LSC I and LSC II

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-28-15 (Day I)

Body of Water: Lake St. Clair, out of Clinton River Cutoff Access

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target: Smallmouth Bass

Time:  1:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Conditions: Clear and bright but becoming hazy; hot; 10-15 mph easterly wind and pretty good chop developing; water temperatures were about 68-69 F

Day I

This was Numenon's first trip to Lake St. Clair, and other than being flexible, I didn't have much of a plan.  As I arrived at the ramp, I noted that the wind was stronger than forecast, and that most of the returning boat traffic was coming in from the south.  As I left the ramp, the boat ahead of me turned south, and so I did too.  I thought the bass were going to be just finishing up the spawn, and I figured that the presence of boats would have to give me a starting point.

Just a few miles south of the ramp I noticed a congregation of boats over a fairly broad area; this looked like a promising community hole.  It looked even more promising when I came  off plane in about 10 feet of water,  noticed how clear the water was, and saw some probable bass beds.  I was on the outer fringe of the collection of boats, but the easterly wind would push me in, and I'd be fishing and scouting all along the way.

I still didn't know which bait would be first in the water.  With the decent easterly wind and a one foot chop, spinnerbaits and jerk baits came to mind.  But with the clear water and the promise of bass around beds, I chose to try the Ned Rig first.  And after a dozen or more hours of recently chasing muskies (fruitlessly), it was a bit ironic that my first cast was snipped off as I set the hook.  I could only watch a mid-30s muskie swim away nonchalantly.  I saw a few more as the day wore on; all were smallish.

I retied as quickly as I could.  I pitched to a visible opening in the dark bottom, and a very nice smallie took the bait.  It was about 4 pounds or so, but I managed to lose her before I could bring her to hand.  An awesome, but inefficient start!

Action varied from pretty darned awesome to inexplicably slow, as wind, sun and depth changed.  Eight or nine feet of water with visible targets, a good chop and a high enough sky to maintain good visibility into the water all promoted success.  I found slower action in shallower water (less than seven feet or so), and during periods of clouds or pauses in the wind.

I experimented as much as I could, but spinnerbaits, sluggos,  senkos and jerkbaits never produced anything.  I caught a couple on tubes and lost a fine one on a drop-shot, but mostly I fished and caught fish on Ned.  Color didn't seem to matter, but they did prefer it on the drop; and the most predictable results came when I had a visible target, whether it was a color change, bed, weed patch or rock; and in the best cases, a combination of these.  

I ended with about 19 legal bass including only a couple of drinks.  I had 4 or 5 approximate 4-pounders, and most of the others were 17 inches or so.  My final "virtual bag" would have been about 19 pounds;my best-ever limit of smallies and a real testament to this lake.  I doubt I'd refined any locations, patterns or presentations.  I was just fishing!

Strangely enough, most boats were fishing quite a bit shallower (5 or 6 feet) and not moving around much.  I made a mental note to check these areas out the next morning.

Numenon's first taste of Lake St. Clair; Clinton River Cutoff Access 

Community Hole; around 12-mile Road; that white tent was the visual cue for my efforts here.  This picture gives just a hint of the water color changes; dark and light patches both led me to bass.

A fairly typically-sized bass as about 17 inches or so, but this one had unique dark spots.  It looked like a peacock bass on the other side.

One of the bigger bass I caught on Day I.  Selfies make it tough, but the Go-Pro's battery was already dead.  Close to, if not 4 pounds, and spawned out already (I think.)  I got 4 or 5 like this; pretty awesome, for me!

Date:  5-29-15  (Day II)

Body of Water:  Lake St. Clair, out of Clinton River Cutoff Access

Boat:  Numenon

With: Alone

Target:  Smallmouth Bass

Time: 6:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Conditions:  Overcast; less wind (but still easterly) to almost calm; scattered showers.  Water temps were about 67 at the first location, and about 65 at the second.

Day II

There were only a couple of other boats at the ramp when I arrived at 6 AM (having delayed my arrival for lighted conditions; this lake seems to start late and go to bed early.)  Storms were predicted for later in the day, but as I turned south from the ramp, I could see they were already starting.  They weren't really a factor for me during the day, but the weather was a bit more unstable than the previous day.

