Ice Fishing Report - Muskegon Lake - 1/30/26 - 2/1/26
After my initial perch trip, I figured it was best to cram as much action in as I could while it was good. So, it was back to the ice the next 3 days. Friday was another quick trip and ended up being one for the books. There was a shanty where I had gotten them Thursday so I moved to another spot and in an hour and 15 minutes I was done. Got to love trips where there is no moving at all. I didn’t clean anything under 10 inches either, definitely the best limit of Muskegon Lake perch I’ve ever caught. Clam Speed Spoons and spikes were the only thing I put down there again.
Word was out on the great ice conditions and great fishing going on so I knew Saturday was going to be a show. Instead of going back to that area, I was going to take the quad out to a spot in the Bear Lake area. Trevor had fished it the day before and caught a 6 man of Jumbos, so we knew we were going into something good and away from the Sand Docks crowd. We had to be off the ice early to get to kid’s basketball games, so I was really hoping no relocation would be needed. I could tell it wasn’t quite right but it was going to be good enough. We had a hard stop time so we didn’t get to grind out our last couple for a full 2 man. The bite was different than the previous 2 days and there never was a true flurry. Just steady picking away at them. These are the types of days that it really helps to have multiple rigs and baits. When it gets tougher, there will often be a particular presentation that shines. It had been so easy I didn’t bring any of the perch rig stuff or any minnows to offer them. Tungsten jigs and Clam Tikka Flash minnows are other presentations that can really make a difference. Hole hopping picked up some more aggressive fish but even then, I could never find a hole to get me a true flurry of activity in.
Sunday brought another trip although this wasn’t going to be too serious. It was going to be a dual family 9 person adventure. With parking lots filled up at the Sand Docks, I wasn’t going to switch it back up to there. Plus I had a private access on the north side that made it logistically easy for them all to walk on and then be picked up by 4 wheeler. This was a set up shop and hope for the best situation. Any update I had gotten in the morning was that the fishing was much tougher and that wasn’t going to help things on our afternoon trip. I could tell right away things were going to be a struggle. I have a very good feel of how big the perch are by what my Humminbird Helix 7 shows. Often times the resident perch have a different behavior too. So, when the first few marks we got were small resident perch, I knew it would be a grind. We did get some good white bellies to move in from time to time. But that spot was fading hard and their mood was not good. However, on a fun level the trip was a mega success and everyone got some perch. The biggest of the year even hit the ice, right at 13 inches!
A couple things to note from the last trip. Some larger pressure cracks were starting to form and some slush was starting to form. I hit a couple pockets on Sunday afternoon. Otherwise travel has been really good and I haven’t seen any spots to watch out for. I won’t be able to get on the ice again until next week but hopefully the bite will start trending back in the right direction. The other interesting observation in comparing last years season to this one. These aren’t the smaller fish that were everywhere last season. These fish must have just never come into Muskegon Lake from Lake Michigan last year. I don’t know what makes that work or why these big ones stayed out last year. But they are here now and accessible, go get them!