Higgins Lake Perch

[Bry]

This is my first visit here. Nice forum you have here. Hope to be able to exchange some fishing tips. I will start by sharing this one.

Ive had great luck on Higgins over the last week. Three of us caught 100 perch last Sunday in the 8-10 inch range. Wednesday two of us caught only 42 with the size a bit smaller.

Yesterday we had to search a bit to find them. We finally hit the jackpot in 20ft of water. Three of us caught 86 in the last two hours of the day. Never kept a fish under 8 inches. Many fish of 10 inches or more.

More of the same this mourning. Basicly the same area(20ft). Caught 90 in three hours before my partner had to leave. We would have easily reached our three man limit in another hour or so. Fish seemed to get bigger as the mourning went on. Several perch in the 12 inch range.

All spots mentioned were off the west shore access. I used a no.4 swedish pimple tipped with a waxworm. The others used bottom rigs with tear drops and wigglers. My bigger spoon produced better fish.

Best tip I can give. Drill lots of holes. Dont stay where the fish arent biting. If you find them,call your buddies and drill more holes in that area. More lines keep the school aroung longer. When they move on,split up and go find them again. Probably a good idea for one guy to stay put. They usually return to the same area.

[Steve]

Wow, thanks for the great tips. It great to get the reports from The Great White North. Enjoy our forums!

[severus]

Has anyone heard anything about the perch fishing on Muskegon or White lakes? Just curious...

[kingfisher 11]

Bry I am heading up there Wednesday. I usually fish the NE corner and do pretty good. I use the swedish pimple with a minnow head and I put a dropper up about 10" with teardrop and wiggler. I set tipups along the drop offs and you never know what your going to catch. It will be my first trip up there this year.


[This message has been edited by kingfisher 11 (edited 02-14-2000).]

[Bry]

Good luck kingfisher! Im also planning a Wednesday trip up there. Heck,its worth a days vacation for a nice mess of perch. We will probably head for the North Sunken Island again.

You said NW corner of the lake? We have fished a spot,known by locals,as the Evergreen. Named after the store on the North end. Caught some good perch in about 60ft of water.

[kingfisher 11]

Bry, I know where you are talking about. I fish east of the island in about 25ft of water. What kind of ice is up there?

[Bry]

There was 10-12 inches where we were at. Plenty of pickups were roaming the lake,although recent snow accumulation has made it more challenging. Sounds like another 3-5 inches of snow today,so I expect to start seeing more slush.

By the way,our first trip of the year was on the west side of Treasure Island,straight out from Point Comfort. We had heard of limit catches in 16ft of water. Unfortunately we couldnt locate the fish and went home with a mere 6 perch.

[kingfisher 11]

That was where I was planning on going too. I may want to reconsider, the sunken island is about a mile from shore. I don't plan on driving my 4x4 truck up there so it would be a long walk. Sunday when we got all that snow I was out about 1-1/2 in Saginaw Bay. I found myself pulling a couple of 2 wheel drive vehicles off the ice. The slush got real bad after we got about 5 inches in about 4 hrs. This was on top of the 7 or 8 inches already there.

[Bry]

Looks like Im gonna cancel todays trip to Higgins. Forecast calls for Northwest winds at 15-25 MPH. Not very comfortable fishing conditions on a big lake like Higgins. I do have a nice portable 4 man clam,but Id rather be hole jumping in the open.

[kingfisher 11]

Bry,
I went today, the weather shut them right down. I only caught about 15 fish and they were not very big, the biggest was 9.5 inches. You picked a good day not to go. I talked with several guys who had fished the last couple of days and they did real well until today. I fished the sunken island, we ended up fishing around 18 ft deep and we could see them on the bottom. They would swim up and just look at the bait and turn away. We tried wigglers, wax worms and Minnows. The minnows worked if they were alive. I moved all over, fished from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, long day when your not catching fish.
Good luck

[Bry]

Kingfisher,I guess you missed it by one day. My father went Thursday and got his limit. Caught 12 fish in one hole. Moved about 50 yards and caught 38 more. Never went more than a minute without a bite. Again,fishing in 20ft on the sunken island. Perch are the hardest fish to figure out. Hopefully they will be hungry Sat mourning when I go.

[kingfisher 11]

Bry, It had to be the weather, it was my worse trip there yet. I am thinking about making a trip back to Sincoe Lake, I have not been back since they asdded limits. I just got to get a couple guys together now so we can split the gas and a room.

[Bry]

Had another good mourning at the Sunken Island. My father and I got our limit in three and a half hours. Most fish ran between 8-10 inches. Dad kept a few around seven.

Weather was fine. No wind to speak of. Planning on a return trip Sunday.

[kingfisher 11]

Thats the way it has been for me all year, should have been here yesterday. Did you have to move around very much? Were they still driving Trucks out on the ice? I would have went today but my son had a basketball game. I think I will try the Sag. Bay tommarrow. It should be a good day tommarrow the weather is suppose to be real warm.

[Bry]

Yes,there were alot of trucks out there today. In fact,the most Ive seen all year. We chose to go out on an ORV. Had to fight a few drifted patches on the way out.

Yes,we did move around a bit. We drilled about 10 holes in the same general area. Two of those spots produced the majority of our catch. Theres one thing Im starting to notice out there. Our more successful spots seem to be over heavier weed growth. So,if you start snagging a green or two,it might be a good sign.

I know what its like to follow kids in sports. My kids are all involved. Luckily they are done now until Spring. Then its off to the ball field. Good luck on the bay!