lake Leelanau

[billfishfinder]

doe's anyone have any fishing reports and ice condition .i herd there are some big perch in the lake ,my brother in law caught a 16" on a tip up last year .:fish:

[Downsea]

I've only fished the north lake and it's been quite a while. I remembered these guys and Dicks Pour House! Can't hurt to call them if no one else knows. http://www.narrowsbaitandboats.com/about_us

[billfishfinder]

thanks downsee for the info.i will give them call:)

[Fishslayer5789]

North or South Lake Leelanau?

[MarkSend]

The north end of lake leelanau has about 7" of clear ice as of last weekend. With the snow it will most likey be slush around any hole you cut. Not many guys out, walleye and trout really slow, most don`t even try for them anymore. Smelt slow and perch not much better.

[seabee8782]

fished the south end on the west side a couple weeks ago, a couple flags but no fish, but didnt feel like walkin all the way to the complete south west end by the river mouth which is where we do good though

[billfishfinder]

thanks seebee for the report

[billfishfinder]

anyone have any fishing reports? thanks in advance

[bucko12pt]

Lots of snow and slush on the south end.

My buddy took a 30" walleye from the south end last Thurs., but generally it has been slow, with the cold weather and all the snow.

[Leelanauman]

30 incher...wow that's a rare fish out of the south end. My buddy got a 33in. 13lb in high school out near Skeba's, never seen one come close to that one since.

[Wardo]

Was the fish caught in 1981 and is your buddy Dave Novak by any chance?

[Leelanauman]

NO, the fish was caught in 2000 and it wasn't Dave Novak.

[Remy]

Take it easy on the story telling L.Man!!!!:lol:

[Wardo]

Right on, congrats to him!

[bucko12pt]

When I was a kid, there was a 16 # walleye that came from the north
end, caught by a guy that had a summer home on LL. We kept it in an open freezer at the store I worked at in LL all summer long and the guy threw it away at the end of the summer due to severe freezer burn.

Nobody was mounting fish back then, so the baby got thrown out with the bathwater.:sad:

[bucko12pt]

The 30" fish my buddy got last week only weighed 6-7#'s.

Look's more like a Northern than a Walleye. Still a severe lack of bait fish in the South End.

[Leelanauman]

Now that's a cryin shame.:( And no it's not a story, I couldn't belive it untill I saw it with my own eyes, he took it to Mark Steimel to get it mounted and it is now on his wall...it looks awsome.

[Wardo]

Wow, that sucks! There are just too many walleye in the south end. It's really too bad, it's a beautiful lake and real fun to fish.

[Leelanauman]

Way too many! The DNR really messed up on that one. The South has too much and the North has not enough. The walleye in the south end are starving, at least on the north end there is a good population of smelt.

[seabee8782]

thats weird whenever we fish the lake our walleye are always fed not big ol bellies on them but not skinny like you described, and i really dont think there are too many eyes in there, we barely ever catch undersized fish unlike long lake which clearly has an overpopulation, and we always do quite well there.

[Leelanauman]

IMO the growth rate of the walleye in the south end is not nearly what it should be.

[bucko12pt]

If you read the scale studies that the DNR publishes, the growth rate on
the south end is only about half or a little more than it should be. There
has been a severe overpopulation for a number of years and growth rates have suffered as a consequence.

The good news is, the fish committee talked the DNR into skipping the last plant (last year), so the fish that are there should start growing a little faster. At least you can now see some bait fish in the holes of spearing shanties unlike a few years ago when you did'nt see any.

Also, the perch fishing has gotten a little better due to the lower number of walleyes.

Todd Kalish from the DNR, has been great to work with and has had a lot to to with the improvement in the lake..............North and South. The fish committe asked the DNR for years to do the lake trout plants before ice out and Todd finally made the decision to do the plant earler and we are getting better survival rates with them as a result.

Unfortunately, he has moved up and is no longer the biologist for our area.

[hda31]

sorry, i dont want to change the subject too much, but my dad lives right by lake leelanau and i'm going to take him out fishing saturday morning, just wondering which lake has the best chance to catch him some fish, no matter the size, just want to be entertained if with some fish if thats possible

[bucko12pt]

South end for quantity.

[hda31]

thanks alot, people mostly fish tip ups for walleyes?

[Lugian]

Way too many! The DNR really messed up on that one. The South has too much and the North has not enough. The walleye in the south end are starving, at least on the north end there is a good population of smelt.


Not to make a stupid point but somedody should tell the fish on the south end to swim through the river to the north for more food. They must have planted a pretty dumb string of fish.

[hda31]

true true, i don know much about fish habits but that would seem logical

[kwcharne]

All this talk about walleye on the south end makes me want to give it a try . I have never fished S. Leelanau. Could anyone share some public access points to the lake. Thanks

[hda31]

good question,and if anybody knows where some bait shops are that'd be nice too...

