Fishing

Ice Fishing in Pure Michigan

January 5, 2012

Bob Fisher is a lifelong avid Michigan sportsman. In addition to his love of the outdoors, Bob Fisher was also co-founder and co-owner of Baldwin Bait and Tackle, located in Baldwin. He answered a few of our questions about ice fishing. You can also check out this ice fishing article on michigan.org for more.

Q: Besides the ice, how is ice fishing different from regular fishing?

A: Ice fishing offers many different positive aspects compared to “regular” or conventional open water fishing. First, everyone has access to an entire lake. With open water fishing, one needs access to a boat to access the entire lake. Once ice forms a hard surface, anyone can simply walk to any part of the lake they desire to fish. Large lakes will require an ATV or snowmobile to access far reaches, if the ice thickness is safe enough to accommodate the weight of the machines.

Ice fishing is typically inexpensive compared to other styles of fishing. While fly fishing or big lake trolling can be more expensive endeavors, with ice fishing all one needs is some basic gear that can be purchased for less than $30 all together and a bucket to sit upon.

Q: Are there different types of fish you can catch in Michigan when you are ice fishing vs. regular fishing?

A. There are numerous fish species that ice fishermen target. The list varies from large northern pike and lake trout to the tiny smelt. Typically, ice fishermen target fish for table fare. The most common fish that ice fishermen seek are pan fish such as bluegill, perch and crappie. Northern pike are often sought using tip-up’s and jigging for walleye is very common and popular. One should check the fishing regulations since several species of fish have closed seasons during certain times of the year.

Q: Is there any special equipment you need?

A: For starting out with basic ice fishing, one would need a small rod and reel, designed specifically for ice fishing. These can be very economical setups that can be purchased for less than $10 and they typically come with the fishing line already spooled on. One will also need either an ice auger to drill a hole through the ice or an ice spud to chip open an existing hole, an ice skimmer to remove ice that forms once the hole is open, some bait, some small jig “lures” and a five gallon bucket to carry your gear in and to sit upon while fishing. Warm clothing and boots are also typically needed.

If on the more serious side, some ice fishermen design elaborate ice shantys, complete with heaters, furniture, stoves to cook fish on, and even TV’s.

Q: Where are some good areas to ice fish in Michigan?

A: The beauty of ice fishing is that nearly every lake that offers good fishing in the Summer months can offer good fishing during the Winter months. A notable event is Tip Up Town USA, among the top 10 winter events in the nation, which is a large ice fishing carnival attracting 10,000′s of people to the Houghton Lake area every winter.

Q: Where can people get more information about ice fishing?

A: Local fishing stores usually offer the best local advice. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has very good information on ice fishing and also has weekly fishing reports. The Department of Natural Resources also offers a free fishing weekend, where no fishing license is required, so anyone can try their hand at ice fishing without buying a license.

Please note-while ice fishing is a fun Winter activity, one must always use caution and common sense whenever venturing out on any ice.

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Salmon Fishing in Pure Michigan

November 15, 2011

in Fishing,Outdoors

Did you know that there are about 146 kinds of fish that can be found in Michigan? Bass, walleye, pike, perch and more fill the waters of the state all year and today, the focus is on salmon, which can be found in the tributaries of the Great Lakes virtually all year long.

Take a look below to learn more about four different types of salmon in Michigan. For tips on catching fish, along with more information on fishing regulations, records and reports, check out the fishing section at Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources Web site.

Atlantic Salmon:
Originally from the North Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic salmon are known for their leaping and fighting ability. There is a fishery in Torch Lake, where flyfishers find success fishing at the mouths of tributaries as they prepare for spawning. However, the primary place for Atlantic salmon fishing is the St. Marys River. The salmon begin spawning in mid-summer and flyfishers pursue the fish in the fast-flowing rapids of the river.

Chinook Salmon:
The Chinook are the largest of the Pacific salmon, and have been stocked in the Great Lakes for more than 130 years. Because they generally prefer cooler temperatures, Chinook are caught in deeper waters. Chinooks begin their upstream migration in late summer and are usually present in catchable numbers by mid August. Lake Michigan is your best bet for Chinook salmon, with anything in excess of 20 pounds being considered a good-size fish.

