Manistee County Fishing Report

[200S]

Awesome! Let me know.

[pikeslayer83]

Hey waterwolf42, how did the fishing go on Saturday? Get into any pike yet?

[waterwolf42]

Hey waterwolf42, how did the fishing go on Saturday? Get into any pike yet?

Cold and windy on Saturday.  The wind was pushing the snow around and there were 2 foot drifts out there.  Kinda hard to set the tip-ups.  A group that I know was fishing the shoreline around Eagle Point in the morning before the winds picked up and did land 4 keeper pike between 27 and 33 inches. 

[WallyMaster]

I have been fishing portage lake these past two weekends for walleye with no success. Mostly using swedish pimples and jiggin rapalas. Anyone have any tips on what to use in this lake for walleye or good location?

[waterwolf42]

I have been fishing portage lake these past two weekends for walleye with no success. Mostly using swedish pimples and jiggin rapalas. Anyone have any tips on what to use in this lake for walleye or good location?

As for location, I'll give you my top 3.  First, just north of the villiage launch.  Get off of the Glenwood restaurant in anywhere from 18-25 feet of water (but I have seen them on cam in much shallower water while I was chasing perch).  Second, the north shore west of the M22/Portage Point Drive intersection.  Again, try 18-25 feet of water.  Third, along Andy's Point (or called North Point on some maps).  As this point extends out into the lake, there is a very sharp drop to the east of the point (you can drop from 6 to 30 feet in a matter of a baseball toss).  The north side of the point is a more gradual drop as it eventually drops off into the deepest part of the lake.  All 3 of these spots have produced for me in the past at different times of the year, with the second (M22/Portage Point Drive) being the most consistant producer all year long. 

As for baits, Swedish pimples in a pearl color are a good bait of choice, switching to a glow after dark.  But......the bite is usually the 1/2 hour before sunset and after dark.  It is hard pressed to catch any consistant walleye during the day. 

Hope this is of help for ya! 

[WallyMaster]

Thanks a lot for the tips. I will certainly try out these locations and let you know how I did.

[pikeslayer83]

Any luck for the walleyes?

[waterwolf42]

1/19 UPDATE

PORTAGE LAKE:  Good ice all over the lake, even on the west end by Lake Michigan.  Pike are being taken, but most action is on the outer weed edges.  The dark houses are getting kinda slow for the most part.  Some are doing better than others, but the overall average is down from the start of the month.  Perch fishing is also picking up.  I have heard that there are still a lot of little ones, but most are getting a bucket full of keepers if they move arond and find the schools.  Have not heard too much on the walleye bite.  I will get more info after this weekend, and hopefully after I get a change to give it a try. 

BEAR LAKE:  Good reports of nice crappies just before and after dark in and around 18 fow.  A friend of mine brought home a limit earlier in the week, with all between 10 and 15 inches.  Great slabs for sure! 

CHEIF LAKE:  The ice is finally getting back after the warm up a few weeks ago.  A good 7 inches under the snow and slush.  After this weeks cold spell, the slush should harden.  A friend fished here on Tuesday and had 8 flags in the 2 hours before dark, and landed 7 of them.  All undersized but one at 25 inches.  Crappies are strating to bite well after dark also along the south shore dropoff.  Not as huge as the ones on Bear Lake, but they are keepers.

MANISTEE LAKE:  The lake seems to be iced up pretty good, with the exception of the Big Manisee River outlet.  Pike, perch, gills and crappies have been biting at different times. 

Tight lines and Fisn On!
~WaterWolf42~

[waterwolf42]

Any luck for the walleyes?

Have not tired yet.  Plan on doing so as soon as the old lady lets me out of the house 

[pikeslayer83]

Yeah, I hear that. I checked out that pike filleting video. Pretty sweet. I had a buddy go out down in my neck of the woods. Caught a 24 and 29 inch pike. Im still waiting for the time I can get out  not sure when that'll be. Anyways have fun and rip some lips.

