Curly's Photo and Fishing Blog
Ice is Leaving UP North
Ice is starting to leave the lakes north of m-55, but most lakes still have some ice floating around. Fishing is very slow as we are waiting for the ice to leave.
The weather forecast is looking good for anglers planning to fish over the Easter holiday weekend.
Ice fishing in the Lower Peninsula is done. Any remaining ice is dangerous and should be avoided. The ice in certain areas of the Upper Peninsula is also getting soft so extreme caution needs to be used. Strong winds and colder temperatures have kept many anglers at home so not much to report this week.
Many are looking for crappie to start running south of M-55 as most have open water. Also report a few suckers are running the rivers with crawlers and worms.
Anglers are getting anxious as we move into open water fishing. Steelhead runs should improve with warmer weather. The sucker runs have started in the Lower Peninsula. Boats are heading out into the Great Lakes for trout and salmon.
Houghton Lake is half open so look for the crappie to start moving into the canals in a few days if warm weather continues. Higgins is open to the drop offs. I was up by Gaylord and Otsego Lake was still ice covered but shorelinr has broken up.
Sanford Lake and Wixom Lake has been good for crappie and gills but weather has hammpered the bite.
Steelhead fishing is picking up , but most my good reports have been on the little and big Manistee River for steelhead.
Traverse City - A few boats are making it out on the West Bay and searching for steelhead and perch. Most of the launches still have some ice. The East Bay is ice free so boat anglers are out looking for steelhead, whitefish, and brown trout. Also reports Suttons Bay is open and has a good perch bite with wigglers and minnows working best.
Upper Peninsula:
Bergland anglers are doing well for perch pretty much all over and around mud flats. Ice is still strong enough to hold a four-wheeler.
Off of the Marquette area, a few Coho are being caught by anglers in small boats fishing in 25-feet of water. Otherwise angling activity is slow overall.
Around Escanaba the ice is deteriorating fast and anglers are just not getting out at this point. Angling action is in a transition period at this point.
Weather around Drummond Island has created poor fishing conditions. There is still plenty of ice on the Bays and a few perch are being caught on Whitney Bay.
Around the Manistique area, poor conditions exist for Lake Michigan and Indian Lake. Ice is in bad shape and unsafe. Steelhead action is picking up on the Manistique River.
Around Sault Ste. Marie the weather has been miserable with snow and cold temperatures causing for very limited angling opportunities. The St. Maryâ??s River is still covered with ice. Lake George the ice is very skeptical, but a few anglers are pulling in some perch.
Near Brimley, a few anglers are fishing through the ice at the mouth of Pendills Creek when the wind is blowing in the right direction.
Munuscong Lake is giving up a few perch and the ice is still good.
There is perch to be caught around Cedarville, however the ice is very uncertain and a few anglers have fallen in this past week. The smelt run should be starting very shortly around St. Ignace.
Northwest:
Burt Lake is giving up a few suckers on crawlers and Crooked Lake has open water and boats can now get out. River fishing is starting to get in gear.
Frankfort area anglers are starting to catch steelhead from the Betsie River and steelhead are starting to show up on Crystal Lake where anglers fishing off shore are working very hard for the fish.
In the Kalkaska area good action taking place for smelt on Twin Lake and the Boardman River is giving up good counts of steelhead on wax worms and spawn.
The Boyne, Jordan and Sturgeon rivers are plentiful with steelhead. Fly fisherman are using egg and nymph patterns and bait anglers are using spawn sacks. Fly Fishing with streamers is taking place on the open branches of the Manistee and Au Sable river systems with good results.
Near the Cadillac area, Pine and Manistee rivers are giving up good numbers of steelhead on spawn and flies. Mitchell Lake has open water now and a few perch and crappie are biting.
Northwest:
Burt Lake is giving up a few suckers on crawlers and Crooked Lake has open water and boats can now get out. River fishing is starting to get in gear.
Frankfort area anglers are starting to catch steelhead from the Betsie River and steelhead are starting to show up on Crystal Lake where anglers fishing off shore are working very hard for the fish.
In the Kalkaska area good action taking place for smelt on Twin Lake and the Boardman River is giving up good counts of steelhead on wax worms and spawn.
The Boyne, Jordan and Sturgeon rivers are plentiful with steelhead. Fly fisherman are using egg and nymph patterns and bait anglers are using spawn sacks. Fly Fishing with streamers is taking place on the open branches of the Manistee and Au Sable river systems with good results.
Near the Cadillac area, Pine and Manistee rivers are giving up good numbers of steelhead on spawn and flies. Mitchell Lake has open water now and a few perch and crappie are biting.
Northwest:
Burt Lake is giving up a few suckers on crawlers and Crooked Lake has open water and boats can now get out. River fishing is starting to get in gear.
Frankfort area anglers are starting to catch steelhead from the Betsie River and steelhead are starting to show up on Crystal Lake where anglers fishing off shore are working very hard for the fish.
In the Kalkaska area good action taking place for smelt on Twin Lake and the Boardman River is giving up good counts of steelhead on wax worms and spawn.
The Boyne, Jordan and Sturgeon rivers are plentiful with steelhead. Fly fisherman are using egg and nymph patterns and bait anglers are using spawn sacks. Fly Fishing with streamers is taking place on the open branches of the Manistee and Au Sable river systems with good results.
Near the Cadillac area, Pine and Manistee rivers are giving up good numbers of steelhead on spawn and flies. Mitchell Lake has open water now and a few perch and crappie are biting.
West:
Windy and cold weather this week in the Ludington area has slowed the fishing activity a bit. Anglers that are fishing off the north and south piers for steelhead and brown trout are finding decent results. The Pere Marquette River is producing some catches of steelhead.
Lake fishing in the Baldwin area is not so great this week due to cold weather. Fly fishing is good on the Pere Marquette near the river beds. The weekend is expected to be very good as the warmer weather returns.
Muskegon anglers fishing Lake Michigan off the break wall are doing well for steelhead using spawn. Muskegon River and White River are both giving up steelhead catches on spawn on the higher sections of the rivers. Anglers fishing Muskegon Lake and using minnows are getting larger fish, using spikes gets a lot of fish but a lot of sorting is also necessary. The perch action is great for anglers fishing in small boats around the channels and the Sand Dock. Perch seem to be biting on everything and the average per boat is 30-40 fish but a lot of sorting is needed.
The action is hot on Chippewa Lake for speckled trout. The lake has wide open water and anglers are pulling in limits easily. The average fish is eight or nine inches and minnows are doing the trick.
In the Grand Rapids area, good action continues on the Grand River near the Sixth Street Dam where the steelhead are hitting on spawn, flies, and wobble glows.
On the Rogue River in Rockford the cold water tributary is also producing nice counts of steelhead on wobble glows, spawn and flies.
Off of the White Hall and Holland piers the walleye action is good when using Rapala Husky Jerks
Northeast:
Anglers fishing just below the Foote Dam Pond in Oscoda are doing ok for steelhead using wax worms, spawn and flies.
Poor angling conditions on Houghton Lake due to ice floating. The canals are open but the water is extremely cold and not much moving just yet, overall a transition time of year. It is a week or so away for crappie fishing.
Higgins Lake has ice breaking up and floating. No activity at this time.
Fishing has slowed this week in the Au Gres area thanks to cold weather. Anglers are pulling in a few walleye from the mouth of the river and from the boat launch on Rapala Husky Jerks.
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