# lake michigan duck hunting



## kozlov1 (Feb 22, 2006)

I'm ready to switch it up a bit... sick of the lame inland hunting on the west side of the state... I want to hunt lake michigan for divers during the upcoming season... any suggestions will be welcomed. I live in allendale and during the summer I launch out of port sheldon for salmon/asian carp fishing...

Let me know your experiences pms are great and I can keep secrets.:help:


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## sswhitelightning (Dec 14, 2004)

I hunt all from silver lake down to about grand haven and have never seen enough divers on lake michigan to waste my time for. I hunt lk huron with great shooting, but i have never found the birds on lk mich. I have seen huge flocks in spring but never in the fall. I salmon fish out there until november and never seen much. i have been sticking to muskegon lk, grand river, white lake. They get crowded. I dont live over there so i cant watch the big lake alot. I met a guy that runs guided layout hunting on lake mich and does good. But i dont know where he goes. I have heard up around lundinton and north they do ok. Let me know i would like to try out there myself. My diver rigs would need more line and heavier anchor rigs than i use in lake huron.


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

You will end up talking to the cops.

Sucks when you're perfectly legal and you'll pulled up on shore trying to explain riparian rights and Federal body of water regulations to a cop who can't tell a mallard from a sea gull while birds are working your spread.

The days most of the birds are migrating down the coast will be the days you'd rather not be on the big lake - sitting in the lee of a breakwater watching the waves at the end of the pier get bigger and bigger is kind of a bad feeling. Nothing like asking your bud to lay in the bow as ballast so you can hammer into 4' chop in a 14' to get back in.

Most birds on this side are migrating. This side of Lake Michigan is pretty sterile - gets deep fast, sand bottom, no weeds or anything for feed to hold the birds = nothing like Saginaw or Erie where the birds can stop and refuel.


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## road trips (Jan 10, 2008)

Far Beyond Driven said:


> You will end up talking to the cops.



I've hunted out there a fair amount with no issues.


Far Beyond Driven said:


> Sucks when you're perfectly legal and you'll pulled up on shore trying to explain riparian rights and Federal body of water regulations to a cop who can't tell a mallard from a sea gull while birds are working your spread.
> 
> The days most of the birds are migrating down the coast will be the days you'd rather not be on the big lake - sitting in the lee of a breakwater watching the waves at the end of the pier get bigger and bigger is kind of a bad feeling. Nothing like asking your bud to lay in the bow as ballast so you can hammer into 4' chop in a 14' to get back in.
> 
> Most birds on this side are migrating. This side of Lake Michigan is pretty sterile - gets deep fast, sand bottom, no weeds or anything for feed to hold the birds = nothing like Saginaw or Erie where the birds can stop and refuel.


There is some truth to this part,but I've had some great hunts out there.It can be very productive.


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## solasylum (Mar 29, 2000)

I've had my fair share of luck hunting mallards out on Lake Michigan. There are generally a few divers flying around (mostly goldeneyes I do believe) but no large groups really. I've only had one issue with law enforcement and it was a CO who made sure we were legal and said that he occassionally hunted the same spot. Wished us luck and was on his way.

Scott


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## King Quack (Jul 16, 2003)

sswhitelightning said:


> I hunt all from silver lake down to about grand haven and have never seen enough divers on lake michigan to waste my time for.


Yeah...What he said.


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

The audobon society will call the cops.

People walking their dogs in front of state parks will call the cops.

People walking on the piers will call the cops.

Really I gave up on it due to having cops that don't have a clue try to imply that I'm illegal.

Oddly, when I ask them to call the CO, the conversation stops really fast.


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## Chewbacca (Apr 5, 2006)

Just my .02:

If the local police are giving you a hard time, and you're not breaking any laws, then they are harassing someone who is legally hunting . To the best of my knowledge, that is not legal in MI. 

Call the CO yourself and report the cops. After doing that once or twice, the local cops might begin to understand the legality of what you're doing. 

I admit, it doesn't sound fun to try reporting harassment by cops to the CO. However, if there is truly good hunting to be had, it may be worth it.

As a reminder, the above is just my .02.

As for birds, our boat got within 10 feet of a sleeping, full-plumage drake oldsquaw this year fishing out of Holland. Unfortunately it was in the spring. Never made it out to look for him this fall.


