Saginaw Bay last weekend

[tater140]

I took my annual ice trip for an extended weekend to Saginaw Bay last weekend.  I had been up earlier this year for just one day and had a good time and caught some nice fish so I was really looking forward to this trip.  I started out early Thursday a day in advance of my buddy's getting there.  I was supposed to hook up with a local guide to do a ride-along trip where I bring all my gear but just follow him and his clients.  Well I found out at 7:00 am that he decided not to fish that day.  Soooo, I started bumming around the parking lot until I found a few guys that didn't mind me following them out there.  Long story short, we ended up out on the bay around 13 miles.  Setup several times throughout the day and ended up with 5 perch and 5 eyes by the end of the day.  We fished until 8 or 8:30 and let me tell ya I was a little spooked by the time we came back in, there was no one around out there but us.  But we made it across the crack safely on the way in.

Came back out of the Bay City Park on Friday morning with my buddy's and decided not to go quite as far.  We crossed the first crack with a set of 2X8's  (shoulda bought 2X10's).  We decided to fish in a little closer this time.  We fished hard all day and two of us caught our limit.  We stayed out until after dark a while again.  We had to limp in because we had broke a ski on the old snowmobile (I had a feeling it would happen)  We managed to wire it back together and made it back off the ice no problems.

Saturday we got an early start and launched around 6 am out of a different launch.  We made it out around 22 fow and had a real nice morning bite and caught some big ones.  Mid-day was slow and the bite never really picked up for us until right at dark.  Early afternoon the winds started to pick up and the rain started moving in.  After dark I caught my last 3 for a limit in pretty quick succession.  I finally found some after dark success with a spoon that I was able to glow up pretty bright.  I held it in front of my headlight as long as I could stand, and then dropped it down quickly.  The fish would rise up off the bottom as it fell.  If I didn't get bit in a minute or two I was reeling it up and re-charging it.  I think next time I will have several of those spoons and keep them charged up and just switch up rods quickly. 

Sunday we had to pull the plug on the last day of the trip due to the winds.  I saw some posts on other forums of how much that ice moved.  We were on 16" of ice and the crack that we jumped with the quad on Sat. night was open for miles by Sunday afternoon.  The ice sheet blew several miles from west to east and piled it up on the Eastern shoreline.  I was completely amazed that 16" of ice could move that much that quickly.  So if anyone fishes those big waters, the wind is very key to staying safe out there. 

Here is a few pictures from the trip.

[river_scum]

nice chunky eyes ya got there congrats on the successful trip.

[Hexagenia51]

Looks like fun except, crossing that crack on 2x8s! Nice fish though, congrats! Hex

[Spooled85]

Awesome !! Way to go , it's always nice when a trip comes together like that ! Thanks for sharing

[Bronzeback5]

I fished Fri and Saturday off pinconning only out about 6 miles out because I was by myself. Only caught a few each day. Between 2 Saginaw trips and 1 Erie trip a few years back, I find myself not even interested in fishing local lakes in Indiana.  Next year I'm going to try to give myself more than 2 days on Saginaw and plan to be better prepared each time. First thing is getting the Helix mounted on my sled, the phone app does not cut it out on the bay.

[Jigmup]

Great recount of your trip and nice pictures. Awesome when a plan comes together with success and safety!
Congrats!

[abishop]

Great pics how big were those perch JUMBOS. CONGRATS...

[RoeBoat]

Looks like a great trip, thanks for sharing!!!

[tater140]

I think the perch were around the 13” mark. 
Sure wish i would have known you were up there Bronzeback we could have met up.  Sat. We were out of Pinconning as well.  The bite eas mainly early morning and late evening, otherwise we only picked ip a couple throughout the day.
I learned a lot, and def have a fee things i need to tweak in my setup.  First thing may be to change my 4 wheeler shocks.  The wheels dropped out of under it and banged on the stops everytine i went over a decent drift or ice chunk.  Folding alum. Ramps may be nice to add as well. 

[ftwwalleye]

Awesome trip. It was hard working in bay city last year for a week during ice season setting up a new store. Didnt have ATV so the walk I did one night was brutal. I def wanna go again and have a atv

[spencerville]

Awesome, thanks for the recount. I love standing on the ice and the older I get the more I want to travel for get away such as the one you were on. Definitely going to plan better for next year and make a few runs .

[OMIGHTY]

Great looking fish! Big waters always = big problems, whether it be gear, weather or ice conditions. I agree it's Completely amazing how far that ice can move with that kind of thinness. I know it was a awesome time and thanks for sharing some of it with us.

[wallin]

Congrats on a Great and safe trip.
Its on my bucket list for sure.

[wsj_outdoorsman]

Thanks for taking us all along ..............with out the pucker factor of the ice cracks.