Fall Arrives at Reeds Lake

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 23, 2017

Body of Water:  Reeds Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Pike

Time:  8:45 AM - 3:15 PM

Conditions:  55 degrees F, generally mild NW wind, and rain!  From drizzle to down-pour, it was a constant companion.  Water was clear to stained brown, 61 degrees, and many weeds were still in good condition.

Optimism reigns!  Numenon, ready to take on anything the day might offer; moments later, I fell on the dock and almost landed in the drink before I could even get started.  NOT falling into the water is part of a good day!

I chose Reeds Lake for this outing mostly because it is pretty weather-resistant.  One can cast or troll, and it offers bass and pike.  I can withstand rain, and I can control the boat or my presentation on this lake in just about anything less than 30 mile-per-hour winds.  Plus, I expected good things from the lake at this time of year, and after a couple of consecutive rough outings, I knew it would be nice just to catch a few fish.

I arrived to very fishable conditions (despite the rain.)  But one thing about the pike trolling here; sometimes you have to figure out where the biting fish are.  Sometimes they are tucked up in the weeds, sometimes they are on the bottom, sometimes suspended, and they often show a preference for a particular style or color of bait.  I've tried not to arrive with too strong of a preconception as to how the day will unfold, but rather be prepared to try a variety of presentations until I have some success; and then refine that success throughout the day.

My first trolling spread consisted of three rods:

• two colors of lead core with a favored Rapala Taildancer, presented off a board;
• a flat-lined Spro Deep Diver; and
• a Rapala DT Thug about 14 feet down, as presented on the down rigger.

This spread let me fish any water over 20 feet deep as I trolled from about 2 to 2.5 mph.  I marked a tremendous amount of "bait" and fish; the fish were both suspended and oriented to the bottom, especially in depths of about 26 to 30 feet deep.  I covered several miles of water, but despite a release from the downrigger and a witnessed pull-down and release on the flat line, I never hooked up.

I switched to trolling with a hand-held rod with a vibrating crank presented on colored/metered braided line.  This allows me to feel for bottom and weeds; I probed depths less than 20 feet for a while, surprisingly to no avail.

Presenting a J-9 or J-11 Rapala with a downrigger has been convenient method to locate deep, biting pike.

Those bottom-oriented marks in about 26-30 feet kept calling me; they should be catchable fish.  I had specifically included a casting rod and my box of blade baits and jigging spoons, just in case such a scenario presented itself.  It wasn't too windy at this point, so I decided to give blade baiting a try.  I focused on areas that combined some marks with a bit of structure, especially in areas offering some positive catch history.

This is slow and deep fishing, and on about my third spot, on just about my last cast as I planned to return to trolling to find some fish, I got bit.  I never felt the hit, but there was substantial weight!  I carefully played in a fat,18-plus-inch bass.  She came from about 32 feet of water adjacent to the deepest water in the lake, and she may have revealed a bass highway between this possible winter sanctuary and my most productive early season areas.  I thought that perhaps I had hit my Jackpot?  The jury will remain hung on this; I continued fishing this area (and I returned, later, for another round) for a bit with no further luck.  But this fish might have revealed an important secret for this lake, and I will continue to scout and fish this area to see if that is indeed the case.

I added my small box of blade baits and jigging spoons to the tackle selection as a remotely possible backup plan.  I turned to it after noticing many fish marked on the bottom between 26 and 30 feet of water.  I was almost ready to give up on this tactic when I got the Bite of the Day.  This fat, 18+ incher ate my Cicada in about 32 feet of water.

At this point, it was about mid-day and time for Lunch!  I'd thought ahead; I quickly set up a program to troll the basin while enjoying tinned spaghetti and half an apple pie.  I tweaked my program to include two downriggers, each presenting a jointed Rapala; and a single flat-line, but now with a hard-vibrating Hot-n-Tot.  These are all confidence baits to generate bites on this lake, a bit different from the morning's presentations, and they are easy to adjust so as to cover a variety of depths.  I could multi-task; eating and fishing!

Hot Lunch!  It can make a difference on a less-than-pleasant day.

