Cedar River/Stoney Point

Checked Cedar River harbor today and the ice is gone! It was open out into the bay also. I observed very little debris floating downstream also-unlike last year. Water level appears to be down some. Unfortunately-the docks are not yet in. I made a request to the man in charge to put them in (please!). (Remember/caution: walleyes cannot be kept out of Cedar River yet. If you are fortunate to locate browns; those are fair game however).
South of Cedar River towards Menominee is the Stoney Point access site. This was ice free also and the dock is not in there yet either. Stoney point is very shallow and larger boats seldom launch there. Good luck! Mike

The Big Cedar goes through the back of our property. The break up usually puts on quite a show, big pieces crashing into the woods, stacking up, making a lot of noise, very neat to watch. This year it went out with a whimper, open water just showed up on one side of the river and gradually got wider until the ice was gone. I'm still hoping some is jammed upstream and going to come down, but everywhere I see, it's open.

My friend in Powers said the same thing Frank....she just kinda melted in place without any kind of blowout. The water is low for this time of year. I had a water temperature of 37.5 F tonight right before dark. Ice still in the Cedar River State Harbor but should be clear within a week at most. Just about time to get the boat out of hibernation!

Capt. Jim McDonald

As of this afternoon-still no docks. Did speak with a couple guys that were coming in. One walleye (threw back) and one brown. That sounds promising. Dock not in at Stoney Point yet either. Probably 5-10 boats down at Menominee but didn't hear any reports.

No docks in at CR as of 1500hrs today. Dock is in at SP. One boat was headed out there to try their luck and one was coming in with no fish-but he said he was mostly trying out the new motor. PM me if your headed out to these locations.

The docks are now in. Good luck to all.

Checked Ford River tonight. River is wide open. Dock's not in, but you could still easily launch a boat there. The new ramp will be nice.

The wind really kicked up this afternoon so we left the boat at home and headed out to CR to try some casting from shore. 'Course when we got out there it looked fairly calm and there were 3 boats floating &trolling in the area. Tried from out by the lighthouse/mouth for about an hour and a half with no hits. One troller C&R one small northern. Another boat (older 18' fiberglass, red&white, with Father, son & grandson) was anchored near the mouth casting. Caught a nice probably 25"+walleye and threw it in their cooler. After I reminded them twice that walleye season wasn't open here yet and checking the guide themselves, they finally released it. Nothing like checking the regulations before heading out? Anyhow-hope everyone gets a chance to get out soon. Dress warm!

I typically travel from Manistique to Menominee a few times each spring in search of the trophy walleye. Every trip over to Menominee I contemplate stopping at Cedar river and trying to catch some browns or splake. I have noticed that this area has a pretty impressive stocking program for these species and want to give it a try sometime.

I fish browns in Manistique during the spring and figured I should stop and give the Cedar River area a try.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for me about the spring trout fishery out of Cedar River? The basic principles seem to apply everywhere, but is there anything I should know about specific to the Cedar River Area?....large rocks located in unlikely places that could take my prop off....historical warm water locations.........gravel shorelines vs. sand shorelines (the browns in Manistique like crayfish).

Hey A.G,

Ohhhh ya... you betcha there are a couple of things to know
befor ya go tearin arse out the harbor..

1) stay right of the can thats at the mouth of the harbor
and run out about a mile befor you decide to go North
or south.

2) watch for net stakes out there, the look like giant
bobbers and are very difficuklt to see especially
at night..

Good luck..

There aren't any channel markers in the entrance right now so you'll have to be really careful heading out and coming back in!!!!!!!

Capt. Jim McDonald

Does the channel change much year to year ? I have a track line on GPS from last summer could i follow that out in the dark safely ?. Capt. Jim last year I talked with you about single hooks in salmon flies, I picked up some 7/0 gammies
do you use singles or tandems, they are an awesome looking hook I see what you meant by making sure people know what they can do if not respected.

Vertigo
Kevin Goodman

You shouldn't have any trouble following your track from last year. I haven't been out this year, but I doubt there will be any nets out yet.

I only use Owner hooks, but the Gammies should work well. I use a tournament tie with a single and a treble with 50# flouro leader material.

Capt. Jim McDonald

Jim-that's right, there are no nets anywhere near the harbor yet. Some nets were set last week but they are way out by Chambers or Washington Island I think. I followed my lines in and out on my GPS from last year without a problem. Good advice to not delete them all over the winter because with no channel markers it could be tricky gettin in/out after ice out.

Question for Fin: From the harbor if I look due East I can see what appears to be a green can-but it looks like it is 2-3 miles away. Would this be the marker that is usually 1 mile out of the harbor that maybe the ice just moved out?

If you don't see the green can about 1 mile out it is because the ice moved it. Typically it gets shifted to the ENE. Last year it only moved about 1 mile over...but the one at Whaleback sank into deeper water. I know where there are 3 of them out there now!