# higgins ice?



## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

any body have the higgins lake ice report?


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Word is there is some shelf ice, but you wouldnt get me out there for at least another week. :yikes:


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

There is some shelf ice, not enough to fish. Just need a couple cold calm nights to lock it up. Then it should build quickly after that


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

Yes. That's the verdict. This is off west rd.

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## Yamirider (Oct 3, 2008)

My buddy was kayaking on the south end of Higgins on Monday. I think it will be awhile before it is froze.


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## giarc4 (Mar 2, 2011)

zachattack said:


> any body have the higgins lake ice report?


 Generally Higgins Like will be fishable 2nd or 3rd week of January due to it's depth of 135 fow. Houghton Lake is only a few miles south and averages 8 fow so that will freeze a month sooner in most cases.


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

any body have an update?


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## lakertaker08 (Feb 11, 2008)

Ice is the same, we need the right combination on cold and calm. I check the facebook page "Hooked up on Higgins Lake" for daily ice reports.


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

Yup, no new ice off the boat launch.

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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

Weather forcast is not looking very helpful.


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

No, not at all

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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

I live about a mile from Smelt town. With the windgust's we are getting right now, today will probably be in the minus column for ice.


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## lakertaker08 (Feb 11, 2008)

Higgins was almost all the way froze, over 80 percent looked to be solid wish it would of calmed down earlier.


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

Opened back up again.

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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

fisherjam said:


> Opened back up again.
> 
> posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


That looks like the south basin, seen it skimmed over about 11 am. 

Somebody has been drilling holes in the SSP lagoon.


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

swampbuck said:


> That looks like the south basin, seen it skimmed over about 11 am.
> 
> Somebody has been drilling holes in the SSP lagoon.


Wasn't me. This was the north basin by big creek. Completely open.

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## Revan (Dec 13, 2010)

lakertaker08 said:


> Ice is the same, we need the right combination on cold and calm. I check the facebook page "Hooked up on Higgins Lake" for daily ice reports.


 
thanks for the info on this site


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

fisherjam said:


> Wasn't me. This was the north basin by big creek. Completely open.
> 
> posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


Must have been the direction you were facing, Hopefully the ice on the south basin survived.......I dont fish the north anyways.:lol:


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## lakertaker08 (Feb 11, 2008)

Revan, Bob Keeps up to date reports, he loves the lake and wants to see more people here! Next thing he is trying to do is start a petition to pass around to all the local stores for the dnr to plant Walleye in Higgins! Lets give him some support if you think walleye might help Higgins Lake!


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

lakertaker08 said:


> Revan, Bob Keeps up to date reports, he loves the lake and wants to see more people here! Next thing he is trying to do is start a petition to pass around to all the local stores for the dnr to plant Walleye in Higgins! Lets give him some support if you think walleye might help Higgins Lake!


 That sounds like a great idea ! The fisheries Bio, Richard O'Neil on the big study is seeking input and info. I have sent him a couple e-mails, Heres his address, If you dont have it already.... [email protected] 

He likes local input.

Last I knew a lot of the fish data had been gathered and was being compiled, And the map was in process also. I suggested a return of Atlantics, Walleye was on my list also though.


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

any updates????


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## lakertaker08 (Feb 11, 2008)

With the warmth and wind dont look for anyy ice atleast for a week!


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## Ferris_StateHunter (Apr 24, 2006)

lakertaker08 said:


> Revan, Bob Keeps up to date reports, he loves the lake and wants to see more people here! Next thing he is trying to do is start a petition to pass around to all the local stores for the dnr to plant Walleye in Higgins! Lets give him some support if you think walleye might help Higgins Lake!



I would think that lake could produce some HOGS, however, be difficult to target them.

Either way its a great idea, and Id love to see them take off in there


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## dbdoud (Jan 7, 2013)

Come on ice i cant wait to get up there after some smelt. I have been going up there every year for the last ten years.


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

dbdoud said:


> Come on ice i cant wait to get up there after some smelt.


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

I have never seen them, but supposely from divers and a few phantom catches I've heard, there are walleye in the lake. Not a good fit IMO. 

I've had friends cacth walleye and good ones inthe holes at Marl Lake...many years ago. I also saw a large walleye down the cut from Marl River not too far away, many many years ago. So not surprised they could easily be in Higgins. They don't take to grow into a sustainable population for reasons..walleye habitat..Higgins doesn't fit.


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

I have never seen them, but supposely from divers and a few phantom catches I've heard, there are walleye in the lake. Not a good fit IMO. 

I've had friends cacth walleye and good ones inthe holes at Marl Lake...many years ago. I also saw a large walleye down the cut from Marl River not too far away, many many years ago. So not surprised they could easily be in Higgins. They don't take to grow into a sustainable population for reasons..walleye habitat..Higgins doesn't fit.


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

beer and nuts said:


> I have never seen them, but supposely from divers and a few phantom catches I've heard, there are walleye in the lake. Not a good fit IMO.
> 
> I've had friends cacth walleye and good ones inthe holes at Marl Lake...many years ago. I also saw a large walleye down the cut from Marl River not too far away, many many years ago. So not surprised they could easily be in Higgins. They don't take to grow into a sustainable population for reasons..walleye habitat..Higgins doesn't fit.


