Saginaw River 1/31/11

Fished on the Saginaw River near the Boys Club after work today.  I setup in 23 FOW and five minutes later I hooked my first fish of the night which was a 11-inch walleye.  Fishing action was great, but all of the fish were in the ten to fourteen inch range which is a great sign for the fish population.  I had the camera down and did see a few keeper fish, but no luck hooking them.  Overall, I caught and released twelve underside walleyes in my two hours of fishing.   The report at work is that the big fish are out 7 miles in the bay at the plug. 
Good Luck...

Saginaw River

Walleye checking out the bait



Micro walleye #1, walleye on the camera



Micro walleye #9

3" magnum Report

Saginaw River Micro Walleye

Saginaw River "Mirco Walleye"

Rich with a Mirco Saginaw River Walleye

Friday afternoon on my way up to the hot hunting spots secret cave
headquarters I stopped by the saginaw river for an hour of fishing in front
of the cement factory 3/4 mile down stream of the zillwakee bridge. I
dropped my camera down and saw walleyes of all sizes the entire time I was
there. I saw no less than 50 fish in an hours time and the only ones I could
get to bite were 3 micro walleyes. I wasn't sure what they were at first
until I saw that dorsal fin and goldish color and I laughed at the fact that
I caught these fish on 3" minnows.
Saturday we fished Houghton lake and had a great time with Dennis, Holly
and tracker the walleye lab. The bite was really lite with most action on tip
ups and 1 undersized walleye on a flying minnow dressed with a minnow head.
Sunday my dad and I went to Pratt Lake and fished a drop off in 8 fow
near a weed bed on north end of the lake with no bites on our jigging rods and
3 flags that produced 1 15" pike.
Next Friday the HHS pro staff will be executing a sneak attack on the
unsuspecting walleyes on Houghton lake with a good sized group of
fishermen,women and lab with the capability of setting many tip ups.

Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/29/11

Rich and his first ever Tip Up Walleye

We had a great day of fishing with some old friends out on Houghton Lake today.  We hit the lake at 8:00am and started fishing in 8.5 FOW with tip ups and jigs.  Fishing was hit and miss most of the day with lots of flags and short strikes with only a few hooked fish.  Watching the camera while jigging most of the walleyes we saw came in looked at the baits and then moved on.  Best color today was purple and the most action came from dead sticks and tip ups. Overall we hooked four walleyes, one small pike, and two perch.  The lake was super busy today with tons of sled traffic, fishermen, and a nice visit from the DNR.  

Good Luck....

Nice Perch on a Dead Stick Setup

Holly and Tracker taking a break in the shanty

Den, Butch, and Rich taking a lunch break

Walleye at 2:45pm

Hi HotHunting,

Matt Robison commented on your note "Houghton Lake






















Walleye Report 1/29/11".

Matt wrote: "Great job! I fished there on 1/28 from 7am till 7pm. Never had a bite till our 4th move around 4pm. 10 fow with lots of fish moving in on the graph. Unfortunately my camera battery died by this time so was not sure what the marks were. Ended up landing 3 undersized walleye and loosing 2 at the ice. We were getting lots of hits but couldn't hook up. Thought for sure we were on the school of walleye but ended up being rock bass. Caught lots of em. Is that normal for walleye and rock bass to be in the same area? From 4pm till 6pm we had lots of marks on the graph and hits. Any thoughts on this? Im still learning houghton lake walleye..:)"

Southeast MI Report - By Rich

I've been fishing and scouting a lot in the southeast region and have found little success for me or anyone else that I've talked to. Brest bay is frozen over and safe to ride your 4 wheeler or sled at least out to the point and probably further if you test the ice as you go. I took my sled out last saturday and had 9" of ice out to the point. No fish were present except for shad. The marinas in gibraltar have been producing perch in open water but nothing to write home about. Gibraltar bay is slow as is lake erie metro park marina.
I'm heading up to the Saginaw River on Friday afternoon to try it out. I will be fishing on Houghton Lake on Saturday with our northern crew!

I'll keep you posted.

Rich Brower
SE Michigan Field Supervisor

Saginaw River 1/27/11

Fished the Saginaw River after work and had a great time looking at fish.  I got out on the River at 4pm and setup in 17 FOW and started fishing with jigging rapalas and a minnow.  The area I was fishing had 7 inches of good ice and lots of walleyes.   I saw over 30 walleyes, but I couldn't buy a bite tonight.  Most of the fish came in looked at the bait and then moved on.  I'll be back on the River Monday and will report back.

Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/23/11

Tip Up Walleye



I arrived at the lake at 8:00am the thermometer read -13.  Excited to fish the new spot I mapped out the night before, I got out into the cold and unloaded all of my frozen gear.  After a bit of work getting everything started and packed I took off on a three mile trip to the NE.  I followed the route on my GPS out to my fishing area and realized that the area didn't have any signs of other fishermen.  Excited about the area even more I started drilling holes along the contour.  Stopping for a minute to enjoy the morning views I noticed lots of steam rising out of the new holes which is not a sight you see everyday.  The fishing action was very good all day  (9am - 3pm) and I saw lots of walleye, perch, and pike on the camera.  My first walleye was under size and he hit on a ghost bug and a small minnow. I caught six walleye jigging and one on a tip up with only one keeper.  The bite today was a bit of attract and then finesse.  I had a few fish swim in then just look over the bait and move on.  By the end of the day I was jigging a Darter in one hole to get the fish into the area and hooking them with a small jig and a wax worm on my second pole.  This was a odd bite for Houghton and without my camera I would have never figured the fish out.  The area I fished today was loaded with 14-inch walleye which is great sign for the future.  



Undersize Walleye Minnow / Flying Jig



Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/21/11

Video of a walleye checking out the Moxi Minnow. 

Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/21/11

Moxi Minnow Walleye

It was another wonderful morning of walleye fishing on Houghton Lake today.  My dog Tracker and I were on the ice at 6:30am setting up the shanty and drilling holes enjoying the cold full moon morning.  After a bit of work we were setup and fishing by 7am.  I started out fishing with a Blue / White GHOST BUG by Northwoods tipped with a 3-inch minnow.  Just before sunrise I had my first strike and a few minutes later I hooked a very nice walleye and lost him when he came off the hook halfway up the hole.  After light I turned on my fish camera and watched the second walleye I hooked.  I also watched him swim off after I lost him when my 6 pound leader broke at the barrel swivel.  At around 8:45am the action really picked up when I changed over to the Moxi Minnow.  The first drop I hooked a 14 inch walleye, then about twenty minutes later I hooked a 15 inch, and a 11 inch micro walleye later.  Early on the fish hit hard on the slow natural presentation and then after light the more aggressive flashy and loud presentation brought in the fish.  Tip up fishing was slow, one walleye and one miss.  Overall report, hooked seven walleyes two keepers, lost two keepers, three undersized.  Saw four walleyes on the camera that didn't bite, lots of perch and one pike today.  Lures tried out today:  Moxi Minnow Perch - caught lots of fish, recommend this bait when you need to attract fish to your area.  Ghost Bug - great with a minnow, excellent when fish are in the area and you need a natural presentation.

Second Walleye Moxi Minnow

Micro Walleye Moxi Minnow

Testing: Ghost Grub, Jiggle Bug, Moxi Minnow

Tracker Staying Warm

Cold and Windy Day On Houghton Lake

Pratt Lake Fishing Reprot 1/16/11

Spent the afternoon on Pratt Lake fishing for walleyes and blue gills.  We found a big school of blue gills in 10 FOW at noon, but we couldn't make them bite on any of our setups.  The fish were not active and while I was checking holes with the camera I saw two big bass laying on the bottom in 15 FOW which in my mind was a good indicator that fishing was going to be slow.   We had seven fishermen in our group today and the total catch was one 22-inch pike, one bass, and nine blue gills.  Their was also about 40 fishermen on the ice on the East side by mid afternoon and we didn't see on tip up flag in the big groups of shanties or much action.

NE Side of Pratt Lake



Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/14/11

   

Walleye on a Tip Up video clip.

Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/14/11

Tip Up Walleye

We had a great time fishing Houghton Lake today. Started out at 7am in 8.5 FOW and caught our first walleye by 7:30am on a tip up setup with a small minnow. The morning action was good and we caught a few undersized fish and six pike before noon. We tried lots of setups and most of them caught fish today. Overall the best action was on small spoons and minnows jigged off of the bottom. I tried out the new Northland spoon in the morning and hooked two perch, one small pike, and zero walleye, so the testing will continue. The best fishing time for us was 12:40 - 1:30pm, during that time period we were very busy hooking fish. Mark had a great day fishing, but had his favorite jigging pole ripped out of his hand and pulled down the hole about an hour before dark. We will be out later this week and we'll be looking for the pike that is hooked to Marks fishing rod.

Good Luck...

7:30am First Walleye of the Day




 

Perch on a Northland Moxi Spoon

Houghton Lake Walleye Trip #2

Mark and I are heading up to Houghton Lake in the morning to try and improve on our walleye game.  Last Friday we found lots of fish but couldn't buy a bite.  In preparation for tomorrows fishing trip I stopped at Northwoods on my way home and bought a few dozen walleye minnows for a buck a dozen (great deal) and a few new Northland Jigging spoons.  I've read a some good reports about the new Live Forage Moxie Minnows by North

land Fishing Tackle and figured I'd pickup a few to try out on HL.  If the minnow works as well as the sales video does I'll be limited out by 7am.

