Official opening days for seasons?

[jaid]

I know a few of these are always the same, but I know there are also some fine print on some of them also. What are the official dates that the various seasons open (for southwest michigan). Particularly:

Bass - May 24th - Dec 31st?
Pike - April 26 - November 30?
Walleye - April 26 - November 30?
Musky - April 26 - November 30?

This doesnt leave many early season options! Ive got new lures to try, new rods to try, new reels to try. I cant wait until the end of April!

When do bowfin move into the shallows? Are there any good catfish lakes in the southwest lower? :D

What do you guys do to keep from going crazy this time of the year?

must........go.........fishing........SOOOOON!

[SALMONATOR]

MmmmHmmmm! Its me again. Dude you live in the western part of the state. STEELHEAD ever come to mind? They fill those rivers up and provide good fishing for quite a while in the early season. About the time they are petering out the regular opener is just around the corner. Dude! You owe it to yourselfe to check it out. As youve expreswsed in past posts, your already payin' for it. Get ahold of me closer to the spring run and we can get you into some of these guys!!!

[jaid]

Hehe!

Ive done some trolling on lake mich for salmon and lake trout, and hooked up with an occasional steelhead. Other than trolling though, these are all foreign concepts. I wouldnt know where to go, how to fish for em, or where to begin!

Is it a situation where I can haul one of my musky rigs down to a river, and start casting, or what?

Im pretty close to the Kalamazoo River, but I dont know of any fishing areas around here (im sure there are some, I just have no idea where).

All I know is, if I dont get out on the water soon, Im liable to start tying acorns to my line and fish for the squirrels off my deck!

[djkimmel]

Some great crappie lakes all over the west side of the lake from what I've seen and heard. Call local tackle shops. I look them up on the Internet Yellow Pages. They start shortly after ice out.

Dogfish come into the shallows when the water is in the 50s and you're on a good warming trend. Look for really shallow, dark-bottomed nooks, corners, back ends of bays, etc. They make good flipping practice.

Can't help much with coldwater catfish although there's more being printed on this all the time. They are caught by many experts in very cold water.

There always is the steelhead. I'll let the 'fanatics' handle those. It's been a few years since I've stood freezing in a stream.

You can legally catch and release bass on Muskegon Lake and Hardy Dam Pond beginning April 1st. It's different than summer fishing, but very fun once you get the hang of it.

[jaid]

Thanks for the tips djkimmel!

Wouldnt mind getting some slabs in the freezer, but they just arent any good at pullin the drag off an abu and heavy action rod. :D

We fished Fish Lake last year, and our initial impression was pretty bad. Until we started spotting the bowfins. It wasnt uncommon to see 2 or 3 every 100 feet on the shorline. Lots of muck, lots of lilly pads, lots of weeds. They are a pretty fun fish to catch, especially since 90% of time we caught them, it was sight fishing! Wouldnt mind finding a lake full of 30"+ bowfins!

[SALMONATOR]

being that far south-west, I'd bet the St. joe or the Grand are your best bet, ( and they are two of the better rivers in the state, to be sure) But I think the k-zoo gets in a fishable run every year. I'm not too up on these rivers other than what I hear, But I'll asure you, you are alot closer to my rivers than I am. I like to fish the Little Man, Big Man, and hands down especially, the Pere Marquette, wich is about 4-5 hours from where I live (but you can bet your ***** I'll be up there every weekend of april and then some either way).
So you dont know where to start? Well what did you know before you decided to take up Muskie fishing? It's about exploration, and changing flies alot at first. Put in a little windshield time and walk a distance from the bridges. You'll find fish if you look. Catching them is the challenge. I'll be up there when the weather breaks so keep in touch. Just remember, if I were you, I'd have a hell of alot more steele and salmon under the belt than I do now (due to location) so..........no excuses for not givin' it a shot.
In my experience, based on the time of year and rivers I fish, little stonefly nymphs always seem to be the top producer. Hex nymphs, and egg sucking leeches, as well as a few of my own flies are my personal favorites.
Your best bet is a longer rod (I find for controlling the fish) but more importantly you want a quality reel with a good drag, as I've seen these fish smoke cheaper ones on more than one occasion.
Most importantly, when you start to hear those reports, and guys are hooking up with steel, the rivers running high, and temps are hitting high forties-low fifties, PLEASE drop me a note. It's a done deal.

[Will_S]

One word - Indiana!

[jaid]

If all goes well, me and a few friends will be there on March 29th for the ice out chal-lunge! Probably going to give Webster a shot. I need to get out a map and find out which lake would be the shortest drive.

[gregm]

If anyone's interested in coming down to Indiana to fish early season, shoot me an email or PM, I'll try to steer you toward the better waters.

[gomer]

pike musky and walleye are open till march 15th, not november 30.

[jaid]

Most lakes in michigan have special restrictions. All of the musky lakes that I know of have restrictions closing them form musky fishing on november 30. Im not 100 sure that the same is true for walleye and pike, but im 100% positive that is the case with musky. If it werent, id be on the lake right now! :D

[GOTCHA]

Muskie's here on st. clair open on first sat. in june and close dec 15th....:(

[ESOX]

Muskie and Pike open year round on the big lakes. Pick a bay and get to work.:)

[Wishn I was fishn]

Correct me if Im wrong but aren walleye open year round on St Clair river and lake and detroit river year round?