2015 Season Summary

I originally may have thought that 2015 was going to be my year for muskies, but it didn't really turn out that way.  I caught a few, I saw many more, I had my lure inside a giant's mouth without somehow hooking up, and I spent many hours in their pursuit.  I enjoyed it all, and I'll be back at it again in 2016.  But for me, I think my 2015 fishing turned out to be almost all about those bass.

Largemouths

An unexpected, quickly enacted change in Michigan's fishing seasons enabled the early pursuit of bass. Michigan's bass season has historically opened on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  The first liberalization of this traditional season (circa 1989) was the experimental opening of a very limited number of lakes to catch and release bass fishing starting on April 1.  These were the waters I frequented, because the fishing was familiar, uncrowded and could be pretty good.  But the weather could be miserable, and once Spring actually arrived, there were so many non-bass options!  The second liberalization (six or eight years ago) dropped this early start in favor of opening all the inland waters of the Lower Peninsula to catch and release bassing on the last Saturday in April.  This got rid of the problem of those who were "pike" or "walleye" fishing from their bass boats and such, and made early-season bass much more accessible, for the price of those first few weeks in April.  I've experienced some awesome fishing during this season, and in fact, did much of my hard-core bassing in this early season (that is, before I got distracted by other fishing opportunities.)

So, I was surprised when in April 2015, it was simply announced that bass season was now open year-round, but that all fishing from January 1 to the Friday before Memorial Day was strict catch and release.  Later that week I was on a local lake and got a shallow, pre-spawn lunker with a good friend.  It got my season off to a great start, and I know I'm going to like this opportunity; and, I think it's going to be awesome for my future smallie fishing (see below.)

This was also the year that my buddy DC moved into his new home on Whitefish Lake; and his good fortune (and generous, welcoming nature) was my ticket to easily accessing and fishing this pretty decent bass lake.  We did so several times over the season, and I hope to do so again in future years.  We didn't catch any giants together, but we caught a lot of decent to very decent bass; and the action was always good enough that it was fun to experiment and try new baits techniques.  Fishing this water with DC will likely be my Proving Grounds for new baits and techniques in the future; it's a great confidence booster to be on fish with such regularity.  

And I've only mentioned one of the big bass I caught this season; there were some very nice crank bait fish from Reeds Lake and the biggest of the season (over 5, but likely not 6 pounds) was a pure bonus; it ate a Medussa Big Rubber bait while I was fishing for muskies.  This kid from Rhode Island, who had over the years largely gotten away from serious bass fishing (again, all those other fishing distractions here!), isn't used to encountering that many really nice bass in a season.

Nice, early-season LMB on a crank from Reeds Lake.

This girl inhaled my Rapala DT3.

These are the fish that bring me back to my youth, and with which I fell in love with fishing.  There's a simplistic purity to fishing for green bass; they feel like home to me.  They're not the biggest, most beautiful, or toughest; but they are my most comfortable and familiar quarry.

Stripers

I was fortunate to make it back to New England (twice!) this past summer, and the stripers were there for me.  Whew!  I had missed 2014 entirely, so it had been too long since our last acquaintance, and since my time this year was limited again, I knew I simply would have to accept whatever conditions I arrived to.  But I was lucky to catch some favorable tides, to make some bait, and to have some packs of marauding stripers swim by.  Amazingly enough, I caught some really nice fish that were perfectly matched to my tackle; these will tide me over until 2016, when maybe I can be a little more serious in my pursuit of these fish.

My first nice striper in a long time!

Stripers are the perfect Catch and Release quarry.

Smallmouths

More than anything, I think this season re-ignited my love for brown bass.  While Michigan is a Mecca for World Class Smallmouth Bass Fishing, I'd have to say that Central West Michigan... is less so.  We have smallies in many waters, but to access the bass you see on TV, you have to travel a few hours or more.  I'd gotten away from that over the years, but this year I had the time to do a few things.  I executed trips to fish Lake St. Clair, Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, and select Northern Michigan waters.  Each trip and body of water payed off with fine smallmouth fishing!  In fact, the fishing was easier than it was to simply arrange my arrival at any of these spots; and there are many other opportunities within a slightly larger travel radius.

Lake St. Clair; might have provided the best fishing in the sense of biggest bags and being on fish all the time.  I stumbled on the first group of fish just by using common sense and available cues; I was able to upgrade through refinement, and I was able to find another group of quality fish, just because I simply tried.  The setting and the drive are a little bit more urban than I'd like, but once I'm there, I could care less about that!

The bass I found were just post-spawn, and any soft plastic presentation shined; I need to get a landing net (it will pay for itself) before I go next year, because I lost a fair number of tubes and Ned Rigs as I got careless about lifting, lipping and (in general) landing these fish.

