Northwest Lower Peninsula
Houghton Lake: Some decent northern pike and walleye were caught in the middle grounds in 12 to 14 feet of water. Live minnows under tip-ups and jigging spoons and Rapalas performed best.
Northeast Power Peninsula
Black Lake: Anglers were targeting northern pike. Most fish were small, but the action was pretty good, particularly around submergent weed beds. Tip-ups, spearing with decoys and aggressive jigging with spoons produced results.
Tawas: A few small perch were caught in 10 to 20 feet of water off jigs tipped with minnows. There were a couple of lake trout caught out near the reef in 18 to 20 feet of water off spoons and jigs tipped with minnows.
Au Gres: A few perch and smaller walleye were caught in the river off jigs tipped with minnows. There were also some reports of a few pike speared on the south side of the break wall.
Pt Au Gres: Anglers reported a few walleye and lake trout were caught in 15-20 feet of water off jigs and spoons tipped with minnows.
Pine River/Palmer Rd: Perch fishing was hit or miss with some decent catches caught in 5 to 15 feet of water off jigs tipped with minnows. Most walleye anglers had not been venturing out as far as they were in the past, but there were some reports of a few caught in 15 to 20 feet of water off jigs tipped with minnows. Anglers should use cation as ice conditions have changed with some ice piling up near shore as well as pressure cracks. There was some water on top of the ice in low places, with reports of quads and snowmobiles getting stuck.
Eagle Bay Marina: Anglers reported good catches of crappie and bluegill inside the marina off jigs tipped with waxworms and minnows.
Upper Peninsula
Little Bay de Noc: Catch rates for walleye were poor to fair. Anglers reported varying success, with many catching zero and even fewer with just a couple. Jigging rods were performing better than set rods. Multiple age classes were caught, as well as both large and undersized walleye. Most anglers were using a variety of types of jigging raps. There was a slight improvement for perch fishing. Most anglers were struggling but were still managing to catch a few.
Keweenaw Bay: The number of catches of whitefish stayed consistently high with some large whitefish brought through the ice. Lake trout anglers were having more luck farther north on the ice. Some herring, coho and brown trout were caught by anglers in medium depth waters, but numbers were still not high. Anglers had success with both artificial and natural bait using a wide range of tackle. If fishing closer in the bay, try wax worms or cut minnows.
Munising Bay: There were a few spotty schools of coho coming through. The whitefish action was slow with a few anglers reporting some catches around 5 or 6 fish but no size, mainly small fish. There were a few reports of some steelhead. For the permanent shacks, there was a lot of water coming in thru holes into the shacks, so anglers were raising their shacks up. No reports of smelt or splake catches. Burbot anglers fishing at night reported very slow action. A few anglers were targeting lake trout.
Southeast Lower Peninsula
Lake St. Clair: Throughout Anchor Bay anglers were finding some success while fishing for perch. Early morning and late evenings were the better times to fish. Anglers were fishing from the northern portion of Anchor Bay off the Raft, Brandenburg Park, SANG PAS, Metro Beach and on down toward 9 Mile Road and 11 Mile Road. Once on the ice, anglers should try different presentations/lures/colors and move around to other areas and don’t sit in one spot, as sometimes moving around can prove to be more successful than sitting in one spot the whole time. Minnows, waxworms, maggots tipped on small jigs, jack spoons and various other jigging spoons were some of the methods used. A few walleye reports were mentioned off Metro Beach area in the late evenings while using jigging spoons tipped with minnows or just a minnow head. Be sure to use a spud as you are walking out. Water clarity from the recent warm up and melting of snow/rains had caused water clarity to diminish in some areas on St. Clair and canals.
Saginaw Bay: Fishing for perch from Sebewaing to Bayport was slow with only a few fish caught. Wildfowl Bay had reports of lots of small perch with a few larger ones. In lower Saginaw Bay, walleye were caught at Pinconning Park, 8.5 miles N/E of Pinconning, in 23 feet of water. Walleye were also caught at Linwood, 4 miles out, in 18 feet of water and at Bay City State Park, 4 miles out, in 18 feet of water. Yellow perch were caught at the end of Linwood Road in 6 feet of water.
Saginaw River: Some anglers were fishing at the mouth of the river with no success. The river was very murky, and the current was fast. Off the mouth, in the yacht club, a few yellow perch and an occasional keeper size walleye had been caught, and lots of sub legal walleye were caught and released. All the points upstream had very little fishing pressure due to wary ice conditions.
Southwest Lower Peninsula
Anglers were reporting success with catching panfish on inland lakes.
Gull Lake: Anglers were successful catching smelt. Baseline Road access has been crowded, but spaces may be available through the Prairieville BAS for a fee.
St. Joe and Kalamazoo: Steelhead were targeted in the St. Joe and Kalamazoo rivers with variable success.
This report is intended to give you an idea of what is going on around the state. Updates come from Fisheries staff and conservation officers. With more than 11,000 inland lakes, the Great Lakes and thousands of miles of rivers and streams, not all locations can be listed. However, it is safe to say if a species is being caught in some waters in the area, they are likely being caught in all waters in that section of the state that have that species.
