Boardman Lake Traverse City

[JustMissedem]

Just looking for some general info on Perch fishing in Boardman lake. Only been in area for a year, and havent been able to find good perch fishing. I hear it can be good (at least in the past). Are the deeper flats on the south end pretty good?

[Doeslayer]

I have often wondered about boardman when i have driven by.... joefromTC would be the best bet hes an ice fishing angel of wisdom

[tvlle]

I have fished Boardman lake for 60 years as I live only a few blocks away. I have caught a few nice perch but most are on the smaller size. In the winter when they get deeper they will likely die if they are small. I have seen Brown trout, Rainbow, Bass, Walleye, Rock Bass, Perch, and a ton of hammer-handles (pike) come out of the lake. The biggest that I have taken was a 28" Rainbow and a 27" Walleye. The lake may improve since the dams have been removed upstream and the fish can move around and the water temp should drop a little. I would fish the drops that have some weeds.

JR

[Joe in T.C.]

Ice fishing can be productive on Boardman.

The north end (deep end) of the lake in front of Hull park, The Library, and the boat launch is where most people start.

The people fishing closer to shore are usually fishing pike.
Like tvlle said,  lots of hammer handles, but there are some nice ones in there as well.

Note on Boardman lake: Up to 5 Northern Pike of any size may be taken with only 1 greater than 24” allowed in the daily possession. (page 14 Michigan fishing guide)

The shacks out deeper are mostly fishing perch, again lots of little ones, but there are also some nice ones in there.

There are some gills and pumpkin seeds as well, but in my experience, the rock bass outnumber them.

Towards the middle of the lake in 20+- fow the few anglers that make the trip are fishing for walleye, I have caught some decent walleye, but access is an issue and it's a long walk from Hull Park.
You can go off some parts of the bike path, but that's also quite a walk down the path to an access point. I haven't checked the new BLT park and kayak launch, but that could be an option as well.
When we were teenagers we used to go off Cass on the west side of the lake but you need to backpack in since it's quite a steep bank, I'm not sure if that's allowed anymore.

I haven't iced any trout on Boardman, but have caught them there in the open water season.

The South end is shallow with weeds, but access off Medalie Park and walking north to a bit deeper water might work well but I haven't tried it.

Good Luck All