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Ice Fish Michigan Ice Fishing Report 02.27.17

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With any type of fishing, weather will always dictate what, when, and where an angler will fish. The recent warming trend has brought our current ice fishing season to an abrupt halt.

As we all know, the recent warming trend has created an abundance of unsafe ice conditions across Northern Michigan. Depressingly, this has ended ice fishing for most anglers this year. Most of the lakes we list in our reports still have ice coverage, but due to warm weather and rain, it is too unsafe to fish and report conditions. While these lakes may have coverage, the integrity of the ice is much less than ideal, and with the added weight of the slush on top of what little clear ice there may be, it just isn’t safe.

We ask that anyone that does plan to hit the ice for the remainder of the season use good judgment and take proper precaution. It has been a short but productive winter on the ice, fishing was excellent for all species.

We just want all anglers to be aware of the inconsistent thicknesses due to the past two weeks of weather. No fish is worth a life.

Ice Fish Michigan Ice Report 01.17.17

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Benzie, Grand Traverse, Wexford County, Antrim, Leelanau, and Manistee Counties

We are currently facing an aggressive warming trend that is threatening ice conditions. To many people in the region this is great news, but it is depressing for ice fisherman! The 10-12 day forecast, indicates that most lakes will face very slushy and wet conditions, which will lead to potentially unsafe ice conditions. Of course, the weather forecast can change from day to day, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for colder temperatures. This ice report is regarding “current” conditions, and we expect things to deteriorate over the next week. Things will change each day, and so what may have been safe a day or two ago may not be on following days. Please be safe and use your best judgment when venturing out on the ice.

Crystal Lake in Benzie County
4-5in of ice coverage on the very east end of the lake. Anglers have had nice catches of perchin25ft of water fishing off the Beulah access. The remainder of the lake is virtually open water. The only fishable water is right off of the town of Beulah. We feel that this will change with the forecast and create unsafe conditions in the very near future.

Long Lake in Benzie County
10-11in of ice. Pike have been found in 7-10ft of water on top of, and adjacent to, weed beds and flats. Perch and pike have been found in 10-13ft of water. Tip-ups with golden minnows set 1-3ft of bottom have been most productive for pike. Minnows and small tungsten jigs have taken fair catches of perch.

Bass and Otter Lakes in Benzie County
9-10in of ice. Pike fishing in Bass Lake is still producing a lot of action on undersized fish in the 18-22in range. Crappie and bluegill have been found in 15-18ft of water at first and last light. Perch fishing in Otter Lake has been slow, but some fish have been found in 20-23ft of water.

Green Lake in Grand Traverse County
8-9in of ice. Smelt fishing has been slow on both ends of the lake. Marking fish has been relatively easy, however finding active schools has been difficult. 60ft of water has produced the most smelt action after dark. Anglers targeting pike have had success in 10-15ft in weed-covered flats and along steep breaks. Perch have been found in 35-45ft of water.

Long Lake in Grand Traverse County
7-9in of ice depending on the region of the lake. Long Lake can be very inconsistent in ice thickness. Anglers should use extreme caution fishing Long Lake. Anglers have had success finding active walleye both jigging and fishing tip-ups along steep breaks and adjacent to weed beds in 30-35ft. The hottest depth for both big perch and walleye has been 25-35ft, depending on the time of day. Large perch have been found in 30-40ft of water. Anglers have not found large numbers of perch. However, the perch being caught have been very nice in size.

South Lake Leelanau
8-9in of ice (on the south portion of the lake only). The north end of the lake is not producing safe ice at this time due to inconsistent weather and winds. Anglers have found pike, perch, and walleye off all major boat ramp sites. Walleye fishing has been best in 18-25ft on tip-ups and larger blue minnow presentations. Perch have been found in 15-25ft. Shallow weed clumps have produced nice quality catches. The deeper, softer weed-covered depths are producing larger numbers of fish.

Skegemog Lake in Antrim County
9-11in of ice coverage off the south shore (Baggs Road access site). Anglers using blues, tungsten jigs, and wax worms accompanied by an underwater camera have had great success. 11-16ft of water seems to consistently produce active fish. The larger perch have been coming on orange and green tungsten jigs tipped with spikes and wax worms. Anglers seeking musky and pike have been reporting slower action. A word of caution to anglers venturing close to the Skegemog and Elk Lake channel: a snowmobile went through the ice just 2 days ago. While the person was rescued, it shows that ice near any current can be weaker. The further to the west anglers venture, the thinner the ice is.

Portage Lake in Manistee County
8-10in of ice coverage. Anglers have been fishing mostly off the north access sites for perch, walleye and pike. Most perch have been found feeding on top of weed-covered areasin16-25ft. Large perch in smaller schools have been targeted in 35-40ft of water. This is also a great depth to jig and set tip-ups for walleye.

