TC Scouting

NumenOn the Water

Date:  6-6-15

Body of Water:  North Lake Leelanau

Boat:  Numenon

With: Brad L.

Target:  Smallmouth Bass

Time:  Noon to 6 PM

Conditions:  Clear and bright; post-front; about 65 F; brisk N winds increasing to 20 mph or so.  Crystal clear water at 61 to 64 F.  Pre-spawn!

Last year I had taken two spring trips to the Traverse City area for work and family, but each was without the boat.  There just wasn't the time to fit in a fishing effort.  When the opportunity to accommodate a weekend trip for M recently arose with a chance to fish Up North for a day,  I knew I had to give it a shot.

With the boat loaded with smallmouth gear, I arrived in Leland with the kids a little before Noon, and I quickly convinced M's weekend host (Brad) to join me for a quick fish on North Lake Leelanau.  I'd never fished this lake before,  but it 's cold, deep and clear, and I was hoping to find some pre-spawn smallies.  My research had exposed a pretty good reputation for smallmouth from this lake, and I'd identified a few prominent flats and supposed areas of gravel with which to start; the lake offered more than I could challenge in a single afternoon.  And, since Brad was on a schedule, I knew this would be a quick and easy fish; if it didn't work out or was not otherwise to my liking, I could choose to relocate to one of many other area smallmouth lakes.  East Traverse Bay and Crystal Lake were on the top of my list, but there are probably dozens of other options in the area.

Water temperatures at the ramp were about 61 F; good evidence for my pre-spawn expectations.  As we idled out from the ramp* on the lake's quiet northeast corner, it was all too easy to find lots of attractive edges and flats to fish.  We commenced within a couple of hundred yards of the ramp.

I started with a jerkbait and provided Brad with a Kalin's grub.  (I'll always choose power over finesse in unknown water; at least until I start getting some feedback.)  We were working a color break in about 8 feet of water.  Within a few minutes Brad hooked up on a small keeper bass, and a few more minutes later I switched from actively searching with the jerkbait to pitching to spots and scratching bottom with a Ned Rig.  Pretty quickly a pretty yellow bass of about 3 pounds came aboard, and our day was already pretty much complete;  Brad was happy simply to be out and to have caught a fish; and I was pleased to have caught such a fine bass in a new lake.

Brad's first trip on Numenon was a fun success.

The first of many nice smallies caught this day; but this might be the prettiest.  Virtually all were caught on a PB&J Ned Rig.

But we were just beginning, and we continued to refine our searches and strategies.  When it became obvious that Ned was out-fishing everything else,  I gave it up to Brad.  I scouted with other baits while Brad fished with Ned.  We relocated to the flat adjacent to a creek at the lake's north end, and Brad soon hooked his Bass of the Day in slightly deeper water.  Unfortunately, it got off, but it did show that there were some quality bass in less obvious spots.

Our next and final stop together was a large flat near the lake's outlet on the west side.  My trusty 1951-vintage MDNR survey map had indicated some gravel here, and this area was on my radar before I'd arrived at the lake.  Brad endorsed it as a known spot, and as we pulled up, a nearby bass-boater landed an obviously nice bass.  This flat was much more immense, and the fish holding areas were more subtle, so we again deployed the one-two punch combination of jerkbait and Ned.  Soon Brad was connected to his best landed fish of the day.  When his time was almost up and he'd had his fill, he gave Ned back to me; and I didn't catch much of anything on anything  else for the rest of the day.  I ended my time with Brad on back-to-back beauties, one of which I lost.  By this time we'd caught about a dozen bass up to 2.8 or 3 lbs  or so as well as a couple of big rock bass and a fat perch.  I returned Brad to shore and then went straight back to this same spawning flat.

Fish here were spread out in about 6 feet of water, and a cast to any visible spot with a difference (dark, shiny, log, whatever) could get eaten.  The fish here were generally better quality than those we'd generally encountered at the north end of the lake, and while the bite was perhaps a little slower, I was slowly upgrading my virtual bag for the day.

The north wind was really cranking now, the sun was lower, and those visible features were more difficult to focus on; it was time to re-locate.  "Cemetery Point" on the lake's western side is pretty prominent, and the waves were pounding the point's sand-bar extension from the north.  The point droops quickly into deep water on all sides, but there was an obvious dark trench in the bar on the point's southern (downwind) side.  Boat control was difficult, and a first pass through with a chartreuse spinnerbait produced nothing; but the next drift yielded nice twins on Ned, as did several subsequent drifts.  This was probably the quickest action of the day, but when it petered out, I was pleased to get out of the wind.  I returned to the north end to finish the day.  A couple of smaller fish were taken, but nothing to substantially change the day.

We approached a couple of dozen legal bass between us; my virtual limit would have been a conservative 14 pounds or so.  All but a couple were caught on the Ned Rig in PB&J.  The remainder were caught on slow, scratching Kalin grubs.  All were caught in less than 10 feet of water, and 6 to 8 feet was probably best.  Aggressive, horizontal approaches just did not work.  The fishing was very visible, but I really didn't see bass on beds; they were still searching each other out.  Most of the bass were also very pale; they might have just started coming out of the depths.

I hope to have Brad aboard again, soon.

Quick Action captured by GoPro.  Boat control on this exposed point was not fun, but the smallies were packed into a little, visible trough.  The effort was worthwhile.

What do I have to say about this?

Over the course of the day, Brad and I talked a bit about my experience at C's.  A day like this illustrates both why it was worthwhile, but also why it was time for me to move on.  I've now got more expertise, confidence and gear; but I also now have the time to take on a bonus/spontaneous day-trip like this.  Let's face it, for the last couple of years and with no specific work or family obligations on the schedule; I'd have had to work this weekend.  Had I gone fishing, it would have been local, short, and sweet.  It wouldn't have involved big numbers of sizable brown bass or such beautiful settings, either.

Between LSC and now Lake Leelanau, what a week (or so) of smallmouth fishing!  Again, no giants were landed, but these have been so-much-better-than-average trips.  I'll fish for 3-pounders all day long, any time.

* Numenon was perhaps the first boat of the year to properly use this ramp.  When we arrived, there was no dock; but as we launched, the County's contractor arrived with new dock sections.  Everything was in place and worked perfectly when I pulled her at 6 PM or so.