PIKESLAYER83

[waterwolf42]

UPDATE 1/25/11

Fishing was kinda slow around here this past weekend from the group of buddies and contacts I talk with on a daily/weekly basis.  I think with the cold temperatures and the front moving through, fishing dropped off a little on most lakes around here.  I know I spent most of my Saturday plowing snow for the neighbor and removing snow from the roofs!  

PORTAGE LAKE:  The perch fishing is steady, but finding a group of good ones is still hard.  I have a friend that fishes out there for them 3-4 times a week and said that in the deeper part of the lake, they just are not there.  He is moving his shanty to the 30-40 range tomorrow for the next week of fishing and will be trying that out, so I will keep you posted.  Still no word on any significant walleye bite.  There are a few menominee comming in the deep water as well.   

BEAR LAKE:  Talked to a student of mine (I'm a school teacher) that fishes this lake a lot with his brother, and he said this past weekend was slower than usual.  In 2 days of fishing the evening bite, they only landed 1 walleye & 2 small pike.  My other group of friends that fish the lake for perch and crappie had bad luck this past weekend as well, getting just enough for one meal in 2 days fishing.

MANISTEE LAKE:  I have not heard much coming from that way, so if anyone has a good report, let me know.  There is ice in town along the big river outlet, but I have not seen anyone fishing out there.  Usually, the steelhead bite starts to turn up as we get close to February, as long as the ice is safe.  

CRYSTAL LAKE (BENZE COUNTY):  I know its not in Manistee, but this is the only good report I have heard.  The ice is safe along the east end of the lake, and the perch bite seems to be very consistant.  Even those not getting into them fast and furious seem to be at least getting about 20 "keepers" to take home, mixed in with a few smelt.  

Tight lines and Fish On!

[pikeslayer83]

Waterwolf: Hows the fishing been thru the shack? I wanna get up there so bad and spear a nice big northern. Have you done much spearing yet? Do you use live bait or a decoy? When I speared down here we use decoys and have found them to work better than live bait. Perhaps it draws pike in because it looks different than a shinner or chub?? Id like to spear in late Feb or early march when the big fat females are getting ready to spawn. Aight man I gotta head off. Keep me updated and save some pan fish or pike for me when I come up to visit.

FEAR NO FISH!

Pikeslayer83

[waterwolf42]

Waterwolf: Hows the fishing been thru the shack? I wanna get up there so bad and spear a nice big northern. Have you done much spearing yet? Do you use live bait or a decoy? When I speared down here we use decoys and have found them to work better than live bait. Perhaps it draws pike in because it looks different than a shinner or chub?? Id like to spear in late Feb or early march when the big fat females are getting ready to spawn. Aight man I gotta head off. Keep me updated and save some pan fish or pike for me when I come up to visit.

Well, I'll keep a few in the lake for ya then.  I fished Cheif Lake tonight and caught 16 pike, but the largest one was only 19 inches if that tells you anything.  The kids had a blast chasing the flags, but no keepers for the frying pan.  Another group was fishing crappie and gills to the inside of us.  They landed a nice mess of them and took home a nice dinner.   Brent went out to the shanty tonight and said the lake is covered in about 8-9 inches of thick slush on top of the ice.  Makes for a great walk.  He took the GPS with the lake map on it and found the end of a horseshoe point and moved the shanty to there in about 15 foot of water.  He said it looks good with 25 feet of water just a stones throw away, and a few humps to the inside of him that come up to 10 feet.  He did not spear anything and did not have any flags.  Plan on hitting it hard on Saturday or Sunday weather permitting.  Hope to see you in a few weeks.

[pikeslayer83]

Waiting patiently for the fishing report??? Heard there was some entertainment at Rosie's

[200S]

Have never been in Rosie's but a guy I work with goes there every Wednesday for karaoke, He tells me its the place to be if you are in the area. I live in manistee and there are plenty of bars here so i never go out that far. I will drive up there to fish though. Fishing in manistee continues to be slow. Went out Sat, for 5 hours and the same, small perch. got 6 keepers in 5 hours. i wasn't fishing for Pike, but word is that they are running on the smaller side, like 15". Someone seen a couple of 30"ers come off the ice. But this is just word of mouth from a local bait shop.

