The Ile Camera
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Winter returns and Michigan ice fishermen rejoice
By Mike Zielinski, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: February 2, 2007
After what seemed like a two-year absence, it appears winter is once again visiting southeast Michigan.
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And you know what that means — ice fishing!
We've all heard the jibe that ice anglers are simply masochists, fulfilling some deep psychological need to punish ourselves. Well, what better time to prove them correct?
Real ice fishing is far more serious than that. The expectation of pan-fried perch, walleye or bluegill fillets resting on a paper towel next to a double handful of golden brown fries and a cold bottle of beer helps intensify the concentration level of any ice fisherman.
And with almost limitless possibilities in southeast Michigan, especially on Lake St. Clair, the run is on!
Ice fishing can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it. A $3 plastic bucket to carry bait, plus another to carry rods, hooks, extra clothes and other items, also works as a great seat. Fishing gear is simple and a pair of ice fishing rods already set up with hooks, bobbers and sinkers can go for as little as $3.
Getting through the ice to the fish is a different matter, but often there are many abandoned holes for you to try. Try borrowing an ice spud or auger until you decide you enjoy it enough to make the move to buying one.
A quality hand auger can be had for about $75 while a power auger can run into the $350 range. Be sure to also buy something to remove the ice from your hole. A simple plastic strainer retails for less than $5 and can be used by everyone.
Warm clothes, boots and gloves are a given.
While the northern parts of the state have longer ice fishing seasons, the angling pressure isn't nearly as concentrated as in the southern third of the state. A multitude of fertile inland lakes supply diverse opportunities in addition to the vast fishery available along the Great Lakes shoreline.
Yes, our southern ice fishing season is often short, but no less intense. During some winters, safe ice lasts only about six weeks. Often the finale for safe ice fishing in southern Michigan occurs somewhere around the middle of March, but it can be awesome while it last.
Lake St. Clair's 420 square miles of fertile water supports a tremendously productive fishery within an hour's drive of Michigan's largest population center.
Despite heavy angler usage, St. Clair continues to produce great catches of panfish, especially yellow perch.
The lake's perch resurgence began about eight years ago and seems to be holding its own. The fish have been very nomadic and savvy anglers have learned not to make a big show of catching them. This can cause a virtual stampede to the fish as more than of 50 anglers rush to get in on the action.
Several late-season hotspots are the shallow water areas off Anchor Bay, Beach and Muscamoot Bay. Minnows are the staple bait for perch here, but some of the best catches I have seen were taken on a naked silver spoon with a red-bead pushed down on the hook.
These are not tiny teardrop spoons, either. Some are almost two inches long.
Spoon anglers do best in shallow water, often less than four feet deep, where one fluid, upward stroke delivers a flopping yellowbelly to the ice.
For up-to-date Lake St. Clair ice fishing information, call the Lakeside Fishing Shop at 1-586-777-7003, Outdoor Adventures at 1-586-765-4430, Angler Rod & Sports at 1-586-329-2253 or the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Lake St. Clair Research Station at 1-586-465-4771.
The Detroit River has many canals, bays and marinas that offer great ice-fishing opportunities once they freeze over. Sometimes it is difficult to gain access in certain areas, but remain positive.
Gibraltar Bay along the southern end of Grosse Ile is another popular spot with local fishermen, although parking can be a problem.
Kent Lake is in Oakland County off I-96 in Kensington Metropark. This 1,000-acre body of water was formed by damming the Huron River, whose riverbed winds and twists along the bottom. A number of islands dot the western and eastern ends of the lake.
The shoreline of the lake is very irregular, formed amid low-lying hills with a number of small coves and peninsulas. Yellow perch, bluegills, sunfish and black crappies are dispersed throughout the lake, as are larger predators like pike, walleye and largemouth bass.
Call the park office at 1-248-685-1561 for information.
Jackson County's Big Wolf Lake is in the central part of the county east of Jackson. This is part of a seven-lake chain called the Michigan Center Chain of Lakes and serves as headwaters for the Grand River.
Big Wolf has several 35-feet holes at its northeastern corner with a 45-foot hole at the southwestern end that leads to Olcott Lake. A long drop-off is along the northern shoreline of this 376-acre body of water, making it a winter hotspot for panfish, especially bluegills.
For information on Big Wolf Lake and the Michigan Center Chain of Lakes, call O'Brien's Trading Post at 1-517-764-2616, the district DNR office at 1-517-784-3188 or the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce at 1-517-782-8221.
If you are among a growing number of crappie fans, Holloway Reservoir in northeast Genesee and northwest Lapeer counties was made for you. Formed by the damming of the Flint River, Holloway Reservoir extends almost six miles west to northeast with 2,000 acres of water.
Crappies over two pounds and bluegills well over a pound have been taken here. It also rates very high for both channel cats and northern pike, and the occasional walleye are taken though the ice.
Most crappies are taken along the mid-lake Flint River channel during the winter. The papermouths tend to mass in dense schools along the many turns and twists of the riverbed.
Small minnows on fine wire hooks or mini-tube jigs tipped with waxworms work equally well.
Bluegills have been coming on strong at Holloway in recent years and most often are taken in the shallows, not far from their spring spawning areas.
The reservoir is north of I-69, east of M-15 and west of M-24. Call the DNR district office in Imlay City at 1-810-724-2015 or the Lapeer Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-313-664-6641.
A public access site is off Henderson Road on the lake's southwest side. Roads parallel to Holloway also can provide limited access for ice fishermen.
Oakland Lake in Oakland County is a typical southern Michigan lake that produces nice bass but is excellent for panfish, especially bluegills and sunfish. It's only 295 acres but has a reputation for producing consistent catches of panfish during the winter.
It is fed by the Clinton River at the northeastern end and has depths reaching 65 feet. The sloping breaklines just north of the public access site yield the best catches as anglers work the edges of the deep water.
Oakland Lake north of Drayton Plains and just south of I-75. The public access site is off Walton Boulevard on the southwest end of the lake.
Call Helin's Waterford Hills Sports at 1-313-673-1000, the DNR district office at 1-313-666-1500 or the Oakland County Chamber of Commerce at 1-313-683-4747.
Stony Creek Impoundment is in west central Macomb County, west of Washington and north of Rochester. It's the result of damming the Clinton River and was formed in 1961.
It is owned by the Huron Clinton Metropolitan Park Authority, so there is a fee to enter the park. Yearly passes also are available.
Stony Creek offers some of southeast Michigan's best crappie fishing. There are several fish cribs installed just north of Eastwood Beach in 10 feet of water that hold nice schools of crappie during the winter.
Breaklines near the south dam, about 20 feet deep, also can be productive not only for crappie but bluegills and perch.
Typical crappie baits such as small minnows and tiny spoons tipped with wigglers or waxworms are effective here. A public access site is in the southeast corner and parking for other anglers is in the southwest corner. Fishing is not permitted in the upper impoundment north of 28 Mile Road due to the fact it is a wildlife sanctuary.
Stony Creek Impoundment is along the north side of 26 Mile Road between M-150 on the west and M-53 on the east, and southwest of Romeo.
Call Avon Bait & Tackle 1-313-853-5090, the Romeo/Washington Chamber of Commerce at 1-313-752-4436 or Stony Creek Metropark at 1-313-781-4242 or 1-800-24 PARKS.
While first ice and last ice generally offer the best fishing, both periods are when ice is most unstable. No matter where you plan on ice fishing this season, be sure to exercise caution and remember the Coast Guard motto:
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