Higgins report?

[FieldWalker]

Looking to head up and try my luck on perch... Any word on whether the action is better on the North or South side?

Smelt is purely a bonus
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[lonehunter]

I won't have a hands on report for another 2 weeks when my boss at work takes his trip , I'll ask around and have an answer tomorow .
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[lonehunter]

Higgins Lake- Smelt are still hitting off the North State Park, Big Creek, and south of the west boat launch in 40 to 50 feet of water. Use wax worms or perch minnows with a hali jig between dusk and 9:30pm and again around midnight and fish the entire water column. Smaller perch are hitting on wax worms or perch minnows between the Sunken Island and Treasure Island, off the North State Park, and in front of the Conference Center in 40 to 50 feet of water.
Lake trout are hitting grey minnows or a Swedish Pimple with smelt fished just off the bottom in 90 to 100 feet of water. In Higgins Lake, they have to be 15 inches to keep.
Lots of small perch being caught, and still no reports of bigger perch. Lake trpout fishing has been good all around the lake You can call Phoenix Park @ 989-821-7220 for info off the west access site and Sports Barn @ 989-821-9511 for info on the south-end of Higgins Lake

Higgins lake fishing fact;
The biggest master angler lake trout entered in the state's Master Angler program was taken shortly after ice out in 1998.
That is when Frank Coker of Beaverton caught a 35-pounder that was 46 inches long. John Michalik, of Houghton Lake, caught a 28-pound whopper on a tip-up and smelt in the late winter of 2002.



Although 9,600-acre Higgins Lake is only a short drive from Houghton Lake, it offers ice-anglers a totally different ice-fishing experience.


While Houghton Lake is shallow and outstanding for warmwater species, Higgins Lake it deep, cold and supports great ice-fishing for a variety of trout species and yellow perch. With depths over 130 feet, Higgins Lake is slow to freeze and usually doesn't allow safe ice-fishing until late January. Once anglers can venture on to it, Higgins Lake produces some of the most consistent ice-angling in the state.

One big draw in Higgins Lake is winter perch. Upwards of 100 shanties can be seen on Higgins on winter weekends, and many anglers are after tasty yellow perch. Higgins's perch don't run large. Most will be 8 to 10 inches. Most anglers will tell you that those are perfect "eaters." What they lack in size they more than make up for in numbers. Fifty-fish limits are common.

Hot first-ice perch action takes place on both the north and south shores of Higgins in 20 to 40 feet of water, according to Higgins Lake regular Jack Murlick. Murlick said that a standard two-hook perch rig baited with spikes or wax worms works well on perch. Minnows and wigglers are good bets, too. Around the sunken islands in the lake are some good perch locations.

Lake trout inhabit the deeper depths in Higgins. Look for forktails in 70 to 135 feet of water. Start shallow early in the day and then work deeper. Most anglers use Slammers or tip-ups baited with live smelt, blue shiners or gray shiners right on the bottom. The trout will range from 4 to 8 pounds on the average, but lakers topping 20 pounds are caught every winter. Jigging with spoons can be deadly, too.

Higgins Lake has a healthy population of rainbows and brown trout, too, but few ice-anglers target them. The 'bows and browns usually frequent shallower water and can be taken in the top 20 feet. Light line, bobbers and wigglers, spawn or minnows are the ticket. Off the west shore public access is a good area. Late in the winter, anglers take rainbows is water as shallow as 3 feet where some creeks enter the lake along the west shore.
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