I started in the same general area, but shallower than Day I.  I wanted to experiment, but who can leave 4-pounders?  Once again, the more aggressive baits found no love, but Ned scratching bottom caught a few fish; but these proved to be considerably smaller than Day I's fish, and soon I was expanding my fishing zone, not shallower (like most), but rather deeper.

The bites were there over the course of the morning, but they weren't the same quality.  The bass were generally smaller (although the bigger ones were coming later in the morning), the rock bass more numerous, I was seeing tons of carp, and I even caught a couple of sheepsheads.  As I figured all this out, I was also feeling the pinch of the clock; I wasn't sure I had time to find another group of quality bass.  But at 11 AM or so I decided to run a bit further south with a similar plan; find a group of boats working similar water and maybe find some better bites; if not, then at least I'd see a bit more of the lake.

An early AM shower sweeps across the lake as I turn south from the ramp.  I believe that's the 9-Mile Tower in the distance; I'd end up closer, later in the day.

Same place as Day I, just a different feel to it on Day II.

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning!  There were some intense rain cells as I left the lake and drove home later in the afternoon.

Sheepie!  The first of 5, and the smallest of the bunch.  They might pull as hard as a smallmouth, but they don't jump.

I ran down to a navigation marker with a submerged point leading to it, near the exit of the Milk River.  I picked up the edge of the bar and noted a bit less clarity and a couple of degrees cooler water.  In the next hour, I used only the Ned Rig.  I only picked up one bass, but it was a solid 3-pounder, and an upgrade to my virtual limit.  I also enjoyed some quality sheepshead fishing, going 3-for-3 on sheepies between 4 and 7 pounds.  These were all fun!

My best bass of Day II.  Again, about 4 pounds, but only one this size, this day.

Rodney Dangerbass?

I ended the morning with 16 keeper bass, but other than a couple of 3's and the single 4, the remainder were all smaller males.  My Top 5 would have weighed about 12 pounds.  It was as if the post-spawn females from Day I had declared "Enough!" and moved on.  Or maybe it was the wind or the brightness or AM vs. PM; I don't know.  It was still a solid outing, just a bit less amazing then Day I.

I also caught the sheepies on fine light tackle, as well as a bunch of rock bass, so I could never call it a slow morning.  And if I wasn't fighting a fish, I was looking at one.  There were many carp, gar, sheepshead, sucker and bass sightings to keep me interested.

What do I have to say about this?

Thirty-five legal smallies in 12 hours of fishing by myself on a new-to-me lake with no real problems; who can argue with that?  Of course, I'd like to have encountered a 5-or-6-pounder; I think I was just a couple of days too late.  There's always next spring for that!

Waypoints and hooksets are free, so once you're there, out on the water, remember to use them!   I hope to learn from each outing, and I've now got a bunch of waypoints and 2 productive areas to have confidence in.  I also know that it's only about 10 minutes from the ramp to the Milk River marker; that same radius from the ramp can easily get me to the Canadian Border, The Wreck, across to Big Muscamoot Bay, or well into Anchor Bay.  And let's face it, 10 minutes on Numenon is nothing; I can easily (weather permitting) expand into all US waters of St. Clair from this known access point.

D from C's

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-25-15

Body of Water:  Reeds Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With: D from C's

Target: Largemouth Bass

Time: 6:30 AM- 11:30 AM

Conditions: Overcast; some showers; generally breezy with strong gusts; about 70 F after a warm night; but with a cold front coming through later in the day.

The previous day's efforts were in large part scouting for this day; I was being joined by Dan from C's.  He's a retired school teacher and a nice guy; a fave from the store.  It would be our first time fishing together.  We agreed to meet at 6:30 AM, and of course I launched a little early.  As I maintained the boat near the launch ramp, I scored a keeper 16-inch bass and a smaller one on a fluke over shallow milfoil; I put the legal one in the live well, just to show Dan what he'd missed with his sane starting time.

