Well, made it back onto the ice yesterday. 6 of us in the morning. Arrived at the launch site to see very slushy conditions 1/4 mile out. Watched a few cross, and then we went for it. No Problem with the sled, but did see some people on quads having difficulty.
Made our way out to the Black Hole, and it was just that. Void of many fish. Seen some on the lowrance, and auqua view, and from what we saw they were not in the mood for eating. Fished 20.8fow had fish below us for a while, and then they disapeared. Hopped around a little bit looking for more fish, but to no avail. The fish we did find were not active, I tried everything to get them to go but nothing. So is fishing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you just have a few beers and relax.
Checked a few other areas, looking for something that would hold fish, and didn't find much. Checked in as shallow as 17fow, all the way out to 24fow. From what I heard from others, it was just not a good day for fishing. It was a nice day to be out though.
As far as the ice goes: It was crappy near shore. Someone speculated that it was from all of the vehicles parked on the ice putting pressure and water coming up and making it slushy in the 1/4 mile area. Once you get past that spot it was smooth sailing. Just a word of WARNING, there was another crack 3.5-4 miles out, it was probably 25-30 foot wide. There were no signs of anyone trying to cross this spot, and for good reason I am sure. You could see this crack as far south as you could see and the same for the north. It was easy to spot, but with any snow it would be difficult, so be careful out there. Other than the 2 spots I have mentioned the ice looked real good. I would say easily 7" everywhere we were. Maybe more, but I like to estimate on the low end of things.
If anyone found my spud yesterday let me know. That sucked. I think it may have bounced out of the trailer and sunk into a drift. I looked for it and could not find it.
Good Luck.... Be Safe....
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Well we have just been hammered by that storm. Here in Burton we received a little under 12" of snow. Up in Saginaw they were reporting on last nights news 16", this morning the total up in Vassar was 18". Lots, and lots of snow. Have also heard, not seen, but heard of some bad ice shaping up on the bay. With all of this snow I wouldn't want to be the first one out there. I know others have been out, but it probably wasn't the wisest idea. Another report I read said that the ice was cracking up right underneath these guys, and buy the time they packed up their gear there was a 2' wide crack that wasn't there previously. Not too mention the several other new cracks they had to cross or go around on the way back to shore. As always be careful, extreme caution should be used. Personally I am ready to put the ice fishing gear and get the boat back out.
Be safe....
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Husky Jerk - Thanks for the reports. A friend and I are heading up there Sunday for a few days. Do you think the ice will be tightened back up by then? Pretty new to the bay and want to fish it but don't want to die trying either. Will stay at the Linwood marina campgrounds, are there many who use that area to get onto the bay there? Hopefully by Sunday there will be a path to follow out there if the ice is good enough. I hope you can provide another report by then. Thanks again. Al
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Lipripper wrote: Husky Jerk - Thanks for the reports. A friend and I are heading up there Sunday for a few days. Do you think the ice will be tightened back up by then? Pretty new to the bay and want to fish it but don't want to die trying either. Will stay at the Linwood marina campgrounds, are there many who use that area to get onto the bay there? Hopefully by Sunday there will be a path to follow out there if the ice is good enough. I hope you can provide another report by then. Thanks again. Al
Hey Lip, we were out this morning and the ice is fine we ran out almost 4 miles and only had to cross 1 crack and it was only 6 inches or so wide. But there were 1 or 2 other's that i had marked on my GPS that were fine.. We fished 23fow and 2 of the 3 of us limited out , all nice fish 22 to 26 inches and a couple smaller ones 18 or so inches..If ya pm me i'll give more details as to exactly where we were at.
I cant stress this enough if your not familiar with the Bay "please please use extreme caution"..
PS i hope you have a 4 wheel drive quad or at least a snowmobile, the snow is "AWFUL"...
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Yes you can access the bay via Linwood/Hoyles. When we were coming off the ice at Erickson last weekend a guy on a sled pulled up next to us and asked "is this hoyles" so that is where he was trying to go to. I personally have only launched out of Linwood with a boat.
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Yes you can access the bay via Linwood/Hoyles. When we were coming off the ice at Erickson last weekend a guy on a sled pulled up next to us and asked "is this hoyles" so that is where he was trying to go to. I personally have only launched out of Linwood with a boat.
We went out North of Linwood..
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Well fellas, it doesn't look good out there from the pictures I have seen. Big ice shoves, open water. At this point it doesn't look like I will be back on the ice, unless it is near shore in shallow. I have heard that the walleye fishing picks up near river mouths the closer we get to spring. I think the bay may get even worse over the next day or so. Calling for high wind gusts, may help break things up a little more, and make it more dangerous out there. People have still found there way 3-4 miles offshore. Getting out in daylight may be ok, but coming back in the dark would be sketchy. Those open pockets of water can disappear in the dark to look like ice. So be very careful and don't go out alone if you do go.
Be Safe...
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Well I got a dose of fishing the bay. Went up Sunday and came back Wed. Monday it was pretty cold and windy. Fished several places, farther out in the 18ft area the water was quite cloudy. Had a few marks come in but no lookers and definitely no takers. Saw a few guys in closer on the way in at night and they had 8 on the ice. They said when the school came past them the fish shut right off.
Tuesday we went to the spot where those guys got 8 and again saw some fish on the camera as the water was much clearer but no lookers or takers. Went out to 19 fow, didn't see much there. Came back in to the 12 fow and right before dark had a beauty come in take a look then turn and go off. There was constant traffic near us in the evening so we probably should have moved over a ways. Hind sight, oh well. Hope others had better luck than we did.
The ice seemed to be pretty good. The "ice mountains" were pretty. Did see an open water spot Monday morning south of where most of the fishing school set up and a little east. You could see the steam coming off the water. Some of the school went further north from the main pack by a crack that was about 2 ft wide and only had about 2" of skim ice on it.
Didn't bother to fish Wed. morn. Broke camp after sleeping in and went for breakfast then to Frank's and home. Great people at Linwood marina, very accommodating.
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Lil Ripper, this seems to be the norm for me out on the bay this year. Fish around, but just there on the wrong days. Frustrating at times, but I figure one of these times I will be there at the right time on the right day and will light em' up.
Good Luck...
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There were 3 or 4 guys in the school that limited out on Tuesday. I think they were out on the 17' flat that runs e-w in 19 fow. I guess it's like always if you are on the fish you can get a few when you give them what they want. We just didn't find any concentration of fish. If the water clears and the weather stabilizes maybe that will help turn the fish on. We are definitely making ice.
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