Michigan Ice Fishing Report 01.11.15

Posted on by admin

Winter is back, and wow is it back with a vengeance! With temperatures in the low teens during the day and single digit lows for the past week, ice production is in full force. The strong winds have wind chills well below zero, and with the recent blizzard, it’s safe to say that it truly feels wintry out. How’s that for the new year!

The lakes in northern Michigan have fully frozen over, but there isn’t safe ice on all bodies of water just yet. A couple of the larger lakes, like Crystal Lake near Frankfort, as well as lakes close to the Lake Michigan coast have just frozen over, as the big lake moderates temperatures more than most people might think. The high winds have also hindered ice production. Despite ice on just about every other lake, Crystal Lake finally froze completely over just last night. A few ice anglers have ventured out onto the southeastern corner of the lake, where ice has been present for several days.

Just a few miles away, Big Platte Lake is entirely ice covered, and ice is safe due to the very cold nights and days. Big Platte is known for its big walleyes, and anglers are anxious to get out to target these tasty fish.

South and North Lake Leelanau are both ice covered. There are reports of permanent ice shanties on South Leelanau near the Michigan DNR boat launch at Bingham Road. The fishing for both perch and walleye has been pretty good from the reports of things.

Close to Interlochen, Duck Lake and Green Lake are ice covered, and reports are that fishing is decent. These lakes haven’t been frozen for that long, so caution should still be taken.

In the Traverse City area, Long Lake has over 6-7 inches of good clear ice in most spots, and the walleye bite has been very good with lots of flags for tip-up anglers. Spider Lake and Arbutus Lake are also safe to venture out onto and the fishing reports have been favorable.

Even West Grand Traverse Bay had skim ice on it yesterday. Today’s high west winds likely broke that apart, though. Ice anglers are dreaming of a repeat of last year when we were able to fish the frozen bays until late March.

In the Kalkaska area, Fife Lake is frozen solid and anglers have been targeting pike. Manistee Lake also has 6 inches of ice with more on the way.

Hamlin Lake, down in Ludington, has been frozen for a few days and the fishing has been good for pike, walleye and panfish. Some portions have only recently frozen, so caution should be the rule when fishing.

Houghton Lake is ice covered, but the strongest ice has been in the south end, where the hard north winds have pushed the ice.

Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac have lots of safe ice, with 10-12 inches, but fishing reports have been spotty at best, despite the many anglers that have been out. Lake Cadillac has a lot of permanent shanties on it just like normal.

Lake Missaukee, near Lake City, is fishing very well for pike, with over 10 inches of ice in most spots. The Arctic blast has brought that tally to over a foot in some spots.

With temperatures forecasted to remain below the freezing mark for the next week, things look great for having safe ice on all bodies of water. With many lakes sporting over 6 inches, it won’t be long before snowmobiles and ATVs become the common vehicle transporting ice anglers. Generally here at Sport Fish Michigan, we like a little more ice before driving vehicles out onto the ice, but that day should be just around the corner. Take care as always, and stay high and dry!

Michigan Ice Fishing Report 12.02.14

Posted on by admin

After a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend spent relaxing, doing plenty of eating, and spending time reflecting on how appreciative and thankful we are here at Sport Fish Michigan, it’s back to reality with dropping temperatures following the weekend’s spring-like weather. In fact, several places experienced lows in the single digits Monday night.

Temperatures reaching into the low 40's here in northern Michigan melted most of the snow that had built up, and it felt positively nice out! This didn’t help the formation of ice on the area’s lakes, but it didn’t do too much to melt what ice had formed on many inland lakes to date. The current cold will freeze many of the smaller lakes. Temperatures expected in the low 30's for the next week or so should really help form ice at night, and keep it throughout the day. While the ice is still not thick enough to safely venture out onto, more and more lakes are beginning to freeze over. For the most part, it’s the smaller, shallower lakes that have ice.

