Muskie Perfection

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.

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.

TH-C

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-9-15

Body of Water: Big Whitefish Lake

Boat: DC's Lund

With: DC

Target: LM Bass

Time: 10 AM - 3 PM

Conditions: Super calm; extremely humid with rain and sprinkles; about 70 F; a couple of days from the season's hottest weather; water murky and about 66 F.  Most likely pre-spawn for bass.

DC called me to say that his dock and boat were in for the season; and that he'd caught 20 fish or so on about 25 casts the other night (which was unseasonably warm); and he further invited me up to go bass fishing.  I took his invitation without hesitation; and I expected to figuratively slay some pre-spawn largemouths.

The day dawned to heavy rain; and so I delayed my arrival by mutual agreement to 10 AM.  It was still raining at that point, but not so hard; and other than a few brief periods, it continued to rain (although usually just lightly) for the rest of the excursion.  We started with a few small fish on Ned Rigs in shallow (including a possibly inexhaustible supply of rock bass), but elected to hunt for bigger bass.  The water was surprisingly murky, and weed growth had started, but not progressed too far, yet.

The first legal bass came pretty quickly on a Rapala Scatter Minnow along the inside weed edge in 5 feet or so; this was followed by a smaller one right away, but then things got mysteriously quiet.  Working both inside and outside weed edges, as well as through yje weeds themselves didn't yield much (a couple of small northerns for DC, a few small bass for me), but I did lose a nice gill-rattling keeper on an Arashi Shad; and we kept plugging away.

D alternated between a jerk bait, a small crank, and a Ned Rig up front; I typically countered with whatever he wasn't using (spinnerbait, Arashi, Shadow Rap, swim jig or Ned Rig, mostly), and while D was pretty quiet for the most part, I put together a decent junk program.  At one point I had a legal bass on each bait, but ultimately the Ned Rig shined; and I ended with about 5 of my 8 keeper-sized bass (to about 17 inches) on Ned.  Five-foot flats with crispy pond leaf seemed best; but both horizontal and slow scratching bottom retrieves caught fish.  The keepers were universally fat females; the spawn is yet to occur.

It wasn't an easy bite, but there were no distractions; there was hardly anybody else out, and boat control was not an issue (between lack of wind and D up front.)  I fished with some intensity and ended up with the 8 "keepers"; a similar number of sub-legal-sized bass; and a handful of rockies.  D caught a single keeper bass, but also got a few pike to about 24 inches, some small bass and as many rockies as he might like; and was further fortunate to end the day with a surprise, bonus, almost-22-inch walleye.  That walleye hit a small O-style, yellow crank bait along a steep weed edge and was destined to become Mother's Day dinner at his house.

D's Bonus Walleye to end a fine day.

What do I have to say about this?  DC's new house and docked boat might be the best thing to happen for me in a while!  I love this easy access to good bass fishing, and we fish together well.  We'll push each other to learn a lot about his new home waters.  I look forward to more of this, and I've promised to reciprocate with Great Lakes, Reeds Lake or Muskie Trips as we can fit them in.

At one point of this trip, we were discussing how best to target the lake's crappies when D reminded me that he is, after, his Lake Association's current "Trophy Holder" for crappies.  Given his surname, he immediately became known to me as TH-C.  It could stick; but in the meanwhile, I hope I simply enjoy, and not get addicted to, his situation on Big Whitefish Lake.

South Haven Trout

NumenOn the Water

Date:  5-1-15

Body of Water:  Lake Michigan, South Haven

Boat: Numenon

With: co-workers FS, LS

Target: Great Lakes Salmon and Trout

Time: 7 AM - 3 PM

Conditions: Bright and clear; northerly seas calming from 2 ft to <1; main lake 43 F but the extensive plume of river water created an expanse of stained water from 45 to 48 degrees F; 50 degrees F along shore.

Schedules and weather had conspired against getting out on the water with co-workers F and L for a couple of seasons.  We collectively resolved to just make it happen and we all penciled in Friday, May1.  Of course the weather got downgraded with a heavy blow from the NW on April 30, and L got over-scheduled for the AM, but F and I decided to go for it in lieu of playing it safe; and so by 7 AM we were leaving the South Haven launch.  We planned to check out sea conditions, fish for a bit, and then pick up L at the dock in the late morning; it was almost like running two trips in one.