Bear Lake in Manistee County
9-11in of ice. Anglers have been targeting walleye and pike off of southwest and north access sites. The more aggressive fish have been feeding along weed-covered drop-offs and contour changes in depths ranging from 12-18ft. Pike and walleye seem to be on the move together feeding in the same areas.

Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac in Wexford County
10-12in of ice. Blue gill and crappie have been slow and small during the middle of the day. However, crappie and bluegill have been on the move in both lakes during early morning and late evening. Transitioning from 8-10ft weed flats to 16-20ft holes and drop-offs throughout the day. Walleye have been found in 19-21ft on Lake Mitchell. Pike have been active throughout the day; larger pike have been coming on tip-ups using 4-5 inch sucker minnows as bait. Weed covered flats ranging from 9-12ft have been best for pike.

Ice Fish Michigan Ice Report 01.08.17

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Benzie, Grand Traverse, Wexford County, Antrim, and Manistee Counties

After a week of inconsistent temperatures, we wished for colder weather, and our wish came true! This past week in northern Michigan was by far the coldest we have experienced this year. Cold temperatures and heavy winds have added multiple inches of ice to all bodies of water. After accumulating a large amount of snowfall in the past week, walking conditions on most lakes have gradually become more difficult. Some lakes listed below have 3-6 inches of snow with 1-2 inches of slush, we would like to prepare all anglers for these conditions. Despite lots of good ice on most of our lakes, caution should still be taken when venturing out with a 4-wheeler, snowmobile or larger vehicle. There are still the occasional reports of people finding weaker ice, especially towards the southern part of the state. In fact, an airplane went through the ice just a couple of days ago in Lowell out on Murray Lake. But our guess is that very few ice anglers are taking their airplanes out to go fish, so this is likely just an isolated incident!

Crystal Lake in Benzie County
1-2” of ice coverage on the very east end of the lake. We hope that this lake will continue to build ice in so that anglers can take advantage of excellent perch, lake trout, and whitefish fishing. There is currently NO safe, fishable ice on Crystal Lake. Heavy winds is causing the small amount of ice present to shift with the waves.

Long Lake in Benzie County
8-10” of ice. Pike have been found in 7-10ft of water on top of, and adjacent to, weed beds and flats. Perch and pike have been found in 10-13ft of water. Tip-ups with golden minnows 1-3ft off of the bottom have been best for pike. Perch minnows and small tungsten jigs have taken good catches of perch.

Bass and Otter Lakes in Benzie County
6-8” of ice. Pike fishing in Bass Lake has been producing a lot of action on undersized fish: 18-22inch range. Bluegill and crappie have been found in 15-18ft of water at first and last light. Perch fishing in Otter Lake has been generally slow, but some fish have been found in 20-23ft of water.

Green Lake in Grand Traverse County
5-6” of ice. Smelt have been found fishing off the south state park access at 30-40ft. Pike anglers have had success in 10-15ft in the weed-covered flats and along steep breaks. Perch have been found at 35-45ft.

Long Lake in Grand Traverse County
5-6” of ice (depending on the region of the lake). Long Lake often has inconsistent ice thickness. Anglers should use extreme caution fishing Long Lake. Anglers have had success finding active walleye jigging and by using fishing tip-ups along steep breaks and adjacent to weed beds. The best depth for walleye seems to be 20-30ft, and varies by the time of day. Large perch have been found in 30-40ft of water. While there has not been larger numbers of perch – the perch being caught are good-sized.

Skegemog Lake in Antrim County
8-9” of ice coverage (off the south shore access site). Anglers using blues, tungsten jigs, and wax worms with an underwater camera have had great success. 11-16ft of water has been yielding active fish. The larger perch have been caught on orange and green tungsten jigs tipped with spikes and wax worms.

Portage Lake in Manistee County
4-6” of ice coverage. Anglers have been fishing for perch, pike, and walleye mostly off the north access sites. Most perch have been found feeding on top of weed-covered areas in 16-25ft of water. Anglers looking for large perch in smaller schools have been targeting 35-40ft of water. This is also a great depth to jig and set tip-ups for walleye.

Bear Lake in Manistee County
8-9” of ice. Anglers have been targeting pike and walleye off the southwest and north access sites. More aggressive fish have been along weed covered drop-offs and contour changes in depths ranging from 12-18ft. Walleye and pike are grouping together feeding in the same general areas.

Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac in Wexford County
9-10” of ice. Crappie and bluegill in both lakes, transitioning from 8-10 foot weed flats to 16-20 foot drop-offs and holes throughout the day. Walleye have been found in 19-21ft on Lake Mitchell. Pike have been active throughout the day. Larger pike have been caught on tip-ups using 4-5 inch sucker minnows. Weed-covered flats ranging from 9-12ft have been best for pike fishing.

