Traverse City Record-Eagle

Archive: Thursday

March 8, 2012

High water on lower state streams

FROM WIRE REPORTS ----

LANSING — While the northern sections of the state are digging out from the snow storm, the Lower Peninsula is dealing with high water levels in some rivers and streams, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday in its weekly fishing report.

Water conditions were not only muddy but also had floating debris makings its way downstream, the DNR said. It said river fishing will depend on rain later this week and runoff from snow melt as temperatures push into the 50s

Deep snow and slush in this region will make travel on ice more difficult.

Traverse City: Both the East Bay and the West Bay have open water.

Green Lake: Was producing some smelt.

Fife Lake: Had ice. Perch and pike anglers will want to head straight out and east of the launch site.

Betsie River: Is producing steelhead.

Lake Cadillac: Still had plenty of ice but travel through the deep snow and slush was difficult.

Lake Mitchell: Fish are there for the taking if you can navigate the deep snow.

Lake Missaukee: Still had ice with fair to good pike action.

Portage Lake: Was producing the occasional walleye or pike.

Manistee River: Should still have some steelhead for those looking for fly fishing opportunities. Warm temperatures and rain this week should bring in some fresh fish.

Pere Marquette River: Continues to produce steelhead and catch rates will only improve as the temperatures rise.

Hubbard Lake: Had fair to good perch fishing.

Au Sable River: Had very good steelhead fishing. The access sites and ramps are now open.

Higgins Lake: Has foot travel only because of the deep snow and slush. Those taking machines out were getting stuck. Anglers are basically heading out for smelt and perch only. For smelt, try off the west launch in 20 to 30 feet of water. For perch and smelt, try near the Birch Lodge. Smelt were caught during the day however the better catches came at night.

Houghton Lake: Travel on the ice is difficult due to deep snow and slush. Some have already pulled their shanties off the ice.

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