Coho Salmon:
According to the Department of Natural Resources, Coho salmon is “the fish that really started the Great Lakes salmon fishery.” You can catch Coho in Lake Michigan throughout the year, though the best fisheries on the lake’s east side occur in early spring and again in late summer and early fall. Coho can also be found around the Platte River in northern Michigan much of the year, and migrating fish are caught in the St. Joseph River as late as Christmas.

Pink Salmon:
The smallest of the Pacific salmon (the state record for a pink salmon is a little more than eight pounds), pink salmon established themselves in Lake Huron in the 1950s. The best places for pink salmon are the Lake Huron tributaries, in the Carp River in the southeastern Upper Peninsula and the St. Marys River. Fun fact: the pink salmon ordinarily spawn every two years, but enough one and three-year-old salmon spawn to make spawning runs an annual occurrence, with the largest runs occurring during odd-numbered years.

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Pure Michigan Fly Fishing with Matt Supinski

October 27, 2011

in Fishing,Guest Blogger,Outdoors

Matt Supinski is a fly fishing expert from Newaygo, Michigan. He has been fly fishing since the age of seven and was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. Earlier this year, Field and Stream magazine selected Michigan as the top state for fly fishing.

Q: What is different about fly fishing compared to traditional fishing?
A: More books, articles and magazines have been written about flyfishing since 1493 than any other sport. It is an art form of precision, elegant and artistic presentation that differs from traditional fishing. The line and the rod casts the fly. Many think it is very difficult, but it isn’t. The flies are tied with natural animal furs and feathers along with synthetic materials to imitate insects, baitfish and everything a fish could feed on.

Q: Why is Michigan considered a great fly fishing location?
A: The state of Michigan has more miles of rivers and lakes to fly fish than anywhere in the United States – no wonder it was voted best fly fishing state by Field and Stream and many other magazines!

Q: Where are the best places in Michigan to fly fish?
A. Trout: The whole state from southern parts to the northern U.P are loaded with brown, brook, rainbow and lake trout. Some of the more historic streams are the Au Sable, Manistee, Pere Marquette, Muskegon, Rogue, Jordan, Sturgeon, Escanaba and thousands more. Virtually every county, even the Detroit area, has trout in their lakes and streams.

Almost every lake imaginable, including Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Grand, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo and the Great Lakes abound with bass, walleye, pike, perch, carp and more.

Salmon/Steelhead: These west coast transplants could be found in virtually all four of Michigan’s Great Lakes tributaries all year long.

Q: What items/gear do you need to hit the streams?
A: All you need are waders, some flies, a fly rod, reel and line and some knowledge and you are ready to hit the water!

Q: What types of fish are commonly found it Michigan’s streams?
A: As mentioned, Michigan streams are a trout, salmon and steelhead rainbow trout wonderland. We fish 12 months a year and though all seasons- that is the beauty of the Great Lakes vast intertwining systems of streams and tributaries. The first brown trout was brought to America in 1883 and planted in the Pere Marquette. The first rainbow trout were brought to the east coast and Midwest and planted in the Au Sable River in 1876. The brook trout and lake trout, along with Grayling, were indigenous to Michigan.

Michigan currently holds the world record brown trout taken out of the Manistee at 43 pounds, and I and my client caught the world record Landlocked Atlantic Salmon last year in Torch Lake. Michigan, as you see, is a land of records! Its Great Lakes Salmon run as big as 40 pounds.

Q: Where can people learn more about fly fishing?
A: To learn more about Michigan fly fishing, there are lots of books, blogs and web sites out there. Bob Linsenman wrote “Michigan Trout Streams“ and “Michigan Blue-Ribbon Fly-Fishing Guide.” I wrote “Steelhead Dreams,” and “Pere Marquette (River Journal),” and many Web sites have great information. Check out my site: www.graydrake,com and my blog: www.graydrakelodgeandoutfitters.blogspot.com/

For more information, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Web site at www.michigan.gov has a lot of great information.

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Hearing about Herring

June 24, 2010

in Fishing

Thanks to Dan Donarski for sharing his tips on where and how to catch herring in Michigan!

This isn’t going to be a tale of ya-shoulda-been-there. Because, as this is written, the “been there” part of the story hasn’t revealed itself yet. It will, though, any day now.

Rather this is more in the vein of “ya-better-get-there,” because once it starts to happen it is simply too much fun.

We’re talking herring here. That slim, silvery fish that is pickled, smoked, creamed, fried and broiled. All to raves.

