Where to fish at Fish Lake?

[icerman]

I have never been to Fish Lake. For the past 3 years I have wanted to give it a try but never had the time to drive that far. My son doesn't have a wrestling tournament this weekend so I am considering gathering the boys and heading down that way. I have NO clue where to even begin fishing down there and am not familiar with the names of any of the spots. I am most interested in perch but hope to catch what ever in down there. I would appreciate anyone giving me some advice on locations, depths, etc.

Thanks!
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Luckily the pullouts are named.

Try Twin Creeks if the ice is stable there. The water is so clear that you will be able to see the weeds. That is where you'll find the perch. The splake and Rainbows will be deeper, like 15 to 25 or so feet.

Also try Mackinaw Campground or point (which is just a half mile or so beyond twin creeks)...that'll have perch all over the weed beds and a few rainbows.

Any tube jig will work. I love using sucker meat on the jig, works like a charm!

I love ice flies in pink/glow, pumpkin pepper tube jigs, and white pepper rainbow jigs. Pretty hard to get skunked there. I think you will realize why they call it FISH lake.

Be prepared for wind, wind, and more wind!!!
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[chucker]

TyeDyeTwins' right but don't over look the section straight out from the Lake Side Marina, the first building you come to at the lake. Also the ice is thickest there. Out from Mackinaw is good as well (a little north of Twin Creeks, on the highway). Joe Buch where the winter road closure is, on the north end, can be good, maybe not as good as the other two. Also the ice has been thinner at Joe Bush.

Sucker meat works great, some folks cut a small piece of a perch off the first one they catch and use that, add a meal worm for extra action.

Two absolute musts:

Fish 3 to 6 inches off the bottom.

Use a "small" weighted jig (white, pale green, sometimes red) or a "ice fly". Baited with any of these, or in combination: sucker, perch, meal worm , or a small piece of shrimp meat.

Fish in 15' to 20' of water, next to weeds (moss) but generally not over top of the moss because you'll have trouble getting you jig to the bottom. If the water is too deep, 30'-40', you'll catch very few perch.

Fish 3 to 6 inches off the bottom.
Fish 3 to 6 inches off the bottom.
Fish 3 to 6 inches off the bottom.
Fish 3 to 6 inches off the bottom.

This map isn't the holy grail of perch locations but it might give you a start. Don't hesitate to stop in at the little store at Lake Side Resort, they'll tell you where to fish for any species you want to fish for in the lake, and I hope it's perch. ;-)
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[whipper-snapper]

I was down there last weekend and the perch are pretty easy to find. The map that Chucker provided will yield easy access and good fishing. We fished out of Bowery and drove a wheeler on the ice. Didn't ride too far out, but it was almost 8" of clear solid ice, I'm sure it has grown since.

I typically look for 20-25 FOW and jig on the bottom. I"ll reel up once, or about a foot off the bottom, jig it a few times and wait for a bite. The Perch there work like clock work and provide fast and easy fishing. The mentioned tackle will work fine, but I will add my favorite. I use a Northland glow spoon - not sure of the weight, but I'm guessing around 1/16 oz - and tip it with a meal worm. They love lures that are tipped.

Also, the smaller trout : Rainbow, Splake, Brown, and even Macs will cruise about half way through the water column. Fish 10-15 FOW at the same location you are perch fishing and get ready for some fast trout action.

Wind? There will be a breeze every afternoon sometime around 1-2 pm. But like TyeDye said it can get NASTY on other days! I think the wind is made on the Fish Lake mtn range.

Good luck!
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[doggonefishin]

I was there last week and what worked best for me was a rat fiinkie, size 10, tipped with half a meal worm. I caught my "quota" of perch fairly rapidly on that but sursprisingly also caught a very large number of trout with the same setup later in the day when pursuing trout. I didnt get as many as I usually do on larger offerings.
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[icerman]

A big THANK YOU to all who gave some awesome recommendations! I am so grateful for you willingness to share information. I look forward to taking my boys out for some "catching"; with the kids growing up, time with them becomes less frequent and is more precious!
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