The Lake!

The first thing that strikes you when you come to Houghton Lake is the sheer size of the thing. At 7.5 miles (12km) north-to-south, 4.5 miles (7km) east-to-west, it covers just over 20,000 acres with 30 miles of shoreline, and ranks as one of the largest natural inland lakes in the country.

The lake is also extremely shallow - its deepest point is a small hole that extends to 22 feet (~6.7 meters), but in general the deepest is around 18 to 20 feet. You can walk toward the center of the lake for what feels like forever and never need to swim, making it perfect even for those vacationers who may be slightly hydrophobic.

In the winter, temperatures plummet and we average 80+ inches (over 200 centimeters) of snow per year, with surrounding areas sometimes experiencing much more. Most winters, the lake completely freezes over, with ice thick enough to walk, snowmobile, or drive on. It's not an uncommon sight to see dozens of shacks, surrounded by cars, trucks, and other vehicles, especially around January - that's the coldest part of the winter, and that means it's time for Tip-Up Town!

Tip-Up Town, USA!

Tip-Up Town, USA is an annual ice-fishing festival held on the last two weekends in January. The natural first question most "out-of-towners" have when they hear the name is a natural one:

What's a "tip-up?"

A tip-up is a small device that makes ice-fishing so much easier. You lower your fishing line into the hole, and the line is hooked to both a reel (like a fishing pole) as well as a small flag. When a fish takes your bait, the line is pulled, and the flag "tips up," alerting you to the presence of fish. Now all you have to do is reel it back up, and there you have it - instant fish.

Now, this does require some patience, but it is possible to have multiple tip-ups going simultaneously, thus increasing your chances of snacking on Bluegill that night. However, in Michigan, you're only allowed two fishing lines to be going simultaneously - which means only two tip-ups per person!

Tip-Up Town History

Now, having a tip-up is a great addition to the ice-fishing experience, but in order to max out your ice fishing fun, you've got to have a shanty. A shanty can be a permanent wooden shack (able to be hauled in a truck or on a trailer, preferably!), or even as simple as a tent surrounding your personal fishin' hole.

These shanties appear all over the ice (on good, cold years), surrounded by cars, trucks, snowmobiles, and people. In February of 1951, two local businessmen noticed that all the little buildings and activity sort of formed a community - a Hooverville on the ice, a "tip-up town." They started the festival, hoping to draw more tourists to an area that is primarily a summer attraction, and just like any good town, began to elect annual Mayor, Marshal, and a Queen. These are all people out of the community, often business owners, and my family has had four members serving as Mayor or Marshal.

In the bylaws, it is stated that "the purpose of the village on the ice is to promote bigger lies, hilarity, tom foolery and good will." Prospective Mayor/Marshal teams campaign wearing crazy costumes, gigantic hats, and big smiles. They promise things they can't deliver (like fish in every bucket, or often more grandiose), and it is assumed that all the words that come out of their mouths will be either hilarious or just plain crazy. Every year the main "political parties" come out with their candidates - the Poor Peoples' Party (PPP) and the Goldfish Party are the two main parties, with dark horse candidates recently coming out of the newly-formed Snow White Party.

The "debates" are skits done in the Houghton Lake High School auditorium, performed by the candidates and their friends and family. Afterwards, the people vote, during which time auctions of antique Tip-Up Town gear and raffles are held.