We’re talking that fish that hovers around a pound, but three pounds isn’t out of the question.

We’re talking the fish that confounds us with sheer numbers when they won’t bite, and delights us when they do. For, when they do bite, the fight they give is more than a little scrappy.

Herring invade the waters of the Eastern U.P. from late June through July. This invasion of sorts generally begins off of the Les Cheneaux (some are reportedly being caught here already) and slowly moves east to Drummond and then up the St. Marys past Lime island and all the way into Lake George and even the Harvey Marina area of Sault Ste. Marie. They move with purpose, too.

The purpose for this movement is to feed. Feed specifically on the mayfly hatches, the bigger the flies and the more flies that hatch the better for the fish. Over the past week, smaller mayflies have been hatching in the shallows. What the herring are looking for are those that hatch in say 15 feet of water, maybe more. This should start to happen within days based on current water temperatures.

Now, it should be noted that herring also take small minnows. Les Cheneaux area anglers know this and use ultra light Swedish pimples tipped with a wax worm to good success just before the flies start to hatch. Seems the herring have the ability to predict when the hatches will happen and start to come in a few days before the flies get active. This is when the super small jigging spoon really does its magic.

Once the flies have started though, the herring seem to almost exclusively feed on them. Wouldn’t you? I mean, if you were a fish, wouldn’t it be a bit easier to grab a mouthful of slow moving flies than chasing down some minnow?

The technique for catching these herring when they are feasting on the flies isn’t all that tough. That doesn’t mean that you just have at it. There are some real needs.

Needs like having an ultra limber rod: the longer the better. In fact, a 9-foot fly rod in the six weight category is just about perfect. You’ll also want either a small fly reel loaded with no more than 6-pound test, and four is much better, or a small spinning reel. These fish may be small but they do run fast. A good drag is vital.

Why all this for a small fish? Well, herring have a very tender mouth. So tender that they make crappies look tough. Put a lot of beef to them and you will literally come up with lips only. Let the fish have his head and gently work him in.

At the terminal end, tear drops tipped with waxworms are a good bet. Even better are nymphs tied in black, yellow, brown or grey– the colors of the real nymphs– and then tip these with a waxworm. Herring seem to think this is a double meal and really go for it.

Some anglers swear by going out at night during the bug hatch and collecting their own real flies. These they string onto a tear drop or very thin smaller hook. By the baskets of fish these folks bring in, the method certainly works.

Remember that 9-foot rod. The length serves more than just acting as shock absorber. While finely-tuned floats work, the rod itself may be your best bet in detecting the delicate take that herring are known for. That long rod telegraphs the bite better than a shorter, stouter rod. Chances are you will actually see the twitch of a bite before you feel it, another reason for a long, limber rod.

Herring will swim at all depths, from top to bottom. If you have a fish finder you may seen different schools stacked one on top of the other. Your trick is to find which ones are biting best.

For some reason I’ve had the best success trying 11 feet down first. That seems, for me anyway, to be my bread and butter depth. If I can’t find any takers there I move up, one foot at a time until I can actually see my bait. Three feet down doesn’t mean it is too shallow. You can see that far down, and you may just see a school or two move through at this depth.

If nothing is up high, then it,s time to move deeper a foot at a time. The only problem here is that once you get within a couple feet of the bottom that world record herring you think you are fighting transforms itself into a simple old sucker. Suckers like it on the bottom.

Expect a bit of a crowd when the herring are in full swing. It reminds me of the old perch fishing days when rafts of boats anchored over favored perch fishing holes. It is also a lot of fun, too much fun almost.

Dan Donarski is an award-winning journalist/photographer and author. He specializes in the outdoors and adventure travel. When he’s not out and about he lays his head in Sault Ste. Marie.

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It’s Open!

May 27, 2010

in Fishing,Outdoors

Dan Donarski is back, and this time, he’s sharing some great advice on how to make the most of bass fishing season, which opens this Saturday!

The last Saturday of May is upon us, and that brings bass fishing season! (Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair and Detroit rivers don’t open for a few weeks yet)

One of my military instructors implored our class to “Go for the bronze.” He felt that unless you were incredibly lucky that the gold was out of reach. If you achieved silver then you’d be green with envy about not getting the gold and be mad at yourself. For this fellow, if you got the bronze you got your medal, everyone behind you did not, and you should be quite happy. In military parlance, you’d be a stud.

