Muskegon Fishing Report 02/06/09

"They are fishing Cottage Grove, cCipper and behind the paper mill for perch in 40 to 70ft of water. It has been a hit or miss season but I have been hearing of some nice catches when you do get into them. Ice ranges from 4 to 8 inches out there. You need to figure out what they want and go from there.

Also need to use caution goin out further the shipping channel was wide open after the warm weather we had. I have been fishing Fishermans landing for the last few trips out did ok on pike on Monday and it was slow for me on Wednesday saw a lot of flags and fish caught by other people, ice was 3 to 6 inches. Cant get out to deeper water yet the east side of the lake was open water last week.

They have been fishing Snug since first ice and haven’t heard to much about it except for gills. They have been fishing Hartshorn for pike and doing ok some days. Sand Docks is not safe nobody is fishing it. I went to 2nd street yesterday and got out but it wasn’t safe once you walked off the path others have made, ice was 1 to 4 inches. Ice is just starting to get better on the rest of the lake so we will be able to get out and try different spots soon enough."

Report by Cliff Shaut

Muskegon Lake ice fishermen urged to beware of tug and barge

By Brian McVicar

The Muskegon Chronicle

January 23, 2010, 8:26AM

MUSKEGON — A 435-foot tug-and-barge combination that is scheduled to cut across Muskegon Lake Saturday evening doesn’t pose any immediate risk to the dozens of people who are expected to be on the lake for an ice-fishing competition, according to the competition’s organizers.



“It’s just common sense for anybody that’s on the ice to be aware that it’s coming in and to move when it comes in,” said Mike Schalk, who helped organize the 26th annual White Lake Perch Festival, which includes an ice fishing contest. “If you start hearing the ice crack, you know what you’d better do.”



A tugboat, Karen Andrie, and its companion, the barge Endeavour, will cut across Muskegon Lake at 6 p.m. Saturday on its way from the Muskegon Channel to the Mart Dock. Officials of the shipping company, Andrie Inc., have notified the Coast Guard and local bait shops of their pending arrival.



Schalk says most of the contestants will have wrapped up their day by 4 p.m., when they turn their fish over to the judges. Contestants, expected to number in the hundreds, will compete on lakes throughout Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana and Mason counties during the two-day event.



He also doesn’t expect the weekend’s weather — temperatures are expected to climb into the 40s, and rain is likely Sunday — to put anglers at risk.



“It takes a lengthy time of warm weather, rain and wind to start getting the ice down,” said Schalk, secretary and treasurer for the White River Steelheaders. “But we tell everybody: Use extreme caution.”