few fish caught in the early morning. Slush on the lake is bad in places so use caution.
Iron Lake: Has a few large patches of slush. Catch rates for bluegill were starting to pick up. Many were small but a few keepers were caught. Crappie fishing was slow. Best time to fish was just before dark. Pike continue to bite but most were small.
Groveland Mine Ponds: Island Lake and East Lake were slow with only a few smaller bluegill caught. The West Lake had bluegills, crappie and perch caught in the middle in 15 feet of water. Most were jigging wax worms or minnows. On South Lake, bluegill, crappie and perch were caught straight out from the boat launch in 25 to 30 feet of water.
Lake Antoine: Was producing small yellow perch and some bluegills for those jigging wax worms or using tip-ups. A few pike were seen but none taken.
Little Bay De Noc: Ice conditions remain good but travel on the ice has worsened with deep ruts from frozen slush especially in the heaviest traveled areas. The thickest ice is in the northern bay and it tapers down as you move south. A Coast Guard Cutter came in and broke up the ice near Escanaba, so caution needs to be used. Catch rates for walleye and perch slowed with the colder weather. Garth Point and the areas off Gladstone Beach and the Escanaba River had fair walleye catches at best. Anglers will want to fish from late evening into the night when jigging rapalas or using tip-ups in 18 to 30 feet of water. Good numbers of small perch were caught near Kipling. The bigger fish were in the deeper water. Try jigging minnows or wigglers in 14 to 30 feet. Pike spearing was fair to good just east of Butler Island in 10 to 12 feet of water with natural and artificial decoys. Whitefish action was fair to good out from the Terrace Bay Inn. Fish were caught on spawn or minnows in 30 to 40 feet of water. The better catches were near Sand Point in 75 to 85 feet.
Munising: Anglers are widespread from the West Channel near Christmas to Sand Point. There is at least six inches of snow on the ice which makes walking a little more difficult. Whitefish action was slow. A few splake were caught at various locations but catch rates remain slow. The fish range from sub-legal to 20 inches. A few perch were caught at Sand Point but many were small. Keepers were 8 inches with the occasional 10 inch fish. Many are jigging for lake trout in the West Channel but no fish were reported. For herring, those spearing in the early morning have not done well at all. Those fishing in the evening had good catches of burbot. No fishing in Trout Bay as ice conditions were not safe.
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 Bolles Harbor caught bluegill. Some were fishing off the boat ramp at Sterling State Park however few fish were taken. Perch were caught off Pointe Mouillee but it is a long walk to get out near the Banana Dike. While the number of fish taken was small, many averaged 9 to 12 inches.
Detroit River: Anglers were catching a fair to good number of perch off Milliken State Park. Catch rates are still on and off but some reported decent catches.
Lake St. Clair: Had fishable ice at the popular locations on the Michigan side including Selfridge, Brandenburg, Fairhaven, Metro Beach and Gino’s. Catch rates were spotty but the lucky ones have caught some nice perch.
Saginaw Bay: Ice conditions are not safe. Anglers are being warned to stay off the Bay! The Coast Guard continues to rescue anglers from the ice flows. There is shore ice that extends about a mile out along the east side. Beyond that is open water. Strong west winds are churning up the waves where there is open water and this will weaken the shore ice. Anglers might want to stick to the inland lakes.
Saginaw River: Ice conditions continue to get worse and the water is muddy.
Tittabawassee River: Had some fishing activity up near the Dow Dam however conditions vary day to day depending on temperatures. Colder weather increases the amount of floating ice which makes fishing more difficult.
Southwest Lower Peninsula Fishing Report
Anglers are getting out on some lakes however the small shallow lakes do have more ice than the large deeper lakes. The bluegill bite is slow but crappie have started to hit. The fish are suspended in 12 to 20 feet of water. Mornings or evenings are best.
St. Joseph: Stay off the piers. They are ice covered and dangerous.
St. Joseph River: Was producing good numbers of steelhead for boat anglers fishing between the Berrien Springs Dam and the Jasper Dairy Access site. Anglers do best on the warmer days.
Union Lake: In Branch County was producing some bluegills.
Rose Lake (Lake of the Woods): In Branch County had bluegill and crappie.
Marble Lake: Some anglers reported limit catches of bluegill.
Kalamazoo River: Boat anglers were fishing for steelhead up near the Allegan Dam. Some walleye were also caught.
Duck Lake: In Calhoun County was producing nice panfish including some very nice perch in small numbers.
Holland: Stay off the piers. They are ice covered and dangerous.
Grand Haven: Freezing spray has ice coated the piers.
Grand River at Grand Rapids: Is still producing steelhead. Some fresh fish were noted between the lake the Sixth Street Dam.
Grand River at Lansing: Catch rates slowed with the colder temperatures. Wait for the next warm up to target the dam in North Lansing and Moore’s Park.
Jackson County: When and where there was thicker ice on the inland lakes fishing was good for panfish. Several anglers reported near limit catches.
Round Lake: In Clinton County was producing small bluegills and a few pike.
Muskegon River: Was producing good numbers of steelhead. Try floating yarn, spawn or wax worms.
FISHING CONDITIONS ON LAKES CADILLAC AND MITCHELL
Michigan weather – the fish are confused. This week we’ve had rain, snow, sleet, warm temperatures then dropping to 14º/16º below.
One day a limit of panfish is easy. Usually a mix of crappie, gills and a few keeper perch. The next day, fishing the same holes nothing happens, a kind of roller coaster effect. Often those using electronics mark plenty of fish but can’t get them to bite.
More then half the Winter’s over and catches aren’t as easy as first ice. The fish are there! Late afternoons into the dark has been the best bite. Cut more holes than what you need and hole hop when the fish are lethargic, there’s always one or two that want to play.