Night Bite

NumenOn the Water

Date:  9-25-15

Body of Water: Big Whitefish Lake

Boat:  DC's Lund

With:  DC

Target:  LMB

Time: 6 - 9:15 PM

Conditions:  Clear; water temps 72 F; NNE wind to 10 mph; Full Moon-2 days; staying well into dark

DC had enjoyed a fabulously productive and easy night of bass fishing earlier in the week (including a couple of big walleyes), and so we tried it again on this comfortable Friday night.  His pattern had been working the weeds and edges with a Bluegill Rapala DT10 and chartreuse and white spinnerbaits; and then switching over at full dark to night-time, dark thumping spinnerbaits.

Of course, it had been a warm, muggy week with southerly winds, and as I approached the lake, skies cleared and a stronger NNE wind took hold.  We again worked as a team, and I chose to throw rattle baits and swimbaits over the tops of weeds while DC threw the DT10 over the basin.  There were tons of obvious, small suspended bluegills (although not as obvious as earlier in the week), and many of the bass were targeting these fish before it got too dark.  It seemed as though these baits evaporated as darkness approached; at which time combing through the weeds would become more productive.

We worked a bit more than usual on the lake's east side (with its varied topography and lots of 'gills), but finished the evening with a couple of passes around and over the sunken hump that dominates this lake's structure.  Before dark, DC way out-fished me (especially with the DT10; recall that this lure was so hot for him a year ago, too.)  He caught a beautiful 18.5-incher almost right away, and a 25-inch pike as well as many smaller bass.  Meanwhile, I caught just a scratch keeper on a Bill Dance walking bait.  I did miss a big fish (bowfin? pike?  giant bass?) on a flashy white spinnerbait racing over some clumpy weeds, but things were generally slow for me and I looked forward to slow-rolling spinnerbaits along deep weed edges in the dark.  

DC caught a few more bass and a really nice, 6.5-pound-or-so walleye before I got into my rhythm, but when I finally gave up on slow-rolling and picked up my retrieve speed, and further focused on the bass that seemed to be settling in on top of the hump in just a few feet of water, I started to contribute to our catch with some regularity.  My biggest was 16.25-inches and probably 2.5 pounds. 

With "virtual culling" we ended with a "virtual limit" of about 12 pounds, a bit  better than we'd done in our last few outings.  We'd probably caught 20 or 25 bass, and while most were right around the 14-inch legal limit (+/-; with more – than usual tonight), we'd caught our share of "nice" fish, too.  Perhaps the fall feeding has begun!

My choice of baits for night-time bassing.

What do I have to say about this?

Largemouth bass are just about always there for me!  They are my childhood friend and my comfort fish.  When I want to catch a bunch, I generally choose to go bass fishing.  They are a nice complement to the salmon and muskie fishing I've been doing, where just getting a bite lately is considered an accomplishment.

We are entering perhaps the best time of the year for trophy fishing.  The biggest barriers I'll face will be the wind and weather.  It's a super-windy time of year here in Michigan  and I have many super-memorable experiences that I can go years without being able to repeat because of the wind (offshore steelies, deepwater smallies, and Crystal Lake lakers come to mind).  But I always have smaller waters and their largemouth bass to fall back upon.  Thank goodness!