Portage Lake

[Kipling-guy]

Well I decided to give Bay De Noc a rest and head to Portage lake for an ice fishing trip. We fished the west shore and did very well on both size and numbers of fish. We caught 3 walleyes over 28 inches fishing the same way we do in the Bay. Also had 8 eater eyes and some fish in between, with a total of 22 walleyes in 2 days!!!! Now I know why the PWT is coming back here. It's an awesome fishery! Be back this weekend again.

Joe

[legend]

Hey Kipling guy, thanks for the report. What depth were you fishing? Close to Chassell or further north along the west shore?
Regards

[kipling-guy]

Well we just got off BDN and fishing has been very good as of late, so it's a toss up for this weekend. Only thing I'm worried about is the ice on Portage, we only had maybe 3 inches in spots so it was a little scary. We fished the Boot Jack shore (That's what I was told it's called) and also the main lake point to the north of the boat launch, we happened to find a big rock pile off the main lk pt. that was very good to us. We dropped an underwater camera and a saw 2 walleyes sitting there on the big boulders, which was very cool to see. Also saw many fish cruising by all day, suckers,pike, perch, alewives, and a sturgeon. In BDN we usually just see eyes, whitefish, and perch.

Do you happen to know how much ice is on the lake now after this warm spell? Thanks for the heads up.

Joe

[legend]

Joe, all the snow melted, now maybe 2 inches of fresh. Where I have been fishin', there is 2 inches of clear ice under 2 inches of cloudy "snow ice". Not ideal conditions. I understand the bite has slowed down from last week.

If you were on the bootjack shore, that is the east side, not west shore. Were you fishing on the main lake point north of the bootjack launch, there are a lot of rocks there? Or were you on the point north of the Chassell launch? Just curious...

Yeah, its species of the world here in Portage. The sturgeon really light up the vexilar, eh?
Regards

[Kipling-guy]

Well the bite is still good here so I will stick it out here until the ice gets thicker up there. We walked a long ways! Your correct it was the east shore not the west shore. See you in 2 weeks!

[BLACKEEE555]

Will you guys be fishing in the Chassell bay fishing derby on the 17th?

My brother-in-law and I will be traveling from the Battle Creek area and staying in Chassell for the derby.
We usually fish the Gogebic but thought we would give the Keweenaw a try.

Hope the ice is better and the bite is on!