[bucko12pt]

Not to make a stupid point but somedody should tell the fish on the south end to swim through the river to the north for more food. They must have planted a pretty dumb string of fish.

The North lake has never had a walleye plant, so maybe they are'nt as stupid as you think and a few have made it from South to North.

Most of the time they are smarter than me at least.:lol:

[bucko12pt]

All this talk about walleye on the south end makes me want to give it a try . I have never fished S. Leelanau. Could anyone share some public access points to the lake. Thanks

Bingham DNR launch on east side or township launch on west side.

Bait shops would be GM or MC Sports in TC or Narrows Bait shop in LL.

Bring your slush boots.:evil:

[hda31]

all this talk about slush, how much good ice is out there?

[bucko12pt]

all this talk about slush, how much good ice is out there?

Not sure, I'm in Florida right now, waiting for all the slush and snow to
melt off and get some good ice, then I'll be back for the good ice fishing.:D

Talking to my buddy, it's just like the other lakes in the area. He got
stuck several times the other day with his ssnomobile.:sad:

[Lugian]

The North lake has never had a walleye plant, so maybe they are'nt as stupid as you think and a few have made it from South to North.

Most of the time they are smarter than me at least.:lol:


Thats the allure, for me anyway.

The Lindner boys(from In-Fisheman) say that walleye will travel miles and miles on a big body of water in a given year long season. I can not figure out why they wouldn't migrate more to the North end of Leelanau.

[walleyerick]

That's right, way to many small walleyes out there! Everybody should find another lake to fish:D. Isn't that right Wardo?

[Wardo]

More for us to catch! Little ones of course.

[bucko12pt]

Thats the allure, for me anyway.

The Lindner boys(from In-Fisheman) say that walleye will travel miles and miles on a big body of water in a given year long season. I can not figure out why they wouldn't migrate more to the North end of Leelanau.

It's quite a way thru the narrows from North to South

[Wardo]

You'd be surprised how far a walleye will move. North to South is nothing. I have read articles (scientific, not BS in-fisherman stuff) where they tracked an individual fish from the Nipigon River to Portage Lake up in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Some fish move more than others though, not all are going to make that dramatic of a movement.

[Baybum]

OK I might be a little screwed up here...but can't you access the lake at Perrin's(sp) landing in Fouch anymore? Been a few years since I've been there but that was always a great access point, really don't know if Fouch is even considered a town anymore but what can I say my I got a bit of Fouch blood in me so thats what I'll call it. Used to have bait there too or am I getting way off now? Be up that way for a hard water fix this year tho, these posts took me back.

[seabee8782]

yeah i think you can, you just cant park in the stores lot you gotta park over by the dock which causes limited parking, but not 100% sure on that

[bucko12pt]

OK I might be a little screwed up here...but can't you access the lake at Perrin's(sp) landing in Fouch anymore? Been a few years since I've been there but that was always a great access point, really don't know if Fouch is even considered a town anymore but what can I say my I got a bit of Fouch blood in me so thats what I'll call it. Used to have bait there too or am I getting way off now? Be up that way for a hard water fix this year tho, these posts took me back.

I have'nt accessed at Perrin's for a long time, although you still can.
I llive three miles from the Bingham launch, so I access there or my friends
house, which is right near the launch.

[Leelanauman]

I talked to a fish biologist that works for the GTB who told me of a walleye they caught in their nets in leland that was tagged in Muskegon Lake. Now thats a ways for a walleye to travel, so south end to north end really isnt that far.

[bucko12pt]

Have him tell you about running their boat thru the narrows and
shocking walleyes while they were spawning last year.:evilsmile

[Leelanauman]

Nothing they do really suprises me anymore. They just do what they want.

[billfishfinder]

Thank you guys for all the info .The last time i fished the lake was in the spring and you are wright the walleyes were small .We caught two keepers out 20 fish.What is the perch fishing like there.The fishing on L.S.C.has been slow but its starting to pick up a little. May the fishing gods be with you guys :D

[Leelanauman]

Perch fishing on L.L. is nothing to brag about, once in a while you get into a nice school, not very often though. Same for the North end just outsidethe narrows.

[billfishfinder]

Thanks for all the info Leelanauman its greatly apreciated

[pointednorth]

hey leelanauman, i posted a pic yesterday night about a catch i got out there on the lake. up in the north end too, by the sunken islands. couple a real nice perch in there, one real nice waldo, and one smaller one in there to. ya know the bite aint great but sometimes i get some slobs in there up there by the shelf going up to the shallower part so on those sunken islands. so hey if you want my 2 cents id say it aint bad during the week when there aint no one out there. but on the days you think you can get on em, they aint there. i know totally what ya mean my man. take care bud

[Leelanauman]

Wow nice job! I will check out those pics. The sunken island can be a very good place. What side of the island where you on? I got to get out!

[billfishfinder]

How the fishin ,My brother in law lives in bretherin and he was thinking about going fishin up there.any reports will be help full.thanks