Skegemog Lake

[Joe in T.C.]

Fished Skegemog this morning, 27" of ice, no snow on top , easy to pull the shanty.

Started in about 10 FOW and caught lots of little perch. I thought the bigger ones would be in shallow for pre-spawn, but it may be a bit early yet.

I did catch a couple nice smallmouths, one released itself before I could do it. Also had a big pike lurking around scaring off the perch. I moved out deeper to about 20 FOW and caught two 8" perch and more small ones. I wasn't able to sort out a meal for the second time this season.

All in all a great day with great weather.



 7:30  sunrise on Skegemog



27" of ice makes a lot of slush.



20" of the 27" is nice clear ice.



Dead stick the front two holes and jig the the other one, if the waters not too deep.



First perch at 9:oo a.m.



You can see what was chasing off the perch if you look close at the bottom.



Big fighter on 3 pound test, and back into the water right after the picture.



No jumbos today

Good luck all, I think we have a couple weeks yet.

[Muskyrush]

See any skis?

[woody63]

My son just moved to Kalkaska first of the year. We fished it a month ago, did just OK a lot of sorting. Gonna hit it Sunday morning 1 last time, any reports of jumbo's? Not location just reports
Thanks

[Joe in T.C.]

Haven't heard any reports of jumbos yet.

Been doing fairly good on Skegemog  this year, but you do have to sort to get a meal.

last year I got some 12's but this year I have yet to find them.

good luck on Sunday , hope you find them.

[Joe in T.C.]

fished Skegemog today and finally got some jumbos!

Been getting nice eater size perch all year out of Crystal, Glen, Long, and Portage .

Seems like my biggest perch of the season always come out of Skegemog.

The biggest ones came on a dead stick, I think the jig brings them in and then they hit the dead stick.

Another great day to be out, plenty of ice but it will go fast.

[Preacher Chuck]

WOW....nice catch Joe....have cabin right there but live in St Johns....how was the ice specifically and should I make one last trip??  Any others out??  Would not want to be alone I'm thinking??  Interested in hitting it together??

[Joe in T.C.]

The shoreline is a little bit beat up, but you still have a couple feet of ice.

Still quite a few guys fishing, and probably will be until the ice honeycombs.

They are in pre-spawn mode and are staging in and around where they will be spawning. Think medium shallow to shallow water, I got these in about 12 feet.

Today's forecast calls for a decent weather on Friday and Saturday with light rains on Sunday.

I think you should be fine for ice this weekend, But to be on the safe side bring your steelhead rod with you. Boardman River and Elk River are only about a half hour from Skegemog and both rivers are getting fresh "Chromers" in daily. 

Good luck and hope you get into some Jumbos.

[Preacher Chuck]

Thanks Joe....appreciate it!

[woody63]

I may just have to shoot up on Thursday early for the morning. Hopefully the sun does not burn up the ice yet

[Joe in T.C.]

Fished Skegemog today,

April 13th and we still have 14" of ice, but the shoreline ice is getting bad. and more rain on the way.

All the fresh run off and rain has added a lot of oxygen and food to the lake, which in turn made the perch hyper aggressive.

Lots of schools  going through, but the little ones are so aggressive I couldn't get the big ones.   

I was able to pluck off some nice ones last week but not today, ended up with only four that were over 8".

Even pulled my dead sticks and went to a hand line to play keep away and still couldn't keep  the small ones off my bait.

Time to put  the ice gear in storage and pull out the Steelhead rods.

Its been a great ice season, everyone have a nice summer and hopefully we will be back at it around Thanksgiving