Have you ever heard of any pike being caught in marl during the winter? I've heard they used to catch them but the lake has since filled in quite a bit. Wondering if they are worth targeting there?

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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

Not worth the effort...hammer handles.


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## KPOD (Nov 17, 2009)

Marl must be the hatchery for Higgins pike then?


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## ddkfishin (Mar 16, 2011)

Marl Lake and the Cut River must be a nursery for some species, because I think I have seen signs posted that fishing closes for a while in the spring. I do not think they are up year-round, but I do remember seeing signs in later winter and early spring at one access point on the river.

I've only had luck catching rock bass on the Cut River, in the summer. I've seen a few gar in there also, but that's about it.

Marl Lake ice fishing: It is such a shallow lake, how much ice forms on that lake? 

Do people really ice fish in one and a half or two feet of water?


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## Bigdiddy (Jan 11, 2006)

fisherjam said:


> Have you ever heard of any pike being caught in marl during the winter? I've heard they used to catch them but the lake has since filled in quite a bit. Wondering if they are worth targeting there?
> 
> posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


I have caught pike through the ice on Marl, but it was about 12 years ago and yes I was only in 3-4 ft of water. I haven't been by there since so I don't know how the lake level has changed but they were healthy keeper sized fish.


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## michiganduckmaster (Dec 28, 2011)

No Walleyes in Higgins is what I want to see There are a lot of Lakes around Higgins that would benefit more from plants than Higgins, such as Margrethe, and Manistee lakes. I would like to see Atlantic, Splake and bigger Brown plants so we have a perch fishery like we did back in the 80's and early 90's that is when the lake was really booming something has to happen to get rid of 30-50- of the smelt in that lake IMO.


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## KPOD (Nov 17, 2009)

michiganduckmaster said:


> No Walleyes in Higgins is what I want to see There are a lot of Lakes around Higgins that would benefit more from plants than Higgins, such as Margrethe, and Manistee lakes. I would like to see Atlantic, Splake and bigger Brown plants so we have a perch fishery like we did back in the 80's and early 90's that is when the lake was really booming something has to happen to get rid of 30-50- of the smelt in that lake IMO.


When was the last time you pulled a brown out of there? It seems to me, the lake trout have a much higher survival rate than the brown trout in there.


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

[ 


ddkfishin said:


> Marl Lake and the Cut River must be a nursery for some species, because I think I have seen signs posted that fishing closes for a while in the spring. I do not think they are up year-round, but I do remember seeing signs in later winter and early spring at one access point on the river.


It is closed in the spring to protect spawning walleye.



michiganduckmaster said:


> I would like to see Atlantic, Splake and bigger Brown plants so we have a perch fishery like we did back in the 80's and early 90's that is when the lake was really booming something has to happen to get rid of 30-50- of the smelt in that lake IMO.


Duck,

I agree, I posted this earlier in a different thread, Should have put it here. This is from an e-mail response I got from the Bio Richard O'Neil. Part of the wide ranging study going on at the lake. Now is a good time to send him your thoughts and ideas at the address I posted on this thread already.......

Thanks for sending the insightful comments and I will be sure to consider all of them when assessing our survey results. I understand the issue with smelt and that generally when smelt are down yellow perch are up. That has been a pattern for many years. We are in a very similar situation to the Great Lakes with the non-native species dominating the fisheries (smelt, lake trout, rainbows, browns). What I have done in the past 10 years is to try to stabilize the system to see if we could get better survival of trout plants because brown trout have been very poor and rainbows had declined. I did drop brown trout stocking and then resumed them for two years prior to our survey. But we will not be stocking them again for a while. I also know rainbows have declined. Lake trout stocking was increased because of good survival. 
[/COLOR]
The issue of brown and rainbow trout fisheries declining after a number of years is common in Michigan inland lakes. We may try stocking steelhead rather than other strains of rainbows because they have shown promise.

We saw a lot of lake trout in our survey, along with lake whitefish and rock bass. A few herring were collected. Some real nice northern pike were also collected. We also conducted a hydroacoustic survey that should provide good information on overall fish biomass in the entire lake.

We finally completed the rest of our survey this summer and it will likely take at least a year to get near report completion.

Thanks again for the information


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## Revan (Dec 13, 2010)

lakertaker08 said:


> Revan, Bob Keeps up to date reports, he loves the lake and wants to see more people here! Next thing he is trying to do is start a petition to pass around to all the local stores for the dnr to plant Walleye in Higgins! Lets give him some support if you think walleye might help Higgins Lake!


 
Will do! sounds like a heck of a good idea to me


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

any updates?


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

zachattack said:


> any updates?


????????


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## tightline24 (May 4, 2009)

There was just another post saying the lakes starting to freeze but there is still open water!


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

its gonna be soon!!! (hopefully


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

Warm and rain today and now forcasted high winds and 4" of snow.

I was along the west side today and the skim ice had changed from clear to punky, still large areas of open water. The South end will probably survive, questionable for the north.

Still hopefull for next weekend.


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

zachattack said:


> its gonna be soon!!! (hopefully


never mind


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## icefishdoug (Mar 24, 2012)

http://www.bucsfishingreport.com/


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## zachattack (Nov 2, 2012)

how is it looking?


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