Author Topic: Gull lake (Read 57079 times)

sweetdad040 · « **Reply #420 on:** Feb 23, 2015, 06:24 PM »

Quote from: smeltbuster on Feb 23, 2015, 05:22 PM

That is exactly what my brother thinks, is happening. I put the TOP of my light, about 2' under the bottom of the ice. Fri. night I did pretty good, Sat. night was very slow, & we had 3 Alumi-Glo 2400's in our area. A few weeks ago, w/ the same 3 lights, we all did pretty good. I do believe that getting away from everyone else & using 1 light, may be a major factor to success. Sat. nights are usually my lowest catch # nights, but they are still fun, due to the friends that I get to talk to. Lots of things come into play here, weather, barometric pressure, NOISE, bait, presentation, colors, how I hold my mouth . Some folks do really good, while others struggle ( my brother & me) . As for me, if I get lucky enough to catch 100 in a night , the next day, when cleaning them, I will be happy I didn't catch more.

I have bad nites every year, but this year I havent even had an "OK" nite, dont get me wrong a bad nite is better then not going, but I havent broke a 25 nite all year. I've been doing this regularly since 2010, I think I have a pretty good idea how this thing should work but this year has been a bear for me. But fear not my time is coming and I'll see a 100 piece bucket again.
I think its the mouth thing, I dont have a cigarette hanging out of it this year........

luckyfish · « **Reply #421 on:** Feb 23, 2015, 06:46 PM »

Anyone take an accurate ice reading out there? Just wondering how much ice was made since my last trip out there!

smeltbuster · « **Reply #422 on:** Feb 23, 2015, 07:09 PM »

There is about 18" of ice, on avg., 2 of my shanty friends drove their trucks out, on Sat. night. Sweetdad, I hear what you are saying , 15 trips for me this year, & my best #s are 101, 96, & 71. Not really complaining, because I give a lot of my fish to folks that cant fish anymore. My wife thinks eating smelt is disgusting, my sons would rather catch pike, so I only need a few for me. There will be a night for you, when the smelt gods are looking down on you, & while you are sitting in that green chair on the open ice, you will have wished that you set up your shanty. Hoping you get to experience fingers so cold, that it hurts. That's a night to remember. For me,... it was 168, at 2:00 a.m.

sweetdad040 · « **Reply #423 on:** Feb 23, 2015, 07:22 PM »

Quote from: smeltbuster on Feb 23, 2015, 07:09 PM

There is about 18" of ice, on avg., 2 of my shanty friends drove their trucks out, on Sat. night. Sweetdad, I hear what you are saying , 15 trips for me this year, & my best #s are 101, 96, & 71. Not really complaining, because I give a lot of my fish to folks that cant fish anymore. My wife thinks eating smelt is disgusting, my sons would rather catch pike, so I only need a few for me. There will be a night for you, when the smelt gods are looking down on you, & while you are sitting in that green chair on the open ice, you will have wished that you set up your shanty. Hoping you get to experience fingers so cold, that it hurts. That's a night to remember. For me,... it was 168, at 2:00 a.m.

Me and the green chair still prowl the open air.

Taco · « **Reply #424 on:** Feb 24, 2015, 07:23 AM »

Guess I'm lucky! Been averaging between over 100 a night.. yellow/green hali and tiny yellow jigs. Red/white spikes or red plastics.

stevenmang85 · « **Reply #425 on:** Feb 24, 2015, 07:56 AM »

Managed to take 1st again this year in the battlecreeksteelheader s panfish tourney on Saturday. Not quite as good as last year but managed 5 lbs 14 oz. 5 crappie with 2 at 14". Awesome time once again!. Left the phone at home so sorry no pics! Plannin on a smelt trip soon, maybe ill see some of ya out there! Tight lines everyone!

luckyfish · « **Reply #426 on:** Feb 24, 2015, 01:43 PM »

Quote from: smeltbuster on Feb 23, 2015, 07:09 PM

There is about 18" of ice, on avg.,

Thanks for the reply! I was out last week Monday night and sat on 10-12" of ice! Was thinking about coming out this week! And was hoping to drive the truck out to 80 90 fow!

smeltbuster · « **Reply #427 on:** Feb 24, 2015, 06:44 PM »

Steve, CONGRATS, You deserve it ! ( are there really 14" crappies in Gull ??)

