Fished Houghton Lake out of the West launch this morning. I was late getting out to my fishing area because I got stuck in a big slush area driving out in the dark. The wind and getting soaked in the slush kept me from scouting today, so I settled for an average spot. The bite was slow and tip up action was the most productive. Hooked my first fish after nine and my second keeper at 1:45pm on a tip up while packing up to head home. If you head out of the West launch you will find an ice wall that is a bit difficult to get over and some hidden slush pocket.
Stopped at the Cass Boat Launch after work and fished in 27 FOW straight out of the landing. Caught fish number one dropping my line down minutes into the trip. The bite was great from 4:30pm to 5:00pm and then it picked up just after dark for a bit. I caught fish on bottom early and then closer to dark the bite was up at 16 to 18 feet. Lots of fish on the camera and sonar, no monsters. Caught three fish over 15 and six undersized fish.
Fished the Saginaw River across from the Double Tree Hotel after work today. Setup in 38 FOW at 4pm and fished till dark. The best bite was from 4:20pm to 5:30pm on slick jigs tipped with a full minnow. Marked fish from the bottom up to 20 FOW. Hooked two fish that were keepers and five that were undersized.
Saturday afternoon we made a trip back to Budd Lake to try and find a big walleye. We started at the South end of the lake and fished up the West shore without much luck. While scouting we found a few pan fish for dinner which made the trip great. The pan fish were in 18 to 23 FOW on the bottom. Saw lots of fishermen on the Southeast shore and on the point.
Budd Lake 18 to 23 FOW
Sunday morning we made our annual trip to Arnold Lake. We scouted and fished from 9am to 3pm without any success. In the morning we started out at the boat launch and drilled the East shore from 10 to 55 FOW and only found a few very small perch. Then we worked around the South shore and back along the West shore using the camera, sonar, and fishing without any luck. At noon we headed to the deepest part of the lake and found nothing. On our way around the North end we found life when we were checked by the DNR officer cutting across the lake on his way to Long Lake. Overall, Arnold is not the lake it was in the late 80's. The lake association has started planting fishs which should help in the year to come.
Arnold Lake - Drilling lots of holes on the sunken Island.
Made it out on Houghton Lake for the first time this year and had a great time. We fished on the Northeast side of the lake straight out of the launch to avoid some of the tip up town traffic. After a lot of scouting we found a good weed area in 11 FOW. We caught fish on jigs and tip ups from 2pm till dark. Hooked seven walleyes with only 3 keepers.
Pan fishing action was very good on Budd Lake last week. We drilled lots of hole around the lake and ended up finding a good school of pan fish in 23 FOW on the North end of the lake. The bite was great and we sorted a lot of fish to get dinner.
