Higgins Lake info please

[Elk Guide]

Hi........myself and a freind are going to higgins tomorrow to fish for perch,trout and maybe smelt......i havent' fished this lake in 20 years.....i need to know if someone would tell me where to fish it an where is a bait shop that will be open early up there.....i have a shanty and will be walking out.....Any help would sure be appreicated......thanks Carl

[Elk Guide]

Still looking for info on higgins .......how about some help here.....thanks for the help

[Doughboy]

Hey guide not much info but check your PM's

[Elk Guide]

Doughboy......i would like to thank you for your information you gave me yesterday in your pm,we caught our limits in about 7 hours......i havent' had that much fun in a long time.....we had one line broke took my hali not sure what it was.....10 flags on the tip up just couldnt hook it .....i think the minnie was to big for them to swallow ......oh well had fun with all the fish any way.....oh yea we were out on the south side near the good times party store ......thatnks again see ya Carl

[Mitch]

Here's a tip for ya, when you're getting flags and no fish pull the tip-up and throw a jig down it's more than likely perch getting your minnow. I've more than once left with a good mess of perch while lake trout fishing.

Mitch

[Ruff Rider]

Doughboy...I'm in a situation similar to Elk Guide...if you could give me directions to anywhere there are fish I would be very thankful. Even just a bait shop to go to would be great. Thanks in advance!

[I'llbeoutside]

Hows the ice guys? Trying to plan a trip up to fish Houghton and Higgins but I need to be able to take the fourwheeler for my dad to get around. Thanks!!!!

[Elk Guide]

Hi guys.......we went down sunflower dr. its about a mile east of good times party store.....if your comeing up new 27 turn at the first higgins lake ramp.....go to the stop at old 27 turn left go down until you see a sign that says a marina on it ,any way it says higgins lake on it....turn there to the right go to the stop and turn right keep driveing until you see sunflower dr. its on top of a hill .....i didn't clock it to see how far it was sorry about that there is a bait shop on your way to it.....we had about 8 inches of ice we went out from the landing at a 45% angle for about a 1/4 of a mile in about 50 feet of water fished it 5 foot off the bottom.....i was told the ice varied all over the lake ,i dont think i would ride a quad just any where on the lake but out there should be all right.....hope this helps and have a great day fishing

[Elk Guide]

ladykiller ..........It was perch we caught and some real good ones to.....we had at least 12 in the 12 inch or better class and 40 or so over 10 and the rest we kept were from 8 1/2 to just about 10....i was told we were lucky to catch that many nice ones.....they sure do make it easy filleting when there that size....i will be returning up there soon.....

[coonhollow]

Sounds like you did great. It must have been some good advise from doughboy! Maybe he can send me a PM on the tips too!!

[Ralph Smith]

I'll second that coonhollow :) Any advice doughboy would share would be great. I alway have a hard time finding perch for some reason, only fished higgins once about 4 years ago, and haven't been back. Nice lake though, would like to get up there again.

[coonhollow]

Fished higgins for years and always did pretty good with perch until the last couple of years. Last year we didn't get much perch over the 5" - 6" size. All throw backs with only a couple of keepers. Wondering if the abundance of Lakers isn't eating all the perch? What's your opinion?

[Sturgeon-man]

Just got off the phone with a buddy who was out this am. He and another guy BOTH limited out on 8-10 inchers. There is 18-20in of snow on the ice and said they had a hella of a time makin it out ( with the water and slush on the ice) also was using a quad pinned to the grip. He also found some spots where the ice was only 2in:eek: in 65fow....so they back-tracked 100ft and got 4in. With the recent storm today and those conditions just thought I'd give a "HEADS UP" to anyone headin up this weekend to hit it......use a little caution..... a half a pale of Smelt or Perch ain't worth joining a Polarbear club and puttin' a quad in :D Good luck to anyone going.....I'll be hittin' the Sag and spuddin' the whole way on:D

[I'llbeoutside]

Thanks for the info guys. It will be a couple of weeks before we can make it up. I think it was late Feb. when we were loading up on the smelt last year. Does not look like we will be driving out on the ice like last year though. Too much snow. Good luck and be carefull!!!!!

[ahasiec]

probably stay in closer just to play it safe, I would rather come home empty handed and not wet...hopefully we hit them though...Doughboy thanks for the advice! Tightlines everyone

[slowpoke]

Hope to be there Sun. morning off the west DNR boat ramp. Any update on the ice and getting around with my atv? How much snow is on the ice? Thanks.

[mickdrosco]

Slowpoke,

I took a cruise on the sled night before last (I'm a "backlotter" on the East side of the North basin). Near the North State park there was a lot of slush under about six inches of snow (six inches of slush). Once I got over to the West side, the slush was gone, but there remained 6-8" of snow. Near shore I found 5-7" of good ice. I didn't go all the way around to the West launch, but stopped off of Big Creek, which is not far North of there. When I headed to deep water, it was a stretch to call it 4" of good ice in 100 fow. Since then it has been extremely cold, but with the snow insulating the ice, we haven't been making ice very fast. Also, we added a few inches of snow yesterday, although with the way the wind was blowing, it is probably all on the East shoreline.

Everywhere we went my buddy with a quad was able to get around fine... assuming you have 4x4.

[beer and nuts]

Those "backlotters" think they know everything about Higgins Lake:D :cool: :)

I will try and get out there somewhere this afternoon/evening and I'll be using my Polaris 500. I was out trying to move a shanty(and not a big one) at the North State Park on Monday and it was messy, ATV went through it fine but pulling that shanty was a pain. 4.5-5 inches of ice out past the drop there and not very far past either. I do know that pulling a shanty, if you don't have high runners, the snow piles up in the front and becomes impossible to move with snowmobile or ATV. Tread lightly out there this weekend. The ice seems to be solid and clear though. I'll be out both Sat/Sun. trying to find a laker/whitefish spot.

Mick-you smelt fishing tonight? And are you laker fishing Sat. morning with the gym teacher at his shanty spot?

[mickdrosco]

Beer & Nuts -
Give me a buzz... gotta get some smelt tonight for bait for the morning. Planning on fishing the usual spot at first light for lakers.

[Ladykiller]

Hey guys,

Will dead smelt work? Or should I just use live shiners? I don't really want to use shiners, but my father didn't come through today for me on the smelt (he's about useless). If you guys want some company, we'll be out there about 8am hopefully. With this smelt predicament, I'm debating whether or not even going up there at all.

[Mitch]

Ladykiller,

Dead smelt will work, better than shiners anyways, set 'em right on bottom.

Mitch

[Frantz]

I am thinking of hitting Higgens this next weekend the 29th. What is a good rig for trout I have never fished for them and will they be in the shallow areas where the ice is better?

[fishlocater]

has the ice improved much with this cold temps. and is the smelt fishing heating up some? thanks

[Doughboy]

Well back to the nornal (not much luck) Tried the west launch area at daybreak for smelt Sat but not much luck so went on a search for perch in past gps spots. Again real hard to move around once you left the packed snow of smeltville. Never made it past north sunken island but after 50 holes by 2 fisherman just enough perch for 1 dinner for one of us(not me). Areas still slushy but not quite as bad if you find old trails where the slush froze. Back to the smelt ground for smelt diner for me (nada)! 30 holes drill 5"-10" of ice with Ridgid 18volt and 5" auger and still had life. Might try Monday but the smelt maybe need more lights in the water to get them in the area. Good luck and be safe.