Hoping to fish w/ ya sometime, but I know how family obligations can get in the way. Luckyfish, there were a few trucks on the ice,this past Sat. night, as far south as the" Hogsback ". Plenty of ice for a truck, I'm told. Hoping to get out Thurs. night, & go for a Long ride , from the north end.

mud_n_fun · « **Reply #428 on:** Feb 24, 2015, 06:59 PM »

It was my 2500 extended cab with a V10 that weighs 8000lbs I drove out there last weekend. The ice is thick enough.

smeltbuster · « **Reply #429 on:** Feb 24, 2015, 07:05 PM »

Who cares about your big truck ? I want your Smitty sled & hub shanty lights !!!!!!!!!!! BTW, waiting for the LEDs to arrive.

smeltbuster · « **Reply #430 on:** Feb 26, 2015, 12:01 PM »

3300, this one's for you

. I am planning on fishing tonight.

3300 · « **Reply #431 on:** Feb 26, 2015, 12:08 PM »

thanks! i was missing seeing it on the front page, like a news paper heading.

hope your getting plenty of fun on the ice! and a BIG thanks for helping others keep the place like it was before they got there. thats HUGE!

smeltbuster · « **Reply #432 on:** Feb 26, 2015, 12:13 PM »

You & me need to fish together sometime. That is, if you don't mind catching small #s of smelt

3300 · « **Reply #433 on:** Feb 26, 2015, 12:25 PM »

name it and i'll join you!
i can get you on a private lake, lyon lake in calhoun. the numbers are all over the board tho.
mostly gills, some perch, crappie and every year or so a stray eye shows up.
never been on gull other than as a kid in our family chriscraft cruiser made of wood.
always wanted to try for smelt. my uncle used to go there to smelt dip.

let me know when.

smeltbuster · « **Reply #434 on:** Feb 26, 2015, 11:05 PM »

3300, I will shoot ya a PM. As for tonight , I fished w/ my brother, & he outdid me again, this doesn't happen very often, but 2 trips in a row

. Anyways, he's got enough smelt, to have his kids & grandkids come over for dinner, Fri. night.

We fished in 82 FOW, he had 75, I had 46. The bite was good at first dark(

), but then tapered off. Fished till 10:00 p.m., very few parties out tonight. It was -5, when we came in. There is a very good trail going out to at least 70 FOW. I will be back out tomorrow night, probably in 90', or who knows where? Got a Yooper fishin w/ me, & I am sure he will kick my butt. Showed him how to smelt fish, last year, & he learned, way too quick. Marking fish tonight, was very sporadic. Most came 20'- 40' down. Also, she's making ice, prolly around 24' now. Definitely, safe to walk on

. I really need to get some kind of auger , that does the work for me. I will not have access to my laptop, for most of Fri., so if I don't answer PMs, or other posts, please understand.

3300 · « **Reply #435 on:** Feb 26, 2015, 11:35 PM »

sounds like you had lots of fun too!
90 fow! i only fished 65 so far. maybe i'll bring two sonars to see what works best that deep.
the bite was really bad for us and it got cold quick. supposed to be minus 10 tonight and already minus 8.
i got your PM and will call tomorrow.
thanks for the invite!

smeltbuster · « **Reply #436 on:** Feb 27, 2015, 12:03 AM »

One thing that caused a problem tonight, ..... the cold temps, the Polaris did not want to start, on the trip in. She finally fired up & hobbled in on 2WD (operator error).

Average-Joe · « **Reply #437 on:** Feb 27, 2015, 06:16 AM »

Does the parking lot at the north end fill very quickly? heading out Saturday for the first time for smelt

smeltbuster · « **Reply #438 on:** Feb 27, 2015, 06:38 AM »

Quote from: Average-Joe on Feb 27, 2015, 06:16 AM

Does the parking lot at the north end fill very quickly? heading out Saturday for the first time for smelt

It can fill up, on the week-end. Get there by 6:00 p.m.

Average-Joe · « **Reply #439 on:** Feb 27, 2015, 09:45 AM »

Should be there plenty early - going to chase some gills and pike before we give smelt a shot for the first time

smeltbuster · « **Reply #440 on:** Feb 27, 2015, 11:36 PM »

They did some major snow removal today & there is quite a bit more room , at the boat launch. Quite a few people were out tonight, & it was amazingly quiet

. I got off the ice, around 11:00 p.m., & there were still quite a few shanties on the ice. The few people I talked to, were getting them, & they were still biting, when I left. I fished by myself, & ended the night w/ 83, & fished in about 90' of water. If you are walking out, there is a pretty nice trail & the snow is not too bad. As for the ice..... trucks are driving out, & I wish I had a power auger ! Smeltman & friends, good meeting up w/ you, & thanks for the "Apple pie"

. JM, thanks for the demo, time for me to spend more $$$ on this strange, crazy addiction that I have !

