New to Shanty/Trip out this weekend

[gofish22]

Hey everyone. New to ice shanty and excited to be a part of it. I am heading to either Independence, Shag, or Greenwood  for Saturday and Sunday. Just want to know how the bite has been since it warmed up a bit? I normally make at least one trip out every week so now that I am finally on IS I will help out with reports where I can. Thanks. 

[Outdoorsmen]

  welcome to IS! good to have you 

[finnbear]

so where did you fish?  and any luck? big or little Shag?

[gofish22]

Yeah been out quite a bit. Right after that post I went to big shag and flags were everywhere. Tons of small-mid pike and strangely 4 bass. Small shag the next day and pulled in a couple trout. Then went to Indy the next week and caught one walleye, Then out to east bass had a couple pike in the morning with some small perch and lost a real nice fish on a tip up. I have been out to Indy and Big Shag a second time since and didn't do real well either trip. I talked to a couple guys in big bay and they said the fishing up there has been really rough this year. Heading out tomorrow morning to gwinn so we will see how it goes.

[finnbear]

Wow - makin me jealous - you really get around... So how about Squaw lake or Deer lake or Greenwood, ever fished those? how about 3 lakes in Michigamme area? I would love to drill some holes at Squaw though, too many lakes, too little time.

[gofish22]

I fished Deer Lake (Ishpeming) in the summer a couple times with good luck but never in the winter. Never been on Squaw before but looked at topo maps of it and liked what I saw just have to make it over there and get some lines in the water. I fish greenwood in the summer quite a bit but I normally only try it once or twice a winter, Good fishing if you have equipment to avoid snags. I hit the ice on foot so it would be real hard for me to fish Michigamme in the winter, not that it doesn't tempt me. I had a meeting in Wausau this last weekend and was driving through Crystal falls area. Noticed there are a lot of lakes that way that I don't think see too many people. I was thinking about heading that direction next weekend but I have little to no experience fishing in the area. If I can dig up some info on Long lake or some other lakes around there I will go that way, if not I will be giving Squaw a try. Too many lakes, too little time describes how this winter has gone perfectly. But hey, at least we have ice. 

[Rippenlips]

Gofish, if ya ever want to hit up squaw and you only have footpower to get ya around, send me a pm and ill tell ya some spots!

[finnbear]

Iron county has some lakes that are real productive. I haven't fished them in years, but one I recall was Emily lake? known for musky - but when my arm got tired of fighting the musky, I fished for monster walleye and some giant perch and did well, this lake is just outside of Crystal Falls if I remember.

I fished Squaw a number of years ago too - but in the summer and did well as I remember. I was just wondering if Squaw was a good one in the winter and if the access is plowed or not. I want to try several lakes in the Marquette County area. I since heard that Deer lake is not goof for catch and keep.

I have caught some monster pike in Michigamme over the years. I have been fishing that lake since I was in my teens some 36 years now. I love the lake in the spring and summer, I have never ice fished it though. I think if you could really spend some time there in the winter you would do very well.

Good fishing all and hope to see you on the water.

[UPHAWKEYE]

If Im not mistaken, the Gwinn Classic is this weekend.

[BiG ARN]

Hey Finnbear.....take me to that Emily? Lake your talking about ...id love to go home with sore arms!

[Rippenlips]

I went to emily 2 yrs ago for musky opener, what a zoo, but ive also fished it when i was the only boat out there, there are some huge musky in there, and huge bass. i never got to fish it for anything other than musky yet, but ive herd about the walleye, and i think theres crappys too. lake chicagon(not sure if I spelt right)  has monster perch musky and walleye too.

[IndIfisher]

Could someone educate me on this Gwinn Classic thing???

[finnbear]

I went to emily 2 yrs ago for musky opener, what a zoo, but ive also fished it when i was the only boat out there, there are some huge musky in there, and huge bass. i never got to fish it for anything other than musky yet, but ive herd about the walleye, and i think theres crappys too. lake chicagon(not sure if I spelt right)  has monster perch musky and walleye too.

I am sorry to hear that Emily lake has become so popular, I think I last fished it 7 or 8 yrs ago and we had the whole lake to ourselves. Hey ARn, it's just outside Crystal Falls if I remember right, but if it gets that much pressure now - I bet the musky have learned to be very careful about what they attack now. I fished Chicagoan lake a couple times but always for musky - I have not given it a try for anything else. I still want to hit twin lakes here in my area and Copper harbor and a couple other lakes before the ice rots. I also want to hit little shag and greenwood and another Mqt county reservoir I have been hearing about - can't remember the name or even where its located... sorry. But I am looking forward to a couple more ice fishing outings before it's time to dust off the kayak.

[gofish22]

Reading all that has me ready to hit the road this weekend. Prolly going to go down to squaw friday afternoon. Then head to Emily on Saturday. If the fishing goes well I will stay in the area an extra night and fish Sunday. I will report how it goes when I get back. Thanks for the advice everyone. Also, all of that muskie talk prompted me to tie up some new bucktails for spring. Pretty excited to let a few muskie tow around my kayak this year haha.

[UPHAWKEYE]

Could someone educate me on this Gwinn Classic thing???

It had its first derby last year and you could fish any lake in Forsyth Twp.  I found out last night they will not be doing it this year....bummer.

