Around DeWitt, there's no safe ice in the first days of 2015, so I headed north in early January to Cadillac, Michigan for an afternoon of ice fishing. When we arrived in Cadillac, we saw a number of ice shanties out on Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell. Stopping at the Carl T. Johnson Hunt and Fish Center at Mitchell State Park, I heard that there's great fishing on both lakes. I didn't bring my ice shanty along, but decided to do some pan fishing. On Lake Cadillac, the ice was about four or five inches thick, but it was very clear and I could actually see my jig through it. I was using a custom Custom Jigs and Spins Chekai jig with a fire tiger design, which I tipped with a wax worm. In short order, I was catching perch. They were mostly pretty small, but, once I started, I was catching perch every few minutes.
The perch might not have been giants, but they put up great fights on my ultra-light gear. I was disappointed that I did not have any pike ice fishing gear with me, because a DNR employee I talked to said the action for my favorite fish on Lakes Cadillac and Mitchell has been great.
If you are up in Cadillac, I recommend you stop at the Johnson Hunt and Fish Center. The people there were very helpful and have good local knowledge. They also had some great information and displays about pike!
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