F was in good spirits and seas looked quite fishable as we cleared the piers.  Main lake water temps were about 43, which I was OK with, but the stained water from the river to the south was even warmer, so we headed that way.  Spring has been late to arrive, there was precious little actual fishing information to work from, and boat traffic was sparse.  I deployed my best guess at a multi-species spread (two riggers and four boards) and we started fishing in about 32 feet of water, heading south with the wind and waves.

Within 15 minutes the shallow rigger (23 down, Green Bubble Stinger) jumped, and soon F had landed a nice 4-pound laker.  Within another 15 minutes, the 3-color lead with a favored multi-colored UV spoon started to slide back, and F soon had a nice (close-to) double digit laker in the box.  I made a couple of adjustments to the spread (a bit more green, a rigger always near bottom.)  The accustomed pace didn't quite hold up, but a couple of drive-bys on the deepest rigger kept us interested, and when for the second time I "called" the deepest rigger going off based on the Humminbird's readings, I decided we were actually fishing for Lake Trout.

F's laker limit fish came just before 10 AM in about 48 feet of water, about 5.5 miles south of the piers.  Again, an old-time green and silver spoon within a few feet of the bottom released, and this time the fish held bottom.  After a nice fight, a teenaged laker joined his cousins in the box.

A couple of really nice lakers for F.  The one on the left is clearly stocked; it's missing the left pectoral fin.  The larger laker appears to be a beautiful, wild fish.

We went back in, picked up L and we were at it again by 11.  Conditions were calming and warming.   I started a bit deeper and to the north this time, but this just eliminated water. When I found the discolored edge from the river, water temps jumped a couple of degrees; and the 5-color lead line (green, silver and black spoon) got hit in about 48 feet of water.  L brought in another (8-pound) laker; we'd still not encountered any other species.  An hour later, this same line got pulled back with obvious authority, and while L was fighting this fish, the deep rigger (41 down over 45 feet of water) jumped, too.  We quickly dispatched the smallest laker of the day (but still between 3 and 4 pounds or so) from the rigger; and in a few minutes, L landed the biggest fish of the day, a solid teenager and one of the biggest ever aboard Numenon.

Laker limits for F and L

Here I offered the options of picking up a few more lakers for a triple limit; searching elsewhere for some silvers; or hitting the shoreline and targeting brown trout.  F chose browns, and soon we were hitting the shoreline with perfect conditions (except, perhaps, a bit too much stain to the water.)  Our spread consisted of four body baits (F11, J9, S7 Rapalas and a red Thin Fin just in case any coho were present) and a couple of spoons (Green Bubble Stinger off the rigger, and a tiny mixed veggies stinger off one color of lead.)  We missed a couple of fish, but we also got 5 kings; these are, however, universally tiny (although legal to keep.)  All were released to grow, but they did extend our day, pad our numbers and provide the sense of having secured two Great Lakes Michigan Limits for my co-workers.

What do I have to say about this?
This was a long-postponed and overdue trip.  It was one of my Holiday Charity auction trips from 2012, and my inability to fit this one in had kept me from offering subsequent trips at work.  I think the wait was worth it, however; both F and L caught their biggest-ever lakers and went home with smiles. It was my best outing ever on Lake Michigan for lakers, and these fish could have helped me in many of my past tournaments.  The two largest fish were among the biggest lakers I've caught on Numenon, and despite having not fished on Lake Michigan all that much over the past couple of seasons, it all felt pretty natural.  I think I made the best adjustments for the day (I did not leave the ramp think about lakers, after all), and I haven't seen or heard of others really smoking them out there, yet. I left with the sense of having participated in an other Win-Win-Win situation; our Holiday Charities, my co-workers, and I all benefited from these efforts.  And, I made it home in plenty of time for a shower and the evening's high school performance of The Music Man!

