2008 Upper Peninsula Walleye Fishing Trip

Our fishing team headed up to Curtis, Michigan on May 19th for a week of walleye fishing on Big Manistique Lake and one day of fishing Autrain Lake.

The weather was colder then normal and the North wind never stopped blowing. Water temps were below normal and ranged from 50 - 54 degrees F everyday. All fishing methods produced fish, but the bite was slow. Best walleye of the week was 25 1/2 inches caught on a blue and silver tail dancer trolled back 55 feet on 8 pound. Total trip we landed 39 walleyes and 4 small mouth 3 lbs +. We had very our best success with blue and silver tail dancers and bomber. The other hot color was brown / red on Storm Jr. Thundersticks.

As always we had a great week fishing Big Manistique and our stay at the Buck Horn Resort was great.

Take a Kid Fishing!

May 9th, 2008

The other half of the fishing team produced some good fishing action for the kids.

We boated three keeper walleyes with two more getting thrown back to grow bigger.

We also landed six to seven pike, but by the smiles on the girls faces it didn't matter what we were catching. All of our fish were caught on the south shore in 4 to 6 foot of water and on the south point. Lures that were working well were the 3" Bomber white with red head and black and silver Tail dancers. We plan to be on Houghton Lake again on Tuesday the 13th. I will report back with our catch.

Walleye Report May 8th & 9th

Our fishing team headed up to Houghton Lake on Thursday and Friday night to work our early walleye hot spots.

Thursday night we headed out planning to fish the south point in 6 FOW. On our fist troll we picked up a 14-inch walleye on a blue / silver tail dancer running 45 foot back. Thirty minutes later the wind shut us down and we were forced to move inside the point. We moved in to troll the Elks run in 6 FOW around the wed masses but found a slow bit. We had water temperatures from 55 to 51 which contributed to our slow night of fishing. We fished for three hours and boated three walleyes, nine pike, and one bass.

Friday night we worked our south east point and again got pounded by the wind. The wind was blowing out of the NE and made trolling a serious challenge. We fished four hours and ended up boating five legal walleyes and three 14-inchers.

The early season weather patterns have made Houghton Lake walleye fishing a lot more challenging, but we are continuing to focused on the areas and techniques we know. We will report new way points to try as soon as the weather cooperates.

I'll be in South Caroline for normal work the week of 5-12, so our next report will come from the Crestliner team this Thursday. We will also be taking the week of 5-19 off to fish on our annual UP Walleye Trip on Autrain, Forest Lake, Big and Little Man, and any other walleye lakes that we can find. We'll report soon.

Good Luck! GO FISH HOUGHTON LAKE.....

Walleye Report 5-5-08

Despite the strong Northwest winds Monday night turned out to be an excellent walleye fishing night. We made it out on the lake by 6:45pm and headed out to 6 FOW to work two bumps that normally hold walleyes. Last night was an exception to a few walleyes. We fished for a little over three hours and landed 14 keeper walleyes, lost three, and put back 12 undersized fish.

The water temperature held at 55-degrees F all night and the fishing action was constant. We ran tail dancers (black / silver) 55 back, 3" bomber (red / white) (bubble gum) 60-65 feet back and Storm Thundersticks (White) (Black / Red / Gold) 20 foot off of the front of the boat.

We will be back on Houghton this Thursday night.

Trolling Baits

Early Season Houghton Lake Trolling.
We consistently boat walleyes using Bombers and Tail Dancers trolled 25 to 60 foot behind the boat during the first month of walleye season.

During daylight we like the blue / clear, red / white in bombers. Tail Dancers we use Black / silver, Blue / silver, and Green / silver.

Night troll we prefer Bubble Gum colored Bombers and Trout colored tail dancers.

Walleye Report 5-1-08

We made it out on Friday evening and landed four legal walleyes and one 13-incher fishing 4 to 6 FOW trolling bombers and tail dancers (Blue / Clear) (Trout Color Tail Dancers at Dark). Houghton Lake wed cover is spotty this spring which is making trolling the best production method.