I can only imagine how good the pre-spawn fishing might be.  I look forward to searching with jerk baits and taking advantage of the aggression of these fish!

Not a great picture, but one of many fine LSC smallies!

North Lake Leelanau; offered perhaps my single best day of fishing, but I may not ever hit this lake at just the right time again.  Conditions were exactly as I had hoped, and the fish were more numerous and larger than I could have hoped.  Again, no giants were encountered (perhaps they'd be more available a bit earlier in pre-spawn?), but I found solid fish after solid fish.  The fishing just got better as the day progressed.  It will be interesting to see what I can do with this lake in the future and with a little more experience there under my belt.

The NLL smallies were beautifully golden, and plentiful!

East Bay of Traverse Bay; was perhaps the toughest to fish and provided perhaps the smallest average size, but clearly offered the highest quality total experience.  Unlimited, uncrowded clear water; bass in three feet of water and in 50+ feet of water at the same time; sight fishing the flats, searching with top-waters, grubbing for monsters or drop-shotting;  and pretty much unlimited size potential for the bass.  What's to complain about?

7 AM; Red Sky in Morning, sailors take Warning!

I missed out on this for too many years!

9 AM; conditions can change quickly on the Great Lakes!

My smallmouth game to a giant leap forward this year, and I hope to build on that in 2016.  There are other Norther Michigan waters to try (or in many cases, re-visit); Hubbard Lake coughed up a 9+ pounder for a new state record this fall; and there's always Door County, Wisconsin to consider.   I'll have many choices, let's hope I make the right ones.


But Let's Not Forget About...

But wait, there's more!    Of course, I enjoyed and will need to incorporate all sorts of other experiences into my future fishing.

Salmon; we'll see what 2016 Brings.  With little pelagic bait, the Kings have been suffering, and nobody knows to what extent they'll be available in the near term future.  Of course, there will be trout, but it's the King that drives this fishery. We did well in our return to tournament fishing, and one of the biggest decisions of next year (especially in the late spring) might be defending our success in the 2016 Salmon Circuit, or chasing smallies.

Tournament Fishing, again!

Brown Trout; I've always loved the spring Brown Trout fishery here, and I usually start my boating season in their pursuit.  But now I've gotten a taste of the other-worldly brown trout fishing in Milwaukee; and I have to do some more of that.  So whether it's in the spring for numbers, in the summer with the wind at our back and cold waters in the harbor, or in the fall/winter, casting/trolling, chasing these browns just makes sense if I have the time.

A fine Milwaukee Brown Trout; last of the day, but I plan for there to many more in my future.

Muskellunge; chasing these fish is in my blood and I will continue to do so.  They are a time sink, but that is all forgotten when one appears.  I'm enjoying the learning curve, and I've got much improvement ahead of me.  Perhaps I need to expand my list of waters, and perhaps I need to go somewhere where it's not quite a marginal proposition.  I know I need to get others in the boat with me, and I know that if something Really Cool happens on the water, it might involve a muskie.  I've enjoyed the fish I've caught; but it is the fish I've lost that have had the biggest influence on my love for this sport.

One of my three 2015 Muskie Releases.

New Friends; 2015 introduced me to a few new fishing buddies.  I appreciate their generosity, enthusiasm and company.  Here's to more with them in the future; and here's to more of them, too.

Dr. M on the Dog Day

SB

Season's End

NumenOn the Water

Date:  11-28-15

Body of Water:  C Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskies

Time:  2 PM - 5 PM

Conditions:  Clear and bright; about 35 F with mild winds generally from the NE. Water was 42 - 43 F.  Only boat out; mine.

Conditions were drastically different than the day before, and with limited time I selected C Lake.  This lake was very good to me at the end of last year, at least when I figured out that the fish had switched from bucktails to jerk- and twitch baits.  I worked my "high-percentage" areas with these baits, while mixing in some Bulldawg casts to the deep weed edge, too.  But I moved nothing as far as I could tell, and so with about a half-hour left in my season, I switched to a simple trolling spread.  My goal was to cover as much water as possible in my remaining time with a couple of weed-free crank baits, one high and one low.  I concentrated on the deepest weed edge (from 10 to 12 feet of water or so), and I was typically going about 4 - 4.2 mph.

I figured my Bucher Depth Raider was 8 or 9 feet down at about 65-70 feet back; that would place it consistently within a foot or so of the deep weed tops.  About ten minutes into my troll the drag on this rod slipped.  I dropped a waypoint and brought my first muskie in three months to the boat!

