Lake Mitchell Fishing Report

2007 Report | 2006 Report | 2005 Report
Creel Survey

Lake Mitchell continues to have a reputation as one of the best lakes in the region for producing pike, crappie, and largemouth bass. In addition Lake Mitchell also has the dubious distinction of being just about the best place to catch trophy-sized dogfish in the state.

In the winter, tip-ups and jigging spoons or Rapala type minnows are favored by pike anglers. Once the season resumes in late April, pike are taken with minnows under bobbers, spinner baits, and assorted crank baits fished in and around weed beds. As with all species, the catching is easiest in spring and early summer, but pike are available all season long if you are persistent.

Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac’s reputation as a productive bass fishery draws tournaments from all over the Midwest. These anglers routinely catch fish in the three and four pound range with the occasional five-pounder mixed in. Typically bass from Lake Mitchell make up about 70% of the tournament’s catch, but the majority of small mouth bass come from Lake Cadillac.

The walleye stocking that was done in 2005 and 2006 is starting to show results as undersized fish are once again being caught. Skilled anglers still take fish in the 22 to 27 inch range. Night crawler harnesses trolled during the day and crank baits cast at night have been the best options for walleye. Though still a far cry from the good old days, there is cautious optimism that a good walleye fishery will someday be available in our lakes.

Crappie are king among panfish, as thousands of these thin-lipped fish are pulled through the ice in winter and taken by open water fishermen. Minnows and small jigs are the most productive baits. Crappie suspend and may be caught anywhere between the surface and lake bottom. Because these fish travel and feed in schools, anglers should keep moving until they find fish.

Although bluegills are numerous, and eating-sized fish aren’t hard to catch, the big ones are elusive and not as common as they were a few years ago. If you catch one that is nine or ten inches long, it is likely to be a sunfish.

The perch population, which was decimated by a virus a few years ago, still has not rebounded. Although some lucky anglers accumulate enough for a fish fry, a good catch of perch is the exception rather than the rule.

Steve Knaisel provides regular fishing reports on what’s happening on area lakes as well as Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac. Check his site for current information - info@pilgrimvillagefishing.com 

Bass tournament fish release program to continue

Last year the Lake Mitchell Action Committee instituted a program to redistribute bass caught during tournaments to the north, west, and south sides of Lake Mitchell. Concerns had been raised by lakeshore residents that the tournaments practice of releasing their catch at public docks on Lake Cadillac was reducing bass populations in Lake Mitchell. Research done by LMAC members found that in studies done on tagged bass throughout the United States yielded data indicating that most bass would remain within a mile of where they were released for at least several months. Some of the major bass tournaments in southern states routinely take tournament caught bass and redistribute them throughout the waters that had been fished.

During the 2007 fishing season, about a dozen tournaments were staged on our lakes. Most of these tournaments were contacted and asked to return 50% of their catch to one of five release points located along the south, west, and north side of Lake Mitchell. Members of the LMAC met with tournament anglers at the weigh-ins and helped insure that the release took place.

Improvements for 2008 bass release program

Whereas last year, the committee was relying on the tournament anglers to use their own boats to carry the fish back into Lake Mitchell, this year Mark Pentecost owner of Track and Trail Marine will supply a pontoon boat and motor that will be equipped with a tank and aerator so LMAC committee members can handle the release of the bass. With about a dozen tournaments to cover, the LMAC is looking for volunteers who will help release bass after tournament weigh-ins. It is hoped that the committee can be expanded to about a dozen members so each member might only have to help with one or two tournaments; to collect and release fish involves about two hours on a weekend afternoon. If you would like to help or learn more about the Lake Mitchell release program, contact Dave Foley at info@lakemitchell.org. 

VHS threat curtails walleye planting and effects bait sales

VHS is a deadly virus that has killed large numbers of fish in Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. In April 2007 it made its first appearance in an inland lake, killing bluegills, crappie, and muskellunge in Clare County’s Budd Lake. To protect the state hatchery system from the deadly virus the DNR has taken a one-year moratorium on planting walleye, northern pike, and muskellunge. The planting of walleye in Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac scheduled for 2007 was cancelled.

Suspecting that the VHS virus entered Budd Lake through infected live bait, which may have introduced by fishermen on that lake, the DNR has put some restrictions on the sale and transportation of live bait. Anglers buying live bait are given a receipt saying that the bait is VHS-free. Purchasers of bait must carry that receipt with them. This is to discourage the transporting of bait from one lake to another. In other words minnows caught in Lake Mitchell must be used in that lake (or Lake Cadillac) and not transported for use in another body of water. Be sure and only use live bait that you were given a receipt by the bait dealer. Do not catch and bring in live bait from other waters.

