little bay de noc landings ??

[mdj]

has anybody been onor near the bay ?
with the very low water lavels on lake Michigan
are the landings usable at gladstone or kipling
how about voyager camp grounds ,,,can I get out ?

I am planning a trip for may 20th and spending a week if we can't get out or it is not safe we will change directions and fish inland waters

any info would be appreciated..I have gone to marty papke;s site but no real answeres...they don't want to scare away the tourist

[Capt. Keith Wils]

The DNR has been working on the Kipling launch site and is going to be fine,just use a little caution.The Gladstone yacht club is also OK just remember to use caution when going out in areas where your not sure about water depth.
Capt.keith

[lethal]

I was up there last fall. Launched at the Hiawatha launch site by Rapid River. The site had been dreadged by the DNR but out from the landing it was shallow. There is also a site right in Rapid River, were the actual rapid river dumps into the bay. Good luck!

[Captain Darrell mittlesteadt]

There are some pictures of the Rapid River & Kipling landings on #####://www.baydenoc.com along with some info about the landings. Rapid River is very shallow, only small boats using caution can use it. Kipling is OK but you still have to use caution. Many of the shallow spots you used to run over are to shallow now.

[Captain Darrell Mittlesteadt]

5-08-00

Bay de Noc Boat Landings

I have been receiving lots of questions on the water levels, boat landings and fishery on both Big & Little Bay de Noc. I just got off the phone with George Madison from the MI DNR. First where ever you are on the bay use caution, a lot of area you could run over before are very shallow and dangerous. George also said the Corps of Engineers is predicting lower water yet. He said they are saying it could be a foot or more lower by this time next year. More dredging at the landings is being planned. Kipling is suppose to be dredged next winter.

The landings on Little Bay at Kipling, Gladstone and Escanaba are all in good shape and usable. The Cedar River has been dredged and is usable. The Rapid River landing is very shallow, you can launch small boats but you may have to wade out a little ways. The Escanaba River is shallow but usable for small boats. Landings on the Stonington side are closed.

On Big Bay de Noc, Ogantz is closed, it is the only one officially closed but the only landing that is really usable is at Fayette State Park. The rest of them are very shallow and not really useable. The landing at Namha is going to be dredged sometime soon but he did not know any dates. If you use the Fayette Landing a park sticker is needed, it is a state park. To save yourself some time if you are fishing with minnows take them along, there isn't anywhere to buy them when you get there.

On the fishery. Perch fishing has been excellent with good numbers and sizes of perch being taken for the last couple of weeks. From the DNR's early netting reports there are large numbers of all sizes of walleyes. All year classes are large and doing well, especially the ones around 18". Walleye fishing should be excellent for at least the next several years. Bass numbers also look very good and fishing for bass is expected to remain excellent.