This is the first picture ever of me with a Muskie.  I managed to capture this with the GoPro, purchased for just this reason!  Any purported product placement is inadvertent, but if you were to ask me, I really do love my Lund!

The Bucher Depth Raider of choice.

What do I have to say about this?

I'm glad I switched tactics, because this let me end my season on a relatively high note!  Once the fish was landed, photographed and released, I got off the water just before dark.  Numenon has since been emptied and will be properly put away for the winter tomorrow.  My boating season with her is, unfortunately, over.

Cold Front

NumenOn the Water

Date: 11-27-15

Body of Water:  M Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time:  10:45 AM - 3:15 PM

Conditions:  Gray, spitting, 38-40 F with northerly winds to 15 mph or so; clear, 46-47 F water

Temperatures dropped 20 degrees or more overnight, but it was the day after Thanksgiving, and I was looking for a fish to cap off my Muskie Season.  Despite the strong cold front moving through, the winds never got too bad, and boat control was never an issue.  I was willing to be flexible, but I suspected that I would be going big and throwing a Bulldawg most of the day.  That was confirmed when a nice 40-inch or so Muskie followed my dawg to the boat on my third or fourth cast.  She was very lethargic and never seemed too interested, but she'd followed my bait off the deep weed edge, and I was confident I would raise some other fish, too.

I did glimpse another follower well below my bait on another weed edge.  She, too, was disinterested and simply glided away.

I did try various jerk- and twitch baits over the remaining weeds and edges with no sign of moving a fish.  I worked the Bulldawg over weeds, along edges and out over the abyss.   There were plenty of apparent bait fish suspended in certain areas, and my bait sure looked like a mythical ciscoe, reportedly present in this lake.  I even trolled a three rod spread along deep weed edges and through bait pods for an hour or so without triggering a fish.

I knew I likely had one more shot at fishing over the weekend, so when all three boats on the lake converged on the same spot at the same time, it was too easy to just go to the ramp and save my energy for the next trip.

What do I have to say about this?

This lake is tough, but it has some monstrous fish in it.  That is enough to keep me returning.  One of these trips, one of these old fish will make a mistake, and I will have my chance here again.

Milwaukee Browns

NumenOn the Water

Date:  11-11-15

Body of Water:  Lake Michigan, 

Boat:  Captain EH's 20-foot Alumacraft

With:  Captain EH

Target:  Brown Trout

Time:  8 AM - 2 PM

Conditions:  This was an opportunistic day-trip to Milwaukee Harbor for Giant Browns (or at least to learn local approaches to fishing for them) with respected multi-species, light tackle guide Captain EH.  It was during the day of the Full Moon, and a nasty Midwestern storm was coming in later that day.  At 20+ mph and beyond, it was too windy to think about Great Lakes fishing in West Michigan; but this protected harbor seems to be pretty robust to conditions.  It was a pretty mild day (other than the wind), generally clear, and water temperatures were about 48 - 50 F depending upon location.

We started with small brown trout egg sacs under small fixed floats.  The long spinning rods were outfitted with 6- or 8-pound braid and long 6-pound fluorocarbon leaders.  Our egg hooks were tiny and the drags were light; this was going to be finesse fishing.  But on the first cast, the float went down with authority, and I think anybody could have hooked up.  This initial fish fought hard and deep, and in the pretty darn clear water I had plenty of time to see my brown materialize and fight.  After a couple of minutes it was in the bag; and a successful trip was virtually assured.

First Cast!  Perhaps 12 pounds of egg-sipping Brown Buck Goodness!

We stayed here in this spot a bit longer.  I caught another nice brown quickly, followed by a couple of tiny steelheads.  Then I hooked, turned and lost a broad-tailed fish of considerable size.  The commotion of that fish on the surface seemed to have scattered the school, and so then we changed tactics; it was time to cast crank baits!

Second Brownie of the day!

Captain's Choice for cranks for casting were simply common bass and walleye baits.  I was equipped with a nice Abu 6-foot, 9-inch (or so) medium light spinner with a beautiful Abu Revo reel and 8- or 10-pound braid.  I could cast my Strike King square-billed crank quite a ways and easily feel it vibrate through the water on a slow to medium (but definitely trending towards slow) retrieve.  Meanwhile, he baitcasted a Strike King flat-sided shad, and collectively we covered water.

It was pretty low-tech fishing, but I'm pretty sure you could make it as complex as one wanted. We were looking to take advantage of some pretty obvious clues (jumping fish, bait balls, diving birds, busting fish or current lines), but in their absence, it took me a while to transition from my structure-fishing tendencies and rely on faith that wind-aided long casts and covering water would out-produce covering specific spots thoroughly.

