Torch lake (help)

[PINKSTEEL]

I live in Muskegon but I travel up north almost every week end to deep clear lakes like Crystal and Higgins and this year (the week end of the 21st to be exact) I'm planing on heading up to Torch lake for some Lakers and Burbot as long as there is safe ice :tdo12: . I have never fished this lake and I would be going there blind with very little knowledge of the lake so if any one out there could give me some hints as to what side of the lake is best or what depth is best :confused: . I'm not looking for exact places but maybe a road name or a park to go out from and a round about of what depth to get Burbot and Lakers :rolleyes: .

Like I said I'm from Muskegon so any info that you would be willing to share would be kept a secret :help: . Feel free to send me a Personal Message. THANKS

[jimmy johans]

I have a house on torch and hardly ever see guys fishing. I am on south side and do hear of guys fising right at the torch river bridge.

[TDI]

Torch Lake is nearly 300ft deep in the middle. :yikes:

[PINKSTEEL]

Torch Lake is nearly 300ft deep in the middle. :yikes:

YES, it is very deep and very long but I fish deep lakes all the time so I'm not worried about that.

Here is the Lakes info, this lake holds a few records in Michigan :coolgleam
http://www.fishweb.com/maps/antrim/torchlake/index.html

[JJ Mac]

As of the last 24 hours, I'm gonna go ahead and state that Torch is no longer safe ice. There are several permanent shantys that have broken through and are partially floating. I know of one guy who went to retrieve his last night and fell through the ice on the way out to it. I am personally done icefishing in this area until conditions improve. At least on the larger lakes. Walking off of Lake Charlevoix last night was pretty scary. On Monday morning you could have driven a semi out there. We had 54 degrees yesterday and mid 40's today. If you would like to PM me next week I'll be happy to give the best update I can on the ice on Torch prior to your trip on the 21st.

With the nice ice set up we had so early this year, I really wasn't all that concerned with the weather report that came last week. But now that it's here, it depleted the ice a lot more than I ever thought possible. Too bad, the fishing was just getting good again. :rant:

Strange year.

[Linda G.]

We had an international ice boat racing association that held their world championships on the ice off Torch Laike Village from Friday to Tuesday, they anointed their world champion Tuesday afternoon while he was standing in six inches of water over what was left of a foot of NICE ice...perfect for ice boating, scary as hell if you're an angler, cause you could see RIGHT through it-watch fish 60 ft down and all. Then they left for safer ice somewhere in the Arctic, I guess.

I was out there Sunday, they tried to get me in one of those boats doing 110 mph down the lake...I was watching some suckers or something on the bottom 55 feet down.

Then it warmed up..yesterday, it was 55 degrees here, and we have lost most of our three feet of snow, thank god.

So, right now, no go...not unless you've got a death wish. But that may change by the 21...pm me or email me.

They were doing fairly well off Eastport (public access) on lakers and whitefish-swedish pimples jigging minnows...egg fishing for whitefish. There was a number of shanties out there for several weeks. A few other shanties all the way down the lake, guys off Alden and Torch Lake, too.

They normally start to get the burbot about mid-February or so off Torch Lake Village in 130-85 feet of water-whichi s half a mile out...

so...give it a while. I'm not going out there, that's for sure...

[wally-eye]

As of the last 24 hours, I'm gonna go ahead and state that Torch is no longer safe ice. There are several permanent shantys that have broken through and are partially floating. I know of one guy who went to retrieve his last night and fell through the ice on the way out to it. I am personally done icefishing in this area until conditions improve. At least on the larger lakes. Walking off of Lake Charlevoix last night was pretty scary. On Monday morning you could have driven a semi out there. We had 54 degrees yesterday and mid 40's today. If you would like to PM me next week I'll be happy to give the best update I can on the ice on Torch prior to your trip on the 21st.

With the nice ice set up we had so early this year, I really wasn't all that concerned with the weather report that came last week. But now that it's here, it depleted the ice a lot more than I ever thought possible. Too bad, the fishing was just getting good again. :rant:

Strange year.


Sounds like you have the right idea John.......water's too cold to take a bath right now. I was going to Crystal this weekend but changed my mind with this weather.......gonna give it another week or so......

Dan

[PINKSTEEL]

As of the last 24 hours, I'm gonna go ahead and state that Torch is no longer safe ice. There are several permanent shantys that have broken through and are partially floating. I know of one guy who went to retrieve his last night and fell through the ice on the way out to it. I am personally done icefishing in this area until conditions improve. At least on the larger lakes. Walking off of Lake Charlevoix last night was pretty scary. On Monday morning you could have driven a semi out there. We had 54 degrees yesterday and mid 40's today. If you would like to PM me next week I'll be happy to give the best update I can on the ice on Torch prior to your trip on the 21st.

With the nice ice set up we had so early this year, I really wasn't all that concerned with the weather report that came last week. But now that it's here, it depleted the ice a lot more than I ever thought possible. Too bad, the fishing was just getting good again. :rant:

Strange year.

Yeah, I'm not worried because if the ice is iffy than I'm not going out on it because IT'S JUST NOT WORTH DIEING :dizzy: . I will be shooting both of you ( Linda G. and JJ Mac) PM's next week to get some pointers on where to go and if the ice is safe. Thanks for the update as of now :coolgleam

[Huffy]

Been raining for hours here in TC and the temp's still above freezing. Torch is only about 20 or so miles away, and I don't think the conditions there are any better. Probably took a heavy toll on whatever ice was left.

