Conditions on Leelanau County lakes are firm and ready for ice fishing, but challenges remain due to a recent warm-up and an eventual cool-down.
The year 2024 will be remembered as a non-existing ice fishing season. With most lakes frozen over in 2025, fishermen have been flocking to several hot spots on the peninsula.
“I don’t know if I can speak for many guys, but it seems like for myself. I think ice fishing has been very slow. I’ve had a little bit of luck getting some bass, but other than that, I haven’t really got anything too respectable,” local ice fisherman Ryan Blessing said.
Blessing said many of his buddies are heading out of the county south to Saginaw and Lake St. Clare, which is frozen over. He might even consider making a trip to the Upper Peninsula.
“It’s good to be out for anybody that’s really passionate about ice fishing. It’s a different experience for people ... It’s hanging out with people on ice. It’s fun, so it’s just good to be back,” Blessing said.
Another ice fisherman, Mike Shimek, is loyal to both Little and Big Glen Lake. Shimek said the perch fishing has been great, limiting out at 25 before heavy snowfall came through the region last week. Snow on top of ice causes less light and fewer plants to make oxygen, resulting in dormant fish.
“I’ve noticed this slowed down (recently), but they were biting since Christmas; they were biting really good every day,” Shimek said.
Shimek cautions fishermen about the warm weather regarding a re-freeze that typically results in slushy and jagged ice conditions.
He also said Big Glen Lake froze over the weekend, which will be his next spot.
“There’s not a lot of ice on (Big Glen Lake) or snow on it. I’m just waiting for the ice to get a little thicker, and I’ll switch over,” Shimek said. “There were two guys fishing on there yesterday, and I got to wait a little bit because they looked like they weighed a little less than me.”
Mike Shimek has been limiting out on fish most days on little Glen Lake. Photo courtesy of Mike Shimek
Both Shimek and Blessing say that the local bays have more or less a 25% chance of freezing over enough for ice fishermen.
Greg Alsip, owner of Lake Leelanau Narrows Resort and bait shop, said it’s pretty much safe everywhere right now, with snowmobiles and four-wheelers sighted on south Lake Leelanau.
“I would say, on average, anywhere from six to eight inches of ice and a little bit of snow and some slushing spots,” he said. “As long as we don’t get any more big snows like we had in the past couple of weeks, we could have a lot of ice. We have a couple of thirty-degree days this weekend, and I think it is perfect to melt the stuff on top that won’t hurt the ice. And then cold weather next week will only build. North Lake Leelanau, we fished it a couple of nights ago. There’s anywhere from like four to seven inches in most places.”
Alsip says many fishermen target perch and walleye, with pike entering the mix. As for the bait shop, business is back from a dormant 2024 winter season.
“It was pretty crazy. We were just looking at the numbers of the sales from last winter compared to this winter. I think it took us three days to surpass what we did all winter last year,” Alsip said.
Alsip is kicking around the idea of hosting an ice fishing tournament this year, with more details to be announced soon, if on or not.
Glen Lake will be having its perch contest on Feb. 15.
The Glen Lake Fire Department had on ice rescue training at the narrows on Glen Lake earlier this month. Photo courtesy of Glen Lake Fire Department
