Lake Ovid ; Clinton county

[hugastump]

Brother and I fished all day for 13 fish ,water temp.65 degress . would locate small schools .mark fish and pick up a couple , then they would stop bite and we moved on. Never did find the crappie the DNR said was going good right now .Did not keep any fish as all were under 5 inches and very thin. no meat at all , very dull coloration , most could not pull the slip float under. hope the DNR takes a sample and figures out what it needs. Best rig was 1/32 Oz. orange jig head with Gulp 1" emerald shiner under slip bobber rig. red worm (live bait) on Aberdeen hook caught one. none on live minnow. one 10 inch Large mouth on a 3/8 Oz. white spinner bait, it also looked thin for the size of it's head. water clarity about 3 Ft.

[wicklundrh]

Fished it once. Key word... "once". That was about 4 or five years ago. I assume your referring to sleepy hollow?
I had the same issue as you. I've seen bigger fish caught out of there but, I didn't catch any. My issue with the place (similar to Ionia) is the "no Wake". It is one thing to have "no wake" on a 40 acre lake, but not one of this size. Takes you all day to go from one spot to another (figurativly, not litterally).

[hugastump]

Yes, Sleepy Hollow state park , fished it twice last year , second time this year, all times same results except last year graphed more fish , an larger schools but size of fish were the same. Even though closer to brothers home we have decided to take it off are list of lakes to fish . I think are next will be either Lake Lansing( 2 miles from brothers house) ; Jordan Lake. Brother works till afternoon so with sun down earlier have to stay closer to Lansing.

[wicklundrh]

Never fished Lake Lansing. Too many people most of the time for my liking. I used to fish Park lake in Bath and do quite well on Crappies and perch. There are also some decent pike, pretty big bass, and quite a few cat fish to contend with as well. Only downfall is the boat launch is pretty shallow and that side of the lake is shallow. All the god fishing is on the other side and in the back and the location of the launch forces you through three foot deep water and tons of vegetation in the summer. Might as well use a trolling motor only and be prepared to clean it regularly. Ice fishing it is better.

[hugastump]

Have heard good things about Park Lake as a large mouth Bass lake. My late uncle said 30 years ago it was the best around , But as you say the launch keeps the brother from going and the inboard/outboard does not like cutting through all those weeds. Fished Lake Lansing on weekends it is too busy! week days are not bad and once found some nice Blue gills an Crappie can be had . Bass are small most under legal but willing, Northern Pike like spinner baits and cranks an curly tail grubs.

[Crappie 1]

I lived at Park Lake as a kid. My Dad drowned in that lake ice fishing in Mar. of 69. Caught a lot of gills & Crappie out of there as a young boy. Also when Sleepy Hollow opened up (before the camping) they planted Hybrid's in there. My Sons and I fished it a lot. I got a 10 1/2" Hybrid one time. Most of them were between 8-10" I think they caught them all out of there. Lot of memories growing up in that area.

[wicklundrh]

Damn Larry. I was expecting to see some of your knowledgable insite on the area because you grew up here and worked in the area. That is a hard pill to swallow. I'll say a prayer for your dad the next time I fish Park lake!

[Crappie 1]

Damn Larry. I was expecting to see some of your knowledgable insite on the area because you grew up here and worked in the area. That is a hard pill to swallow. I'll say a prayer for your dad the next time I fish Park lake!

Rich, Park Lake used to be a good Bass lake. Also there is a channel that runs kinda North & South across the Southern end of the lake. I used to catch a lot of Crappie's at night in the channel I had a kerosene lantern for light to draw them in with. Had an old ice shanty made out of metal Coke a Cola signs. Bought it for $10 It had a 5 gallon bucket for a stove and a piece of downspout for a chimney. I kept my Lucky Strike cigarettes hid in there. Ahhh the good old days. PM me if I can help you out.

[wicklundrh]

Used to ice fish it a lot when I lived in town (maybe three days a week). Now that I live outside of town there just seems to be better lakes and I never go back. I've caught some decent crappies in there and some big bass on tip ups before. A few years back there was a pretty decent perch population in there as well. I know the channel you are reffering to.

[steelguy]

I used to fish ovid many years ago, was a very good panfish lake...was....
last time I fished there was 5 or 6 years ago ice fishing..only small fish, never did see a fish over maybe 5 inches , have not been back