2008 Houghton Lake Walleye Opener

Fishing action was excellent on the first day of walleye season. Despite the cold windy weather the walleyes were in full gear and our morning of fishing was action packed.

We started out the trolling our normal early season walleye area running 3" bombers (red/white) (blue/clear) 55 to 60 foot back and number 5 Tail Dancers (black/silver) (blue/silver) 35 foot back. We fished 4 to 6 FOW all morning and ended up landing six fish one of which had a DNR jaw tag. All of the walleyes we caught looked great and were 17 to 22 inches long a great sign for Houghton Lake.

Water temperatures started out at 54.3 degrees F and slowly dropped all day long. The cold SW wind chilled down the walleye fishing by dark and dropped the water temperatures to 52 by 8:45pm.

Our other fishing team members had a great day too. The total walleye count for the opener was 17 legal walleyes and one 14-incher. I have to also comment on the large number of small northern pike that we boated. In our boat trolling six rods we landed 64 pike, 12 bass, and 12 walleyes which made the bad fishing weather a great time.

We will be out fishing HL on Thursday (5-1), Friday (5-2), and Saturday(5-3). I'll report back soon.

March Fishing Report

I haven't posted a report in a few weeks because I've been busy fishing every lake I can get on.

Houghton Lake Report:

We are still catching walleyes from 4pm - dark using jigging spoons tipped with minnows. Our best spot has been 1.2 miles north east on Layman's Bait shop in 10 FOW. We are consistently landing walleyes, perch, and a few nice crappies.

Pratt Lake Report:

Walleye fishing has picked up. They are feeding in shallow water 7 - 8 FOW right before dark. Using jigging spoons tipped with a minnow. I have been getting a few pan fish but I haven't found the big ones yet. I'll focus on them after walleye season closes on the 15th.

Budd Lake Report:

Pan fishing is on fire. Every tip we make we are limiting out on blue gills, perch, and nice crappy. We are targeting 19 FOW outside of any weed bed we can find. Work the South East end of the lake. Our last trip out we found the walleyes but couldn't get them out of the hole.

Long Lake Report:

Walleyes and crappy are being caught daily on the North end of the lake in 20 - 22 FOW.

Sugar Springs Report:

This like has more blue gills then you can haul in. I fished the Springs two weeks ago and picked up two walleyes, some bass, several pike, and some nice gills. Fish the West end of the like in 10 FOW.

I'll report back on Monday after this weekends fishing action. We will be on Pratt Lake Friday looking for a few big walleye.

Good Luck.

2008 Ice Fishing Fun

2008 Fishing Video Clip.

Fishing Report 2-3-08

Houghton Lake 2-1-08

• Find the weed areas and you will find the fish. Caught three walleyes in 9FOW using a watermellon colored Northland jigging spoon with a 2-inch minnow. Fishing has been the best from 4:00pm to dark.

Stevenson Lake (Clare) 2-2-08

• Our fishing team spent the afternoon scouting and fishing Stevenson Lake without much success. We fished for six hours and only caught a few small bluegills. I used my camera all day and only saw small bluegills and a few bass. The lake has limited weeds and where you find the weeds is where you will find the most fishermen.

Budd Lake 2-3-08

• Perch fishing is still very good. We had to spend about one hour drilling holes and looking with the camera to find a good school of perch in 15 FOW. We caught some very nice fish and had a great time. I still see a lot of guys fishing in front of the power dock and on the north end of the lake.

January Ice Fishing Update

Ice fishing has been very good for walleyes on Houghton Lake and Pratt Lake.



Houghton Lake (1-19)

We fished out of the North DNR launch on (1/19) to avoid all of the Tip Up Town snowmobile traffic. Our team setup 1.2 miles SW of the launch in 10 FOW. We ended up landing seven walleyes with a 20-inch being the largest and a few small pike. The fishing was the best from 2:00pm - 6:30pm using Northland jigging spoons and a shinner minnow. I don't have any pictures this week because I lost my camera on our last Houghton lake fishing trip.