Apple Pie made its Numenon debut.  Even poor quality pie is apparently welcome aboard!

Lunch was interrupted only once, by the day's single legal-sized pike.  She wasn't much, but she was the targeted species, and I had hope that I could get something going!

This 24-inch pike ate a chartreuse J-11 Rapala, presented on the downrigger, above.  The bait was about 18 feet down over 23 feet of water.

When I was finished eating, I started adjusting presentations in more earnest, but then one of my downriggers failed.  I'm certain that I'll be able to fix it (I've not yet examined the internal gearing), but with only a single rigger, I now added the hand-held rig to the mix.  I placed a chartreuse Wiggle Wart on this, and it quickly produced a solid, 15-inch bass from a weed-bed on a short, but prominent, point.

This decent, 15-inch Bonus Bass ate a chartreuse Wiggle Wart trolled in contact with thick weeds.

This same area produced a very small pike on the flat-line.  I was running out of time, and the best fish was the blade-bait bass; I ended my day in the ever-increasing rain, casting blades in 26 to 35 feet of water, searching for that load of bass.  Unfortunately, I didn't find it.

What do I have to say about this?

Over 18 inches and approaching four pounds, this bass is a Personal Best when it comes to blade baiting.

Another weekday of fishing; and while it didn't go as I'd hoped, I did catch a pretty darn nice fish on a relatively new (to me) technique. I'll take that from just about any session. 

LSC 2017 v.7

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 21, 2017

Body of Water:  Lake St. Clair (LSC)

Boat:  Numenon

With: Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time:  7:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Conditions:  Pretty nice; southerly winds generally 10-12 mph; warming to 70 degrees F; green, slightly chalky water at 60-62 degrees F

Sunrise on Lake St. Clair; Saturday, October 21, 2017

After a restless night (too excited to sleep?  Perhaps there will be more to share on this, later), I arrived at the ramp too early!  Instead of my usual routinized rush, I took my time preparing tackle and heading down the channel.  As I cleared the last marker, there was plenty of light for me to assess conditions, and I headed north into Anchor Bay.

Lines were set at 7:58 AM, but I trolled all the way north past Grass Island in about 7 to 11 feet of water with nothing happening.  I marked a couple of isolated weed-beds in 8 or 9 feet along the way, and after an unsuccessful first hour of trolling, I returned to these to cast over a couple of these beds west of Grass Island.  I chose to throw a Swedish Pig Shad for the most part, but no Esox revealed themselves.  

I could see quite a collection of boats working the North Channel (these were mostly perch and walleye guys, but a least a couple of boats were clearly throwing Big Rubber for muskies), and so I chose to do the same. I set up on visible weed beds on the south side of the mouth of the North Channel in 6 to 8 feet of water.  This area had provided the heaviest pike a couple of weeks prior, and conditions were still favorable.   I switched from a Hot Pike Pig Shad to a more sedate, Motor-Oil Pike version, and I got hit!  I swung and missed.  I knew it was a fish, but I was in contact with weeds, too, and I started to doubt myself.  Perhaps it was just weeds; but closer inspection of the lure body showed multiple clean cuts into the rubber; it had been an Esox!

I continued to throw this bait with renewed confidence, and shortly thereafter, a small muskie followed the bait to the boat.  It had no interest on my Figure 8, though, and glided away, under the boat.

After a period of no further action, and having revisited both spots a couple of times with different baits, I decided to explore new water; I drove the North Channel past it's confluence with the main river channel.  I stopped and threw baits at a few current seems and weed beds, but this was mostly about learning the lay of the land.  Let's just say, there seems to be access to an unlimited amount and variety of water on this lake!

A bit past Noon, I returned to the Baltimore Channel, east of Grass Island.  I decided to invest the time casting this area, specifically the deeper water of the channel itself and the weed beds and edges alongside the channel.  I had another small muskie follow a Windell's Harasser bucktail, but this fish, too, faded away without interest in eating.

