Help: Big & Little Bay De Noc Questions

[Ruddiger]

Howdy,

I have recently changed jobs and am rethinking my traditional vacation options. I am thinking about staying closer to home (Ohio) and concentrating on US waters for my fishing season next year. Ideally I am thinking about spending 4-5 weeks in the UP hitting BBDN & LBDN.

My primary goal is numbers of walleye, fast action for smallies, and most importantly numbers of big northern pike.

I hope that by concentrating on great lake regions I would be able to tap into larger unpressured northers while also maximizing my other fishing opportunities. I am thinking of scheduling my trips between the opener (May?) and the last few weeks of october or early November.

Based upon this objective have I selected the right bodies of water?

If so, when are the best/worst times to fish for the species I mentioned?

Where are the best places to stay inorder to dock my boat right on the water?

Is there much of a dead bait bite for the pike in the early part of the season?

I know that I have asked a lot of questions but I would greatly appreciate any assistance that you could give me. Thanks in advance for all of your help.

Sincerely,

Rudiger

[Ruddiger Unlogged]

Any body out there?

[Juls]

I see your original post went unanswered here for over a week...that's unuaual, but it happens. :confused:

To get your BDN questions answered, try this message board:
A fella by the name of Kevin Lee should be able to answer them all.

http://www.baysdenoc.com/fishing-reports.shtml

Juls

[THE BAIT SHOP GUY]

All three species have different "prime times" up here on the LBDN.

For walleyes, season starts on May 15th. Lots of fish, but mostly smaller males - good eaters. Fishing is usually good until mid to late June when alewives come into the bay to spawn and the mayfly hatches start. Bite picks up again in August. Big fish start moving back into the bay in mid to late October. From then until ice up in December is when LBDN is the walleye fishery it's famous for. Good fishing thru the ice until season closes at the end of February.

We have some excellent smallmouth fishing here that's almost untouched (this is Walleye World as far as most people are concerened.) The early catch and release season starts the same as the pike and walleye opener - regular season starts about 10 days later. I mostly fish the Escanaba and Ford Rivers. Lots of 14 to 18 inchers, with a good shot at fish over 20. The river bite is good thru most of June. July is usually on the slow side. Fish move out of the rivers and back into the lake and typically the bite gets going good again in mid August. Mid September thru mid October is good for numbers and size. A lot of guys come up this time of year to lindy rig redtail chubs for big smallies, especially over in BBDN.

Pike fishing is pretty slow until the first part of July, and then, they're mostly small. The big girls don't start to show up until early to mid September when the water starts to cool. Anyplace you have weeds, you'll find pike. We mostly throw musky sized baits to target the bigger fish over 40 inches. Dead bait used to be fairly popular up here, but not too many guys use it anymore (I don't even bother to carry any at my baitshop.)

If you had to pick one month to do all three, I'd go in October.

Due to how the bay is laid out, there are only a few places where you can keep a boat on the water. Check out http://www.baysdenoc.com and click lodging and dining, then resorts. The first three places listed there all have docking available. Lots of other places to stay that are only a few miles from a boat launch. As mentioned before, keep an eye on the fishing reports section.

Hope this helps.


CHRIS WAHL - BAY VIEW BAIT

[Ruddiger]

Gentlemen:

Thanks for both of your replies. I do not have the chance to get on my computer until the weekends otherwise I would have responded to you sooner.

In regards to the Bays, I ordered copies of the Hot Spots maps for both LBDN and BBDN. After looking at them both and doing some additional research I was thinking more of targeting the Big bay over the Little bay. My reasoning was that it was larger and seemed to perhaps have a better population of Pike and Bass. Is this a fair assumption or am I off track?

On the dead bait bite question: I have done great for big pike on Canadian fly-ins in early june on this technique. Usually I deploy the bait at river mouths and other high traffic areas. In the past, where have people who used to use this approach targeted the pike in the Bays? Also why has the enthusiasm for this technique ended in the area? Regulation changes? Walleye Fever?