We first hit the shoreline where I'd gotten the biggest fish the day earlier, and on my third cast or so I momentarily hung a good one on the same DT3; but it came off, unseen.  I was filled with confidence, having had such good action so early.

But that was pretty much it for me for the rest of the morning.  I caught a few small bass and a small pike (flukes, a spinnerbait and Ned all took fish), and I missed another nice one on the fluke next to a dock, but I didn't catch another legal bass.  Meanwhile, Dan dragged, shook and dropped a wacky senko into pockets, along edges and near docks and obstructions; and enjoyed a slowly productive bite.  He landed 3 keepers, a few smaller ones, and lost a couple of nice keepers, too.

So we ended with just 4 keepers for about 7 or 8 pounds before we got blown off the lake; it was a slow, tough bite.  But Dan didn't care, and we'll fish again.

What do I have to say about this?

This was simply a more difficult and less satisfying day than the previous.  Visibility into the water was reduced by wind, waves, and overcast skies; I never enjoyed the positive feedback I'd gotten the previous day.  And while it seemed like the bass might be more aggressive and prone to eating spinnerbaits, that just wasn't the case.  What I did see included many clear rejections; and more bed-oriented behavior.  The senko did best in beds and incipient beds; the slightly deeper edge fish that I was concentrating on just weren't biting.

I undoubtedly stayed with the DT3 too long; I should have tried similar baits or rattle baits for a change of pace.  Next time I'm out there, we'll be post-spawn; maybe I'll make hay then.  But they'll probably "nuke" the lake with sonar at just the wrong time; we'll see.

Zeno Goes Bass Fishing

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-24-15

Body of Water:  Reeds Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target: Largemouth Bass

Time: 6 AM - Noon

Conditions: Overcast and calm; very clear water; 64-65 F; tail end of pre-spawn (?)

One of the more famous of Zeno's set of Paradoxes is a cornerstone of The Calculus and the study of limits; his Paradox of Dichotomy.  Simple enough, to get somewhere, one must first go half way.  And yet, when the halves get infinitely small, you're not getting anywhere!

I must have been a bit nervous before my trip today; I awoke a seemingly infinite number of times during the night, with increasing frequency; and uncannily with about half of my remaining sleep time left.  In a way, Zeno was right; my alarm never went off.  Instead, I got out of bed a few minutes early, disgusted and wondering if I'd actually slept all, and turned my alarm off.  

I was on the water before 6 AM and confronted with late pre-spawn conditions.  It was still too dark to see into the water, so I fished blindly for a while; with no success.  What I did notice was that filamentous snot covered the shallow milfoil; and the water seemed pretty darn clear.  Things were too quiet; I knew it wouldn't be easy.

As dawn broke, I could see into the water; up to 10 feet or so down in certain areas.  There were a few beds in the shallows, but these were occupied by pip-squeaks and crappies; and as I started focusing on the deeper weed edge, I started to see more cruising (and in some cases, bruiser) bass.  They seemed reluctant to hit anything I threw, though; jerk baits, slow-rolled spinnerbaits and swimming jigs were all ignored.

After a couple of shoreline areas, I hit the lake's main hump; I'd taken a couple of very nice bass from the spine of this hump early last summer. The weed growth here wasn't as lush, but it looked as if another year of thick ice had scraped much of the soft bottom from the spine's ridge; and there was a lot of hard bottom here.  The visible bass here weren't quite as dense, but they were sizable; and a couple of smallish keepers and a little guy ate my Ned Rig as I swam it through openings.  The bigger guys were still an unfocused, tough sell.

I relocated to another, more remote hump and found more of the same; only bigger bass, and more visible rejections of my offerings.  They were interested... but couldn't commit.

I now focused on the shallow milfoil and inside edges with flukes and a popper.  The popper was fun because it would collect a group of lookers on most casts; but no bites.

Just to make sure I was alive, I pitched a senko down a weed-edge.  It took a hundred yards or so, but another small keeper-sized bass ate; I can always go back to that.