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## TNL (Jan 6, 2005)

Hunting out there *must* be done in an *east* wind, otherwise it's just too rough. Most birds aren't visible to the naked eye from shore. I have friends who hunt 4 miles or better from shore and do real well -- too far for this guy, especially in late November.

(cue music, "...he said fellas it's too rough to feed ya...at 7pm the main hatchway gave in, he said fellas it's been good to know yaaaaaa..."

I hunt with a LEO (and he's probably reading this) and we had a great time on shore in the city limits last year watching a boat hidden among the icebergs during the late season. He was on duty keeping the peace. Birds would come into the dekes, the guys would blast dumping a few, and tourists walking in the icebergs would freak because they didn't see the hunters below them. :lol: All perfectly legal as he explained to them over and over again as it is a Federal Waterway.


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## Fall Flight Punisher (Aug 14, 2008)

TNL said:


> Hunting out there *must* be done in an *east* wind, otherwise it's just too rough.
> 
> *TNL I have to disagree with ya bud!*
> 
> Its can be done with a north-northwest at 15-20.........3-4footers with the right set up. Seen it done!!!! it was crazy


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## malainse (Sep 2, 2002)

Chewbacca said:


> J
> As a reminder, the above is just my .02.



Last line of hunter harassment law: 

(5) This section does not apply to a peace officer while the peace officer performs his or her lawful duties.


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## Chewbacca (Apr 5, 2006)

malainse said:


> Last line of hunter harassment law:
> 
> (5) This section does not apply to a peace officer while the peace officer performs his or her lawful duties.


I really don't want to drag this off topic. But.... from the post I was responding to originally, it sounds as if the police officers are continually stopping people for the same "offense" which said officers know is not illegal.

At that point, the officers are no longer performing their lawful duty, as they have no reasonable grounds for engaging the hunters and disrupting their hunt, and thus are outside the scope of the exception noted above.

Back on topic, though.... 4 miles is a looooooooong way off shore, particularly with an E wind. I fish out of Muskegon regularly in the summer, but I'm not sure I'd want to be caught out there in November with that wind.

Do the people that hunt out there drift rather than anchoring? I'm just thinking that 4 miles offshore in Muskegon is some pretty deep water for anchoring long lines. I'm not really familiar with other ports, is it shallower at that distance elsewhere?


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

Fall Flight Punisher said:


> TNL said:
> 
> 
> > Hunting out there *must* be done in an *east* wind, otherwise it's just too rough.
> ...


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## pikenetter (Mar 28, 2009)

Chewbacca said:


> I really don't want to drag this off topic. But.... from the post I was responding to originally, it sounds as if the police officers are continually stopping people for the same "offense" which said officers know is not illegal.
> 
> At that point, the officers are no longer performing their lawful duty, as they have no reasonable grounds for engaging the hunters and disrupting their hunt, and thus are outside the scope of the exception noted above.
> 
> ...


figure every mile is a 100ft down not exactly right but gives you an idea.

if your four miles out i'm sure your drifting as you would have to have some serious long lines to anchor and set dekes and wants to deal with that much wet rope in november

as for the east wind it can be just as rough as a west wind when you are off shore by a mile or more.

if you can troll for salmon in four footers you can hunt ducks in four footers


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## Chewbacca (Apr 5, 2006)

pikenetter said:


> if you can troll for salmon in four footers you can hunt ducks in four footers


I like the can-do attitude. Since you put it that way, I'm up for it. If I'm still in this area next fall, I'll look you up. 

The furthest we fished this year was about 460 FOW, which I believe was about 9 miles out. I don't remember exactly all the details, but it seems that the drop off leveled out after we hit about 250 FOW. I can't recall how far out we were when we hit 250, though. Either way, like you said, anchoring wouldn't be practical.


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## Far Beyond Driven (Jan 23, 2006)

No issues with the cops. People see me hunting, get freaked, call the cops, and they need to answer so the people know they're doing their jobs. Only issues are when I know more about why I'm legal than they do.

I had one lady many years ago about rip her fu fu dog's head off she yanked the leash so hard when we opened up. She called the cops. And then she got a ticket as the pier she was on was closed but we were legal. I felt bad for the dog having to live with someone so ignorant.

A couple years ago in 60-80' off Holland in April there were 1000's of prime oldsquaw :rant:


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