The weekly fishing report has resumed for ice fishing in select locations. Report information is collected by creel clerks; additional locations will be featured in beginning in March when more creel staff reports are available.

For more information on current fishing conditions, we recommend calling your local DNR fisheries management unit or customer service center, bait shop, sporting goods store or outfitter or checking their social media. Fishing reports for many popular waterbodies are shared on social media and in local and statewide fishing forums. 

All anglers 17 years of age and older are required to have a fishing license.

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Southeast Lower Peninsula

Saginaw Bay: With the cold weather, ice was beginning to form in many locations, but it didn’t appear to be very safe. There was still open water around all the bridges. Fishing pressure was consequently nonexistent over the past week.

Tittabawassee River: A combination of a large ice jam at Center Road Bridge and shore ice at the boat launches made the Tittabawassee inaccessible.

Eastern Saginaw Bay: Fishing activity was light over the weekend, with strong gusty winds. Anglers targeting yellow perch from Sebewaing to Caseville reported very slow fishing. A few northern pike were taken from Wildfowl Bay.

Lower Saginaw Bay: Plenty of open water from the Bay City State Park all the way up to Whites Beach on the west side of the bay. A few anglers at Linwood beach marina caught a few yellow perch. Over on the east side, a few anglers at Finn Road had a large number of small yellow perch.

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Southwest Lower Peninsula

No reports.

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Northeast Lower Peninsula

Tawas/Au Gres: Fishing slowed a bit, with only a small number of walleye and burbot brought in. Early morning and late evening showed anglers the most success, especially for burbot. Perch fishing was also slow, with most fish being small. Overall, fishing has been slow from Au Gres to Standish with low numbers of yellow perch, undersized walleye and an occasional northern pike caught. 

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Northwest Lower Peninsula

No reports.

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Upper Peninsula

Little Bay de Noc: Walleye anglers reported slow fishing. While some anglers were able to catch a few, most reported little to no success. Some anglers did however report catching trophy-sized walleye. Anglers were jigging snap-style jigs baited with a portion of minnow on a treble hook. Additionally, anglers used set lines baited with live minnows, positioned close to the bottom.

Anglers targeting perch also reported slower fishing, although some reported extremely large perch caught near the “mud flats” and Kipling. Anglers fishing the shallows near Kipling reported an abundant number of yellow perch that were too small to keep. Minnows with jig heads and tungsten jigs tipped with wigglers or wax worms worked well for perch fishing.

Les Cheneaux Islands: The holiday weekend was an extremely busy fishing period in the Eastern U.P. Anglers were fishing the Hessel area for perch, pike, and splake. Good numbers of perch were caught within Hessel Bay, but the majority were smaller-sized fish. While there were some splake sightings in Wilderness and Hessel Bay, very few were harvested.

In Cedarville, there were very few people fishing Musky Bay, Moscow Channel, and Government Bay. Fishing activity in those areas was down compared to previous years. Anglers were mainly using walleye and perch minnows, along with spikes and wax worms.

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Fishing tip: Ice fishing

When ice fishing, try drilling multiple holes and stay mobile. Fish often school tightly in winter, and if you’re not marking or catching fish within 10–15 minutes, moving to a new hole can greatly improve your chances. Covering water helps you locate active fish instead of waiting for them to come to you.

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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.