New CIR Bass Season

NumenOn the Water

Date:  4-18-15

Body of Water:  Whitefish Lake

Boat:  Numenon

With:  DC

Target: CIR Largemouth Bass

Time: 3 PM - 8 PM

Conditions:  Early season; about 70 with brisk NE winds; water a bit murky and ranging from 48 to 56 F



Michigan just enacted a year-round Catch and Immediate Release (CIR) open season for bass, and so I took advantage of this new opportunity on an overly windy day.  The boat was all set for Lake Michigan brown trout, but my friend DC and I decided that the smart thing to do was to target bass on a favorite and convenient local lake.

By the time I'd returned home from a successful high school track meet, converted the boat and tackle over to bass and arrived at the lake, DC had already located and harassed a bunch of panfish and smallish bass in very shallow water from his canoe.  Our first temperature readings were in the high 40's, but by following the wind and sun-exposed areas of rock or cement, it was easy to find water in the 50's; and by late afternoon, we found some pockets of water at about 56 degrees F.  It seemed that the biting fish were grouped together and most active in the warmest water available.

I'd predicted to A that if we got into bass, a big one might be likely; and I was (at least partially) correct!  I expected a jerk bait or rattle bait bite, especially along any breaks or weed lines.  But after an hour or so of marginal success (I did catch a 26-inch or so pike that choked down my Rayburn Red Rattlin' Rap), we moved in shallower.  The first docks of the season were being installed, and by targeting the edges of dark patches of weeds along the sandy shallows near this new cover, we started catching some bass.  For the most part these were smaller bucks (13-14 inches), but they were the first bass of the season and so they were welcome aboard!  We rotated through various baits, but D seemed to do best on a small chatter bait, while I was slow-reeling a Ned Rig.

When we ran out of docks, we re-located down the lake to a different set, and when I noticed a small inlet tucked into a pocket, we started there.  We found the warmest water of the day here (it was late afternoon by now, and this area was totally exposed to the sun), and while the cover looked pretty much the same, we quickly encountered two really nice fish.  In search of a bigger bite, I'd switched to a Rapala DT3, and on my second cast here, just as my bait entered the weeds from the sand, a nice bass pounced on it.  She was between 4 and 5 pounds, and after a couple of quick pictures, she swam away.  This was a textbook encounter!  

First nice bass of the season!  First nice bass in quite a while!

She inhaled the Rapala DT3.

Just a few yards down the shore, D had a similar bass stalking his suspending jerk bait, but she couldn't pull the trigger.

The weather, water temperatures and bass action all cooled off together, and while we did catch several more bass and D caught another sub-legal pike, the day had peaked.  For a short while we had put together a good program.

I ended with 9 or 10 bass and the nice pike; D ended with 5 or 6 bass, a nice rock bass and his smaller pike.  Not bad, given the pretty strong wind and our unfamiliarity with early spring bassing; we've got a lot to learn (or a lot of learning to put into practice) about cold-water bass fishing (in the spring and fall!), but it's going to provide additional options to our fishing!

A Rapala DT3 and a Ned Rig provided most of this day's action in shallow water.

What do I have to say about this?

Thank you, Michigan legislature, for making this a legal option!  Illegal targeting of out-of-season bass has always been rampant around here, and I've always chosen other options (brown trout, suckers, inland trout, whatever.)  This will help me stay interested in bass as a year-round quarry; that simply gives me more options and opportunity.

I relied heavily on my Rhode Island experience on this date.  I grew up with nothing but bass, and I recalled the shallow-water crank bait connection in the early spring.  To be honest, I've relied less on cranks here in Michigan (most local lakes have soft, weedy bottoms that can make cranking miserable), but they've produced some nice fish for me in limited use.  I'll probably fish like a kid more often now; but hopefully like a smarter kid.

2015's First Lake Michigan Trip

NumenOn the Water

Date: 4-11-15

Body of Water: Lake Michigan (Pt. Sheldon)

Boat:  Numenon

With:  Alone

Target:  Brown Trout

Time: 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Conditions: Bright and clear; mild SW winds <10 mph; about 45 F; 6-inch chop; continuous ice looming on the western and southern horizons.

Pretty continuous ice, a mile or two off-shore.

