Kent Lake

[jigworm]

A lot of small perch but did manage seven from 7" to 10.5". (I do measure them) Fished off the east ramp in 9' of water. All of the bigger perch came between 5pm and 6pm. They seem to turn on and shut down pretty quick, so I assume the school of bigger fish moves around quite a bit. Great sunset and moonrise made it all worth while.

Pete

[zman]

Hey,
Tried the river channel out there off of turtle head island the other day.. If my map is right I followed it and augered about 70 holes to see if I could locate any dramatic differences in depth...No luck Just 7-9 foot all the way across. Save your energy and wait it out near the island and the fishing pier if you have thought about walking to the "channel". The perch are small but as posted you wil get some nice ones here and there.

Stay safe and good luck.


"I'd rather be lost in the woods than found at home"

ZMAN

[jigworm]

Zman,
The lake is so silted in that the river channel is about non existant. The 9' of water you found is it. There is one deeper hole down by the I-96 bridge but the ice can be iffy due to the current.

Pete

[Dawg]

Do you guys consistently get perch out there? I went to Island Lake on Saturday and caught 3 perch in about 15 minutes. My dogs didn't like the ice at all so I figured to come back on Sunday alone. Went to same holes Sunday and had decent action on gills but no perch. Have thought often about Kent but have defaulted to Island Lake because I have a State Park sticker.

Also, does anyone know what predator fish can be found in Kent, Island, or Small besides LMB? Has anyone tried catching trout in the Mill Pond of Island Lake State Recreation Area?

[TOURNAMENT FISHER]

Theres trout in the Mill Pond at Island Lake? What kind? How deep does it get?

[TrailFndr]

The Mill pond is stocked every spring and is catch and release untill the opener in April, I would be willing to bet, after seeing the 200-400 people that are there at midnight on the opener, that not too many survive the first few weeks. Never tried it on the ice, but have managed a few bass in the summertime

[Dawg]

I only know that it is stocked with trout and there are special regulations for the spring as far as CAR and season opening date. I have seen fly fishermen out there which got my attention, but have never tried.

The two times I tried to go there for ice fishing you had to wade out to the ice, and that turned me around. I assume that there is substantial depth as I often see scuba groups there.

[zman]

Hello again,
Predatr fish on Kent lake.......To tell you the truth, the northern pike I have caught in the lake have all been over 30". I have never saw a "hammer handle" or small pike pulled through the ice. For best luck use chubbs or shiners and fish them off the drop offs near any of the islands on tip ups. (ALSO I have doubleed my catch on wind tip ups rather then the traditional tip ups....this goes for every time I used them on multiple lakes. They keep the bait moving as the wind blows all day long. They are a little more maintance because you have to keep clearing the hole of ice to enable the tip up to naturally "bob" up and down, but hole covers are available to buy at Gander mountain that will prevent the hole freezing from occuring. So give it a try..they run from 12.99 to 15.99. best ones are made by "polar" ..(just my opinion)

FYI: Milford road east is 2 exits before the Kensington lake ext on west bound 696. The bait store is about 3 miles down after turning right off of the express way on the right hand side. I cant recall the name of it but they also have a little deli to tackle the munchies later on in the day if you pull the 12 hour shift on the ice like me :). Good luck.

"I'd rather be lost in the woods than found at home"

-ZMAN-

[Zofchak]

There are some big pike in kent lake I have seen several that were over 36", but I believe the real problem is getting one to hit when there are 3 million baby perch swimming in front of them 24/7, after all there is a reason those pike are so big.
Also there are alot of gar in kent as well, I have seen many of them taken by bow at the Dawson rd bridge.
Walleye population??? Up for debate. I have caught walleye there on many occasions, but as for it being a worthwhile destination for Walleye. I dont think so. There are many lakes in western Oakland county that fair much better. (Pontiac, Wolverine and Union just to name a few.

As for Spring mill pond there are trout in there year round, but I believe it is considered designated trout water and is therefore closed from the end of sept-the catch and release opener. I'm not positive of this, but in all my times going into Island lake I have never seen anyone ice fishing it.. The lake does get very deep 60ft or so. If your going to try it check with the DNR and be careful on the ice.

[gomer]

i do believe trout lakes have different regulations as far as season length and most are open all year. check your trout and salmon fishing guide

[fmontie]

I found Kent Lake pike fishing is awesome. I bet those dink perch would make excellent bait under a tip-up. Have had great success for pike on Houghton lake using dink perch under a bobber in the springtime......

[Shoeman]

My dad has fished Spring Mill through the ice in the past. Him and a few buddies have done very well. I've tried it, without any luck. It has very steep drop-offs. The contour lines are filled with holes in the clay. I believe they're inhabited with crayfish.
If my memory serves me right, they were fishing those drop-offs with corn.

[Dawg]

As allways thanks to everyone for the great information.

The guy at the Island Lake toll booth said that the trout size and limit regulations are the same through the season ending in March for the Spring Mill Pond. I will have to try it out one of these days.