Walleyes can usually be found along a dropoff that runs from 5 to 20 feet on the south side of Lake Cadillac. The walleyes can be caught jigging with Swedish Pimples or with tip-ups and shiners. There are times when staying after dark can pay big dividends. Most of the 'eyes will be 16 to 18 inches long, but 5-pounders are common.

For a complete selection of ice-fishing tackle and live bait, accommodations and fishing reports, contact Pilgrim's Village & Resort at (231) 775-5412.

Crystal Lake
Benzie County's Crystal Lake is deep and slow to freeze. Some winters, anglers can't even get on most of the lake. However, when Michigan has one of those old-fashioned winters and Crystal Lake freezes up solid, ice-fishing can be spectacular!

Crystal Lake offers ice-fishing variety. The 9,771-acre lake is home to several trout species. Steelhead-sized rainbows can be caught in the shallows where small creeks enter the lake. Brown trout cruise the dropoffs. The rainbows prefer spawn, and the browns like shiner minnows. Lake trout take refuge in the deeper waters from 70 to 140 feet in the winter. Lakers up to 20 pounds are taken every winter on tip-ups with live shiners or smelt or with jigging spoons. Try off Warren Road, Herdman's Point, Lobb Road and Railroad Point.

Crystal Lake produces a pretty decent perch fishery, too. The rich weedbeds in 25 to 40 feet of water right out from Beulah produce some of the most consistent fishing. The perch will average 8 to 10 inches and can be caught on wigglers, minnows and wax worms on teardrops. The stray brown or rainbow trout in this area often surprises anglers targeting perch.

Smelt provide fodder for trout in Crystal, but they also produce a fun winter fishery themselves. Anglers target the 40- to 70-foot depths and use crappie lights to attract microorganisms that, in turn, attract the smelt. You can use conventional spinning reels with multiple hooks baited with larva, or Speed reels designed specifically for smelt fishing. Whitefish that average 4 or 5 pounds can be caught along the dropoffs all around the lake.

For information on bait shops, shanty rentals and accommodations in the area, contact the Benzie County Chamber of Commerce at (800) 882-5801 or online at www.chamberinfo.com.

Burt Lake
Up until a few years ago, I'd never fished Cheboygan County's 17,260-acre Burt Lake. I'd heard about its reputation for producing excellent catches of both perch and walleyes through the ice but never had the chance to experience it first-hand. The rumors were true.

Part-time fishing guide and full-time golf pro Dave Trudell led our group out of Maple Bay on the west side of the lake to an area where they'd been doing well on walleyes. We stopped on a spot that shelved from 28 to 32 feet.

Fishing was slow for the first few hours, producing only a couple of decent perch. I decided to move out to where a tip-up had sprung to life a couple of times, but no one was home. The slip-bobber I plopped in the hole barely stood up before it started sinking slowly under the ice.

"Walleye," I told myself. I set the hook and there was solid resistance. I could feel the fish twisting and shaking its head below. After a minute or two, a fat 14-inch perch was flopping on the ice -- not a walleye, but I wasn't complaining. Before I could unhook the fish, my other bobber shot down under the ice. After a short tussle, a twin to the first perch was on the ice.

It's not uncommon to catch jumbo perch and walleyes on the same outing on Burt Lake. The fish inhabit the same areas. Look for dropoffs or humps in 20 to 40 feet of water off Colonial Point, out from Burt Lake State Park, and off Greenman and Kings points. Both walleyes and big perch are suckers for 2- to 4-inch shiners fished under slip-bobbers, or jigging spoons sweetened with minnows. However, perch seem to bite during the daylight hours, whereas the walleye action is best at dusk and dawn.