# Ice fishing outing on Crystal Lake, Benzie Co.



## DANN09

After many hours of diccusion with MY asteamed friend Whit. We have come up with this recomendation for a ice outing.
Crystal lake has just about anything You want to fish for ie. perch, white fish, smelt, lake trout.
The date will be Sat. 2-23-08 We will start the day with Beakfast at the Crystal Cafe in Benzonia right next to the Backcast Fly shop witch as bait (minnows, *******, waxies, ie.) at say 8:00am that will put us on the lake by 9:00 or 9:30.

There are many places access the Lake from as the date gets closer We will have the Hot spots nailed down.

All are welcome

They are running wheelers and snow machines on the lake as of now. with much cold weather to come.

Thanks

Dann09
Whit
Bucktail Butch
kwcharne
DFPotter
wally-eye
Mister Ed
Dustytwo
steelhead-hunter
UBDSLO1
Fishslayer5789
The Spirit of Toto
Spinfly


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## kwcharne

Sounds good! Ill be there


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## Whit1

Count me in.


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## WALLEYE MIKE

Ah yes, the Crystal cafe. I know it well. Had breakfast with some old guy there one fall morning.:lol:

Too bad its 5 hours from home or I would be there.


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## Whit1

WALLEYE MIKE said:


> Ah yes, the Crystal cafe. I know it well. Had breakfast with some *old guy* there one fall morning.:lol:
> 
> Too bad its 5 hours from home or I would be there.


And proud of it!.........:lol:


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## toto

I would like to be there, but they don't make enough warm clothes for me anymore Of course, if I can get whit to buy the plane ticket, maybe.


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## Bucktail Butch

I plan to be there. I may have an extra friend or two with me.


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## Whit1

Butch,
The Crystal Cafe, according to a sign on the door, will open tomorrow.

George is going to do some scouting.......I'm tied up for the next three evenings......and give a report in here.


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## davidrhonda

I will be up there this weekend to give it a try, does anybody know if the west end has safe ice for snowmobiles?
Thanks, David


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## DFPotter

Can't wait to make it happen. See you at cafe.


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## Dave Lyons

Will make no problem may have a few extra tag-alongs.

Will have more info on tag alongs as the date get nearer.

Dave


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## SpinFly

*I would love to go and will pending on a situation,I work with a fellow member and he knows that i don,t have a license D.L. that is so I,am at the mercy of others unfournatley.But awesome individuals always seem to give a helping hand/ride.Hopefully UB will come thru for me if not,I live less than a mile from the boardman as i know their are other members that live in traverse so if UB don,t come thru I will pay for your gas and buy you breakfast,if your willing to pick me up and allow me to fish that would be great any members think about it please.Looking forward to it.Fish On My Fellows*


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## steelhead-hunter

hope to make it but may also have a tag along or two as i may have company this weekend is their much fishing there on foot as i dont have a quad or snowmobile


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## UBDSLO1

SpinFly said:


> *I would love to go and will pending on a situation,I work with a fellow member and he knows that i don,t have a license D.L. that is so I,am at the mercy of others unfournatley.But awesome individuals always seem to give a helping hand/ride.Hopefully UB will come thru for me if not,I live less than a mile from the boardman as i know their are other members that live in traverse so if UB don,t come thru I will pay for your gas and buy you breakfast,if your willing to pick me up and allow me to fish that would be great any members think about it please.Looking forward to it.Fish On My Fellows*


So if I pick your duff up, you'll buy me my breakfast and gas??? :lol::lol::lol: yeah right!

I'll probably go. Not positive yet. Looks like SpinFly will ride with me. Can you even get up that early???????:lol:


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## Fishslayer5789

That's the day after I get back from college to Traverse City for spring break and I absolutely would like to go and plan to be there for the outing! I'll also try to convince some of my buddies on this site to come with me as well. I would definately benefit from learning of some new spots on the lake to fish because I am only familiar with certain parts of the lake that I do well on. I do want to learn more about getting lakers and whitefish out of there.


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## Dustytwo

Hey Whit, I'll try to make it too...can't remember the last time I saw YOU catch a fish though.......:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## DANN09

Went out on Crystal last night for smelt. Had non stop action from 6:30pm till 9:00, the fish were still there I was just getting tired hauling them in. The Vex fl-20 was lite up from the bottom to 10' below the ice in 50' of water. A rough count for 2 1/2 hrs was around 90 fish. For those that come to the outing I will try and have maps of the lake and all of the best spots to fish for whatever at the Cafe. For those that can't get up early for breakfast give Me a PM for what You want to fish for. For those that don't have a snow mach. or quad there is good fishing within walking dist.


