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.
Fished the Saginaw River on Friday. Started out in Bay City at the Cass boat launch and fished till 11:30am only hooking one small walleye. Marked lots of fish in 25 to 27 FOW, but no action. Moved to Saginaw at noon and setup in 17 FOW and found lots of fish. Fished six hours in Saginaw and saw hundreds of walleye on the camera moving through, but could not get them to bite. Overall report hooked four fish with two keepers on my trip. When the bite returns the river is going to be a lot of fun.
Went out on a morning trip to Houghton Lake on Friday the 13th. Started out at 7:30am from the west launch and headed out into 12 FOW to scout around for a new fishing spot. After three hours of looking around I found a promising area in the weeds. The wind and weather got bad around 1pm and the bite slowed up. I fished until 4pm and called it a day after the bite came to a complete stop. I did not hook a walleye on my morning trip, but the time spent scouting out new areas will pay off when the weather improves.
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.
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.
If you don't have good ice yet try the Saginaw River. Mark and I fished the river on Sunday (12/21) and had a great time. Lots of young walleye in the river and the bite is great on jigs and minnows. We caught over sixty walleyes most of them 14 inches in four hours of fishing North of Veterans Memorial Park. We kept 5 fish and had a blast.
We made our first trip this season to Houghton Lake on Tuesday (5/5). The weather conditions have made it impossible to get out on the water and for the first time in 20 years I missed the first two weeks of walleye season all thanks to the cold, wind, and rain.
Fishing Report: when we arrived at the lake we had a strong East wind which kept us locked into fishing the South Shore from the launch to the West. We fished from 5pm - 10:15pm in 4 to 8 FOW and hooked six pike and one bass. The water temp was 51F and the weeds are just starting to get going. Found lots of minnow in close to shore which is usually a great sign that the walleyes will be close. The lake is behind and will require some warm days to get the bite back to normal.
Houghton Lake walleye bite was hit and miss on Friday. Got out on the Lake at 7am and setup in 11 FOW on the North West side of the lake. Holes drilling is taking longer now that the ice is 20 + inches thick. The bite was dead early, but picked up at 10am when I missed two fish and saw a few on the camera. At noon the pike bite picked up and we hooked five total with two over 26 inches. Afternoon was slow with one walleye at 5:30pm. Overall fishing was slow, but had a great time on the ice.
Aqua-Vu Micro AV 2 made fifteen fishing trips before breaking. Started fishing with the AV 2 camera on 12/26 and it broke on my last trip to Houghton Lake on 1/26. Not good results at all. The failure was caused by the cable twisting and breaking inside the micro camera. I really like the small compact design for scouting which is a big plus, but the durability of the cable system makes the system fail.
Overall I do not recommend the AV 2 and when I was out looking for a new camera today the fishing rep at Cabela's kind of told me the same thing when he stated that the Micro AV 2 was not made to take hard use. I'm not sure why anyone would buy a fish camera other then to fish with it on the ice in the cold and hard conditions of winter.
Cold and windy afternoon of fishing on Houghton Lake. Fished the NW side of Houghton Lake in 11 FOW today. We moved out further East and found some bigger fish while scouting around. The bite was ok at best from 1pm till dark. All fish were hooked on slick jigs and minnows today. One walleye on a tip up and lots of small pike.
Fun afternoon of fishing on Houghton Lake today. We fished the West shore in 11 FOW from 1pm to 6pm. The bite was good early in the afternoon and slow the rest of the trip. Jigging with slick jigs and spoons with small minnows got most of the fish today. The ice conditions are great with 15 inches or better.
Fished out of the Independence launch down river of the USS Edson this morning. Started fishing at 8am in 21 FOW. I used my Aqua-Vu today and enjoyed watching lots of walleyes swimming around. Early the bite was hot and anything jigged close to the bottom hooked fish. Around 11am the action slowed up, so I downsized my setup to a small minnow on a slick jig worked close to the bottom. This setup worked well until the end of the trip at 3pm. Today I hooked more fish then I can remember with lots being 12 to 16 inches. If I was fishing for a limit the trip would have lasted about two hours this morning. Saw a few big fish on the camera that kept me interested till mid day. Lots of fishermen out on the river hooking fish.
Made it out on the Saginaw River after work today and had a good time. I setup in 20 FOW and started fishing at 4pm. Hooked my first fish at quarter after four and the bite went strong till dark. I landed six fish 15 to 16 inches and lost several. Minnows on slick jigs and spoons with minnow heads worked great. The ice conditions are very good and so is the fishing. Lots of fishermen on the river reporting good catches. Good Luck....
USS Edson
Houghton Lake Report 1/5/14:
Fished out of the West Launch to the NW in 12 FOW on Sunday afternoon. The walleye action was good again with the best bite happening from 4pm to dark.
Made it back to Houghton Lake this afternoon and fished out of the West launch again. I moved to the North West and found a good area in 10 FOW. The action started at 2pm and ended at 4:30pm. The walleyes were very active during the day and anything I jigged worked. If I had any luck I could have limited out. Watching the action on the camera I missed six or more fish and lost one good one when I dropped it down the hole. Tip up action still not good but I did get two perch today. If you are heading out to HL the weeds on the North West side of the lake have been good the last two days. Overall I hooked four 15 inch walleyes and had four undersized fish in a short very cold fishing day. Wish the fishing was always this action packed...
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