View Full Version : Saginaw/Lee St. launch
River fishable and launch site with little snow.
Visibility in water about a foot and a half. Current brisk w/SW wind helping.
Only one boat out this moprning.
Merry Christmas!
chamookman
12-26-2003, 04:31 AM
Thanks ND- You and Howard fishing today (Fri.)? I have atleast 6" snow in the driveway, good thing I have 4W drive:)! Might let things thaw a bit today, and fish tommorow. Give Me a call if You get a chance. Bob WC#253.
It appears that not everyone put their boats up for winter yet......the launch had many boats out today.Maybe forty or more.
It was a good day on the water, even , if the fish were on the small side.
The water,too, had cleared up.
It was rumored that the C-man had sneaked out to celebrate Kwanzaa.
Is that why we never saw your boat???
chamookman
12-28-2003, 04:26 AM
ND- Yes I lit another candle yesterday! Couldn'y come up with a partner- don't like fishing alone in this cold weather. Lonnie and I will be there around 10:30- 11:00 today. Did You and Howard clear all those "farm fish" out for Us? Bob WC#253
You wouldn't have felt alone on the river Saturday.......there were enough boats sattered along the way.
The keeper fish were caught south of the launch and after 5pm.
Marble Eyes
12-29-2003, 09:36 AM
Fished south of the Rust Steet ramp all day Saturday. Caught one keeper on the Hooters drift at about 10:00.
Everything else was under size or had wiskers or wool. They kept us busy though. Never saw a fish over 18 inches caught. Most were 8-12 inches.
Fished hooters, downtown, turn around, Silo. Tons on bait fish.
Marble Eyes
12-29-2003, 11:51 AM
Sorry, didn't really mean south but rather down river.
It aint right when a river flows south to north! :)
Walleye Express
12-29-2003, 09:56 PM
[b]Marble.
Do you realize the Saginaw is only one of the 3 rivers in the U.S. that flows South to North. Heard that from some egg head, but can't remember where or who.
ezmarc
12-30-2003, 05:43 AM
That can't be Capt. Dan.
Maumee, Portage, Sandusky, Huron, Black, etc. All run north to Erie. Maybe 3 in Mich.?
Gee, guys, those are tough fact to deal with.....north/south. I do good to keep my right left correct.
The pinheads that operate the launch pulled two of the ramps today.
The River is up a bit and only about a foot of visibility.The wind is brisk and so is the current.
The telephone for R&R bait is 989 781 5002
Walleye Express
12-30-2003, 04:29 PM
>That can't be Capt. Dan.
>
>
>Maumee, Portage, Sandusky, Huron, Black, etc. All run north to
>Erie. Maybe 3 in Mich.?
[b]EZ.
Might have been just in Mich. But I'm hard pressed to think of any I know of in Mich that does besides the Saginaw. After further thought, he might have said the Saginaw is only river in Michigan that does.
Lee ST launch is done for the year, it seems........all docks pulled and gate locked.
The Parks Dept. is celebrating KWANZAA and is seldom catering to the needs of the public it serves!
Zillwaukee ramp: docks pulled, but is launchable if you are careful.Three boats out this morning.
Remember, the launch is steep,but it was dry this am.
lobo1
12-31-2003, 11:47 AM
FYI -
Midland is pulled as well.
lobo1
Walleye Express
12-31-2003, 04:36 PM
>FYI -
>
>Midland is pulled as well.
>
>lobo1
[b]Steve.
Pulling the Caldwell dock is a welcomed blessing. The dock takes up more comfortable launching room than doing any good in the first place. At least since the water has been so low the last few years. I'll be using that ramp again hopefully this Friday.
On another note, I never seen the Saginaw so low as this afternoon. Those SW winds are savage right now.
Walleyehound
12-31-2003, 11:49 PM
Hey Dan,
Now that the Saginaw launch (Rust street)is locked up, where can I put in at? I haven't tried the Tib. before so I'm thinking of giving that a shot.
I'll be coming from Flint so directions to a launch site would be appreciated. I run a 16' SV with power tilt, so fairly shallow water isn't usually a problem. Also wondering if the mouth of the river is still producing.
Walleye Express
01-01-2004, 09:25 AM
>Hey Dan,
>
>Now that the Saginaw launch (Rust street)is locked up, where
>can I put in at? I haven't tried the Tib. before so I'm
>thinking of giving that a shot.
>I'll be coming from Flint so directions to a launch site would
>be appreciated. I run a 16' SV with power tilt, so fairly
>shallow water isn't usually a problem. Also wondering if the
>mouth of the river is still producing.
>
>
>
[b]Hound.
