This weekend was the first weekend I was able to get out on the ice. In this post, I will talk about fishing in two local lakes here in Clinton County. Although people may be wondering if the ice is safe, ice thickness at Park Lake and Muskrat Lake is about six inches.
I started off my weekend fishing at Park Lake in Bath. This was also the first weekend I got to use my Lowrance Elite 4X Chirp ice fishing machine. We started our day by drilling holes in 8 to 20 feet of water. The only fish we were marking were in 17 feet of water, so that is where we set up and camped out for most of the day. On the fish finder, I could see a huge school of fish, but unfortunately, they only turned out to be three-to-five inch perch and blue gills. My technique for that day was a small tungsten jig tipped with one red spike. Although the fish were small, they were quite finicky, which I think is due to the colder weather we have had recently. The first day I got out, I was only able to catch three small fish, but it was worth it to be out on the ice the first time this year and to break in my new fish finder.
On the second day of my weekend, I was able to visit Muskrat Lake with some friends. Most of the lake is shallow, and it can be described as bath tub-shaped, with very little in the way of drop off points; for that reason, I set up shallow on a mud flat. I managed to land several keeper Michigan gills. One thing I have noticed is that the fish are very picky, and that they want a stationary presentation, or a very slight jigging movement. Again, I used red spikes that I nipped very slightly on the end.
I'll look forward to seeing everyone out on the ice this winter!