I was also told that the Big Bay was less pressured and more scenic than the Little bay. Is this true? I was also told it offered much better habitat for pike and smallmouth but not for walleyes. Again, is that true?

If one was to come up for a week of fishing around Memorial day, the weeks of July 4, labor day, and mid to late October would one be able to do well in the Bigger bay for Pike, Bass, Walleye? Is the alwive explosion a problem for all species or just the walleye?

Finally, I have not seen any place on the net that offers lodging and docking on the big Bay? Do you know of any place that is located on the water there that would fit my needs?

Again, THANK YOU for your replies and for you assistance.

Ruddiger

[No-Fish Nick]

Big Bay would be the place to get what your looking for. Call the No-Nah-ma resort located in Nahma Phone: (906) 644-2728 they have small cabins with docks. The water can get pretty shallow if there is a north wind but I never had a problem getting my 1900 Pro-V in and out of there. Another place you could call is the Garden Sport Shop (906) 644 2908 they are always very helpful on where, when and how.

Nick

[THE BAIT SHOP GUY]

BBDN is better known for it's smallmouth fishing than LBDN. I'd say pike fishing is a toss up between the two. The walleyes in BBDN are larger on average (it's unusual to catch fish under 23 inches.) LBDN is where most of the fish on this end of Green Bay spawn at. The warmer, more furtile, and protected waters of the bay act as a good nursery area. That's why there are more small, eating sized fish here.

The biggest problem with fishing Big Bay de Noc is that it's BIG Bay de Noc. It's a huge area of water to cover and you are much more exposed to the wind.

When guys fished dead bait for the pike, it was mostly in the fall at the mouth of the Escanaba harbor. It drops into 40+ FOW right off of shore. Guys would throw dead smelt out over the drop and set their rods in holders and wait for something to come along. It was mostly older, meat fishermen that used this technique. Most have them have since passed away or spend all their time out at the casino, now. I've tried it and haven't found it to be any better than casting artificials. Didn't care for all the gut and gill hooked fish (even with quick strike rigs.) Nothing wrong with keeping fish to eat, but around here if you're going to do that, you might as well fish for the much more numerous walleyes.

The alwives mostly affect the walleyes more so than bass and pike. It takes them a little longer to infest Big Bay than it does Little Bay. Usually the whole month of July is shot. Not all is lost though - that's when all the good salmon fishing starts. Head to the far south end of Big Bay out of Fairport if you want too give that game a try.

CHRIS WAHL

Bay View Bait and Tackle

[Kevin Lee]

The first month of the season (May 15th-June 15th) is a great time for high numbers of eating size walleye. The other great time period for high numbers of "eater walleye" is the month of August. Sometimes the last two weeks of July are very good too. But August is a lock for sure every year. The vast majority of our biggest walleye spend most of the year out in Green Bay. Little Bay de Noc is essentially a giant nursery. Tracking studies have shown this to be true. Common sense tells me this as well. Because during the spawn, just about all the rivers that feed into Little Bay de Noc are full of lots of 10 pound walleye. Yet once the season opens just a couple weeks after the spawn, it is rare to see a walleye over 25 inches caught. And they are also going deeper and deeper every year too it seems as the water continues getting clearer. With salmon fisherman catching walleye 85 feet down every now and then. I don't do much smallmouth fishing, but from what all the locals say, September is very good. I do remember my brother and I having a ball with smallmouth on the rocky shoals in the middle of Big Bay de Noc in mid September one year casting Shad Raps. September is also the best month for pig pike without question. Though with the warm fall we are having this year, the pike fishing is still very good at this time. There have been a couple over 40 inches caught on my brother’s charters just in the last week. Usually late October going into November sees the pike fishing drop right off. We always see lots of big pike in September. But it tapers off as the fall goes on. I think it’s because of the weeds dieing off more than anything else. It’s still easy to know where the pike are in September. Just find the weeds. But as the weeds die off, the pike scatter. My brother catches quite a few big pike while trolling leadcore line and crankbaits for walleye in 40-60 feet of water in October and November. Hope this helps. E-mail me at kenandkevinlee@chartermi.net if you have any more questions. Good luck!