In Glen Arbor, Little Glen Lake remains frozen, but its larger brother, Big Glen Lake, is completely open with only a little bit of slushy ice in the shallows. Spider Lake, east of Traverse City, has ice and slush on its shoreline, but the main lake is still wide open. Skim ice formed over the last couple of days in many of the shallow bays that Spider Lake is known for. Long Lake, just south of Traverse City, is completely open. There is slush floating in the shallow waters of Long Lake, and some of the shallow back bays are skimmed over. To the west of Traverse City, North Lake Leelanau and South Lake Leelanau are both open water lakes right now, and the narrows that separates them is skimmed over. Both Leelanau lakes also have slushy ice in the shallows.

Duck Lake, near Interlochen State Park, is completely open, but water temperatures are 33 degrees. The recent cold couple of nights created skim ice floating in the shallows. The same can be said for Duck Lake’s neighbor, Green Lake.

Near Frankfort and Beulah, Loon Lake, inside the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, is completely frozen over. Similarly, Little Platte Lake is also completely frozen over, and this shallow panfish lake has close to 3 inches covering it. It won’t be long before it’s safe to venture out onto the ice to fish. Crystal lake is also wide open. Betsie Bay, which is a fantastic pike fishery among other things, has slush and skim ice in parts, but being so close to the open waters of Lake Michigan, it’s still mostly open.

Further south and inland are lakes Cadillac and Mitchell. Both are frozen over, and this has ice anglers itching to get out. One report has close to 3 inches of ice on Lake Mitchell, however this has not been verified. The DNR has issued warnings that despite the ice coverage on these very popular ice-fishing lakes, venturing out onto the ice is very risky at present, and all activities on the ice should be avoided.

With the below-freezing night-time temperatures in the near forecast, it won’t be long before we have full ice and will be out ice fishing! Early ice should always be treated with extreme caution, and while the thrills of the rewards that early ice fishing can yield, no fish is worth risking one’s life over.

Michigan Ice Fishing Report 11.20.14

Posted on by admin

It’s November 20th, and we already have ice forming in northern Michigan! The past few cold, wintry days have seen some ice being produced on some of the smaller bodies of water. While there is no safe ice to venture out onto yet, it’s beginning to look like we will have some early ice to play on shortly.

Of course, this weekend will be warmer with rain in the forecast, so that may melt some of the ice. But if there’s ice already forming on lakes like Little Glen Lake in Empire, that means that the water temps are cold enough to freeze again quickly even if the rain melts it away.

The recent deluge of snow has significantly cooled water temps on all of the northern Michigan bodies of water, and here at Sport Fish Michigan, we are counting the days until we can safely get out for some much anticipated ice fishing!

Michigan Ice Fishing Report 03.25.14

Posted on by admin

Ice fishing continues to be an intriguing prospect in northern Michigan, despite the late date on the calendar. Here is our latest Michigan Ice Fishing Report:

For those still seeking the thrill of late season ice, opportunities are still strong. Grand Traverse Bays are still boasting thick ice in the 15-16 inch range, but with the cold temps at night the past few days, more ice is not only possible, but probable. This means that anglers seeking to fish for lake trout or whitefish will still have their opportunities to land these excellent tasting fish. Depending on the fish’s moods, they can be found anywhere from 85 feet all the way down to 150 feet for the whitefish. The standard jigging baits work well for the lakers like Krocodile spoons, Sandkickers or Jonah Jigs. The same lineup for lakers will also take their share of whitefish, although they tend to prefer slightly smaller spoons. Swedish Pimples are another dynamite option for these fish, and bites are unmistakeable when they are on the bite.

Inland lake anglers are still taking plenty of perch and smelt. Walleyes on the Great Lakes remain open, so they are still able to be targeted. Only inland lakes and rivers are closed for walleye fishing.