[phishhed]

looked a little better this morning, i ventured out to our shantz for a quick check. 2 of my buddies went last night and tore up the whiteys. I'll be out tomorrow am and post another ice rpt. I'm not saying the ice is good, but it's already getting better and my bet is it will be fine by the weekend. Best part about the melt is all but 2 shanties (us and our good friends) are gone now in our spot, peace and quiet, there was around 20. we have only gotten 1 burbot so far all year.

[PINKSTEEL]

looked a little better this morning, i ventured out to our shantz for a quick check. 2 of my buddies went last night and tore up the whiteys. I'll be out tomorrow am and post another ice rpt. I'm not saying the ice is good, but it's already getting better and my bet is it will be fine by the weekend. Best part about the melt is all but 2 shanties (us and our good friends) are gone now in our spot, peace and quiet, there was around 20. we have only gotten 1 burbot so far all year.

Hey thanks for the report, and keep um coming :woohoo1:

I'm coming up on the 21st and it sounds like it should be fine by then if it's kinda iffy right now because all the temps from now on will be making ice and not killing it :coolgleam

[PINKSTEEL]

I'm almost sure I know the answer but here it goes any ways:

Does Torch lake have Smelt :confused: Do people out there fish them :sad:

[Linda G.]

But I've never heard of anybody dipping any there, and I don't believe any of the tribs have ever had spawning smelt in them. I think the brown trout and probably a few lakers got most of them. Not to mention the Atlantics, which are really voracious feeders.

When it was legal, we always dipped smelt out of a couple of Lake Bellaire tribs...not legal anymore, they closed both of those streams. Now we have to go up to a couple of streams on Lake Charlevoix, and we haven't done that in years. Don't know as it's worth it.

[alabama]

I have spent the last few weeks fishing Lake Trout on Torch. We have been graphing numerous fish anywhere from 90 feet - 220 feet. We were out an Monday morning, lot of standing water and still about 7 inches of ice. With these colder nights, ice should start stiffening up and looking forward to some quality ice time.

[sbooy42]

Nice and cold tonight
:idea: burbot and maybe lakers this weekend

[sbooy42]

We had an international ice boat racing association that held their world championships

I was out there Sunday, they tried to get me in one of those boats doing 110 mph down the lake...I was watching some suckers or something on the bottom 55 feet down.


...
Those things look like a blast:evilsmile

[flagguy83]

Is it safe out there off deep water point?

[unclecbass]

the ice boat racers are great, until they run over a few of your tipups,:mad:, now I set a nice log next to my tipup to return the favor:evil:

[Linda G.]

you could have been sued if anyone was hurt, Cbass...you were lucky. If you're still doing it, I wouldn't...the next thing to come along could be somenoe you know on a snowmobile.

They did all sorts of advance published notices that they were going to be out there, and that they hoped the anglers and others on the ice would go along with them for the short time they were there, in the small part of the lake they were on...the north end. Lots of lake left to go ice fishing on...those iceboaters brought a lot of people up here that stayed in motels, ate in restaurants, and sent their wives shopping in little shops all over that we desperately need at this time of the year. A pity you couldn't just move your tip-ups to somewhere else on that 17 mile long, two mile wide lake during the four days they were here.

[sbooy42]

Is it safe out there off deep water point?

:confused:
couple trucks parked down there & a couple shantys on top of the ice not sure if they were occupied..
Looked like one shanty has been through the ice for a awhile:(

We plan on checking out the north end tomorrow night

karma :tsk: unclebASS

[Linda G.]

I'm not sure I would ever trust the water off Deepwater, even if it does have really good lake trout fishing.

A guy died out there a couple of years ago, but not from the water-he died from carbon monoxide poisoning...something else you need to be aware of when you're ice fishing from a shanty.

[phishhed]

the bite was slower than it has been, but we managed a few. Ice is not that great, but getting better. At least it was until a bunch of folks decided to set up right on top of us. More like swiss cheese now, oh well. Our shantz did 18 wed, 11, thurs and 7 fri. all whitefish. Haven't been since, maybe tomorrow AM. Good luck out there.


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/torchwhites2_13_09.jpg

[wally-eye]

the bite was slower than it has been, but we managed a few. Ice is not that great, but getting better. At least it was until a bunch of folks decided to set up right on top of us. More like swiss cheese now, oh well. Our shantz did 18 wed, 11, thurs and 7 fri. all whitefish. Haven't been since, maybe tomorrow AM. Good luck out there.


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/torchwhites2_13_09.jpg



Thats some good eating right there......:coolgleam

Good job.......

[flagguy83]

How thick was the ice out there? thinking about fishing tomorrow.

[phishhed]

it's about 6 inches thick, BUT it is not very good ice. the thaw put a hurtin on the ice that was there and it won't ever recover. We've had a lot of sun this week even though it has been kinda cold. Anywhere a shanty used to be is going to be big time danger ranger. A 4 wheeler went through by us on Saturday and another guy went through where an old shanty was. They're marked for the most part, but tough to see at night.

[Linda G.]

Where was that...pm me if you like. I'm updating Bruce's Fishing report for next week's paper.