But the bass I really wanted to catch were those cruisers in 4 to 8 feet of water or so; the one holding tight to the edges, waiting to make their move shallow.  I dedicated some time to cranking the edge with a DT3 (a DT4 or 6 would have been even better), and it did pay off with my bass of the day, a solid 4-pounder.

DT3 Strikes Again!

Sunday Selfie

Subsequent flaking around heavy cover resulted in another nice keeper (released, off course) for a 5-fish virtual limit of about 12 pounds or so.  

There she goes; maybe I'll see her again when she's a 6.

What do I have to say about this?

Along with Zeno, I was accompanied this day by Tantalus and Tiresius.  Tantalus showed me more nice-to-big bass this day than ever before on this lake; and I found them in just about every place I looked, so I must be looking in at least some of the right places.  But for the most part, I could see them, but not have them.  And Tiresius was a prophet, a seer; I can see many fine, future catches for me and my partners on this lake.  

All in all, it ended up being a familiar Reeds Lake outing; kind of tough, but with some pleasant happenings.

Waypoint 661

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-23-15

Body of Water: M Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With: A and O (partial)

Target: Muskellunge

Time:  6 AM - Noon

Conditions: Clear and bright; mild southerly winds; 45 F early and 70 F later; water had an algal bloom and was 61 - 64 F;  a few feet of visibility.

The start of Memorial Day Weekend; and I was first on the water.  It really never got too busy, but there were still more pleasure and fishing boats on the water by the time I left than I would have preferred; but for the most part, I got first crack at the spots and fish I wanted.  The weeds had progressed quite a bit and the algal bloom colored the water and reduced visibility; and I had some hope of success.

Jerkbaits followed bucktails in my spots of choice with no known encounters; when at 9 AM a favored spinning rod (my pitch bait rod that should have been available last time) went overboard (entirely my fault.)  A 7-foot rod in about 9 feet of water; gone, in slow motion. I quickly entered Waypoint 661; such a contrast to my last captured point.  After a half hour or so of dredging with a Bondy Bait and no luck, it was time to pick up A and O at the dock.

After a quick T-Ho breakfast, we were casting the western shoreline, and I raised the first fish of the day; a nice (approximate) 40-incher was tracking my Gliding Rap.  She disengaged 10 feet or so from the boat and faded away; but this was a new fish in a new spot; and two years ago it would have been a total victory to raise this fish.  Now, not so much; I wanted to catch her; and so another waypoint was saved for future reference.  The weeds weren't so thick here and we proceeded to the area of 660; it was the third time down this stretch of shoreline this day, but with different lures.  My glider went unnoticed, but a very small esocid followed A's black bucktail.  She couldn't see it, but it was there, and that was the last fishy encounter we had.

With traffic on the water picking up, I pulled the boat off a bit after Noon.

No hookups; two sightings.

What do I have to say about this?

I hate partaking in stupidity, and it was my favorite (and highest quality) spinning reel, but it's just a possession, and so the loss of my pitch-bait combo will be taken in stride.  My biggest regrets; how little I used the reel in the last two years; and the fine line on the reel's spare (and now useless) spool.  But I have a Waypoint, and I've commissioned M to go diving for it.  If we have a window of opportunity, we'll give it a try.

Meanwhile A maintains her casting superiority, and admittedly doesn't even want to catch one of these fish.  But we still had fun!

Waypoint 660

NumenOn the Water

Date: 5-16-15

Body of Water: M Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time: 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Conditions:  Overcast and fog burning off; hazy sun and 74; mild S wind; super clear water, 61-64 F

After my C Lake skunk, I started thinking more critically about local muskie options.  M Lake gets awfully busy during boating season, and I'm usually careful to select quiet times to pursue muskies there.  But she fishes well in the spring, and I know she holds some large fish.  Moreover, concurrent muskie tournaments in Northern Indiana and Central Michigan provided options for the other muskie fans around here.  When this day started off with rain, and once I had fully diagnosed my trolling juice issue, purchased and installed another deep cycle battery, and pulled Numenon out of the garage, I was off to the ramp.