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## Mister ED

Hmmmm .... I don't work that weekend. Maybe I can talk a couple of the other guys into coming up (Wallyeye, SFW, Westlakedrive). 

How consistant is the Whitie fishing up there? Lakers? Really feal the need for something a little different.


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## toto

Don't forget about the burbot in there. I can tell ya for certain, there are some dandies, and man are they good to eat, ugly, but tasty.


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## Whit1

Mister ED said:


> Hmmmm .... I don't work that weekend. Maybe I can talk a couple of the other guys into coming up (Wallyeye, *SFW*, Westlakedrive).


SFW? SFW?...OH MY!:yikes:

Sorry Robert, I couldn't resist........:lol:


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## Mister ED

Whit1 said:


> Opps! George goes fishless again!!...............:lol:........Sorry buddy I couldn't resist. I hope you don't see this until after we fish this evening!!!!


You & George still doing the Muffin thing??? Or is that only a big lake/soft water thing??:lol:


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## DANN09

Whit and I just got back from smelt fishing on Crystal. Fished from about 7:00pm till 9:30. A rough count of 120. He could'nt believe how that Vex was lite up like a Christmas tree. One heck of a snowy night. Looks like about 12'' out there and still coming down. 
Whit thinks We should have a smelt outing.


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## sfw1960

DANN09 said:


> Jumps your tip-up line should be ok. Your right about the rig being like a perch rig on steriods. I use 20# mono because thats what i had. Jigging rod has 20# Power Pro (6# dia.) no streach.
> 
> Whit and I are going tonight so We should have frozen smelt to pass around.
> 
> Most bourbot I cought were on a dead stick. No actual bite, they pick it up and You see the line just slowly move away.
> 
> The word must out I saw signs along the Platte that said "NO BILL" :evil:
> 
> * Hey SFW just a reminder. Ther are no SLABS in Crystal lake.* :lol::lol:


P H E W ! ! ! ! ! !

It's a [email protected] good thing too George , my back's STILL sore from that wh0PPer I netted for you last year!!
I don't usually bring a net when I ice fish anyways.....
:evilsmile


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## Whit1

DANN09 said:


> Whit and I just got back from smelt fishing on Crystal. Fished from about 7:00pm till 9:30. A rough count of 120. He could'nt believe how that Vex was lite up like a Christmas tree. One heck of a snowy night. Looks like about 12'' out there and still coming down.
> Whit thinks We should have a smelt outing.


 
I wish I would have had a camera to take a photo of George's vexilar to show how it was lit up. It indeed looked like a Christmas tree. We might want to think about changing the time of the outing to eat at 3-4PM and then head out and fish for smelt.

I really must say, the fishgod's rebuked me for my comment above about George going "fishless". He not only caught more fish than I did, but the average size of his fish were larger. That'll teach me to open my big mouth.........:lol:


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## wally-eye

DANN09 said:


> Whit and I just got back from smelt fishing on Crystal. Fished from about 7:00pm till 9:30. A rough count of 120. He could'nt believe how that Vex was lite up like a Christmas tree. One heck of a snowy night. Looks like about 12'' out there and still coming down.
> Whit thinks We should have a smelt outing.


 

12 inches of snow? Doesn't sound good for quad travel. :sad: :sad: :sad: :gaga:


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## Whit1

wally-eye said:


> 12 inches of snow? Doesn't sound good for quad travel. :sad: :sad: :sad: :gaga:


Dan, we used George's quad on the ice last night. With him and I on it and towing his sled of gear we had not trouble at all. We'll see what happens by next weekend and let you guys know if too much ice forms on the lake due to the snow.


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## wally-eye

Good deal Milt. What I had plans on doing was using my 5X8 drop gate trailer to haul everyones stuff out on the ice. The same one I haul the quad on. Just wasn't sure with the tires if the snow would be too much to try that. I know my quad will go thru it just wasn't sure of the trailer. Wanted to be able to haul everyones junk out there,,,might have to make 3 trips for all of Roberts stuff he brings................:lol:


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## sfw1960

You guys don't catch the smelt during daylight though do ya??
Nice job guys!


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## kwcharne

I normally fish for walleye and pike. Will that gear work for the fish in Crystal as well?


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## Whit1

*"You guys don't catch the smelt during daylight though do ya??"*

Robert, they have been getting smelt during the day, but after 6PM is better.