Smeltman · « **Reply #441 on:** Feb 28, 2015, 04:31 PM »

I was great seeing you again smeltbuster. And a happy birthday to you hope you have many more for such a great guy

hope to see you on hard water again soon.. Between 4 of us we had around 300. By smeltbuster. And yes it was pretty quite out there.

smeltbuster · « **Reply #442 on:** Feb 28, 2015, 11:10 PM »

Smeltman, Thanks ! You have a great bunch of friends there, to fish w/ & if any of them ever want to fish w/ me, they are welcome to do so

. My brother can drag his own shanty out there & fish

. Sounds like you guys did pretty good . My brother & me fished in 102' of water tonight, & we did what I consider to be, pretty good, he had 84 & I had 91, for a total of 175. There were LOTS of folks out tonight, & lots of trucks & even mini-vans on the ice. We talked to a few different parties on the way in, some did good, some not so good. One guy said his party of 3, got 125 in 70 FOW, so, if you don't make the long walk out, you still can catch fish. We did not start catching fish until 7:15 p.m., & quit , shortly after 10:00 p.m. . Most were taken 20'- 40' down, but the bite started to turn on, about 9:40 p.m., 50' down. "Smelt City" glo-flies & Demon-glow jigs took most of my fish, until the late bite, & then it was just the Hali, that caught fish. For those of you that stop in at Smittys, in Battle Creek, the young kid that works in there (Ian) was fishing w/ us tonight, along W/ his dad & a friend. This kid is a fishing fool & a wealth of information, still waiting to hear from him, but I expect his #s for tonight to be a bit higher than ours combined . Hoping for more reports from others.

Edwards310 · « **Reply #443 on:** Mar 01, 2015, 06:14 PM »

New guy here. Just moved to the kzoo area from up north for work. Tried gull lake sat night for the first time for smelt after reading about it all winter on here. Im hooked. I have a question maybe someone on here can help me with. The d and r sports website fishing report says they were getting some rainbows out there. Anybody know where on the lake they target them at? Lakes so big i dont even know where to start

smeltbuster · « **Reply #444 on:** Mar 01, 2015, 06:53 PM »

Edwards310, WELCOME to "The Shanty"

.as far as rainbows, I have not seen one come through the ice in several yrs. & if someone is catching them, don't expect too much info. All I can tell ya, is wigglers w/ glow jigs, on the north end, in 15' of water, or less. It's been a few yrs. since I have done anything, & it was lakers & browns. I personally would not take too much stock in reports of rainbows , coming out of Gull, but I could be wrong.

Edwards310 · « **Reply #445 on:** Mar 02, 2015, 09:52 AM »

Okay. Appreciate the info.

Smeltman · « **Reply #446 on:** Mar 02, 2015, 08:50 PM »

I was out again last night. Fished in same area as Friday night it was hot and heavy right away. we had to anchor shanty down by the time we started fishing again it had slowed down, never picked up like that again. We ended up with 120 between 2 of us. Their was quite a few people out but it was quit and know one was on top of each

. The way it sounds I should of fished deeper. I will let my friends know Smeltbuster thanks I know their are weekend nights I can't fish and they don't have the good light we have. I sure hope the smelt come in close like other years before the ice is gone. Its a long walk out to 80-100ft

Average-Joe · « **Reply #447 on:** Mar 03, 2015, 11:14 AM »

What's a good entry level green light for smelt fishing? Looking for something that will work but won't brake the bank... Most of what I see has bad reviews

odabe · « **Reply #448 on:** Mar 03, 2015, 12:43 PM »

I just picked up a light called the Green Blob 150 for around $70. Do a search on Google & this one along with other models will pop up.I went with this one because of the 1.7 amp draw. So with a 9 amp/hour battery, I should be able to get close to 5 hours of light from a full charge. It gives off a lot of light, not as much as Smelbuster's light

Hoping to use it this weekend.

BC_ICE · « **Reply #449 on:** Mar 03, 2015, 04:57 PM »

Quote from: Average-Joe on Mar 03, 2015, 11:14 AM

What's a good entry level green light for smelt fishing? Looking for something that will work but won't brake the bank... Most of what I see has bad reviews

Here are a couple of options for an inexpensive start.

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/optronics-nightblaster-fish-n-lite-fluorescent-fishing-light/pid-12085

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_1073748_-1?ICID=CRT:026762419P

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Author Topic: Gull lake (Read 57079 times)