Things were still quiet when I launched at 10:30 AM, but the rain had stopped, skies were slowly starting to clear, and activity was increasing.  This lake is typically overdeveloped, and every house has a dock with their boat(s).  Over the course of this trip most of these boats came out.  Most were recreational, and most of the local fishermen were targeting panfish or bass (both in pre-spawn mode.)  I pretty much had any available muskies to myself; I could not ask for much more.

As I pulled into my first spot, I was stunned at the water clarity, especially in comparison to my recent experiences at nearby Lake C.  My second impression was that the weed growth was getting off to a healthy start.  I know that the variety of submerged weed growth on this lake is a bonus feature for the lake's health and productivity.  Water temperatures were also a bit lower than I had expected, so sight fishing for post-spawn muskies was in order.  (This is really the only lake around here that affords this option.)  My eyes were glued to the bottom during most of the trip as I scanned for individual fish while fan-casting the weed lines and flats.

My second stretch of shoreline provided the first muskie sighting of the day.  A mid-30s fish was following my bucktail "low and slow."  She disengaged well away from the boat and never appeared too interested in eating; but I recorded her location on the GPS so I could re-visit her later in the day.  She had also revealed her preferred location, about 5 or 6 feet of water, in the growing weeds, near the drop-off.  This let me concentrate with increased confidence on these types of areas for the rest of the trip.

I continued to cover water and saw impressive numbers of pannies, baits, and bass.  Some of the bass were pretty big (up to 4 pounds or so); this might be a fun pre-spawn option if I ever choose to put down the muskie stuff or bring a partner to this lake.

The next 'skie I saw was a tiny guy with his head tucked into the weeds; he wasn't interested in eating at all and was the smallest one I've ever see.  He was interesting to notice, but didn't really do anything in terms of immediate excitement or success.

While I was pounding the weed lines, I was also starting to experiment with different lures and presentations.  Twitch baits, glide baits and rubber all made appearances, and I was exploring onto the flats and off the edges near especially good looking weed areas.

When it was time to re-visit the first fish, I decided to approach from the opposite direction and give her something she hadn't yet seen.  As I glided toward the weed line from the depths, and still a hundred yards or so away from where I'd had the follow, I made a long cast with a favored glide bait (White Perch Rapala Super Glide) and as the lure came over the edge into deeper water (12 or 14 feet), another muskie appeared.  This one was a true monster, and she provided my best combination of view and size of any muskie ever.  She appeared about 20 or 25 feet from the boat (which is the zone of many of my Lake M strikes), and while she was clearly intent on eating my bait (I could, after all, see her tongue clearly as her maw gaped behind and below my bait), but she wasn't lit up, and she just couldn't pull the trigger.  I bet my nerves failed and I broke my cadence; although I'd like to think that she just wasn't ready to make her mistake.  Her mouth closed, she nosed the bait and disappeared into the depths.

I immediately entered Waypoint 660 into my bow graph, and I will return later.  In fact, I gave her a few more options later in the day, and while I didn't see her again, I did see another really nice, post-spawn fish in this same stretch.  But this fish was disinterested in my offerings (where was my senko, used so successfully 2 years ago?)

So, another skunk, but seeing 4 fish in a trip is very cool; and coming within a fraction of an inch of hooking a personal best is even cooler.  The lake gave me enough on this day to build on; why I'm typing this now instead of fishing is inexplicable.

What do I have to say about this?

I've encountered some very nice fish on this lake.  The biggest have offered just brief hookups with no clear sighting, or disinterested follows.  This was the one (so far) that I could have (should have?) executed on.  I didn't, and I'm not really sure of my expected failure rate in such situations.  I'll just have to keep at it and find out with time.

Did I mention that a glide bait raised this fish?  My other truly monstrous close encounter on this lake featured a glide bait too, and in fact I've never had the hooks stick a muskie on one of these lures.  Gliders are notoriously difficult hookers, but they do attract attention.   I'll keep throwing them, at least when bucktails and jerkbaits aren't moving fish.

Someday I will replace my bow-mounted sonar/GPS, or I'll sell it with the boat, or something.  If that sonar lands in your hands, remember Waypoint 660.