The yellow perch have been above average in size on select inland lakes, and they have been willing participants for many who have located the schools of these tasty favorites. Smelt have been biting just at sunset and dusk, into the first hour of darkness. While smelt themselves aren’t a huge species of fish, they are loads of fun through the ice, and are just as good on a plate!

ice fishing michigan

Ice Fishing –
Captain Ben Wolfe of Sport Fish Michigan

March 19, 2014

Posted on by admin

Grand Traverse Bays are still solidly covered in ice, much of it as thick as 17 or 18 inches in many places. For mid March, this is highly unusual, as we were still making ice just a couple of nights ago! The many ice anglers that have ventured out onto the Bays have been mostly pleased with the results, with many lake trout, whitefish and burbot being caught. Burbot are on the very tail end of their spawn, and many anglers have taken advantage of this excellent table fare’s willingness to bite. Anglers have also sought yellow perch with nice size perch being reported on East Bay. The bite in recent days has fluctuated greatly, with the full moon likely playing a large role in many angler’s success or frustrations. As the moon phase wanes, expect fishing for lake trout and whitefish to pick up a bit.

Inland lakes continue to be fishable, and weekend traffic has been steady. Although numbers of ice anglers on inland lakes might be down overall, but perhaps this is due to such good ice conditions on the Bays in Traverse City. The snow is gone off of the ice, leaving solid smooth sheets that resemble a skating rink. While the ice is still thick, care should be taken when driving snowmobiles on the ice, as the lack of snow can wreak havoc on a snowmobile’s hyfax and track without lubrication, as one unlucky group of anglers found out recently. Fishing has been spotty of late, with the smelt bite getting harder and harder. Many smelt that were caught were during non-traditional times, it seems. Panfish are still readily taken, when an angler can land on a nice school. Late season pike fishing is starting to heat up, and the walleyes are still plentiful, though not always willing to bite until just before sunset.

Anglers seeking to fish northern Michigan waters from a boat may have to wait a while. Soft water anglers can’t wait to get back in their boats, but with so much ice covering Lake Michigan, the Grand Traverse Bays and area inland lakes, it could be a while before that happens! Spring fishing will be pushed back a bit, but expect the fish to be hungry and willing.

March 12, 2014

Posted on by admin

Ice Fishing Report:   Current ice conditions are still safe for the most part, with many vehicles being driven out onto the ice still. This past weekend saw dozens of pickups, SUVs and even a convertible out on Grand Traverse Bays, where ice was about 16 inches thick. While the ice is still mostly safe, the warm temperatures early in the week made for some softer, slushy conditions, but there was still over a foot of drill-able ice on the Bays. The current cold snap should have the slush freeze back over, as there is little to no snow on top of the Bays. Where there is snow covering the ice, expect slushy traction. With high winds expected, as always, caution should be taken when traveling or fishing near any pressure cracks. Inland lake ice is thicker than is the ice on the Bays, but this recent sunny, warm weather has the snow atop the ice somewhat slushy. The mid-week cold temps may not freeze the slush where there is snow insulating it from above. Snowmobiles and ATVs are the normal vehicles seen out on the inland lakes, but this slush could change that quickly. As always, a conservative approach should be taken when venturing out onto the ice.

GT. Bay:
Fishing has been very good as of late.    The whitefish bite out on Grand Traverse Bay has been a little hit or miss, but when they can be found, the bite can last most of the day.   Lake trout and burbot action has been hot through the ice as of late.  Burbot are spawning, and it has been fun cashing in on the hot bite for this excellent eating fish.   Rumors are being heard that there has been a good yellow perch bite in parts of the bay, with big perch being caught.   Anglers scoring these jumbos are pretty tight-lipped about the exact locations, but the normal spots are likely the best bets.   This past weekend was windy, but with a shanty to help break up the wind, the fishing was excellent for many anglers, with almost anything dropped below the ice.

Inland Lakes:
Fishing has been good on several of the inland lakes for late-ice walleyes.   The typical tip-up and jigging setups have been the the keys to these table-side favorites.   Yellow perch have been a bit tougher to come by in good numbers, but every day is different, and as the schools move through the break lines, it’s possible to score well with a variety of baits.   Whitefish and lake trout have been a bit more stingy as of late, but action is expected to heat up again before ice-out.    Smelt on several of the inland lakes known for their smelt fishing like Crystal Lake has been good.   Anglers have been able to catch quite a few of these fan favorites.