[hooknhorn]

Portage- How's the snow and slush ? Any area's to avoid ?


I'm running a sled
thanks in advance

[lakeeffect]

Portage- How's the snow and slush ? Any area's to avoid ?


I'm running a sled
thanks in advance

I was on protage both Sat and Sun. Had sled and found that if you slowed down you would down into  the slush and water on top of the ice. I would circle a couple of times and stop in my tracks, this made it easy to get started again. I helped push a quad out that got stuck. Most of the people going out walked and were having a tough time getting out. Fishing was on the slow side, a lot of dinks but 3 of us managed 30 (perch)good keepers from 9AM to 4pm. About 8" of snow with 4 to 6" of slush and water below that, but good 8" to 9" of ice.

[waterwolf42]

2/5/11 UPDATE

PORTAGE LAKE:  I did not venture out on Portage today.  Hit a different lake instead.  The word out is that perch fishing is starting to pick up a little, with more decent perch being caught.  Still have to move and hole hop to find them, and then sort through the small ones.  The lake herring bite has been very consistant, with a few whitefish mixed in.  Also, many in the dark houses are seeing and getting some nicer gills.  They are starting to show up in the shallows, but no-one seems to be just targeting them.  No consistant word on the walleye yet either.  The ice conditions are very good, but lots of slushy spots for sure.  Three different quads got buried out there yesterday, and the local fire/rescue unit had to go out and get an old timer that could not make it out. 

ARCADIA LAKE:  I have not heard of anything good at all, except for the occasional pike.  A friend of mine has a shack on the lake and is not doing so well spearing, and seeing only small perch in the hole.  Maybe some consistant weather will turn things around.

BEAR LAKE:  I fished out there earlier in the week, just before the storm.  There was a good 2 feet of snow on the ice in all spots, and 6 inches of slush under that.  They are getting a few crappie and walleyes at or near dark along the north shore and west middle grounds.

CHIEF LAKE:  I hit this lake today with my 7 year old boy and a friend of his.  Three inches of ice, 3 inches of slush, and 10 inches of ice under all of that.  As usuall, killed the pike, with over 20 flags and landing most of them in 3 hours of fishing.  Nothing over 22 inches, but lots of fun for the kids chasing the flags. 

[jhookj]

Fished Manistee Lake on Saturday.  The fishing was only decent.  We caught a lot of small perch and only kept 3.  There is good ice without slush which is a major plus.  There were a lot of guys out there, but the story seemed to be about the same.  I had a flag that kept going up but I couldn't put any thing on the ice with it.  The biggest crowd seemed to be over by Penny Park.  Are the fish biting better over there?

[waterwolf42]

  The biggest crowd seemed to be over by Penny Park.  Are the fish biting better over there?

Don't know if the bite is better over at Penny or not.  I have not heard much, so I assume no.  Penny usually gets hit a little harder because of the easy access and better pike fishing.  But the few reports I have gotton out of Manistee is that the pike fishing has also been kinda slow. 

If anyone wants a change of pace from the hard water, the Manistee River has been pretty hot as of late for Steelhead.  I don't know about the Tippy Dam area, but further down river has been pretty good from the boat fleet.  Seems most everyone is getting fish that is heading out. 

[pikeslayer83]

waterwolf, have you done any spearing yet? I think I will be able to come up early March. When do the shakes have to be off the ice?? Hope you have a good weekend of icefishing if you get out.

[waterwolf42]

waterwolf, have you done any spearing yet? I think I will be able to come up early March. When do the shakes have to be off the ice?? Hope you have a good weekend of icefishing if you get out.

With sick kids and work, I have not been out fishing in about a week.  I did make it out today to jack up the shanty on Portage.  The ice is 14 inches thick on the west end where I'm at, no slush at all!  And little snow either.  Was easy to walk and drive the sled out.  I do plan on hitting it this Saturday and Sunday, but the kids want to try some smelt fishing on Crystal, so I don't know if I'm going to be doing any pike fishing or not.  The shacks have to be off the lake March 15, so make it up by then and we should do good. 