Reality Check

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-13-15

Body of Water:  C Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskies

Time:  3:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Conditions: Post-front; clear, mild easterly winds; water murky and 62-63 F

I was planning on a short, after-work evening trip to C Lake for another shot at a muskie.  When I reviewed my Lunar Tables for the day, the only event within my available window was a 3:50 PM moonset.  I’m still not sure what I think about the importance of these events, but I have had a few encounters with muskies eerily close to scheduled lunar events.  I’m open to their importance, at least with muskies.  With a quick adjustment of my work schedule, I was able to be on the water and in position by 3:35 PM or so.

Nothing happened in 4 to 8 feet of water or so on bucktails in association with moonset; and nothing  continued to happen for the next 3.5 hours.  As far as I can tell, I never moved a fish, although I did instinctively swing to set the hook once when my lure hit something.  This might have been a fish, but it might have been a rock or weed or snag, too.  Hooksets are free, but there was no real indication that I actually connected with a fish.  So I’ll stand by 0-for-0 for the trip.

Water temperatures had fallen to 62-63 F after the wet weekend and subsequent cold front.  I fished hard in the time I had and tried a variety of bucktails, jerkbaits and Big Rubber (small Medusa) in 10 feet of water and less.  The locals were getting busy with their boats (ski boats, jet skis, etc.) and I’m going to have to carefully pick and choose my times for this lake through the summer.  It fishes too small to accommodate much traffic.  It’s good that there are other local options.

I left a bit early, well before sunset.  My trolling juice was seriously depleted after a couple of trips up front, and it was doubly nice not to have any problems at the single lane ramp, and to be home well before dark.

What do I have to say about this?

Back to Reality; my mini-run of pretty darned good fishing was stopped by this skunk.  But, in the 9 hours of casting since my last muskie, I’ve made about 1,000 casts.  So I could be due for another!

Muskie Perfection

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-10-15

Body of Water: C Lake

Boat: Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time: 6:45 AM - 11:45 AM

Conditions: Rain; overcast; about 55 F; winds NNE at 10-15 mph; water murky and about 68 F

Funky weather and a change in forecasts convinced me to forgo the Lake St. Clair smallmouth trip I had penciled in and stay local.  Somehow, the rain managed to stay parked over West Michigan and I awoke to rain; and this rain intensified as I got the boat out of the garage.  But my timing was perfect in the sense that by the time I arrived at C Lake for some muskie fishing, the torrent had reduced to a drizzle; the easterly wind had subsided; and the lake was totally fishable.

I shared the lake with only a single other boat, and I chose my starting location in large part based on simply staying away from it.  The bow GPS had not yet even locked in my position, when on my second cast, a ghostly muskie materialized a few inches behind my bucktail.  She followed the bait high on the first turn and hit it lightly as I let it hang there for a micro-second.  The hit was barely a "tick", but I saw it; I set the hook and she was pretty quickly subdued.  Maybe 3 minutes into my 2015 Michigan Muskie Season, I'd taken a 38 to 40-inch fish; not a bad start!

The next five hours yielded nothing, but I'll still maintain that my season started out with perfection.  Right location, lure, presentation, reaction and result.  

For the record, I stayed in less than 10 feet of water all day; visibility was about a foot; shallow weeds were patchy; the deeper weeds were scruffy.  The fish followed my lure to the boat from only 3 or 4 feet of water; she hit in 5 or 6.  I worked this and similar water all day with bucktails, spinnerbaits jerk baits and even a topwater without moving another fish. I spoke with the guys in the other boat and they reported no fish but three follows; it looked like they were using the same types of lures but in slightly deeper water.

1-for-1; 2nd cast; on the Figure 8.  I should retire right now from this pursuit.

What do I have to say about this?

I was disappointed at not making the trip to St. Clair, but this was an awesome consolation prize, and I suspect it was the right choice for the day.  This was my first successful hookup on a Figure 8.  I don't think I did anything different this time, but I did see the fish several yards out from the boat and I was able to make a smooth transition into the 8.

Meanwhile, there should be some good fishing opportunities coming up on this lake and other local waters, and the other boat reported phenomenal numbers of muskies sighted in US waters of St. Clair during previous early seasons.  I'll long remember this fish, but I look forward to many more encounters.

