Gull Lake; 2019

[2trackin]

   2trackin, Welcome to "The Shanty" ! Pretty slow. Thinking I might be done for the year.

Thank you.

I hope they rebound next year!

[smeltbuster]

Ice report; Baseline rd. has several large pressure cracks, running in every direction. The north end is open, way out, in front of the creek,& over to the bath house, & the rest of the area is sketchy. There are 4-6 shanties out on the ice Right now, in the smelt grounds. Smelt jr. was not brave enough to venture out to see how the ice is  (smart kid ).  Him & I will check it Thurs. afternoon, but I have a feeling , we are done.

[princecraft]

Glad to see you are hanging it up for this year.  Your body deserves a nice break.

[smeltbuster]

Glad to see you are hanging it up for this year.  Your body deserves a nice break.

    I was hoping for at least 1 more "Hike" out to the Smelt grounds this year !   At least I ended the year, sharing my shanty w/ a great guy. Thanks for making the trip up here, just wish we could have got you a few more , to make it worth the trip. Hoping the smelt have a good spawn this spring & the good ole days return soon. Smelt jr. & me will be watching the creek for a "Run", in the next few weeks.

[Smeltman]

Sounds like the fat lady is singing on the north end. It was good to see a few smelt come threw the hole this year  . The lake shows promise for the future. It may take a few years. It was good to fish by you Smeltbuster. See you on the hard water next year good lord willing.

[Fish Killa]

Well what is the consensus on the 2019 winter season? I fished pannies in the bay on early ice and did very well. Then I transitioned to other lakes for pan fish but returned to Gull for pike fishing three times. Caught keeper pike on all three trips. I thought the fish were healthy and fat from what I saw. Not plentiful by any means. The laker fishing dried up so to speak from years past as I never landed a single fish. I have not fished smelt in Gull in at least 5 years so I have no comment there. Have a safe summer to all and fish on!

[smeltbuster]

I fished south bay a few times & did well on Gills 2 trips. Tried for trout, there & nothing. Fished the North end 1 time w/ Smelt jr., for pike & no flags. He fished a couple of other spots on the lake & did well on pike. The areas that he fished are often overlooked by guys on the hardwater.  As for Lakers, I seen 1 very nice & healthy fish that was caught & released. With the new boat ramps being put in on the North end, it pretty much destroyed any chance of trying for trout ,in front of the creek. As for the smelt, they are doing a little bit better than what I expected. We pulled a few through the ice this year, but nothing compared to before the die-off of 2016. There are still a lot of pike in Gull (too many  IMO) , but when you have guys  carpet bombing the popular spots w/ tip-ups, the #s go down. Same w/ the Crappie fishing in south bay. when there are 5-10 shanties out there every night, the #s go down. That area has gotten hammered the past few yrs. , & it can be tough to catch them now. I cant speak for the Bible Conf., as I don't fish there in the winter. As for open water, this past year, my son & me collected over 70  dorsal fin samples from Pike, for the DNR.  There are lots of sub-legal pike in Gull , & I personally hope that some changes will be made to the catch & size limits. It is not uncommon for us to boat 15-30 fish in a few hrs. of fishing ,during the open water season. Lots of big Bass also, both SM & LM.  As much as I like Lakers (my favorite fish to eat) ,I am glad to see that the DNR has put a Hold on planting them for a while. If any of you fish Gull, you need to share info w/ the fisheries division, in Plainwell. They are very interested in what goes on, out there.  Also, if any of you do fish the open water & you see a small pontoon w/ downriggers & way too many rods on it, swing by & say "Hi" !   Phil