DISCOVERING | Lake Gogebic Walleyes

Episode 68 - Chasing flags on ice-covered Lake Gogebic for walleyes plus a few bonus jumbo perch. Guide Justin Soffa and crew give us some tips on how to find walleyes on the U.P.'s largest inland lake. We took advantage of the crazy weather season that made for a second early ice bite.
And Michigan now has an official state native grain - Manoomin. I chat with Roger LaBine, Tribal Elder and Water Resources Specialist for the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who has been advocating for protection of wild rice for the last 20 years.

[@KUEHLKUEST]

Great show!! Nice job on the lake!! Awesome news about the rice!! Cheers!! J & C

[@discovertheup]

Thanks!! Very good news about the wild rice!

[@outdooradventures7742]

Kristin you are one of a kind. You do such a fantastic job at hosting this show. So happy to see the channel is growing.

[@moneydog6464]

The wild rice tastes so much better than what you buy in the store. Good stuff!!!

[@joe5st817]

After a day on the North Bay a great pizza and a few Pick Axe Blondes at AJ’s Lodge is the best way to end it.

[@WilliamEricStone]

I am originally from Indiana, retired to Ontonagon 3 years ago, as it is 20 miles from the only 2 places I want to be, besides where I sit right now, where the Ontonagon River flows into the lake.... Anyway, lake Gogebic and the Porcupine Mountains... But ever time I journey back to Indiana to see my sons I take a case of Pick Axe Blondes to them.

[@mitchwagner8245]

Great episode. Love the UP.

[@LadyYoop]

Thank you for the Wild Rice segment. Beautiful!

[@WilliamEricStone]

Great show, as always, and I really enjoyed the Wild Rice coverage. As a non-native covered a lot of stuff I did not know. But as to the ice fishing I would have liked to have seen some more rod fishing instead of all tip-ups.

[@discovertheup]

They did try jigging some up but no success. I imagine 99% of people use tip-ups out there on Gogebic. But it would be worth trying to jig them up for a show someday in the future!

[@justinsoffa7850]

It was almost impossible, anytime we sat down for 30 seconds the flags would pop.

[@WilliamEricStone]

@@justinsoffa7850 I figured as much, and if your fishing to stock the freezer then tip-ups I am sure are the way to go. Anyway I am certain it was more fun to be there then to watch. Also some pretty clear explanations as to why some never catch fish on Gogebic on dismiss it as "the dead sea".

[@justinsoffa7850]

@@WilliamEricStone oh this lake can be VERY humbling, even to us guys who are out there nearly 7 days a week. It’s one of the more challenging but also more rewarding lakes that I fish.

[@WilliamEricStone]

@@justinsoffa7850 I look at it just like Superior, sure there are plenty of fish out there, but where? And that was one of comments last night, during the summer they all just disperse out into a huge mud flat. I have not fished Gogebic in 30 years, and I do not see how one would even try after all those years without a guide. I did catch a 27 inch Walleye there in about 1986, I did not weigh it, and that was before everyone had a camera in their pocket. I put it back in and the man at the bait shop thanked me for doing so. One of the teenage kids in the boat with me just looked at that fish and said, "No! You did not just catch that!" It was late summer, about 10pm, and at the edge of the weeds. Thanks once again for the show.

[@lloydbeebe3716]

Great show. Thanks for sharing. New subscriber. Lived in Michigan my whole life. Watch Michigan outdoors every week. This might be my new favorite.

[@zacharypotvin6579]

Soffa! Worked with him at Ironwood Plastics for years. Cool dude!

[@Raydubbs90]

What were the lights on their tipups and do they have any tips on finding perch ice fishing

[@discovertheup]

the brand is called Lighthouse. We didn't talk perch this time. Only thing they mentioned is perch and walleye are usually cruising the same areas. Find them closer to the weed beds in the earlier season and they move out into the mudflats of the bigger part of the lake mid-winter.

[@Raydubbs90]

@@discovertheup thanks so much for the help