TH-C

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-9-15

Body of Water: Big Whitefish Lake

Boat: DC's Lund

With: DC

Target: LM Bass

Time: 10 AM - 3 PM

Conditions: Super calm; extremely humid with rain and sprinkles; about 70 F; a couple of days from the season's hottest weather; water murky and about 66 F.  Most likely pre-spawn for bass.

DC called me to say that his dock and boat were in for the season; and that he'd caught 20 fish or so on about 25 casts the other night (which was unseasonably warm); and he further invited me up to go bass fishing.  I took his invitation without hesitation; and I expected to figuratively slay some pre-spawn largemouths.

The day dawned to heavy rain; and so I delayed my arrival by mutual agreement to 10 AM.  It was still raining at that point, but not so hard; and other than a few brief periods, it continued to rain (although usually just lightly) for the rest of the excursion.  We started with a few small fish on Ned Rigs in shallow (including a possibly inexhaustible supply of rock bass), but elected to hunt for bigger bass.  The water was surprisingly murky, and weed growth had started, but not progressed too far, yet.

The first legal bass came pretty quickly on a Rapala Scatter Minnow along the inside weed edge in 5 feet or so; this was followed by a smaller one right away, but then things got mysteriously quiet.  Working both inside and outside weed edges, as well as through yje weeds themselves didn't yield much (a couple of small northerns for DC, a few small bass for me), but I did lose a nice gill-rattling keeper on an Arashi Shad; and we kept plugging away.

D alternated between a jerk bait, a small crank, and a Ned Rig up front; I typically countered with whatever he wasn't using (spinnerbait, Arashi, Shadow Rap, swim jig or Ned Rig, mostly), and while D was pretty quiet for the most part, I put together a decent junk program.  At one point I had a legal bass on each bait, but ultimately the Ned Rig shined; and I ended with about 5 of my 8 keeper-sized bass (to about 17 inches) on Ned.  Five-foot flats with crispy pond leaf seemed best; but both horizontal and slow scratching bottom retrieves caught fish.  The keepers were universally fat females; the spawn is yet to occur.

It wasn't an easy bite, but there were no distractions; there was hardly anybody else out, and boat control was not an issue (between lack of wind and D up front.)  I fished with some intensity and ended up with the 8 "keepers"; a similar number of sub-legal-sized bass; and a handful of rockies.  D caught a single keeper bass, but also got a few pike to about 24 inches, some small bass and as many rockies as he might like; and was further fortunate to end the day with a surprise, bonus, almost-22-inch walleye.  That walleye hit a small O-style, yellow crank bait along a steep weed edge and was destined to become Mother's Day dinner at his house.

D's Bonus Walleye to end a fine day.

What do I have to say about this?  DC's new house and docked boat might be the best thing to happen for me in a while!  I love this easy access to good bass fishing, and we fish together well.  We'll push each other to learn a lot about his new home waters.  I look forward to more of this, and I've promised to reciprocate with Great Lakes, Reeds Lake or Muskie Trips as we can fit them in.

At one point of this trip, we were discussing how best to target the lake's crappies when D reminded me that he is, after, his Lake Association's current "Trophy Holder" for crappies.  Given his surname, he immediately became known to me as TH-C.  It could stick; but in the meanwhile, I hope I simply enjoy, and not get addicted to, his situation on Big Whitefish Lake.

South Haven Trout

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-1-15

Body of Water:  Lake Michigan, South Haven

Boat: Numenon

With: co-workers FS, LS

Target: Great Lakes Salmon and Trout

Time: 7 AM - 3 PM

Conditions: Bright and clear; northerly seas calming from 2 ft to <1; main lake 43 F but the extensive plume of river water created an expanse of stained water from 45 to 48 degrees F; 50 degrees F along shore.

