Budd Lake Fishing Contest 2/19/12



Dennis & Chachi 

The 2012 Frost Bite Open Fishing Tournament had a big turnout and a great day for ice fishing. My nephew Chachi and I got on the lake at 6:45am ready to fish. Our first stop on our way to registration was at Riches sleeper shanty to meet up with Millais and Rich for the tournament. They moved their shanty to the South shore Saturday night after a two day stay on Houghton Lake. The sleeper shanty experience has added another level to ice fishing all together. Fishing started at 8am and we were setup on South shore along with lots of other fishermen. Things went well early and we hooked all of our pan fish by 9 am. Then we worked the rest of the day trying to find a walleye or a pike to complete the stringer. Everyone in our team and as far as I could see fished hard without ever producing a fish. It turned out to be one of those days and we ended up hooking lots of pan fish, but no big fish. At weigh in no walleyes were caught and the winning team of Mark Reinkee and his wife won the tournament with 9 lbs, one pike and a 10 pan fish. Another fun even made possible by Kens Landing and the Harrison Chamber.

Rich and Chaci fishing 12 FOW

Great ice fishing weather

Budd Lake Ice Conditions 12/31/11



Budd Lake

The ice condition are not good on Budd. Open water and slush. 

Budd Lake & Pratt Lake Report



Pratt Lake Blue Gills



Friday was the last day of ice fishing for Mark and I, so we decided to put in a full day looking for anything that would bite.  We started out on Budd Lake at 6:00am on the South shore in 14 FOW.   We saw lots of small blue gills, bass, and several nice walleye on the camera.  The action started at 8:11am when we had our first flag (lost it) and then at 8:40am a big walleye came in and checkout my jig before swimming off. The North wind picked up at 9:00am and I was cold, so went out and I did more camera work.  I checked out the flat areas and found two big walleyes laying on the bottom half buried in silt which was a sign that the bite was going to be slow.  I had to leave the lake at 9:30am for a quick meeting with a customer which kept me off the ice until 1pm when I met back up with Mark at Pratt Lake.  We started on the West side of the lake and checked out three areas that normally hold walleyes and after an hour of looking at empty water we packed up and moved East.  On the North East shore we found two walleyes and lots of blue gills in our first set of holes, so we decided to setup and try the area.  We had fourteen flags, four missed fish, six bass, and the rest were pike.  The blue gills fishing was hot and the fish were scattered from the bottom to 3 foot under the ice in depths of 7 to 16 foot.  Total pan fish action we hooked twenty three keeper gills for our dinner.  Mark and I spent the last three hours of the day jigging for walleyes and trolling all of the open holes in search of a big walleye without any luck.  The bite finally slowed down and so did we and at seven thirty another great ice fishing season for came to a close.

Good Luck....



Moxie Minnow, Bro Bug, Gulp 1" leaches, Sting'r Hooks




Pratt Lake Tip Up Action



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..

Budd Lake Fishing Report 12-31-10

The weather is warm and raining, but the fishing on Budd Lake has been very good today.  Tommy caught a nice 13-inch crappy at 2:30pm in our new spot and the fishing is starting to heat up.  We plan on fishing till dark, so we'll report back later.

-Mark & Tommy