This time last year both lakes were open water, but this year we still have almost 2 feet of ice covering both lakes. It won’t last much longer, the top is starting to get soft and you can see it start to open up and erode a little more each day by the canal. There are still guys getting out there and catching fish however. Pike and Walleye season has been closed for 10 days now so panfish is the only thing being targeted. Most of what we have been seeing is mixed bags of Bluegills and Sunfish from the West side of Lake Mitchell by Big and Small Coves.

Many anglers have switched gears and are taking to the Manistee River for the Steelhead action. It’s only going to keep getting better from here on out. Jigs with waxworms have been the most consistent way to get hits but some are also using fly’s, spawn, minnows, beads and crankbaits with some success as well.

Since the Ice action has slowed down we’ve taken the opportunity to start switching the store over to summer tackle. We’ll still have the ice fishing tackle out for a while yet but things might not be where you remember them.