Schedules and weather had conspired against getting out on the water with co-workers F and L for a couple of seasons.  We collectively resolved to just make it happen and we all penciled in Friday, May1.  Of course the weather got downgraded with a heavy blow from the NW on April 30, and L got over-scheduled for the AM, but F and I decided to go for it in lieu of playing it safe; and so by 7 AM we were leaving the South Haven launch.  We planned to check out sea conditions, fish for a bit, and then pick up L at the dock in the late morning; it was almost like running two trips in one.

F was in good spirits and seas looked quite fishable as we cleared the piers.  Main lake water temps were about 43, which I was OK with, but the stained water from the river to the south was even warmer, so we headed that way.  Spring has been late to arrive, there was precious little actual fishing information to work from, and boat traffic was sparse.  I deployed my best guess at a multi-species spread (two riggers and four boards) and we started fishing in about 32 feet of water, heading south with the wind and waves.

Within 15 minutes the shallow rigger (23 down, Green Bubble Stinger) jumped, and soon F had landed a nice 4-pound laker.  Within another 15 minutes, the 3-color lead with a favored multi-colored UV spoon started to slide back, and F soon had a nice (close-to) double digit laker in the box.  I made a couple of adjustments to the spread (a bit more green, a rigger always near bottom.)  The accustomed pace didn't quite hold up, but a couple of drive-bys on the deepest rigger kept us interested, and when for the second time I "called" the deepest rigger going off based on the Humminbird's readings, I decided we were actually fishing for Lake Trout.

F's laker limit fish came just before 10 AM in about 48 feet of water, about 5.5 miles south of the piers.  Again, an old-time green and silver spoon within a few feet of the bottom released, and this time the fish held bottom.  After a nice fight, a teenaged laker joined his cousins in the box.

A couple of really nice lakers for F.  The one on the left is clearly stocked; it's missing the left pectoral fin.  The larger laker appears to be a beautiful, wild fish.

We went back in, picked up L and we were at it again by 11.  Conditions were calming and warming.   I started a bit deeper and to the north this time, but this just eliminated water. When I found the discolored edge from the river, water temps jumped a couple of degrees; and the 5-color lead line (green, silver and black spoon) got hit in about 48 feet of water.  L brought in another (8-pound) laker; we'd still not encountered any other species.  An hour later, this same line got pulled back with obvious authority, and while L was fighting this fish, the deep rigger (41 down over 45 feet of water) jumped, too.  We quickly dispatched the smallest laker of the day (but still between 3 and 4 pounds or so) from the rigger; and in a few minutes, L landed the biggest fish of the day, a solid teenager and one of the biggest ever aboard Numenon.

Laker limits for F and L

Here I offered the options of picking up a few more lakers for a triple limit; searching elsewhere for some silvers; or hitting the shoreline and targeting brown trout.  F chose browns, and soon we were hitting the shoreline with perfect conditions (except, perhaps, a bit too much stain to the water.)  Our spread consisted of four body baits (F11, J9, S7 Rapalas and a red Thin Fin just in case any coho were present) and a couple of spoons (Green Bubble Stinger off the rigger, and a tiny mixed veggies stinger off one color of lead.)  We missed a couple of fish, but we also got 5 kings; these are, however, universally tiny (although legal to keep.)  All were released to grow, but they did extend our day, pad our numbers and provide the sense of having secured two Great Lakes Michigan Limits for my co-workers.

What do I have to say about this?
This was a long-postponed and overdue trip.  It was one of my Holiday Charity auction trips from 2012, and my inability to fit this one in had kept me from offering subsequent trips at work.  I think the wait was worth it, however; both F and L caught their biggest-ever lakers and went home with smiles. It was my best outing ever on Lake Michigan for lakers, and these fish could have helped me in many of my past tournaments.  The two largest fish were among the biggest lakers I've caught on Numenon, and despite having not fished on Lake Michigan all that much over the past couple of seasons, it all felt pretty natural.  I think I made the best adjustments for the day (I did not leave the ramp think about lakers, after all), and I haven't seen or heard of others really smoking them out there, yet. I left with the sense of having participated in an other Win-Win-Win situation; our Holiday Charities, my co-workers, and I all benefited from these efforts.  And, I made it home in plenty of time for a shower and the evening's high school performance of The Music Man!