Fletcher pond.

[thefishfeeder]

Thinking of going to fletchers pond this ice fishing season. If you've ice fished there , what did you think of it for the fishing and where you stayed. Is it worth the almost eight hour drive? I'd be looking to do this early in January.

[Petoskey]

Been a few years since I've fished Fletcher but I would say there are better opportunities for ice fishing in the northern LP.. from people I've known that have ice fished the lake for many years, it seems to be on the decline. Last time I went I really only caught small perch. Other locals could probably chime in with better advice than me, but if I still lived in Michigan or if I was making a long trek to ice fish that area, I would focus on somewhere else.

[thefishfeeder]

 If you were to look somewhere else , where would you look. I went to Mitchell last year and struck out. Been to Houghton a few times and caught pike. Been to east twin lake and didn't do well there. I'm retiring here soon and this year is my retirement celebration trip. Going to be in January. I'd love to find a good little lake to just catch fish. So anyone with suggestion and don't want to announce it here, message me. Keep in mind I need a lake that does not require a lot of walking since I'm on foot, no machine. So that makes it hard to fish the bigger lakes. I'd appreciate any guidance. Thanks

[Hooked up]

Probably not worth the 8 hour drive. I live in Alpena and don't make the drive to fish Fletcher's pond.

[Petoskey]

I think if it’s for your retirement and you wanna make it special it might be a good idea to just figure out what species you want to target and hire a guide. Would make the trip a little more pricy but it would guarantee that you get on fish. I’ve never done a guide but it’s a good way to get on fish and maybe learn to fish a body of water that you can re-visit in the future.

If guides aren’t really your cup of tea I would look around here and do some research about some of the lakes in the upper lower that interest you and just have a really good plan before you leave. Most of the ice fishing I did when I lived in Michigan was on Lake St. Clair and the Saginaw Bay and a few up north from time to time. I will say, when it’s a good winter and there is good ice on LSC, it’s a good lake to ice fish with pretty good access. You said 8 hour drive to fletcher so I’m assuming you’re in Ohio, if that’s the case I’d say LSC is closer with some solid fishing. Don’t rule out Lake Erie too if it’s a real frigid winter.

[Petoskey]

Also in addition to looking around the Ice Shanty forum for info I’d recommend becoming a member on Michigan-Sportsman. A lot of really good information on ice fishing the inland lakes up north.

[Doeslayer]

If your going that far grand lake is much better in my opinion... There are some really nice perch in there are some good eyes too.... I actually didnt do so great when i went there but a few i know have done really well .... The weekend we went it was below 0 and fish were really lethargic