[waterwolf42]

2/13/11 UPDATE:

MANISTEE LAKE:  The crappie fishing is the hot bite right now.  Penny Park on the east side of the lake is the target area.  The bite has been mostly in the evening and night, but people are getting nice ones throughout the day.  Occasional pike are being taken, but have not heard of any real "lunkers" yet.  Ice is 'good' on the main lake and steelhead fishing is picking up.  Spawnbags working well.  But with the warm weather coming and the rain also, get out now before the mighty river opens things up.  If it does, I'll be out there this weekend pitching spawn from my boat. 

PORTAGE LAKE:  Better perch fishing is starting to happen in the deeper parts of the lake (over 40 feet).  My buddy hit a nice bucketfull yesterday (all 9-12 inchers), but had a hard time getting anything going this morning.  I fished yesterday afternoon for 6 hours without a single pike or keeper perch, but I was not moving around.  As for walleye......try a different lake.  The consistant bite is just not there.  Some nice gills are also coming in the shallow weedbeds, but they are hit and miss.  If you find them, they are good ones.

BEAR LAKE:  This seems to be the lake for the walleye around here this year.  Not huge ones and not limits, but the most consistant action, mixed in with a few crappie and perch.  Still, the east middle grounds and the northwest part of the lake seem to be the most consistant action.  I have not seen anyone fish the west middle grounds area, but that has always been a good spot in years past.

CRYSTAL LAKE BENZIE COUNTY:  If you are looking for perch, all I have heard are good things coming from this lake.  Where I work, many of my students and staff members are getting "eaters" everytime they go, as well as a good smelt bite in the evening.  One student of mine did really good on the lakers in 150 fow this past week as well, with a nice 4 pound rainbow as a bonus.  If you are looking for perch, this might be the most consistant action in this area, for the other lakes are just as not as consistant this year. 

[crosscobra]

2/13/11 UPDATE:

MANISTEE LAKE:  The crappie fishing is the hot bite right now.  Penny Park on the east side of the lake is the target area.  The bite has been mostly in the evening and night, but people are getting nice ones throughout the day.  Occasional pike are being taken, but have not heard of any real "lunkers" yet.  Ice is 'good' on the main lake and steelhead fishing is picking up.  Spawnbags working well.  But with the warm weather coming and the rain also, get out now before the mighty river opens things up.  If it does, I'll be out there this weekend pitching spawn from my boat.  

PORTAGE LAKE:  Better perch fishing is starting to happen in the deeper parts of the lake (over 40 feet).  My buddy hit a nice bucketfull yesterday (all 9-12 inchers), but had a hard time getting anything going this morning.  I fished yesterday afternoon for 6 hours without a single pike or keeper perch, but I was not moving around.  As for walleye......try a different lake.  The consistant bite is just not there.  Some nice gills are also coming in the shallow weedbeds, but they are hit and miss.  If you find them, they are good ones.

BEAR LAKE:  This seems to be the lake for the walleye around here this year.  Not huge ones and not limits, but the most consistant action, mixed in with a few crappie and perch.  Still, the east middle grounds and the northwest part of the lake seem to be the most consistant action.  I have not seen anyone fish the west middle grounds area, but that has always been a good spot in years past.

CRYSTAL LAKE BENZIE COUNTY:  If you are looking for perch, all I have heard are good things coming from this lake.  Where I work, many of my students and staff members are getting "eaters" everytime they go, as well as a good smelt bite in the evening.  One student of mine did really good on the lakers in 150 fow this past week as well, with a nice 4 pound rainbow as a bonus.  If you are looking for perch, this might be the most consistant action in this area, for the other lakes are just as not as consistant this year.  

Great reports!!
Hey bud have u seen ice shanty's other website
http://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/index.php?board=24.0

you should check it out.... That's were everyone migrates to after ice out

[1WstMich.Fishermn]

  Thanks for the Reports... I will be up there this week end...Hope the Warm weather does not change the Bite....Again Reports are greatly Appreciated.....

[Grunt]

Yep - really enjoy the reports.

Coming up this Friday, wondering how it is up there after the big thaw and then the big snowstorm ?

