Curly's Photo and Fishing Blog
Walleye and trout season opens on Saturday
Spring has sprung and this coming Saturday, April 25th marks the opening of trout season on the Type 1 and Type 2 streams as well as the walleye, northern pike and muskellunge opener on the Lower Peninsula inland waters. Catch and immediate release bass season also opens on certain waters in the state. Warmer weather should make for a good opening weekend.
Trout fishing opener looks good with warm weather and the streams should be back to normal by friday. Crappie are running south of M-55 as most have open water.Also lots of gills being caught in Houghton Lake and Wixom Lake.
It looks like spring fishing has finally begun, at least in the Lower Peninsula. The upper got up to 20 inches of snow this week, but is going away in a hurry. Some waters around the state are muddy due to recent rains and strong winds. Warm weather by the end of the week should make for some good fishing.
Steelhead fishing is picking up , but most my good reports have been on the little and big Manistee River for steelhead. Hearing some fish are in the Two Heart River this week.
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. Perch fishing has been gresat on both bays this week with wigglers working best.
Cadillac the crappie have started to bite with limit catches over the weekend.
White Lake - Good perch fishing continues when the weather is right. Check out the front of the old Post Office, where the lake meets the channel, and off the northwest point nearest the channel.
Saginaw Bay - Perch fishing was slow off Pine River Road, Palmer Road and the Linwood Marina. Walleye fishing off the mouth of the Saginaw River and the Kawkawlin River was good when anglers could get out. Walleye were caught off the mouth of the Quanicassee River when using thundersticks in 10 feet of water. No crappie at the Bay Shore Marina. At Caseville, small perch are in the river and the marina. A few walleye were caught off the end of the pier in the early morning.
Muskegon Lake - Perch fishing here continues to be strong. Target the west side of the lake between the channel and the Yacht Club.
Portage Lake - Perch were caught on minnows near the channel. Anglers trolling for brown trout in front of the Inn have caught a few on body baits. Small panfish have started to show up near the Green Can. The walleye opener looks good.
Lake Cadillac - Panfish were caught near the M-115 causeway and the City Dock.
Little Bay De Noc - The ice is completely gone however none of the state docks had been installed. The Gladstone and the Escanaba North Shore launches are up and running. Perch anglers started working the Saunders Point area. This area has produced some nice catches in the spring over the last several years. Most jig minnows and wigglers in 20 to 30 feet of water off the southwest bank. The splake and brown trout anglers are just getting started south of the Ford River and off the mouth of the Escanaba River, but no reports of any fish caught.
Big Bay De Noc - The ice finally blew out and most of the bay is open. None of the docks have been put in at the launch sites. The late ice produced some good perch fishing in Kate’s Bay, so boat anglers may do well here in 20 feet of water.
AAA FIshing Report
Upper Peninsula:
Slow activity this week around the Bergland area thanks to snow and adverse weather. The ice is all gone from the lake.
Off of Marquette trolling on Lake Superior is resulting in some nice catches of Coho and a few Kings. Most inland lakes still have ice and adverse weather and snow earlier in the week has limited fishing opportunities. Try some local rivers like the Days River and Bark River both providing some angling action.
Escanaba anglers are doing some drifting for steelhead in the Big Cedar River using spawn, but overall the activity has been slow.
Early-week rain put the brakes on much of the angling activity in Manistique. On Indian Lake, a few jumbo perch are biting on minnows near Big Spring Bay. The smelt run is also limited on the areaâ??s small creeks near the US-2 corridor. On the plus side, steelhead are running strong in the Manistique River on yarn and spawn, and there is a growing demand for fishing licenses as the temperatures moderate.
In the Sault Ste. Marie area, anglers are in a transition period. Ice fishing is nearly done for the season, even though a lot of ice remains on the upper St. Maryâ??s River. A few anglers are getting a few Atlantic salmon below the rapids and the power house on spoons. Elsewhere, boats have yet to be put in the water in large numbers. On Pendills Creek, anglers are catching a few rainbow trout with salmon spawn.
The smelt run looks like itâ??s nearing an end in the southern portions of the peninsula. Along Lake Huron near St. Ignace and DeTour, the new two-gallon limit is being hit quite often. Only one more week of decent numbers of the small fish is expected. Steelhead fishing is still minimal here, but there is good news from the northwest end of Breevort Lake, where the ice is finally breaking up.