Soon I crossed paths with a local muskie guide.  I reported my two follows and a bump; he reported two eaters.  He said the fish were there, and I noted his rods, all equipped with Big Rubber.  I chose to switch out my modest Pig Shad for a regular-sized Medussa in walleye coloration. But after another hour here without raising a fish (the guide took another, small muskie a couple of hundred yards behind me), I relocated to the mouth of the North Channel.  I was running out of time (and energy!) and I figured the deeper water there, adjacent to the weeds on the channel edge, certainly continued to hold some potential.

The problem with fishing the channel itself is boat traffic and the resultant wakes.  It's also a truism that a muskie will show itself when one is least prepared, and so of course the final and biggest muskie of the day appeared behind my Medussa at a moment when I was more concerned about simply holding on and staying in the boat, as compared to the mechanics of a Figure 8.  I blew it; this fish, too, disappeared without biting, even though it seemed to be pretty "hot."  It wasn't a big muskie (less than three feet), but it would have been a welcome catch, especially at this point of a long day!

I spent my remaining time in this same area, revisiting waypoints of fish encounters.  One can't ask for more than 3 or 4 chances in a day, and I didn't get any more!

What do I have to say about this?

The consensus certainly seems to be that one needs to throw Big Rubber for consistent action for worthwhile muskies on this lake, especially in the fall.  It's a tough lesson for me to accept, but maybe I am learning.  And I did find a few fish this day, so perhaps I am, slowly, getting better at this.

But that sunrise!  Clearly, I only experienced it on this day because I'd chosen to go fishing.  That is gift enough from the sport for any given day.  There will be more fish; but there will surely be a whole lot else along the way, too.

LSC 2017 v.6

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 9, 2017

Body of Water:  LSC

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Muskellunge

Time: 7:45 AM - 2:45 PM

Conditions:  Three seasons of weather (Fall, Spring and Summer), but the big factor was torn up weeds on the surface and lots of mud pumping out from Anchor Bay.  Water was about 66 - 68 degrees F and varied from clear green near the South Channel/outer main lake to muddy (south of Metropark) to chalky green (Grass Island.)  Conditions were pretty choppy as the night's rain ended at dawn, but as skies cleared it became unseasonably hot and fairly still by Noon.

I re-purposed some of my dormant salmon-fishing gear and I was able to pull together a nice, serviceable high-quality 6-rod spread incorporating line-counter reels.  This allowed for more precise and repeatable trolling presentations.   I experimented constantly with lead lengths, but these tended to be short as opposed to long, if only because of all the fouling weeds.  My spread basically consisted of three of the following four rods at any given time:

• Perch-colored Shallow Super Shad Raps, 40-80 feet back
• Livingston Bulldozer, 25-100 feet back
• Bucher Deep Depth Raider, 20-100 feet back
• Spanky bucktail off the down rigger, 3 feet down and 10-15 feet back

Trolling speeds varied from about 3 to 4.5 mph, but presentation just didn't seem to matter; I didn't bump a fish all day.  During this time, I visited and tried a bunch of different water:

• Anchor Bay Grass Island and North Channel area (high confidence area, and nice looking water, but lots of weeds and no bites!)
• South of Metropark Beach (way too much weeds and mud!)
• Clinton River Cutoff (still probably too muddy, but marked lots of fish here; mostly casted bucktails and Swedish Pig Shads)
• 400 Club weeds and offshore from there (much better water clarity, but still tough to fish with weeds; casting)
• Mouth of South Channel, to side of shipping channel (clear water, beautiful weeds and worth revisiting for any species, I suspect)
• Estuary from South Channel to almost Strawberry Island (good conditions, just no fish; not as weedy as up in Anchor Bay); and
• Back to my higher confidence areas further up in Anchor Bay.

What do I have to say about this?

It's always disappointing to get skunked, but it is especially so when one has high hopes built on recent success.  I was quite certain that something good was going to happen this day!  I'll claim as "good" a few things that I learned from this trip that should help me out there in the future:

• This is a dynamic system, and one needs to be prepared to adjust to the conditions present.  One can find different conditions (perhaps even more favorable ones) by making a move; one is not chained to a set of conditions.
• It's about a half hour from the dock to Grass Island.
• That deep cabbage bed near the mouth of the South Channel has got to hold fish, and it will be worth revisiting, repeatedly.
• The Pig Shads look and feel good in the water, and it's just fun to use them.
• Don't pound down the lake with six rods rigged with muskie baits!  They will get hopelessly tangled!
• And, finally, there's always next time!  This seems especially true with the muskellunge.

