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.
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.
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.
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