*"I normally fish for walleye and pike. Will that gear work for the fish in Crystal as well?"*

The tip-ups, for lake trout will have to have a lot of line on them. George will post more about that.

As for smelt all that's needed is a short rod w/spinning reel and 2-4lb. test line. We'll post more about that also.


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## Whit1

wally-eye said:


> Good deal Milt. What I had plans on doing was using my 5X8 drop gate trailer to haul everyones stuff out on the ice. The same one I haul the quad on. Just wasn't sure with the tires if the snow would be too much to try that. I know my quad will go thru it just wasn't sure of the trailer. Wanted to be able to haul everyones junk out there,,,might have to make 3 trips for all of Roberts stuff he brings................:lol:


I can only imagine what Robert would bring with him to haul out on the ice.......:yikes: :lol:

By the way, it'll be great to finally meet you so I can "yell" at ya about whitetail forum stuff in person......:lol: :lol:


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## wally-eye

Whit1 said:


> I can only imagine what Robert would bring with him to haul out on the ice.......:yikes: :lol:
> 
> By the way, it'll be great to finally meet you so I can "yell" at ya about whitetail forum stuff in person......:lol: :lol:


 

Whitetail forum? Heck I don't even go there anymore since the last black eye ya gave me.......:lol:

Robert stuff? Wait till ya see his NASA rocket launcher structure he has......


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## toto

No milty, its because you called and harrassed some guy in Florida. Man I was just sitting watching TV, in my shorts with the door wall wide open to the pool, and you call to tell me about ice fishing? The only ice fishing I do anymore is fishing the ice out of the freezer for my drink. Its just too hot here for ice fishing ( your kind), after all its in the 80's right now, oh well someone has to do it.


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## cadillacjethro

Milt,
It sounds as if you are trying (unsuccessfully I might add) to make us believe that this is the first time George out fished you. I was led to believe you finding fish was akin to a blind squirrel finding a nut.:lol:


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## Whit1

cadillacjethro said:


> Milt,
> It sounds as if you are trying (unsuccessfully I might add) to make us believe that this is the first time George out fished you. I was led to believe you finding fish was akin to a blind squirrel finding a nut.:lol:


It gets worse when that Toto guy is involved...........:lol:

As for you Mr. Toto, that phone call got me out of sinc with the hook setting last night. We just had to give you a dingle while we were fishing just to get you slowly used to the cold temperatures just in case you eventually make your way back north.

By the way I'll answer your comment about 80F temperatures by relating that I awoke to 10" of newly fallen snow this morning. It started snowing at about 8AM yesterday and kept on going for over 12 hours. The NW corner of Manistee County and the SW corner of Benzie County got the most snow of anyone in the NLP. That doesn't happen very often.


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## toto

HUH?????:lol: Well so far, I haven't had to shovel sunshine. Thats a good thing, its too hot for much physical labor. I find its best to sit by the pool with my lovely wife in the evening looking at the stars, and is still in the high 60,s at 10 pm. Almost thought I'd have to grab a sweater there for a minute.:lol:


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## sfw1960

wally-eye said:


> Good deal Milt. What I had plans on doing was using my 5X8 drop gate trailer to haul everyones stuff out on the ice. The same one I haul the quad on. Just wasn't sure with the tires if the snow would be too much to try that. I know my quad will go thru it just wasn't sure of the trailer. Wanted to be able to haul everyones junk out there,,,might have to make 3 trips for all of Roberts stuff he brings................:lol:


0' - c'Mon!! 4 buckets , a Jet Sled Jr. , a Steinfishki chair and the MAG III mounted atop the NASA Rocket Launcher.... and a a bag of sN!cKeR-sNaX and a few 'Dews.... what's wrong with that??? Oh sHEEEzzzz , I forgot some bait too.
:yikes:


gRuMpY olDe c0dGeR said:


> Robert stuff? Wait till ya see his NASA rocket launcher structure he has......


It's funny Milt , everyone else says my "unit" is a pretty slick idea - with the two 6 GAL buckets mounted alongside , but DaN'L cr0cKeTT has to give me th' works about it....
:fish2:


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## Whit1

We had four friends over for dinner this evening. On the menu? Smelt, lightly floured and then deep fried.........YUMMY!!!


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## toto

That does sound good. Miss eating smelt. Wish I could ice fish down here, but with the tempature in the 80's, I quess it won't be any time soon.


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## DANN09

Maybe I could bring some smelt with Me when I come donw there in a couple weeks.


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