Will tribal treaty affect Lake Mitchell fishing?

On September 26^th the DNR, the United States and five Michigan Indian tribes signed an agreement on tribal inland hunting, fishing, and gathering rights covering the 1836 treaty area of Michigan. This agreement with Indian tribes could affect fishing in Lake Mitchell as Indians now have the right to harvest 855 walleyes from Lake Mitchell and 392 from Lake Cadillac each year. The fish must be used for subsistence only and cannot be sold. If Indians plan to spear walleye or fish out of season they must notify the DNR. Tribal fishing laws allow Indians to use four lines in open water and seven during the ice season. In addition they may use trap nets (no gill nets) and spears. They are limited to ten fish per person per day. According to the treaty, non-walleye species may also be taken by Indians with nets. Bag limits for these species are also greater than those allowed anglers who obey Michigan’s fishing laws.

This treaty covers the inland lakes in the northwest part of the state. The likelihood of Indians exercising their fishing rights in Lakes Mitchell or Cadillac is not known.

More information on the terms of the treaty can be found at www.michigan.gov/dnr under "Proposed 2007 Decree."

(Top)

2006 Fishing Report

Pike, Bass, Crappie abundant, while Perch and Walleye remain elusive

Limit catches of pike, crappie, and largemouth bass were not uncommon this year. Ice anglers occasionally landed a few pike that were 30+ inches while good-sized crappie were jigged up by fishermen on the ice at dusk. Spring-time crappie anglers also did well. The first month after the Memorial Day Weekend opener produced many bass, although Saturdays and Sundays found local anglers often competing for fish with 60-100 bass tournament boats on the lakes. While large mouth bass are found all over Mitchell, the smallies favor the east side of Mitchell and all of Lake Cadillac.

Jumbo bluegills were not common, although most fishermen could catch tons of bite-sized gills; however, it is not unusual to land master-angler length sunfish. Perch, although more available than other years, still remain small. Occasionally a lucky or skilled angler found bigger ones. Although a few experts regularly take walleyes, most who fish for them have little success. The ones that are caught, though, are usually at least twenty inches long.

More walleye to be planted next two years.

The November survey of Lake Cadillac and Mitchell found no walleye from the plant in Cadillac while only a few were taken in Mitchell. As a result, this spring a million-and-a-half quarter inch fry will be put in our lake while Cadillac will receive a million. The following year, 100,000 inch- and-a-half fingerlings will be planted in Mitchell and a smaller number in Cadillac.

A recent study conducted by the Wisconsin DNR and the University of Wisconsin may help explain why walleye populations have plummeted in our area. The study, Interactions between Walleyes and Four Fish Species with Implications for Walleye Stocking, found that bass, not pike, are the primary consumers of young walleye. With bass numbers high in the lakes in recent years, young walleye may be losing out to the abundance of largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Changes in bass season coming this year.

Starting this spring, the catch-and-release bass season will begin on the same date, the last Saturday in April, as the pike and walleye openers. However, bass may not be kept until the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. It is important that anglers, especially when fish are in bedding areas, return the fish immediately to water. Studies show that if bass are kept for more than a couple minutes, they may abandon the nest and the likelihood that predator panfish may eat the eggs becomes great.

What about the red sores found on pike?

You may have caught pike with reddish sores on their fins or sides. These sores are a contact-transmitted virus spread from fish to fish during spawning. This disease is found on pike throughout the United States and Canada.

The disease is not known to be infectious to other animals or man; however infected fish should not be eaten. Legal size fish should be kept and disposed of, to keep the disease from spreading.

Fish with yellow grub and black spot.

Yellow grubs and black spots are found in fish in many area lakes, including Mitchell and Cadillac. Black spot looks like grains of pepper on the skin or fins. Yellow grub appears as a white or yellow worm, about one inch long in the flesh and does not have any external signs. These parasites are larval stages that infest birds, but spend their life cycle in snails and fish. The bird host for the black spot is the kingfisher while the Great blue heron is the bird host for the yellow grub.

The parasites do not impact growth and longevity; however young fish may experience mortalities.

The parasites are killed by proper cooking and the flavor of the fish is not impacted. Neither of the parasites is capable of infesting humans.

The incidence of these parasites is increasing and this can be attributed to the greater numbers of kingfishers and Great blue herons in our area. The presence of both of the birds is sign of a healthy environment.