Take no offense. But the words Fairly Shallow when refering to the Tittabawassee, is almost laughable. In our High Water years the Tittabawassee was considered fairly shallow and alway dangerous. Old bridge abutments, sand/clay bars and giant boulders are strewn in places with no ryme or reason. And since our extremely low water problem the last 3 or 4 years, we have 1/2 miles stretches as shallow as 11" of water. The only reason I can fish it, is becuase I had the forsight back in 1988 to buy a white water sled with jet drive outboard motor that only need 4" of water to run when on plane. And this isn't some ploy of mine to keep you off the river.
Anybody on this board who has fished the Titt. will tell you the same thing. I'm always reluctant to send people to fish the Tittabawassee because of these river hazards, especially if it's their first time there. I'm thinking that the Center Street ramp is open, and the mile stretch that starts under the bridge on the south side, and continues almost down to the Germanina Golf Course will have enough water to do some fishing in a regular boat. Getting to this ramp is a little more involved direction wise. Coming from Flint, I'd get off on the 675 Saginaw exit, turn onto Tittabawassee Rd, cross Bay Road and procede to Center Road. Take Center South/Left all the way to the river. The ramp is on the left side of the bridge before tou cross the river.
The Wicks park ramp might still be open at the convergence where the Tittabawassee, Cass and Shiawassee rivers dump into the Saginaw. I'll let somebody else who may know rather it is handle the direction cominf from Flint. The Zilwauakee ramp as stated by Lobo is still open, but I've never used it before.
lobo1
01-01-2004, 10:01 AM
Dan,
If I had your boat the dock would be of no use to me either but since I don't - I KINDA LIKED IT !
The water here yesterday was up a foot from last week but as you know it could be down a foot by friday. One guy I have seen fishing the wee hours I finally caught up with yesterday morning about 3AM. He zeroed. Matter of fact he said he has never zeroed there before and this was his second zero in a row - the other zero was Xmas eve.
The fishing hasn't been good enuff for me to take the abuse from the wife any longer - she wants her garage back. I'm putting my boat away tomorrow.
Steve
Z-launch :somewhat steep.....best if launch with two men as team.
Should bring salt or sand.This morning about 13 boats out.Water up from yesterday and quite murky(1 foot visibility).
The Tib: launchable(smaller boats and w/o docks)Immerman Park and Gordonville.Visibility good(about 3 feet.)The current fairly swift with few ice floes.Few 'eyes caught from shore by some of the Hardy ones.
Walleye Express
01-01-2004, 12:00 PM
[b]Steve.
Think the guy you talked to was my bud from Sandford. Short/squatty guy, short beard? He likes fishing that ramp lighted area, upriver near that first fallen tree and sometimes in his boat up near the spillway.
He's got in trouble up there twice now, when the Sandford Dam shut off and he got stranded in that 1/4 miles stretch from the steam pipe trussel to the high clay banks on river road. Getting out and pulling the boat in 30 degree water wasn't so nice in his rocky boots he told me.
And yup, your right. I like the docks gone. Most of the time they're so far above the water line, it takes a parachute to get down to your boat. Or they are underwater just enough to create a slim layer on the top and really become a slip and fall hazzard. And as you know I can pull right up on the cement, load and unload with the witewater bottom bumpers on my boat.
lobo1
01-01-2004, 02:07 PM
Dan,
The guy I met is from Owosso so not the same but dragging the boat this time of year doesn't sound too good !
I never paid too much attention to the ramp but now that I have a boat I keep an eye on it and check things out down there just about every night I work. When it's higher in the spring I try to stay in touch with the DPS guys to move that dock when it's needed (especially if I'm going in the next day !). Give me a shout if something needs to be done there and I haven't caught it.
lobo1
Marble Eyes
01-01-2004, 07:13 PM
Anyone help me out with directions to the launch down by the
Z-Bridge, or for that matter any that I can launch my 19 foot Pro-V, I'll be coming in on 46 from the west?
After you get your minnows at R&R, stay on 46 to 47. Turn left and follow 47 to Tittabbawassee Rd.(By 7/11)
Turn right on Tittabwassee and follow it to its end.
Turn right, then first road to the left and you will see the launch.
Get acquinted with the area , there is Nikki's bait close by.Good coffee and bait.
Marble Eyes
01-02-2004, 07:31 PM
Thanks ND, by the time we got there (Nikki's) we bought out their supply of minnows.
River is LOW, Milk shake clarity and the fish weren't co-operating. I fished from Convergence/Wicks clear down to the Silos.
I saw one Walleye landed all day. That was foul hooked and 8 inches long. Mostly a few Cats and some sheep.
No one I talked to all day on the river including at the ramp this evening said they had any luck.
Very apt description........we, too, landed only one smaller walleye.
However, the day on water was still better than sitting home with a "honey-do-list".