Despite several days of temperatures in the 40s last week, West Grand Traverse Bay for the most part remains frozen.
Parts may become fishable again, according to MDNR fish biologist Heather Hettinger.
She urged caution. “The last I saw there was seven- to-eight inches of ice on both bays. That could last awhile,” Hettinger said.
When ice is safe, West Grand Traverse Bay attracts attention from fishers mostly pursuing perch and lake trout. Perch numbers in the area have fallen, although some times while spawning they’ll stack up for a couple days below the dam holding back Fisher and Glen lakes, Hettinger added.
Ice on inland lakes in Leelanau remains thick and is likely rebuilding given a return to winter weather this week.
“We’re lucky to have those,” Hettinger said. “They were catching good perch early, but it sounded like the longer the season has gone the less that has happened. It seems more lately they’ve been catching small ones.”
She said Michigan conservation officers earlier observed some walleyes being pulled from ice in Suttons Bay.
Typically, ice coverage on the Great Lakes peaks around the third week in February, but instead it took a dive last week. Lake Michigan hit 37% coverage on Jan. 31, but stood at around 18% over the weekend.
For all the Great Lakes, ice coverage peaked at 58% but had slipped to 31-33%, Feb. 20-22.