This fishing proved rather slow; in fact we had no action at all as we moved deeper into the labyrinth of Milwaukee Harbor.  By now the wind was blowing 25+ miles per hour and it was rough and wet in the more exposed areas of the harbor.  We worked our way into another dead-end and parked the boat along a secluded section of seawall.  A few minutes of scouting from shore located a couple of pods of sizable browns that were very worthy of our  fishing efforts.  It was back to eggs and floats for these fish.

No. 3.  The egg bite was much more reliable than casting cranks on this day.

Again, the first fish came rather quickly.  After that, they were not easy!  But by moving stealthily and giving them their time and space, by not attracting the attention of others, each pod, in time seemed to contain the occasional biter.  You never knew how big it might be either, because I saw more high-teen-and up browns in a few hours than I think I have in the previous 30 years of living with the Great Lakes' watershed.

The rest of the fishing day alternated between stalking these finesse fish and casting cranks for more active fish.  I got hit once on my crank but didn't connect, while Captain H caught a smallish brown and a late, red coho.

The fish of the day might have been our last brown on eggs.  It provided a cool visual strike that barely moved the float.  I can still see the gaping, white mouth appearing below the descending egg sac and then closing over it.  This might have been the biggest, too (but none of the fish were measured or weighed, so it's not certain that it was bigger than the first), and it certainly provided the most hotly contested fight of the day.    Captain H's enthusiasm was counter-balanced by my calm execution, but I sure was excited inside.  

My last fish of the day was a beauty.

I'd chosen casting for browns over trolling and perhaps more opportunities for multiple species.  I'd gotten what I asked for, but that didn't stop me from asking, talking and learning about other options. Trolling is always possible here, and spoons, sticks and shads are all in the mix.  Divers and up to 3 colors of lead can provide some depth coverage, but otherwise it all sounded very familiar to me.  And where-as our realistic Brown Season in West Michigan's portion of Lake Michigan is (at most) two months long (and usually much more hit-and-miss than that statement suggests),  one can target browns here (by adjusting one's tactics) just about all year!

The Captain's favorite technique might be casting and slowly swimming 4- and 5-inch plastic swimbaits/jerkbaits on 3/8 ounce darter heads.  The same factors go into selecting the locations; breakwall gaps, current, bait, birds and obvious fish.

"Strolling" with jerk baits can help locate fish.  Should one choose, hair jigs or tubes, crawled along the bottom or suspended under floats can produce fish.  Carolina rigging spawn or minnows, or perhaps suspending crawlers, red worms or jig-n-wigs under floats will get bites.

I'd absorbed a lot in a short time.  Of course I'd have liked more and bigger fish, or perhaps to have not lost any opportunities, but in 6 short hours I was exposed to enough to know that I can do this.  I'd love to share it with some friends or family.

Boat or shore; hard water or soft; your choice; let's go!

What do I have to say about this?

I've probably already said it in my other blog; see This and also this.  I am super pleased to have executed this trip .  Like so many other things, I probably waited too long before taking action, but now that I have, I can see myself taking it on.  Simply said; the number of large brown trout (and other quality fish) that seem to be available here, vulnerable to lighter tackle techniques, is astounding.

Time will tell "when, how or if" this fits in with my other fishing priorities (especially given the time and monetary investment required to pull a Wisconsin fishing session off), but I'll add it to my arsenal.   I'll be back, I'm sure.   

Milwaukee Harbor Lessons I know I learned:

• The fish will succumb to the pressure of a long rod, even if the line is thin and the drags are light!
• Years of striper fishing from the float in Maine have prepared me well for teasing trout from municipal marinas.
• Hooksets are free!
• I've got virtually all the stuff I need to employ similar tactics on my own.
• Take advantage of the obvious clues (jumping fish, bait balls, diving birds, busting fish or current lines), but don't live and die in one spot.
• Long casts were important to Captain EH, so they are important to this fishery.
• When near shore, Stealth Matters.
• Slower might be better than Faster; but 
• Don't get locked into specific patterns, colors, lures, etc.  You'll know if it's working.  If it's not, adjust!
• Expect good results and employ your fishing judgment.

C Lake Doldrums

NumenOn the Water

Date:  11-8-15

Body of Water:  C Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target: Muskellunge

Time:  12:15 PM - 5 PM

Conditions: 50 F, clear and bright; SW winds to 15 mph or so; water was 51-53 F and a bit turbid; busy; New Moon -2 days.