That ice kept me close to port!  It was a couple of miles away, but I wasn't sure how fast it might move.  As it turned out, it wasn't a factor, other than keeping the water too cold!

Recent high winds and a lot of rain had turned Pigeon Lake into a mud hole, but this dark water was retaining some heat; and the water coming out of the harbor into Lake Michigan was about 15 degrees warmer than the Big Lake's (50 F vs 35 F.)  The mild SW wind was curling this muddy/stained water along the shoreline to the north, and I stayed with this water, hugging shore for as long as I could, trolling stickbaits without a bump.  Even this water was only about 37 F, which is too cold for me to expect a consistent brown trout bite.  When I ran out of stained water and I was left with clear and 35-degree conditions along the shore, I elected to run to "The Bubbler," where warm discharge from the local power plant is released from the lake's bed in about 24 - 40 feet of water.

Stickbaits and boards, trolled slowly along shore.

(Ordinarily, I'd have chosen to run north to unnamed creek outlets where I often find some warmer water, bait and browns.  But I wanted to keep my eyes on the ice and the pier heads, and I recalled several other very-early-season trips here where The Bubbler fished better than the shoreline.)

The discharge rate at The Bubbler was low, but there was a pod of water up to 38 F (and even touching 40 F as I left a couple of hours later; 40 degrees F is my tipping point for confidence when it comes to spring browns.)  The Bubbler also offers some goofy, conflicting currents and some vertical relief, so I typically fish here when the shore-line fishing is not producing; and I've caught enough fish here to know that good results are possible, even if the odds are stacked against you.

In a couple of hours of trolling about here, I marked a fair number of fish; and I even caught one brown trout (a very fat 2-3 pounder) that fell for my standard fare at The Bubbler; a Green Bubble Stinger trolled off a rigger, about 20 feet down.  Meanwhile, every other stick bait or shad bait remained untouched.

Ugly Stik, Green Bubble Stinger, Downrigger Ball and Black's Release Clip.

(To be fair, I should mention that I towed this fish off the rigger for an unknown period of time: it didn't release from the rigger clip and I don't know when/where I hooked up.  So catching this fish wasn't exactly exciting or gratifying; but it was still better than getting skunked.  I released this fish first into my live well, since it was pretty worn out from being dragged about.  But it revived nicely in there and was later released back into Lake Michigan, apparently none the worse for having  been caught.)

2015's First Brown Trout! 

A few more boats collected here and I chose to investigate the harbor; I thought that warm water might hold some bait.  Here, due to tight quarters, I flat-lined a Rapala off one side, while I hand-pumped a metered braid rod with a Flicker Shad on my side.  Things looked and felt good; but no fish were encountered here.  This is where I had the most confidence for catching; it was just the least pleasing fishing option of the day, and so I didn't give it enough time.

What do I have to say about this?
I've had a thing for Brown Trout ever since moving to Michigan, and I love to open my Lake Michigan Season with a couple of trips targeting them.  Usually I'm too early in the season, and sometimes they simply aren't there, so I'm rarely super successful with them.  Each one's a bit special.  This one was super rotund for his length, so maybe that bodes well for the Lake Michigan bait situation this year.  Hopefully I can increase my sample size with a few more trips.

P.S. Here's what happened at the same time in the next port to the south:

Meanwhile, in Holland...

Hoosier Muskie Quest

NumenOn the Water

Date:  4-5-15

Body of Water: Barbee Chain of Lakes, Indiana

Boat: Numenon

With: Alone

Target: Muskellunge

Time: 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Conditions: Good enough;43 F water here in GR (per Reeds Lake on 4-4-15), and 47-48 F in Kuhn Lake, Indiana; touching 50 F at the back end of canals.  45 F weather warming to 63 or so and bright and clear; but windy (>>20 mph, sustained) from the SW.

I prepped the boat on Saturday.  I pulled her out of the garage so I had some room to move around, and it was warm enough for comfort (although it did snow a little bit.)  Of course, it was windy, and so Lake Michigan remained out-of-bounds; and Michigan's inland gamefish seasons are closed.  