Reeds Lake Pike Party

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 7, 2017

Body of Water:  Reeds Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  KS

Target:  Pike

Time:  8:30 AM - 2 PM

Conditions:  Rain ending by 9 AM, SE wind at about 10 mph swinging to the SW and increasing to at least 20 mph with clearing skies; unseasonably warm (to 80 F); water brown and a few feet of visibility; water temperature 67-68 degrees F

We started with a simple program of time-established plugs trolled on hand-held rods with metered braided line, tracing select outside weedlines.  I scored a 24-incher in about 17 feet of water on a Lemon/Lime DT16, but after a half hour we changed to trolling an entire 6-rod spread in the main lake basins.

We quickly got 4 more pike in the 23-25 inch range, three on gold/black minnow-baits about 30 feet behind downriggers down 11-15 feet; and another on two colors of lead with a purpledescent Rapala Tail Dancer 9.  These were all caught between 22 and 30 feet of water.

We continued with a few more circuits through the basin without further success, despite marking lots of fish, both near the (reachable) bottom and suspended.  We did have a couple of bumps, swings and misses and a small, hitch-hiking bass, but this wasn't the quality of fishing I'd hoped for.

We switched back to the controlled, handheld trolling closer to the weeds, and I picked up another small, legal pike (chartreuse Wiggle Wart), while KS caught a nice, 16-inch largemouth bass on another DT bait.

Between 1:30 and 2 PM, the wind really picked up, and we had no further action; it was time to call it quits, even if it had been a pleasant reunion for us.

What do I have to say about this?

Conditions certainly were not conducive to great fishing (rain, wind, heat, etc.), but inland trolling was the only game in town on such a day, and I can't think of a better way to have spent it than with KS on Reeds Lake.  The pike fishing will only get better as the season progresses, and it's been about a year since we've shared some fishing time.  Boards, riggers and lead core (all cornerstones of past fishing seasons) made their season debut (in October?!?!?)  All in all, it was a great day despite the fishing results, and I look forward to trying this again!

LSC 2017 v.5

NumenOn the Water

Date:  October 1, 2017

Body of Water:  Lake St. Clair

Boat:  Numenon

With: Alone

Target:  Muskellunge and Pike

Time: 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Conditions:  Pretty bright and clear; generally easterly wind to over 10 mph, starting NE and swinging to the SE; water 65 and chalky green, with visibility of a few feet.

I was committed to trolling for muskies and covering a lot of water to find them.  Still, I arrived at Lake St. Clair with only an ill-formed plan.  I knew I wanted to be near weeds and bait, while avoiding overly problematic chopped weeds on the surface and any overly clear water.  I kind of assumed I'd start off the Clinton River Cutoff and expand from there; my rudimentary thoughts were to try the expected wrecks and weed-beds at the St. Clair River's South Channel mouth.  From there I could go south along the shipping channel, focusing on edges and weeds at least to the Buoy 28 area, where I knew that perch, walleyes and other fish congregate.  If I had to, I could continue south to the St. Clair light, and I could also explore the "Dumping Grounds" further south.  I knew I had more water to cover than I could possibly fish in a day!

Talking to another fisherman at the St. Clair Metropark as we launched our boats, he mentioned his second-hand knowledge of muskie success up by Grass Island (northeast and in Anchor Bay.)  This was an area I'd been meaning to check for bass, but when I was greeted at the channel mouth by unexpectedly strong winds from the northeast, and I could see that the main lake's horizon was visibly jagged, I chose the protection of Anchor Bay and the Grass Island/North Channel.  It would be all new water to me, and if I could find the conditions I was looking for, I had every confidence that it could pay off.

It doesn't look so bad here as I exit the channel from St. Clair Metropark, but if you were to look more south of east, you'd see that Lake St. Clair was rocking' this morning.  I chose to head north and east to near Grass Island and the North Channel of the St. Clair River.

