thornapple lake report

got out of work Saturday with just enough time to run down to thornapple lake.
fired the boat up for the first time this year and all was well except one bad battery on the trolling motor, was nearly dead after only one hr of use. anyway, the report.
water temp was 57, fished brush along the shore, did find about a half dozer crappie, and a couple of decent gills, just enough for a meal.
females had eggs, probably about two weeks away from spawning yet, quite tight.
used minnows under a bobber, my favorite way to fish them..
first crappie of 2016
was a nice evening.

Brian just asked me about Thornapple lake. He is looking at buying a house on it. I told him you fished it quite a bit. Maybe we will have a dock on it soon!

Thanks for the report! Thorn Apple is not far for me and I was thinking of giving it a try this Saturday. A guy I know that has a cabin there told me the crappie fishing wasn't very good there yet but was making a comeback. Maybe he just didn't want anyone fishing "his" lake.



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I know of a guy that would like people to think the same thing!!! His picture is posted above!

I think we all suffer a little bit of this behavior


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by wicklundrh

Brian just asked me about Thornapple lake. He is looking at buying a house on it. I told him you fished it quite a bit. Maybe we will have a dock on it soon!

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I only started fishing it last year.
we bought a house only 2 miles from the Charlton park boat launch.
I have seen some HUGE muskies while I was just cruising the shallows looking for crappie.

I am learning the lake a bit though..... :):biggrin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steelguy

I have seen some HUGE muskies while I was just cruising the shallows looking for crappie.

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For anyone who didn't know, Thornapple Lake is used by the DNR for Muskie breeding. I have a couple friends who have donated their time to assist the DNR do whatever it is they do for it.

Been wanting to fish Thornapple for Muskie but haven't made it yet. Been going down to the Barbee Chain in Indiana. Fantastic Muskie fishing , crystal clear waters and, best of all, the whole chain is "No Wake" so you don't have the PWC's tearing up the water

Oh Steve, you did it now.... mentioned the "Muskie"...

And I thought being from the U.P you would have the stance like many of the residents I spoke with last year!

When I was in the U.P last year, I spoke with a ton of locals. One of the things I noticed was how they all seemed to have a similar story when it came to local inland lakes. The story went something along the lines of: "The DNR has began to plant far to many predator fish in an attempt to either draw in the sport fisherman or big game fisherman... By doing so, they have ruined many of the inland lakes natural Pan fish population"...

Originally, I chalked it up to mild complaining that we always here about the DNR (everyone blames them for something). In the end though, I think the guys had a valid point. We see this going on in lakes all the time. If you look at stocking data in relation to different lakes in Michigan, the number one and two planted species in lakes are Walleye, and Muskie. Being that those are really popular fish (other than bass) it makes a valid argument on what they say. One thing I will state however is that we don't always know the intentions behind the action of the department of fisheries (others just say DNR). These plantings could be the result of a net report that indicates far too many smaller pan fish or stunted growth due to lack of food. The planting of said named predators could be their attempt to control the overcrowding of these species. We all know there is a healthy balance that needs to occur so that all species can grow to their target potential within their life cycle. I just found their insight interesting and figured I would share it.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...d5d71f796d.jpg
On the subject of Muskies.......[emoji15]


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:yikes

I watched a guy catch a 50" muskie just off shore from Charlton Park, close enough so I could talk to him. I was surprised that the thing didn't really put up a lot of fight. Yeah, it took some work to haul in something that big, but there were no runs with the drag screaming. I've never fished for muskie, but from what I saw I've had a lot more fun catching 30" pike on my ultralight gear when trolling for crappie.

Nice John. You always could find them! This post qualifies for the Slider Contest too.