Date: June 5, 2017
Body of Water: Kent Lake, Kensington Metropark
Boat: Numenon
With: A and K
Target: Bites!
Time: 9 AM - 1 PM
Conditions: Overcast, about 60, NE winds about 10 mph, water temperatures about 70 -71 degrees F
We launched on perhaps Michigan's busiest lake, but a gloomy weekday kept the traffic down, and a 10 mph speed limit and a good ramp made conditions very fishable. This was my first time on this water body, so we drove the entire lake. Where the Huron River enters, I encountered lots of matted weed and a little current, so I tried throwing some Frogs. Nothing happened in the first half hour, or so. When I pulled into the bank and saw some panfish beds, I quickly rigged a small jig under a float. I missed a bunch of bites before I hooked up, and I was a bit chagrined to land the first fish, a tiny bluegill.
But bluegills mean action, so we continued down the shore and found plenty of other spawning colonies. The bluegills and pumpkinseeds reached decent size and provided for some simple Fun Fishing. We collectively landed at least a dozen decent "keeper" panfish while sorting through lots of smaller ones. We even got a couple of bonus perch, remarkable for their lack of size; they were both smaller than my pinky.
After a couple of hours of this we switched gears and casted channel edges and weed beds for predators. Either bass or pike would have been acceptable. Both A and I got bit pretty quickly (Fat Rap crank for her, a large spinnerbait for me). A got most of the bites on the crank bait, and in a hour we landed 5 small-to-about-legal-sized pike.
My lake map revealed another shoreline of interest. Here I found some bigger and deeper nests (bass?), but I only caught a couple of rock bass and a few more gills.
It was still pretty gloomy and the girls had had enough; it was time to go!
All in all, the lake was interesting enough to make my return probable. It's probably a nightmare during a nice summer weekend, but I bet she fishes well during the Fall and
Spring.
If the cottonwood seeds are flying, the bluegills really are spawning! My new home accumulated wind drifts of the stuff while K simply enjoyed catching a few fish. A really likes her new, left-handed casting outfit (Shimano Curado 70 reel on an Abu Garcia Volatile rod), and I really enjoyed having them both back in the boat!
We launched on perhaps Michigan's busiest lake, but a gloomy weekday kept the traffic down, and a 10 mph speed limit and a good ramp made conditions very fishable. This was my first time on this water body, so we drove the entire lake. Where the Huron River enters, I encountered lots of matted weed and a little current, so I tried throwing some Frogs. Nothing happened in the first half hour, or so. When I pulled into the bank and saw some panfish beds, I quickly rigged a small jig under a float. I missed a bunch of bites before I hooked up, and I was a bit chagrined to land the first fish, a tiny bluegill.
 |
| First fish of the day was not exactly big... |
 |
| The next colony yielded some of better quality. |
But bluegills mean action, so we continued down the shore and found plenty of other spawning colonies. The bluegills and pumpkinseeds reached decent size and provided for some simple Fun Fishing. We collectively landed at least a dozen decent "keeper" panfish while sorting through lots of smaller ones. We even got a couple of bonus perch, remarkable for their lack of size; they were both smaller than my pinky.
 |
| They are beautiful. |
 |
| K was quite sure that this would qualify as a Master Angler entry. |
After a couple of hours of this we switched gears and casted channel edges and weed beds for predators. Either bass or pike would have been acceptable. Both A and I got bit pretty quickly (Fat Rap crank for her, a large spinnerbait for me). A got most of the bites on the crank bait, and in a hour we landed 5 small-to-about-legal-sized pike.
 |
| My first Kent Lake pike |
My lake map revealed another shoreline of interest. Here I found some bigger and deeper nests (bass?), but I only caught a couple of rock bass and a few more gills.
 |
| This attractive, undeveloped shoreline hosted several nice beds and plunges off into some of the lake's deepest water. |
It was still pretty gloomy and the girls had had enough; it was time to go!
What do I have to say about this?
All in all, the lake was interesting enough to make my return probable. It's probably a nightmare during a nice summer weekend, but I bet she fishes well during the Fall and
Spring.
If the cottonwood seeds are flying, the bluegills really are spawning! My new home accumulated wind drifts of the stuff while K simply enjoyed catching a few fish. A really likes her new, left-handed casting outfit (Shimano Curado 70 reel on an Abu Garcia Volatile rod), and I really enjoyed having them both back in the boat!
 |
| More Family Fishing Fun! |
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