Steelheads are also finding the nets more frequently in the Albany and Carp rivers using spawn as bait.
On the Munuscong River, night crawlers are the bait of choice as the suckers start to run. Angling on the bays is pretty much nonexistent, with little activity on the ice-covered waters.
Northwest:
Near the Alanson area Black Lake is producing good catches of suckers while Bear Lake is giving up plenty of bullhead.
Fishing around Frankfort is picking up especially on Betsie Bay for steelhead. Fish seem to be biting on everything from night crawlers and minnows to Rapalas when trolling. Portage is giving up some perch. Crystal Lake right off the beach area is hit or miss for some Coho and anglers are marking plenty of rainbow trout. Walleye and trout season opens in the area on Saturday.
In Kalkaska browns are active in the Bay and steelhead are hitting at the mouth of the local river. Trout and walleye season open on Saturday and donâ??t forget the annual National Trout Festival takes place this weekend as well. For details call 231-258-8892.
Near Gaylord the Boyne, Sturgeon and Jordan rivers are producing plenty of steelhead on spawn, artificial baits, and egg fly patterns. The trout and walleye opener on Saturday is expected to be fabulous with the warm weather forecasted and it is anticipated anglers will be trolling with crank baits and crawlers.
Lake Cadillac is giving up nice numbers of crappie off the city docks and causeway; anglers continue to use minnows as the bait of choice. Pike, trout and walleye seasons open on Saturday.
West:
In Muskegon this Saturday trout, pike and walleye seasons open and the fishing is anticipated to be awesome. Anglers have been trolling in the channels and marking walleye. Muskegon Lake is giving up some nice perch. Anglers in boats are fishing in 40-50 feet inside the harbor and near the channels using minnows, wigglers, eye balls and cut bait.
Fishing activity in the Chippewa Lake area was good up until the recent cold snap. Before the thermometer dropped, good numbers of specks and blue gills were being caught. The gills had a taste for night crawlers and leaf worms while minnows, grubs and wax worms were the baits of choice for specks. Anglers also had to toss back the occasional bass or pike, neither of which are in season.
Over in Baldwin, the steelhead activity on the Pere Marquette has been good, minus adverse weather earlier this week, nuke eggs and stone flies have been working well. The water levels have been high due to the considerable amount of rain the area has received. By the weekend the warm weather moves in and water levels should be back to normal, fishing is anticipated to be very good for the trout opener on Saturday. Howeâ??s Lake is giving up some nice blue gill and sun fish in the 9-10 inch range during the warmer hours of the day, particularly when the sun is out. Trout season opens Saturday.
The steelhead fishing is about done in Grand Rapids, but decent numbers remain in Muskegon Lake if you pack spawn and flies among your gear. Plenty of minnows are being swallowed up as excellent perch catches are reported in Muskegon and White lakes. Meanwhile, the Muskegon Pier is the place to be this week for walleye using husky jerks and countdown Rapalas.
Northeast:
Off of the Alpena area, Lake Huron is giving up some nice catches of walleye near the shoreline on Rapalas. Thunder Bay near the Ninth Street Dam remains fair to good for walleye activity.
In Oscoda some perch are biting on minnows below Cooke Dam Pond on the north side or often referred to as the calm side. From the lake shore to the mouth of the Au Sable River the walleye action is decent using count down Rapalas in size 11. The fish can be kept from this section of water. Steelhead are just starting to spawn below Foote Dam, fish should be on the gravel soon. Try using wax worms, wigglers and flies.
Trout and walleye season open on Saturday in the Grayling area. Angling has been slow this week, but should be really good for the weekend as the warm weather rolls in.
Houghton Lake is producing nice blue gill on teardrops and leaf worms. Anglers are finding some nice crappie catches in the canals on minnows and hook and bobber. Walleye season opens Saturday and it is looking really good since anglers have been catching and releasing good numbers already.
Higgins Lake, the ice is now all gone but so far angling activity has not picked up due to adverse weather and cold temperatures.
Excellent walleye action is taking place around Au Gres at the mouth of the River and near the boat launch. Jig heads, Rapala Husky Jerks and anglers using deep downs close to the boat are working well. It is a bit early, but a few anglers are trying harnesses on the walleye with some success.
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