9&10 News - Fisherman Spears Massive Musky In Burt Lake

9&10 News - Fisherman Spears Massive Musky In Burt Lake

Saginaw River

Cass Avenue Boat Launch looking South

I took a trip to the Saginaw River at lunch this afternoon to checkout the ice conditions.  Went over to the Cass Avenue boat launch and it shows signs of fishing activity.  I walked out on the river and checked a few of the holes and found 3 to 4 inches of ice.  If the cold weather continues I'm going to plan on fishing the river Thursday after work, so I'll have a better report then.  If you go on the river  be careful because the conditions change everyday.

Good Luck...

Cass Avenue Boat Launch Looking West at the old bridge

Cass Avenue Boat Launch Looking North

Pratt Lake Fishing Report 1/9/11

Chachi Checking Holes

We took the all of the kids over to Pratt Lake this afternoon to try our luck with the walleyes.  The weather was great and the kids were pumped to be out on their first fishing trip of the year.  We setup on the North East side of the lake in 8 FOW along the breakline.  After drilling holes along the contour lines, Chachi and I did some camera work looking for fish.  On our third hole we saw a two bass and quite a few nice blue gills, we marked the hole and move on.  A few holes later in 8 FOW we found a nice walleye, so we decided to setup and fish.  The  fishing action started out fast with four flags in the first 15 minutes, two misses, one bass, and one 23-inch pike.  In the shanty Chachi hooked a small pike early on a jigging spoon and saw a total of five walleye swim in checkout our baits and move on.  We tried lots of presentations, small minnows, wax worms, spoons, but no luck.  The fish were in the area, but just like Friday we couldn't buy a bite.

Good Luck...



Flag in 8 FOW NE Side 

Houghton Lake Fishing Report 1/7/11

 

Perch on a Tip Up

Yesterdays fishing trip on Houghton Lake was a great time. We arrived on the West side of the lake at 6:50am and setup on our first spot of the day. The plan was to fish 7 to 8 FOW on a flat I found this fall. At 8am we caught a 10-inch perch on one of our tip ups, but other then a few small perch the area was not active. At 10:30am we moved about a half mile to a deeper location (10FOW) drilled about 30 holes and started scouting with the camera. The new area looked good and had lots of green weeds. While scouting with the camera I saw six walleyes and two pike while looking over the fishing area. We setup our shanties put out six tip ups and then started jigging. After three hours of hard fishing we had caught five more perch, three small pike and zero walleye. Determined to hook one of the walleyes we saw on the camera we continued to fish the holes, but couldn't buy a walleye. I saw lots of nice walleye on the camera while jigging in the shanty, but I couldn't find a presentation that would trigger a strike. After a day full day of fishing we had to accept the fact that it was just one of those days that the fish did feel like eating and if I didn't see the walleyes on my camera I'd think we were fishing in a bad area. We fished till 6:45pm hoping for a late bite but no luck. Total for the day on the West side of the lake 7 - 10 FOW, we caught 12 perch, hooked seven small pike, and no walleye.


First Fish Of The Day









Perch on a Jigging Spoon

West Side Setup

Budd Lake Fishing Update

We fished the South end of Budd Lake on (1-2).  The fishing action was very slow, but we did find lots of small perch and a few pike.  We were looking for walleye in 8 to 17 FOW along the break, but got skunked. 

The weather was cold and windy, so not many guys were out fishing.  We did get a visit from the DNR and the officer told us that he had checked several lakes in the area and did see many fish.  I had a nice talk with the officer and he told me that he has seen some big walleyes taken out of the lake in the last two years, which is why we always spend a few days ice fishing Budd. 

New to the Budd Lake boat launch is a sign with a lake map and depth contour.  The map is really nice, quite accurate and adds a nice touch. 

Good Luck..

Planning For Houghton Lake Walleye Trip

 



Lindy Darter "Tulibee"

Were heading up to Houghton Friday morning to spend the day chasing walleye.  Earlier this year durning the open water season I found lots of new "potential" ice fishing areas and I'm super excited to get out and try them. 

The plan is to hit the West side of the Lake at light and then moving around checking out spots on our way to the North East side of the lake for the 3pm till 7pm bite.

Most of us will be jigging with Lindy Darters and setting a few tip ups with walleye rigs.   I'll be using the Golden Shiner and Tulibee 1 3/4-inch.  These are great lures and they really hammer the HL walleyes. 

I can't wait till Friday morning when we finally get back on Houghton Lake.....  Good Luck!

Lindy Darter "Golden Shiner"

Lindy Darter Tank Demo At St. Paul Ice Fishing Show

Lake 13 Fishing Report

Lake 13 Ice Fishing Setup (Mark, Tommy, & Scott)

We fished Lake 13 yesterday. This is the first time I fished this lake and I have to say I can't wait to fish there again. It didn't take us long to find the fish and it was pretty steady all afternoon. We fish in 4 to 8 FTW with most of the action in 4 FTW on tip ups baited with shiners. Over all it was a good day on the ice and we went home with a nice batch of pike and perch.

-Mark



25-inch Northern caught on a tip up.