Ice Fish Michigan Ice Report 12.27.16

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With the warmer than usual weather pattern that has descended upon us staying longer than we had hoped, IFM would like to caution all ice anglers to please stay off the ice.

While there had been some nice ice formation earlier in the month of December with the cold temperatures, the warming trend that is still upon us has made for very unsafe and unpredictable ice conditions. Already this year, we have had 3 unfortunate deaths resulting from anglers falling through across northern Michigan.

We understand the draw to get out onto the ice to get after those early ice biters, but no fish is worth falling though for. Tempting as it may be, the ice is softening and weakening to the point that we feel that anglers should just stay off the ice completely. As ice conditions will continue to worsen this week with warmer than usual temperatures, it is far better to play things safely and stay home than to risk falling through. It will take several days of below-freezing temperatures to re-firm the ice, and the long-term forecast has next Wednesday and Thursday back below freezing. With any luck, things will freeze solidly enough to hopefully entertain the thought of getting back out onto the ice by the following weekend. But as Mother Nature and Old Man Winter can be unpredictable, we will just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, please use common sense and extreme caution and stay off the ice. There are a whole new season of fishing shows getting ready to air and lots of tackle to sort through, so for us here at Ice Fish Michigan, that’s what we will be doing! Watching fishing shows and sorting tackle, waiting for safe ice.

Ice Fish Michigan Ice Report 12.22.2016

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Benzie, Grand Traverse, Wexford County, Antrim, and Manistee Counties

Ice fishing season is approaching very fast in northern Michigan! It is so exciting to see most of the inland lakes in the area making ice in late December. Mid December provided very cold temps, which had us pointed in the right direction, but now with the warming trend, things are at a standstill in ice formation. All of the lakes listed in this report are lakes that we have had a chance to check in the past few days, we will be adding more lakes to report as time progresses. We ask that all anglers take nothing for granted and use extreme caution when getting out on the water this upcoming week.

Taking all of the recent variables into consideration, and with the forecasted warming trend coming in this next week, anglers should use extreme caution. Most lakes listed in this report have 3-5 inches of snow on the surface; with the warm weather ahead this will make for worsening ice strength and very slushy, wet conditions. The condition of each lake listed below will definitely get more unsafe after the forecasted warm front.

Long Lake in Benzie County has formed 3-5 inches of ice. With high winds this past week the ice in some areas is thicker than others. The pike have been found in 7-10ft of water on top of, and adjacent to, weed beds and flats. Spearing has been slow, however, tip-up action has been fair with presenting golden minnows and smaller suckers 1-2ft off bottom.

Green Lake in Grand Traverse County has recently produced 100% ice cover. It is definitely not safe to fish, but it is great to see 1-2 inches of good blue ice form on such a fantastic lake this early in the season. We are hoping for cooler weather in the next week or so to continue to build ice on this body of water. First ice for smelt, perch and large pike can be productive on this particular body of water.

Long Lake in Grand Traverse County has 100% ice coverage. As many of you know, it is very protected by the wind so the recent snowfall has had quite an impact on the ice surface. With only 2-3 inches of ice and large amounts of snow, we caution all anglers to stay off the ice until better conditions with thicker ice arrive.

Skegemog Lake in Antrim County has 2-3 inches of ice coverage off of the south shore access site. This is another lake we are very happy to see freeze so early in the season. Skegemog is an excellent lake to target first ice perch feeding in the shallow weed flats. Anglers using blues, tungsten jigs and wax worms will have great success. We are looking forward to getting out on Skegemog as soon as safe ice conditions persist. Skegemog is NOT safe to fish at this current time.

Portage Lake in Manistee County has made 2-3 inches of ice coverage. Being so close to Lake Michigan, heavy west winds have kept most of the snow off of the ice’s surface. We encourage anglers to wait for colder temperatures and thicker ice before venturing out on Portage. Portage Lake provides excellent perch, walleye and pike fishing for anglers to take advantage of.

Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac have both formed 3-5 inches of ice; anglers have been on both lakes for the past week. From what we are seeing and hearing, ice off Kenwood Park on Cadillac seems to have the safest ice. Crappie and pike are being found in 15-25 ft. Anglers fishing Mitchell have been sticking strictly to Big Cove, crappie and blue gill action has been hit or miss this past week. We stress that all anglers use extreme caution when hitting these two lakes.

We at Ice Fish Michigan look forward to many safe and successful days during this 2017 season. With that in mind, we encourage all anglers to take this report as reference and not as a guarantee. Ice conditions change with the weather patterns. It is always good to use your best judgment and always check the ice with a good spud and a friend! Tight lines and we’re looking forward to fishing with you!