When it comes to the bass world, going for the bronze may as well be going for the gold. Smallmouths or bronzebacks, no matter what you call them, are the studs of the Great Lakes bass scene. To be quite frank, smallies make largemouths look like pigs with fins.

For the fly rodder, particularly in the early part of the summer, smallies will give you the time of your life. Going for the bronze doesn’t get any better than right now.

It’s romance time in the world of the smallmouth bass. The fish are cruising the shallows, anywhere from two to eight feet of water, searching out the perfect matrimonial bed to do their duty and ensure that the species continues to flourish.

Fine gravel or gritty sand is what you should be looking for in these shallows. A nice break, where the water drops quickly to deeper water, makes the area even more enticing. Throw in a few good sized rocks or even boulders for added cover and you’ll be in the smallies’ version of the No-Tell Motel.

Here’s what you’re going to need to get in on this late May and June action:

A nice, fast action 7- or 8-weight rod is perfect. Attach a matching reel that has a smooth disc drag and you’re all set. In most cases with this early summer bite you’ll be just fine using a weight-forward floating line. When you do need to go deeper, you can always attach one of those short lead heads to help get your fly down. Or simply use a small split shot a couple of feet above the fly.
For a leader you can stay away from the pre-tied variety that go for four dollars or more. Instead grab a couple 100 yard spools of mono, one in the 10-pound class and the other in six.
Tie up your leader using six feet of the 10-pound attached to the fly line (or the lead head) and then tie in a 4-foot section of the six to use as your tippet. The easiest knot to tie these pieces of mono together with is the double surgeons, which is basically just two overhand knots. Of course, you can always get fancy by tying a blood knot or two uni knots but these take a bit longer to tie.
Fluorocarbon lines definitely have their place for leaders and especially tippets. If you find yourself in clear water these new semi-invisible lines will go a long way towards improving your hook-up rate. Smallies aren’t particularly line shy, but they are aware of their surroundings and what looks like trouble.
Flies are an easy matter. Like just about anything in the fly fishing world you need to match the hatch. For smallies you’ll need to have a selection of streamers that imitate the local baitfish and a few that come in hot colors (yellow seems to really excite these fish). Then you should put a few crayfish imitations in the fly box along with a variety of leech patterns. Always leave room for a number of Wooly Buggers. These impressionistic flies, rather than the imitating varieties, are smallmouth candy. Depending on the retrieve, they can give the impression of a baitfish, crayfish, or leech.

Fly rodding smallies in late May and early June is a load of fun but, like all things with flies or fake baits like spinners and plastics, sometimes they just don’t do the job. While I’d rather catch them on a fly or plastic, the mission is to catch fish, not to practice your casting.

So, when the fly, plastic and hardware bite isn’t biting, go to the real thing. Big juicy crawlers and/or squiggling minnows. These are as close to “no-fail” baits as you are going to get.

The set up is simple. For rivers, simply tie in a No. 4 hook on the terminal end and place a splitshot about 18 inches above the hook. Load that hook up a crawler or minnow and send it into the current, preferably a current break or a hole created by a mid stream obstruction. Now, keeping a tight line let the thing tumble with the current. When it gets directly below you reel it back in and cast again.

In lakes it is the very same set up. While you could simply cast this offering out and let it sit on the bottom and wait for the fish to come to you, there is a better way. Start casting and let the bait fall to the bottom. Now, very slowly start reeling the bait back to you keeping the bait next to the bottom. When, not if, you get that tell-tale tap, stop reeling, give the fish some line, and when the fish moves off with your bait, hammer the hook home. If you fish two rods, let one sit and fan cast the other. Unless you like buying new outfits, you’ll want to keep the bail open on the stationary rod.

Where to go? Let’s see, there’s Little Bay de Noc, the Menominee River, Lake Gogebic and the Les Cheneaux Islands, along with Drummond Island in the U.P. In the lower peninsula look at Wilderness State Park, Beaver Island, Grand Traverse Bay and the Lower AuSable River. The Kalamazoo River, along with the other drowned river mouth lakes along the Michigan coast will also be worthwhile.

Dan Donarski is an award-winning journalist/photographer and author. He specializes in the outdoors and adventure travel. When he’s not out and about he lays his head in Sault Ste. Marie.

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