Wisconsin or Michigan?

[RobertFitz]

So February 8th my lady said I could get a hotel for the night and ice fish for my birthday/valentines gift. Will be going with 2 buddies and 2 kids.(none of which have ice fished so they will be in the shanty almost 100% of the time) So that being said, which state would u choose? I'm keeping eyes on msg boards and will be calling bait shops in advance to check on lakes but will be on foot at the lakes.(dont have the wheeler or mobile registered) Guess just being curious for the more seasoned ice fishermen who have went out of state to ice fish. I'm around muncie so plan on driving around 6 hours.

[R.S.]

go with MI. less time driving more time fishing.  if weather holds out just go to the angola area!

[3300]

i don't travel out of state to fish. i can tell you general ice conditions for now for lower penn michigan, but it's going to be warming up again for southern michigan and some rain. the north has plenty of ice. the south has 4-5 inches with the top being snow ice of about 1.5 inches.
the middle to the west is bad. basically has 1 to 2 inches black ice, 1 to 2 inches water on top, then 1 to 2 inches snow ice on top of the water. not sure on middle to the east.

best to go the state boards you want to travel to and read up or start a topic. plenty of info inside posts already. we have had folks from out of state posting questions that could be useful to you on our board.

were going again today and just got on ice yesterday. was 3.25 inches black ice with 1.25 snow ice and lots of fellow fishermen and families enjoying some ice time. depending on rain and winds and heat headed our way soon, it should be good for a little while. with that in mind if you go north, say above big rapids, it should be your best option. probably about the same in wisconsin. the snow is what messed it up, again, for much of the state.

but in february, it should be much better conditions for both states. mid state should have decent ice in both states and more of it in the southern state. just check the state boards first.

pilgrim village is a popular place in cadillac and have ice reports on their website. they fly a drone at times for eyes in the sky ice reports and have lodging and bait ect and are right on the water and have two huge lakes to fish from.

[RobertFitz]

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. I'd rather stay in indiana but my usual spots (summit, prairie creek) are not a option this year. I've never been up to Angola and from what I can see on google earth a lot of those lakes have houses around it. Need to look more in depth on navionics to find public launches. And Cadillac and mitchell I've been keeping a eye on as well. I've been keeping eyes on the other boards and the weather. I'm sure when it gets closer I'll probably post something on there if I haven't figured it out yet.

[fwcanoefisher]

Yeah that's what I was thinking too. I'd rather stay in indiana but my usual spots (summit, prairie creek) are not a option this year. I've never been up to Angola and from what I can see on google earth a lot of those lakes have houses around it. Need to look more in depth on navionics to find public launches. And Cadillac and mitchell I've been keeping a eye on as well. I've been keeping eyes on the other boards and the weather. I'm sure when it gets closer I'll probably post something on there if I haven't figured it out yet.

This website is a great option to find locations to fish.  It shows all the public access locations.

https://indnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=79b2d75076774c248adcd918f699753e

[RobertFitz]

Thanks, I'll add it to the bookmarks!

[taxi1]

What?! No one wants to drive around Chicago to get to Wisconsin?  Why not? 

[river_scum]

if you make a trip up angola way drop me a PM. I will fill you in on access man.

its melting up here now though.

[RobertFitz]

Yeah I figured when I could actually get out since I have time, it would be melting. Really i just need to check out my new set up with auger/drill i picked up but I'll just go across the street and check it on the farmers pond. I'm assuming that should work for indiana, but will be bringing my gas auger for michigan if we dont get the 6+ by then up near you.

[Scheu]

I was ice fishing n Traverse City MI the last couple of days. That's pretty far north from the Indiana Michigan line, but it was not far enough. There were some lakes that you couldn't get out on because the ice was not safe. Too many layers of frozen slush with thin ice underneath. Its been fairly warm this month up there, and the fish are not in their normal patterns. So the catch was not great. So before you head up north you may want to check the forums for MI and WI. If you have a specific are that you want to go to, you can ask for ice conditions. Have a good trip and good luck.

[Ranger619]

What?! No one wants to drive around Chicago to get to Wisconsin?  Why not? 

You don’t even have to get near Chicago to get to the good fishing in Wisconsin. That’s Gary Indiana you go around to get to Wisconsin !!

[taxi1]

You don’t even have to get near Chicago to get to the good fishing in Wisconsin. That’s Gary Indiana you go around to get to Wisconsin !!

If you know a way to get to Wisconsin from northern Indiana without encountering Chicago or it's suburbs I'm all ears.

[pondbear52]

I just got back from Oshkosh/ lake Winnebago. Highly recommend. The ice was 8-10". There's a bunch of breweries and awesome restaurants if the fish ain't biting .

Everyone up there is b***hin about how terrible the ice is because... THEY CANT DRIVE THEIR TRUCK ON IT which made me laugh

[taxi1]

I just got back from Oshkosh/ lake Winnebago. Highly recommend. The ice was 8-10". There's a bunch of breweries and awesome restaurants if the fish ain't biting .

Everyone up there is b***hin about how terrible the ice is because... THEY CANT DRIVE THEIR TRUCK ON IT which made me laugh

Too funny!

I wonder what the ice is like in North Dakota? I was there in early March once and the ice was 4 feet thick. No problem driving around on it!

[52isntbigenough]

Lake Gogebic in the UP of Michigan would be worth a drive. Monster Perch.

[RobertFitz]

Thanks for the info! I think I settled on Michigan for my trip. Just have to set up the hotel. Thinking St. Helen since Houghton is not far along with other smaller lakes all around there that we might be able to fish.

[steak91]

If you don't have machines then go to the smaller lakes.  You really can't fish Houghton Lake on foot.

[RobertFitz]

Yeah that's what I was looking at when I was checking the depths of some of the lakes in that area. I mean Houghton is definitely big and the areas I'd want to fish would be a hike, but the town also has a walmart and a few other things so seems like it would be a nice base camp for us lol.