But Indiana's muskie season never closes, and it's not too far away.  Everything was installed and apparently working by early afternoon; all non-muskie tackle had been removed; Indiana license procured; tire pressures checked and adjusted; and I even dropped Numenon into Reeds Lake to make sure she'd start and run smoothly.  Of course, she did.

Ready to start the season!

I left home on Sunday morning a little before 7 and arrived at the Kuhn Lake Access off Indiana Route 13 at about 9:30 AM.  Things were looking good; but it was noticeably windy.  Little Kuhn Lake (<100 acres) was developing some whitecaps, already.

I fished for about 4 hours, at which time I was definitely losing boat control in the wind; my batteries were already drained.  I used mostly twitch baits and bucktails while holding the boat in 6 - 10 feet of water, but I also explored some with Medussa and Bondy Baits out deeper.  My effectiveness was limited by unfamiliarity with the lake and boat control challenges, but it was good to be out casting again!  Unfortunately, my strategy simply became to keep a clean bait in shallow water; and that was hard enough, today!

Early Spring Muskie Chase

I never made it beyond Kuhn Lake because of the wind, but Kuhn was interesting enough to fish, with some undeveloped shorelines, lots of flats and breaks, offshore structure and a lot of marks in the deeper water.  Some coontail was just starting to green up,and there was  some old cabbage in the shallows.  Visibility was about 4+ feet; the only things she lacked this day were some shelter from the wind and any sign of a muskellunge.

I only saw one other boat all day; a local basser had caught a few on rattle baits and Heddon Sonars.  He explained that the No Wake Posting at the launch applied to all waters of the chain except Big Barbee.

Each leg of the trip was about 130 miles and about 2 hours and 40 minutes (door-to-door) at an easy, relaxed pace.  I was home before 4:30 PM; Ollie didn't even know I'd had quite the adventure.

Just off Indiana Route 13; access to the Barbee Chain of Lakes

What do I have to say about this?
I'm not sure I'll have much inclination to go down there when Michigan's season is open and our waters are fishable, but I can certainly see using this option to extend my season at either end.  I could have run across a muskie on this day; I just didn't.  I was, however, about 130 miles closer to a legal muskie that I would have been, otherwise.

Late Sunday night, Jeremy Wade of River Monsters went to NW Ontario in search of muskellunge.  It looked like it took him three watersheds and a lot of time to finally get one (despite a number of follows and encounters with pike), and when he finally did catch one, it was accidental.  These are strange fish.

More Flat River Sucker Chasing

NumenOn the Water

Date:  4-3-15

Body of Water:  Flat River

Boat:  None

With:  Alone

Target:  Spring Suckers

Time: 5 PM - 6 PM

Conditions:  51 F but dropping fast; cloudy, building NW wind; water still low and clear

After a few days touching 50 F and a bit of warm rain, I tried my spot again.  The area has been vacated for Spring Break; why not take advantage of the local quiet?  Plus, it was my first available, healthy, unscheduled Friday since I left C's in order to fish more; so when I found myself vacillating about whether to go or not, I reminded myself that I could; so I therefore should.  Finally, with the recent warmth and the rain, I had some confidence that some fish might have moved in.

I brought the GoPro action camera this time and it was "Fish On!" before I could even get the camera set up.  This elevated my confidence level more, but once again it took me a while to find the pool's sweet spot (if present) and I only collected 3 bites in about an hour and a half.  I got two red horse (one smallish, one larger) and a white sucker (the first I've seen this year.)  I may or may not have collected some footage, but even if I did, I have no idea what I might do with it.

Mobile GoPro Studio

This White Sucker took a slowly drifted earthworm.

Spring Beauty

What do I have to say about this?
I wasn't quite right about the arrival of a fresh slug of fish, but I wasn't quite wrong, either.  I'm glad I went.  I broke in the new, 2015 License, caught a few fish, enjoyed some relative solitude, and still had time to care for Ollie, enjoy a beer, and prep for today's activity; get Numenon ready for her 2015 Maiden Voyage.  Despite current politics, I'm thinking about the Hoosier State.  For $9 and gas money, I can go chase some early season muskies.  Given a decent weather window on Sunday, I think I might!