Pratt Lake (1-20)

Fished on the NE end of the lake in 16 FOW and had very good time. I caught some nice crappy and two walleyes. I found a lot of sign that other people have been fishing the same area, but I was the only guy on the lake Sunday afternoon.

Houghton Lake Ice Fishing Report 1-11-08

Houghton Lake has a solid 8-inches of ice with about 2-inches of snow on top as of Friday night. The new snow has made walking on the lake better, but if you are not careful walking you can end up slipping.

We headed out of Lyman's access point and continued out NE for 1.3 miles. When you head out of Lyman's you will see the shanty town we are fishing about 1 mile north of the town off of the point.

The action was the most productive in 10 FOW from 3:30pm to 6:15pm using Northwoods jigging spoons with a whole shiner minnow a foot off the bottom. Tip-up action was slow with only one flag. We ended up catching five walleyes, four big perch, and we lost three fish.

Fishing Report

Houghton Lake

Fished three days on Houghton and had a lot of walleye and pike action. Walleyes are biting on jigging rapalas and jigging spoons all tipped with minnow heads. We have been fishing in 9 to 11 FOW with our best action in the middle of the day and 4:30 to dark. I'll post some GPS way points next week. Pike are being caught in the same areas we are fishing walleyes and I did see a 38-inch fish landed.

Budd Lake

Budd Lake continues to produce perch every trip we make. The fishing pressure is starting to pick up especially near the power dock. I have been finding perch in 14 to 20 FOW and caught a limit every trip. I've been fishing near the state park on the west side of the lake and the south end of the lake. The best setup is a small hook and minnow. Ice conditions are good with about 7 inches.

Long Lake

Long Lake continues to keep its fish hidden. I fished for eight hours and never caught a fish. I fished for crappy and walleye without any luck. We did hear of a guy landing a 11-pound fish on 1-5 at the north end of the lake. Ice conditions are good with about 7 inches.

Pratt Lake

Not much fishing pressure on Pratt Lake. I spent a day traveling the lake fishing for crappy and walleyes. I did see several schools of blue gills on the camera but didn't fish for them. We ended up landing some nice crappy 8 to 11 inch fish and lost one walleye all in 17 FOW on the East end of the lake.

Wixom Lake

Ice conditions are not good so travel on Wixom with caution. I fished in areas that had as little as 2-inches of ice. We fished from day light to dark and only caught two crappy, three perch, and saw one walleye. Wixom Lake has never been nice to me and I find it to be one of the harder lakes to fish in the area.

Arnold Lake

We fished Arnold lake on 1-2 and never saw or caught a fish. I talked with several fisher men on the ice that also got shutout. I've been fishing on Arnold Lake since I've been nine years old and I have only been able to catch pike in the winter time. Arnold is a great bass and crappy lake in the summer and it has a great variety of depths up to 90 feet. The down fall is that the DNR has no planted fish in Arnold since 1980. I'm planning on fishing Arnold one more time in early March.

Budd Lake December 9th

The weather has been very cold here in central Michigan and the lakes are freezing fast.

Normally I'd still be bow hunting for a monster buck at this time of the year, but the deer hunting in our area is down right terrible. I have spent the last two weekends scouting deer and I can't find a track. I also have four trail cameras out in the woods and the only pictures I've got are of three bears.

With that side and out of the way it's time to talk about fishing on the ice. We made it out to Budd Lake on 12-9-07 and found 6 1/2 -inches of ice and no fishermen on the lake. I started out searching in 24 FOW on the rock piles and after drilling about twenty holes I didn't find a fish. We moved into 12 FOW and worked along the sandy breaks and found two big schools of perch. I drilled about thirty holes in a sixty yard area and we went to work catching perch.

We were using 2-lb test a small hook, minnow, and one split shot. On Budd Lake we have good succes fishing with natural bait presentations. The perch fishing was on fire from 1:00pm to 3:00pm and we landed over one hundred fish. The best fish was 13.5 -inches and the average was around 9 - inches.

Make sure you check ice conditions before you walk out on the lake.