[waterwolf42]

2-22-11 UPDATE

Hey Grunt - The ice is good all over.  Shore ice is breaking up a bit in some places, but solid and thick ice everywhere.

MANISTEE LAKE - The real story is the steelhead fishing.  I took my tuck in for a little tune up this past Friday, and the guy that works on it was late getting to his shop.  When he did get there, he had 8 beautiful steelhead in the back of his truck.  All between 4 and 9 pounds.  He and a few of his buddies hit Manistee Lake and killed them.  He said the only safe ice he found near town was by the big boat (city of Milwaukee), and it was only 3 inches thick.  Fished spawn under a bobber in the hole about a foot off of bottom.  Said he lost as many as they landed.  Looks like a good run coming up in the next several weeks.  As of yesterday, the lake was breaking up, but still not nearly enough to get a boat in.  They are still fishing off of Penny Park, and saw several shanty's out there.  The pike fishing this past weekend was slow out there, but the crappie bite is still steady.

BEAR LAKE - This seems to be the walleye lake around here this year, since Portage is just not producing a steady supply of fish this year.  You're not going to get a wall mounter, but fish in the 2 to 5 pound range are common.  Grays on tip ups seem to be what most are using and getting their bites on. 

PORTAGE LAKE - I put in a lot of time out here this past weekend, without much luck.  I did manage to get into some nicer perch, but still had to sort to get 20 keepers in the 7 - 9 inch range.  I was fishing near the outlet in about 20 feet of water.  The ice looked kinda spooky, but there was a solid 10 inches under me.  I had a buddy out there with me fishing the deeper part of the west end of the lake.  All he caught was dinks, but did catch a 6 pound pike on a tip up, 5 feet off bottom in 60 foot of water.  No pike on the tip-ups at all for me.  The pike fishing is really slow right now.  I hope it picks up since March is right around the corner.  A friend of mine did catch a nice walleye in 40 foot of water on a tip up mid day, and a 13 pound pike from the same hole on Friday.  This is not the first report of nicer fish being taken from the deeper reaches of the lake.  If you head out to deeper water to try for perch, put a tip up down, for the larger fish seem to be deep right now.  A spearing friend of mine did tell me that Sunday, the fish were really moving and for the first time he was seeing some nice perch in the shallows (10-14inchers).  His shanty is on the south east corner of the lake, and the gills were showing up nice as well.  Without a jigging rod, all he could do is watch. 

CHIEF LAKE - I also fished out here this past weekend and did really well on the small pike once again.  I was after crappie though, and did not manage to find them.  Another group was also out there after them, and had about a dozen in their bucket, but the bite had already turned off once I got there.  They did not catch anything after I got on the lake as well.  I guess I'm just bad luck.

BAR LAKE - This lake is about 130 acrs. just north of Manistee.  The lake does not have a size regulation on pike, and you can keep up to 5 per person.  Most of the lake is about 5 feet deep, and a small creek feeds out of the lake into Lake Michigan.  I did get on this lake for the first time this winter Saturday for a few hours with a few kids I took out.  Landed 5 pike between 18 and 23 inches.  Fun action for the boys and a nice meal for them as well.  There are some nicer gills in the lake also, but we did not go after any of them.

There was good ice on all of the lakes as of this weekend (with the exception of Manistee, near town).  With the cold nights and only about 4 inches of snow from the last storm, the fishing should be good well into March if it keeps up.  The shore ice on most of the lakes is breaking up a little, so just be safe if you head out with a quad or snowmobile. 

[Grunt]

Thanks for the update Wolf.

We ended up staying down south cuz my buddy said we couldn't get in to his Dad's cabin till they got a loader in to clear the trail out.

But we did end up in the slabber gills all weekend -hate to see it go but ya got to love the fishing when it gets down to last ice time 

[1WstMich.Fishermn]

Thanks for all the updates this Season they are Greatly Appreciated....Keep On Fishing and Good Luck to You...

[Sliver Sidejob]

Wolf don't tell me it over already? Great report all season. Looking to go some time soon for one last stand on Portage.