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Southeast Lower Peninsula

Lake Erie: Anglers were having success while targeting yellow perch, crappie and bluegill. Reports of ice conditions have varied, and anglers should be cautious during windy conditions. Reported successful baits included minnows, worms and jigs. Point Mouillee was productive for bluegill and yellow perch.

Detroit River:  Angler's were targeting yellow perch, pike and bluegill.

Lake St. Clair: Anglers were reporting high catches of yellow perch with lots of sorting required for keepers. The Metro Beach area had difficult walking conditions due to the wind-blown ice being very rough near shore. Good catches of yellow perch and occasional walleye were reported. Traditional canals and marinas in all areas of the lake have seen excellent catches of bluegill and pumpkinseeds.       

St. Clair River: Anglers were having success with catching pike and yellow perch, particularly in the morning.

Clinton River: Anglers finding open water were catching steelhead, but ice and slush was making it challenging to find access.

Maceday Lake: Splake were caught out in deeper water using tip-ups and minnows.

Saginaw Bay: Fishing from Sebewaing to Caseville was slow. From Sebewaing to Bay Port, only a few yellow perch were caught, and an occasional pike was caught by those spearing. In Wildfowl Bay, anglers were reporting a good number of perch, but the bite was tough. Only a few pike were caught. A few northern pike were caught at Pinconning Park. At the end of Linwood Road a few yellow perch were caught in 4 to 5 feet of water.

Saginaw River: Walleye fishing was slow with sub-legal walleye caught and released. However, there were some limit catches of walleye with lots of sorting caught at the middle grounds on M13 in the vicinity of James Clemens Airport while fishing in 24 feet of water. Anglers also did well at Wickes Park between the Lee Street Boat and Center Street Bridge. In both cases a purple jigging Rapala was working best.

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Southwest Lower Peninsula

Grand River: Anglers were catching steelhead on warmer days.

Kalamazoo River: Anglers were catching steelhead on warmer days.

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Northeast Lower Peninsula

Houghton Lake: Anglers were catching yellow perch, walleye and northern pike.

Higgins Lake: Anglers were catching rainbow trout and lake trout.

Fletcher’s Pond: Anglers were targeting pike and panfish. To target pike, try tip-ups baited with large shiners or suckers. Panfish were caught on smaller minnows, or jigs with wax worms or plastic baits. Good colors were pink, yellow, chartreuse and green.

Tawas: Perch anglers were catching some smaller fish and a few keepers in 10 to 15 feet of water off minnows and waxworms. Walleye anglers were catching a few in 15 to 20 feet of water off jigs and minnows.

Au Gres: Anglers were catching perch and walleye off jigs tipped with minnows. There were some whitefish and walleye caught near the drop-off at Pt. Au Gres in 10 to 15 feet of water, using jig tipped with minnows and or waxworms.

Pine River: In the Pine River and Palmer Road area, there were some good catches of perch caught in 5 to 10 feet off jack hooks or jigs tipped with minnows. Some walleye were caught out in deeper water, 10 to 20 feet, off jigs and minnows. Some bluegill and crappie were caught inside Eagle Bay Marina off waxworms and minnows.

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Northwest Lower Peninsula

Charlevoix: Anglers were catching cisco in 50 to 100 feet of water. Fishing earlier in the day provided the best action.

Portage Lake: Pike fishing was decent with several small fish caught and an occasional keeper.

Manistee Lake: Decent perch fishing occurred off the 9th street boat launch. Pike fishing was also good.

Long and Green Lakes: Perch were plentiful, but they were quite small.

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Upper Peninsula

Les Cheneaux/Munuscong Bay: Anglers were catching perch in Hessel Bay and Musky Bay. At Dans Resort, anglers were catching perch and recently started picking up walleye. Anglers were also accessing the bay using the Conley Point DNR boat ramp in Barbeau and were picking up a few perch there as well. Anglers were fishing in about 16 feet of water and mostly using spikes and wigglers.

Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers were fishing around the Escanaba River, out in front of the Terrace Motel and Saunders Point. Anglers were also launching out of the Ford River. Anglers fishing at Saunders Point had some success, but reported catching undersized fish. There were reports of large fish being caught in the Escanaba River and Ford River. Anglers targeting walleye reported many walleye being marked but most struggled to get them to eat. Anglers were using suckers on tip-ups and jigging raps or shiver minnows. Perch anglers reported a slow bite out of Kipling and around the Days River. Most were using small minnows or wigglers.

St. Marys River: Walleye and yellow perch catches were reported. Walleye were caught on minnows while using tip-ups. Yellow perch were caught while jigging with minnows and wax worms.

Brevoort Lake: Walleye and yellow perch catches were reported. Walleye were caught on minnows while using tip-ups.

Keweenaw Bay/Huron Bay: Anglers were catching lake trout and whitefish.

Munising Bay: Anglers were catching lake whitefish on a single egg. Rainbow smelt were showing up with schools moving through. A wax worm was working best for smelt. There was little activity for coho, splake and burbot. These species were showing up, but catch rates were low.

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Fishing Tip: Finding panfish through the ice

Have you been attempting to target panfish during your ice fishing trips this winter, but aren’t having much luck? Consider the following things.

Are the panfish sticking to shallow or deep depths? Are they hanging out in the weeds or on the rocks? Are they suspended or are they hugging the bottom?

Panfish are likely to be in deeper water to find more oxygen. Keep that in mind when you look for them!

Also keep your presentation efforts in mind. A popular effort includes putting a jig on the bottom and using a twitch-pause-twitch routine with it.

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This report is intended to give you an idea of what is going on around the state. Updates come from Fisheries staff and conservation officers. With more than 11,000 inland lakes, the Great Lakes and thousands of miles of rivers and streams, not all locations can be listed. However, it is safe to say if a species is being caught in some waters in the area, they are likely being caught in all waters in that section of the state that have that species.