[finnbear]

Reading all that has me ready to hit the road this weekend. Prolly going to go down to squaw friday afternoon. Then head to Emily on Saturday. If the fishing goes well I will stay in the area an extra night and fish Sunday. I will report how it goes when I get back. Thanks for the advice everyone. Also, all of that muskie talk prompted me to tie up some new bucktails for spring. Pretty excited to let a few muskie tow around my kayak this year haha.

The people that live there are pretty protective of Emily lake - so fish with respect and do your best to release the big ones without harm. The lake is pretty small and has a decent population of musky - but that is only if people take care of it. What kind of yak do you use? I have a Pro Angler and the Native Marvel angler, one pedal power and one paddle power

[gofish22]

I try to be respectful everywhere I fish and I rarely keep fish anymore unless a perch or two look particularly delicious. But normally I am a photo fisherman. I have a Sound 100 XE that I modified into a fishing kayak. I mounted adjustable rod holders behind the seat and a tackle holding tray to the front deck. I have recently been thinking of adding a slide-out side net with a flotation device so with larger fish you don't have to pull them out of the water to remove the hook and can take pictures without putting more stress on the fish. I am just not sure how to go about it yet without causing drag in the water. Both of those kayaks look great! I think I looked at buying the Pro for a bit, it seems perfect for fishing. Unfortunately, it was not perfect for my plan of saving money for a new truck haha.  Good luck fishing this weekend everyone!

[Outdoorsmen]

I WANNA GET IN A BOAT! AND GO DROP SOME LINES!

[gofish22]

Amazing trip but not entirely due to the fishing. I went out to Squaw and caught a couple pike, a bass, and some small pannies on saturday morning/afternoon. Then drove up and fished Emily in the evening with no results. Camped outside of Emily (Northern lights were amazing out there) and got back on the lake real early. I got on the perch pretty quick and even caught a couple decent sized ones. It seemed like I was doing better than most people on the lake, most guys weren't catching anything. No action on the tip ups out there at all. I went over to Chicagon to see if the fishing over there was any better. I saw a couple guys on some perch but I didn't get a thing all afternoon. Nothing on tip ups at all. Overall it was great to get out there and check out some new places but the fishing aspect of the trip was rough. I will have to get on some water I know and catch some fish to get the pride back up before next weekend haha. I appreciate the help everyone and I will make it back over there before the season is over to give it another round. But I will be heading the other way to Munising area and Autrain basin this next weekend.

[backwoodswalker]

You are walking all over my stomping grounds I live just south of Witch Lake and fish Squaw, Emily, Witch, Horseshoe and Twin all the time. You name it- I catch it in these lakes. Emily gets more and more crowded but mostly just tourists in summer. Witch is hardly ever fished for some reason. Squaw is hit pretty hard in summer, Has a nice campground on it. DNR closed the one on horseshoe so it should get better as nobody fishes it again.  Twin is the best place to take kids. You can catch 6" to 10" perch all day long. There are some nice trout in there too. That lake is deep for its size. I pull perch up fron 40' with thier air bladder sticking out there mouth. There is another lake behing Twin called Hogan. You have to prtage in to there. Right side of channel is state land so dont lets signs bother you. This area is a fishermans paradise. Arn, If you are looking for Emily, Just take M95 south about 30 miles south of Koski corner and you will cross railroad tracks right before channing. You will see sign on right for Emily. Impossible to miss it. Access is through Bible Camp so be courteous.  Steve   

[gofish22]

Haha I didn't mean the fishing in area is bad at all, I just meant I don't think I have learned enough about it yet to get on the fish during winter. ( I also think you are talking about another "Emily" I am referring to emily between crystal falls and iron river.) The lakes were wonderful and everyone I met along the trip was great. I did notice nobody was out on witch and almost went out there just to give it a try. I will most likely not be returning to Emily because I was talking with a local who fishes there and we were watching about 4 trucks drive the entire lake stopping, drilling holes, running sonar, then driving to the next spot, sonar, if there was fish they would tap 12 holes, fish them until they stopped catching fish, then pack up and move. I am not one to judge others fishing styles but I could tell the guy was bummed by it. I figure Emily has enough pressure for its size so I will find another choice for next time.

[finnbear]

Haha I didn't mean the fishing in area is bad at all, I just meant I don't think I have learned enough about it yet to get on the fish during winter. ( I also think you are talking about another "Emily" I am referring to emily between crystal falls and iron river.) The lakes were wonderful and everyone I met along the trip was great. I did notice nobody was out on witch and almost went out there just to give it a try. I will most likely not be returning to Emily because I was talking with a local who fishes there and we were watching about 4 trucks drive the entire lake stopping, drilling holes, running sonar, then driving to the next spot, sonar, if there was fish they would tap 12 holes, fish them until they stopped catching fish, then pack up and move. I am not one to judge others fishing styles but I could tell the guy was bummed by it. I figure Emily has enough pressure for its size so I will find another choice for next time.

Yes, there are actually several Emily lakes in da U.P. The very first reply was to a guy looking for fishing lakes in the Crystal falls area, I just remembered hitting the Emily lake there many years ago. I am bothered by the pressure on the lake now - but have too many other lakes to fish that I don't need to go back. I have heard about the one with the bible camp on it too - Splake have been planted there and I hear it's a good one - yet I have not made it there. I get spoiled fishing the Keweenaw and Houghton counties, I was all alone on Otter lake this past weekend. I fish a lot of lakes up here and rarely see more than one or two others.