Conditions were very much like last week but with a bit less wind (to 15 mph or so) and the water was slightly less clear (visibility about 2 feet.)  I arrived at lunch time to an empty lake with the idea of staying through moonset and sunset, but the lake just got more and more crowded as the day progressed.   The last locals were putting their boats away for the season, and seemingly most people with a boat still in service were present, including 3-5 muskie boats at any given time.  Some of these were known sticks.  I gave it a good effort.  I tried a variety of bait styles and sizes, and I even trolled a bit.  There's not much else to add for this outing; hopefully it counted towards paying my dues.  As the afternoon progressed, it simply got too crowded.  I chose to cut the day short to avoid any potential ramp issues.  Others indicated similar experiences in the parking lot as we loaded our respective craft.

What do I have to say about this?


Coming off M's final Conference Swim Meet, it's all to easy to remind oneself that not much is ever guaranteed. You can't control results, you can only control your effort. It's all too possible (if not likely in many endeavors) to Work Hard, Do Your Best, and Do Well but still fall short of your goal. And sometimes it does turn out in your favor, but in an unexpected manner. Vision, Continued Effort, Hard Work, Determination, Perfect Practice and Good Form all help along the way. It is in these things that the lasting value of our endeavors resides. (Ahhhh, but it's so much easier to just brag about a fish!)

Two Follows

NumenOn the Water

Date:  11-1-15

Body of Water:  C Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Dr. L and SB

Target:  Muskellunge

Time:  1 PM - 6 PM

Conditions:  51-52 F water; about 3-foot visibility; about 55 F, clear and windy (20+ from the west until sunset)

Muskies, wind and fly fishing: I knew the odds for landing a fish today weren’t great.

The title says it all.  Another muskie trip; another skunk; but this time with the silver lining of having two fish visibly follow our baits to the boat.  This is a relatively low bar for success, but such a better result than not seeing these fish.  These sightings keep you focused at the time, keep you motivated for the next trip, and provide an opportunity to drop another couple of waypoints which may lead to future success.   And I should admit,  one of these fish was big!

It’s always nice to have somebody new on the boat (I haven’t really had anybody too unpleasant on board, yet), and this was Charity Fishing Event in support of local school excellence.  Everybody maintained a good, positive attitude all afternoon.  For the first time, Numenon’s focus was on fly fishing, and SB took advantage of the stern’s open deck to lay out a long, heavy line all afternoon.

C Lake’s submerged  musk grass is still very green.  It seems to be holding bait, and so we were still working this pattern (which has produced every muskie on this lake for me.  The basin seems devoid of ‘skies.)   The wind was keeping folks off the lake and our chosen spots were not pressured.  The biggest change in strategy to accommodate the fly fishing was simply to keep SB in a position to cast over these weeds over the starboard side (for everybody’s safety), and preferably down-wind (for ease of achieving casting distance.)  It was their paid-for trip, so at first I controlled the boat using the electric motor via remote  from the console, while Dr. L casted from the bow.  But at the second or third spot I took over the bow and Dr. L casted from the center deck.  This provided for a bit better control of the boat, generally more efficient fishing for all, and also got a third bait in the water.

While SB utilized a variety of streamers in various sizes and colors, Dr. L generally threw bucktails.  He started on spinning gear and a size 5 or so Blue Fox, but graduated smoothly to casting gear and Harassers. I generally countered with twitchbaits or a Walleye Medussa, but I threw my fair share of bucktails, too. 

While we’d discussed the possibility of following fish and boat-side encounters (like I’m an expert!) while driving to the lake, I’d forgotten to share Eminem’s “One Shot” to get us all focused.  It was queued in the truck’s sound system and ready to go, but we all so geeked to be together with the possibility of encountering a giant that I forgot!  My mistake, and we paid for it!  While both of my anglers were disadvantaged, Dr. L from his lower deck position and SB from his long wand and lots of extra slack from the wind and such, each missed their single chance.  Dr. L’s smallish fish looked disinterested, but SB’s near giant hung out for an extended time.  It had some motivation, but he just couldn’t get it to commit.  This fish failed to respond to a couple of our bucktails whizzing by, too.  We re-visited these spots over the course of the afternoon, but nothing else showed.

What do I have to say about this?

Meanwhile, I’m aware of a Halloween Giant captured from the point splitting M Lake, as well as  a bit of other successful activity on local lakes  while I was on C Lake.  The local addicts are keeping at it as the season winds down.  Between this trip and my writing this, the probable World Record Fly Fishing Muskie was caught (57 inches or so from Mille Lac, Minnesota), so it's possible that we could have succeeded.  This was my first ever Charity Skunk, but I’ll be back; and I suspect today’s partners will be back, too.  This is addictive stuff, and now they’ve been exposed.

SB, working hard for one early...

... and late!