Best Walleye Lake

[Sir ION]

Folks,

What lake would you recommend for a novice/first time walleye fisherman?  I did a Canadian fishing trip last year and caught a bunch of walleye.  It was the first time I'd ever eaten walleye, and to me, it is the best tasting fish, and I would love to catch one through the ice.  I know Muskegon lake by me is good, but not fishable as of yet. 

[buddlakemusky]

Houghton lake is the best, followed by lake Mitchell in cadillac

[Muskyrush]

Lake Erie

[Dean84]

Lake Erie

Erie and the Saginaw bay/river... not only best walleye fisheries in the state.. but some of the tops in this nation.  After growing up just down the road from the Saginaw river.. fishing any inland lake for walleye seems like a futile endeavor.

[IceBucky]

lake erie by far! home of buckeye nation

[tazdevil300]

Erie and the Saginaw bay/river... not only best walleye fisheries in the state.. but some of the tops in this nation.  After growing up just down the road from the Saginaw river.. fishing any inland lake for walleye seems like a futile endeavor.

I agree don't have time or patience to target walleye on inland waters.

[thebear]

Well lake erie of course, but unless we get blessed with another winter like last it wont be as good. Parts of erie will freeze and I will fish those parts, the parts that normally freeze are usually bigger walleye vs numbers of walleye. That being said we have pulled eyes from houghton and mitchells; a 22 inch walleye is a very good walleye for those lakes. It's all relative, do you want to catch walleye, or do you want to fight donkeys through the ice.

If erie isn't locked up by february I'll be trolling again before jigging season.

[Sir ION]

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate the advice!!

[WestSideAl8x8]

Saginaw Bay is another good bet. Freezes up long before Lake Erie will.

[Dean84]

I agree don't have time or patience to target walleye on inland waters.

I do catch a few on Mio pond while fishing at the cabin, but it is completely unreliable. On the other hand, I iced 40 in 2 hours on the Saginaw river this morning. Sadly, the biggest was only 13.5..   Ice is still a bit thin to be moving around a lot in search of the schools of keepers.

[Hermin]

While you guys are telling him where the best walleye lake in Michigan is could you let me know where I can go to pick up some gold nuggets?

[RLWagner]

Muskegon Lake

[thebear]

Saginaw Bay is another good bet. Freezes up long before Lake Erie will.

2 weeks and i'll be ice fishing catawba and i'll bet money on that

[wally-eye]

Actually there's numerous walleye lakes in W. Mi. that have very catchable numbers of eyes......


Try this link.......Change year to cover a couple of years.........mark down walleye and then the county you want to fish........you'll be surprised how many walleye lakes are within a 2 hour drive of you........

http://www.michigandnr.com/FISHSTOCK/

[Sir ION]

Thanks again guys!  Can I assume that if I don't have a snow machine, don't bother going to Erie or Saginaw bay?  I work with a guy that said you have to go out about 3 to 5 miles on Erie to catch Walleye.

[Muskyrush]

Lots of guys were walking out last winter and catching limits but if you want the 10-15# eye there quite a ways out there.

[thebear]

Thanks again guys!  Can I assume that if I don't have a snow machine, don't bother going to Erie or Saginaw bay?  I work with a guy that said you have to go out about 3 to 5 miles on Erie to catch Walleye.

Our longest run last year i believe was 8 miles. You can catch them in the 3mile mark, hell i did a 1 mile walk early but the majority of the fish were farther out.

Bottom line with erie is there are spots that will be quality fish and spots that will be quantity fish. You may need to make a pretty good run to get into them. I am not optimistic erie will freeze the the 5-8mile mark this year.

Keep in mind the pressure crack on erie as well is around the 3mile mark. Most walkers do not cross the crack.

[Dean84]

Thanks again guys!  Can I assume that if I don't have a snow machine, don't bother going to Erie or Saginaw bay?  I work with a guy that said you have to go out about 3 to 5 miles on Erie to catch Walleye.

Most of us that dont have a ride out just fish the Saginaw river in these parts. You "could" walk a few hundred yards out at the river mouth and technically be fishing the bay for eyes.  On the river, you can catch eyes a baseballs throw from your car. (assuming you have a good outfielders arm)