Long Lake (Traverse City)

[Scheu]

A couple of buddies and I are heading up to Long Lake (South of TC) the 3rd week of this month. We have never been up there. We will be ice fishing with a local, but any helpful info and ice fishing tips would be appreciated.

[Wgorby]

I've fished it a few times....seems most fish around the islands, follow the tracks.  Long walk....brought a quad one year, too much snow so we couldn't get out there.  Heard a report yesterday saying the walleye are finally keeper lengths as in years past they have been sub 15".  Good luck!

[Simek86]

This is definitely a lake where Navionics comes in handy. There are some crazy contours. I usually target between 18-32 fow depending on what I am after. I typically look for a shelf or a flat with drop offs nearby.  In that range you should be able to find perch, pike, and walleye. In my experience the perch and walleye run small. On the other hand, my best perch to date and best walleye to date have come from that lake. I would agree with wgorby, head out to any of the islands if you can.

[Scheu]

Thanks for the info. I have seen some monster sized perch come out of that lake, but did not know how tough they are to catch.
Our TC local guy says that the bite is better on Cadillac right now. That is where he has been going. All of that could change in the next couple of weeks.

[noskydaddy]

Any reports if guys and gals are fishing it yet?

I'll be in TC this weekend, looking for good ice.

Thanks in advance.

[Simek86]

Long has ice, but definitely take a spud. I was on 4" of white ice the other day, and then last night went to a different part of the lake that had maybe 3". Its been under 20 degrees for the last 36 hours - so it should be making some. But its going to rain tonight. The bite has been pretty terrible for me so far this year. Be careful out there.

[Scheu]

I have heard the same thing from my friend up there, that Simek86 posted. The bite has been tough on Long lake. We are still going to head up there in 2 weeks. Looks like cold weather should be consistent after the rain goes through. Might be fishing some smaller lakes up in that area if the bite doesn't turn on for Long Lk. Thanks for the reports.

[gkidsnfish]

Fished Long this morning, from 8:00 am till noon; three perch and one short walleye. Walking conditions were terrible due to the 4 inches of water/slush, topped by a foot or more of snow, so we did not get too far from the landing.  7" of ice underneath it all, but tough to get through.  Marked very few fish.

[Hoosier38]

I was on Long Lake for the first time and fished 4-6pm.  3 short walleye.  Very tough getting around!

[Simek86]

I think I've already ended my relationship with Long this ice season. I have spots marked all over that lake and none of them have produced keeper fish - or even many small fish. Something weird is going on out there this winter.

[Scheu]

I very much appreciate the updated reports. That's unfortunate that Long is just not producing, but we are still heading up to that area, tomorrow. My friend's Uncle, who lives up there, has been out scouting this week for places to fish. He should be able to put us on some fish in that area. If you guys are interested, I have seen a lot of posts about Skegemog. Looks like the guys are doing ok with the perch, there. 

[noskydaddy]

I was in TC last week and saw guys fishing Spider and Arbutus, along with Skegmog.
I visited each lake.

[gkidsnfish]

Any ice condition update form Long Lake? Wondering if there are any machines are getting out?

[Scheu]

Last weekend the DNR posted notices to keep off of Long Lake. When we were on it last Thursday, the ice was not very good. 3 " of clear ice under a lot of slush. I cannot imagine that the conditions have improved any, since the temps have been fairly warm.

[gkidsnfish]

Thanks for the heads up! Did not know of the DNR warning.

[Simek86]

I'm pretty sure those big orange DNR warning signs are always there on Long - even when there's 2 feet of ice. I fished it 2 nights ago. That top layer of slush seemed to have hardened up, as you could mostly walk on top of it. Total there was at least 6-7" off of Crescent. That's ironic because every walleye I caught was roughly that same size. I have not seen any machines out there.

[Joe in T.C.]

I wasn't able to fish this weekend, but I did a drive-by on Cresent Road and did see a couple of sleds on the ice.

X2 with Simek86,  those orange signs go up every year and remain all winter as a reminder.

In some years, not all, long will have open water and/or thin ice in some areas for the whole season.






Good Luck All