(Top)

2005 Fishing Report

Last summer the DNR planted 94,431 1 ½ to 2 inch walleyes in Lake Mitchell, while another 67,549 were introduced into Lake Cadillac. The cost was prohibitive for planting larger fish. A good return might have 10% of the planters reaching legal size within five years.

The absence of good walleye catches and the very few undersize fish found in net surveys indicated that the natural reproduction of walleye wasn’t happening. DNR fisheries biologist Tom Rozich theorized that overfishing and adverse weather conditions during the spawning season caused the reduction of fish.

In October a DNR boat equipped with electroshocking equipment toured the shorelines of the lakes. No young of the year walleye were found in Lake Mitchell and only a handful were seen in Lake Cadillac. Although this was not a hopeful sign, Rozich noted that the warm weather in the fall may have kept the fish from moving into the shallows into the evening. Another electronic shocking survey is planned for this fall.

Lake Mitchell’s large pike population provided consistently good fishing for anglers, especially for ice anglers and those who got out on the lake in during May and June. While some fish over thirty inches were taken, most northerns hooked were 20 to 25 inches in length.

The lake continued to be a Mecca for bass anglers. Whether the anglers were residents, tourists, or tournament fishers, it wasn’t hard to catch bass until mid-July when the fishing slowed. Lake Cadillac and Mitchell’s east side were the best bets for smallmouths, while the largemouth favored the weedy waters along Mitchell’s west side.

Crappie, sunfish, and bluegills are bountiful in both lakes providing good fishing to those who were willing to keep moving until they found the fish.

The lake’s jumbo perch population seems to be missing, although there are multitudes of fish under eight inches in length. Walleyes, that seem to be mostly caught by savvy local anglers, rarely are smaller than twenty inches and frequently are 24 to 27 inches in length.

For those seeking to collect a DNR Master Angler patch, bait your hook for the bowfin (dogfish) and bullhead.

You may have caught pike with reddish sores on their fins or sides. These sores are a contact-transmitted virus spread from fish to fish during spawning. This disease is found on pike throughout the United States and Canada.

The disease is not known to be infectious to other animals or man, however infected fish should not be eaten. Legal size fish should be kept and disposed of, to keep the disease from spreading.

Yellow grubs and black spots are found in fish in many area lakes, including Mitchell and Cadillac. Black spot looks like grains of pepper on the skin or fins. Yellow grub appears as a white or yellow worm, about one inch long in the flesh and does not have any external signs. These parasites are larval stages that infest birds, but spend their life cycle in snails and fish. The bird host for the black spot is the kingfisher while the Great blue heron is the bird host for the yellow grub.

The parasites do not impact growth and longevity; however young fish may experience mortalities.

The parasites are killed by proper cooking and the flavor of the fish is not impacted. Neither of the parasites is capable of infesting humans.

The incidence of these parasites is increasing and this can be attributed to the greater numbers of kingfishers and Great blue herons in our area. The presence of both of the birds is sign of a healthy environment.

Each year Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac are the site of a couple dozen bass tournaments. Bass clubs launch as many eighty boats on the lake for a day or weekend of catch and release fishing. It is a vital boost to the tourist industry here, bringing needed dollars to this community. However it has raised some concerns among lakeshore residents who are worried about the effect of tournaments on the bass population. With about two-thirds of the tournaments releasing captured bass in Lake Cadillac, the effect is the illegal (Michigan fish may not be transplanted from one lake to another without a permit from MDNR) transplanting of many Lake Mitchell bass into Lake Cadillac resulting in a net loss of Mitchell fish. In addition bass are often in the spawning phase during the first two or three weeks of the bass season; this is also among the most popular dates for tournaments. If a bass is removed from a bed and not immediately released, the bed will be destroyed as fish will prey on the eggs.

As it stands, bass tournament fishing, with the illegal transplanting of Lake Mitchell fish to Lake Cadillac and delayed catch and release, could have a negative impact on our lake’s bass population.

Currently the DNR is looking at revising the bass season statewide so only immediate catch and release would be allowed during the spawning season; this could do much to rectify the problem. As for the transplanting of Lake Mitchell bass to Lake Cadillac, we can only hope more tournaments weigh-ins would be done on Lake Mitchell. Bass tournaments should be for either Lake Cadillac or Lake Mitchell, but not both.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is currently in the process of reviewing the existing bass regulations. See here for more info: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364-92248--,00.html . If you have questions or would like to comment about the proposed new bass regs, feel free to contact Todd Grishke at (517)373-1280.

(Top)