I picked up a weed edge just north of Strawberry Island and continued north as I set my three-rod spread.  Lines were in by 8 AM, and I'd just tuned my speed to about 4 mph at 8:03 AM when the rod with the Rapala announced that it was Fish On!  It was a fat and sassy 26-inch pike.  Continuing north in about 9-11 feet of water, trolling at 3.7 - 4.3 mph, I picked up three more pike by 8:30 AM.  They were all very nice, measuring 29, 33 and 34-inches!  I'd forgotten my GoPro, so it just made sense that I was going to have an epic day! 

A Storm Flatstick 22 in the prop wash and a Bucher Depth Raider on the long (70 feet?) flat line...

... while this flat line is presenting a Rapala Shallow Super Shad Rap about 60 feet behind the boat.

Flatstick 22 (top); deep-diving Bucher Depth Raider; Rapala Shallow Shad Rap (bottom):  All got hit, but the perch-colored Rapala got eaten repeatedly!

By 9 AM, I'd had another couple of swings and misses, one on the Flatstick in the prop wash, one on the deep diving Bucher bait.  Both of these pulled some serious drag, but both came unglued.  The bite inexplicably turned off as I continued north, and by 10:30 AM, I'd gone past Grass Island, turned around and re-visited my successful way points, all without another hit!

Near-twins at 33- and 34-inches; they are just resting and recovering, awaiting a photo session later in the day. At one point, they were joined by a 32-incher; I had almost 100 inches of pike in my live well at the same time!

It was time to adjust.  The wind was now from the east and at its strongest for the day.  I really didn't want to leave Anchor Bay, especially since I was on some nice fish.  I chose to stay nearby, exploring the edges of the North Channel.  With the same program, I pretty quickly scored my heaviest fish of the day.  This fish convinced me it was my sought-after muskie; it provided a huge hit, a long run, a few leaps and gator-like head thrashes.  I was surprised to land a pike, and "just" a 32-incher.  This fatty was the heaviest pike of the day and almost touched 10 pounds on my conservative Boca scale.

This fish had come from a thick weed patch along the edge off the channel. I focused as best as I could on this weed patch as I progressed up the channel.  Several other boats were here fishing perch and walleye; but I had no further action as I turned back and trolled back to Anchor Bay.  

It was time to re-adjust, again.  I'd noted some very nice cabbage growth at the north end of Grass Island, where the old Baltimore Channel hit the bay.  This produced another 26-inch pike.

Probing Baltimore Channel on the east side of Grass Island, I caught my final pike of the day.  This 25-incher came from only about 7 feet of water, a high spot between the bay and the channel itself.  Once again, the Rapala was ticking weeds when it got hit.

I could see a couple of muskie boats working the weed edges and patches here, and one reported having caught one earlier in the day.  I chose to spend my last 75 minutes or so burning a Windell's Harasser bucktail across and over conspicuous weeds.  I concentrated on the long weed line along the south edge of the North Channel.  I covered a lot of water and conditions felt appropriate.  The area offered cover, current, depth and bait, and the cabbage looked healthy!  But muskies are muskies, and no fish showed themselves during this time.  But they certainly could have; or at least I believe so.

One of a triumvirate of very nice pike

Another of the day's triumvirate; I blew the photo opportunity with the third and heaviest fish.

What do I have to say about this?

While the day did not live up to the promises of the first half hour, it certainly did not disappoint.  It didn't cough up (or even reveal) a muskie, but it certainly qualified as a candidate for my Best Ever Pike Day.  Of course, I hope to do better next time, but I feel as if I learned a lot this day.  I located tons of good cabbage, saw new parts of the lake, have some ideas on how to fine tune my approach, and generally have more confidence about just accepting the conditions of a given day, going out there and making it happen.  I can't wait for my next chance!  I especially enjoyed this high speed trolling because the strikes are explosive and the drags always slip!

It's a lot of work to constantly monitor for and clear weeds from the lines, but a simple spread and relatively short lines make that doable. And the fish's apparent preference for proximity to the weeds makes it worthwhile.