Houghton Lake 2/28/15

Houghton Lake

Fishing Crew

Had a great time fishing on Houghton Lake.  We headed out of the South launch at noon and checked areas in 10 to 12 FOW as we headed north.  The fish didn't cooperate and we ended the day with zero fish.  We saw a few walleye today on the camera, but they weren't interested in eating.  

Good Luck...

Houghton Lake 1/31/15

Houghton Lake West Shore Tip Up Walleye 10 FOW

Saturday afternoon we fished the West shore from 2pm -6:30pm in 10 FOW.  The bite was very good from 3pm to 4pm and then it dropped off.  The perch in the area kept our tip up flags up and kept us busy resetting.  Overall we caught one keeper walleye, a perch, and a few throw backs.  Had a fun time fishing and having dinner on the lake.

Good Luck...

Houghton Lake 10 FOW

Houghton Lake 1-31-15

Houghton Lake 1/30/15

Houghton Lake 10 FOW Tip Action

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.  

Good Luck....    

Houghton Lake

Houghton Lake Tip Up Walleye 10 FOW

Houghton Lake Lots of Wind 1-30-15

Houghton Lake West Launch

Houghton Lake 1/14 - 1/15

First walleye of the day.  Lindy Slick Jig

We fished the East Bay of Houghton Lake on Saturday and Sunday.  The ice conditions were better then expected after all of the warm weather last week.  We found 8 to 9 inches of ice in all of our fishing area this weekend.  Saturday we headed out one mile and fished along the West shore of the East Bay in 8 to 10 FOW.  The fishing action was ok at best and we ended up hooking two walleyes, one bass, and a load of small pike.  The best bite started at 3pm and ended by quarter to five.  Both of the walleyes we landed were hooked on Lindy Slick jigs tipped with small blues.  Sunday started out slow and cold.  At the start of the morning we added about 25 new holes in 10 FOW and setup to do some ice trolling.  The first round only produced one small pike and a few weeds.  After a break and a quick warm up in the shanty I made a second at pass at10am and found the fish active the bite very light.  The net result was three missed fish and two hooked walleyes lost at the hole.  We fished hard the rest of the day and monitored our tip ups only to end up hooking a few small pike.  I talked to several fishermen on Saturday and Sunday that were fishing closer to Burger King and they reported small pike and a few walleyes.  Overall we had a great time enjoying the cold weather and hunting for walleyes with our friends.  If the cold weather continues this week we will be moving out of the East Bay and heading West to fish better walleye areas. 

Good Luck...

 

Slick Jig

Mark with a catch and release bass hooked on a tip up 8 FOW.

Riches new creation.

Jason with his very first fish caught through the ice.  26-inch
pike hooked on a tip up in 10 FOW.



Warming Up

First fish hooked in the new shanty.

Ice Trolling Setup

 

Weekend Fishing Report 2/3 - 2/5

Houghton Lake Sun Set

Saginaw River (2/3) Fished the river Thursday afternoon South of Hooters in 23 FOW.  We hooked nine walleyes in two hours all 12 to 14 inchers.  On my way out to my fishing area I found several areas that only had about 2-inches of ice which was a bit alarming and odd for as cold as it has been.

Houghton Lake (2/4)  The fishing was very good, but the snow drifts and slush conditions made traveling on the lake difficult.  We fished the NW side of the lake in 9 FOW from 7am - 7pm.  The best bite was on tip ups set 18-inches off the bottom with small gray minnows.  Overall we hooked eight walleyes, four keepers, two pike and lots of perch.

Pratt Lake (2/5):  Headed to Pratt Lake on Saturday and found lots of deep snow and slush.  Fished the SE side of the lake in 9 to 15 FOW and caught lots of pike and bass, but no walleyes.  

Rich and Butch Tip Up

Houghton Lake

Saginaw River Micro Walleye

Saginaw River

Scouting Pratt Lake in the Slush

Houghton Lake Walleye Report 1/21/11

Video of a walleye checking out the Moxi Minnow. 

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

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"

Houghton Lake Walleye Report February 2009

Here it was another 20 degree day on Houghton Lake. We started fishing on the east side of Houghton lake on top of a 10 foot deep weed bed were we found crappies and a variety of bass on the camera. Fished from 4pm to 6:30pm with the use of the bleeding nose jigging rapala and size 1 do jiggers. We threw back 5 large mouth bass, 1 small mouth bass, 6 undersized walleyes and 11 pike. Good luck and tight lines.

Houghton Lake Walleye Opener

The 2007 Houghton Lake Walleye Opener was unlike the past years of sorting pike and walleye. We fished two and a half days and didn't put one walleye in the boat.

Over the weekend we fished the north side in 8FOW with 55F water temps the south side along the Elks club in 7FOW with 51F water temps the East Bay and other random spots we have marked on our GPS and only produced pike and bass.

Depending on weather condition early in the year we use a few different methods for catching walleye on Houghton Lake.

• Jig heads with leeches and half of a Berkly Gulp body. (Used around structure areas)
• Jig heads with only Berkly Gulp. (Used around structure areas)
• Trolling with 3" Bomber on North Shore 6 - 7 FOW. 1.8mph 70- foot back 8 lb test.
• Dragging Storm Deep Storm ThunderStick 20 - 30 foot of the side. (Used when drift is .7 to 1.3 mph)
• Trolling North Shore off the edges of the old river bed. Use a variety of body baits, but Rapala Tail Dancers are the best.
• Slip bobber with leeches or minnows and then casting crank baits when fish are located.
  

After visiting and revisiting many of my favorite fishing locations and only landing pike I started using my Aqua View camera to locate new fishing areas. During my observation times I only viewed two small walleye which made me rethink my fishing plan for my next trip. Along with our bad luck the other two boats in our fishing group did not catch a single walleye either.

I love fishing Houghton Lake and it's by far my favorite lake to fish walleyes on in central Michigan. I'll be back on Houghton Lake Tuesday after work and will report back.