April 2017 CIR Bass Fishing

One month, one lake, two partners, seven trips and 22 bass over Michigan's size limit of 14 inches.  (Smaller bass just don't count!  But, for the sake of completeness, I did catch one under-sized bass.)  

I never got into numbers of bass, but their Average Size was about 3.4 pounds.  This is fairly incredible for me, here in Michigan, over any averaging period longer than a single trip or weekend.

I also got to enjoy 13 collateral pike to 34 inches along the way, at the cost of only one lure lost to these toothy critters.  I have myself to blame for the two I lost to docks and the single lure I accidentally smashed against the trolling motor.

The bass included one (1) verified six-pounder; another four (4) five-pounders; and another four (4) over four pounds.  Any of these fish would likely be The Fish on any given day of my bass fishing, and certainly the 5's and the 6'er are candidates for The Bass of My Season; for any given year. 

My Berkley Cutters produced several very nice bass.

A shallow Shadow Rap was often my first choice for the day.

This fish revealed a consistently productive cranking location.

Slow Carolina-cranking with a KVD/Strike King crank bait was irresistible to several nice bass bass.

The first fish to eat a WarPig for me this season weighed 5.75 pounds.

Within 10 minutes, this 6.1-pounder ate the same bait!

Change with the conditions and keep on catching!

The jerk-baits came full circle over the course of the month.

My last bass of April 2017 is the archetype specimen for the month; 18 inches and a bit over three pounds.

April 2017 was quite a month, at least in my bass fishing experience!  If you're interested in the details of the month's fishing, check the series of posts starting here for a trip-by-trip account of my humble fishing efforts.

Catch and Immediate Release (CIR) Bassin'

One thing that state government got right over the last few years was the liberalization of our Michigan bass fishing season.  One can now legally bass fish year-round; but it is strictly Catch and Immediate Release (CIR; no harvest) until Memorial Day weekend.  I'm okay with that, I'm never tempted to keep a bass.  This change in season also addresses and alleviates the historic, rampant illegal bass fishing that always took place; after all, folks could always fish for "panfish" and "walleyes" with Senkos, weedless jigs, spinnerbaits and such.

While the open waters of March used to mean Lake Michigan Brown Trout and Cohos to me, these same days have now become Bass Season.    And with a bit of practice, they have provided a legitimate shot at some of the year's biggest bass.  While bass might not be quite as exciting as our Great Lakes salmonoids, they are my comfort fish; and they're quite a bit closer to home and more convenient.  I can go from my desk to my boat deck on Reeds Lake in a little under 45 minutes, and that includes walking my dog, Ollie!

I hit the water twice this week after work.  Both days were very pleasant, and one was very productive. The bass aren't exactly plentiful yet, but they are all chunky-to-large specimens, and each one is a bit of a gift.  I'm not inclined to complain about all the pike I'm catching, either.

My experience so far this year has mirrored, while improving upon, last season.  I'm paying close attention to water temperature and conditions, patterns and presentations.  I know I have some tremendous jerk- and rattle-baiting ahead of me, and I'm constantly introducing new presentations into the mix as a learning tool/reality check.

Not a bad start to a post-work trip!

Berkley Cutter over 3.5 to 5 feet of water has produced several nice bass.

Over 20 inches and fat = Easy 5-Pounder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

When you get greedy and rush to make just One Last Cast... you end up breaking your hot lure on the trolling motor!

March has been good!  I can't wait to see what April provides!

New Year, New Techniques

It appears as though I've made it through another winter (although the current forecast seems to put any further progress on hold), and the ice has been out for 10 or more days.  The docks are not yet in place, but both bass and pike seasons are now open; and weather and schedule were favorably aligned.  On March 5, 2017, Numenon began her 15th year of service.

34 degrees F air temperature; and 37 degrees for the water.

It's a fishy launch; but I still find it difficult to believe that modest Reeds Lake supported such enterprises.

My maiden voyage each year is usually a shake-down trip, with actual catching being a pleasant bonus.  I usually start on Lake Michigan for brown trout, too; I'm not exactly experienced in chasing bass and soft-water pike at this time of year.  The actual fishing details of the day can be found here; it was a good day!


We saw a bald eagle; we caught both targeted species (pike and bass); and I converted on two new-to-me techniques.  The pike ate a crank bait delivered off a three-way rig (2-ounce bell sinker); this is not exactly a new technique for me, but it is on Reeds Lake.  The biggest bass of the day (as well as a very heavy Mystery Fish that, alas, got away) succumbed to The Technique of Silent Capture, i.e. spy-baiting.  I'd sought the spy bait for exactly these conditions; cold water and difficult conditions.  It seems to have paid off!  I've definitely added it to my tool box!

Three-way rigging cranks caught the season's first fish!

Slow-jerking a Shadow Rap fooled the first bass.

The season's first lunker fell for The Technique of Silent Capture!

Duo Realis Size 80 Spy bait (top) and Rapala Shallow Shadow Rap jerk bait (bottom) caught bass this day.

But there were many other reasons to declare this to be a good day!  I was sharing the boat with long-term friend TM, and I know he likes to relax and enjoy himself.  In addition to simply sharing the day with him, I thought I'd treat him to a hot lunch aboard Numenon.  Now, a portion of my winter has been spent day-dreaming about pike and perch fishing in Sweden; in fact, a trip to Sweden has probably wormed its way onto my ill-formed Bucket List.  While I've long been aware of the outsized, brackish pike and perch in Scandinavia, this group of pikers has awakened my interest in fishing there.  In addition to the fish, the solitude, the surroundings and the coffee, they always seem to enjoy a hot lunch out on the water!  So TM and I enjoyed the Kanalgratis-inspired Inaugural Hot Dog Hot Lunch aboard any of my vessels.

A Thermos never lets you down, especially if you pre-heat it with boiling water.

I had given this some thought; as well as the Thermos full of dogs, tongs, buns, condiments and drinks were readily available.

Ready for customization, but this is how I prefer my dogs.

TM knows how to enjoy life.  And, he has proper manners!

50 Shades of Green

There's so much I like about this picture, including the crisp fall lighting, a pretty decent weekday pike in hand, and a friendly photographer back in the boat after a long absence.    Cheers! to capturing these 50 Shades of Green!

DT10

I was coming off a bit of a rusty rusty performance last time out, and I got off to an unusual start; I didn't prep the night before as I hemmed and hawed over whether to go bass or muskie fishing.  Eventually watching the Red Sox and sleep won out, so I found myself launching on Reeds Lake at the odd (for me) time of 9:30 AM.  Usually I am thinking about getting off the water by that time!

I'd committed myself to working on new patterns and locations, but I hedged my chances for success by starting with a Rapala DT10 crank bait along deep weed edges.  After all, I'd gotten hit a few times with this last week; I just hadn't executed any of these chances.

Green craw DT10

A solid 2.5-pounder ate the bait on my second cast.  Sometimes having such quick success 

is a Kiss of Death for the rest of the day, but occasionally it's just an indication of good things to come.  I continued to work offshore weed edges in about 8 to 12 feet of water, but it took a relocation to a smaller, less conspicuous hump to generate any more strikes.

This particular hump is often good for a single, large fish.  Sometimes nobody's home, but every so often this location coughs up a four to six-pounder.  Working the windward edge of this hump, I caught another solid fish, but what really got me juiced was the Mega-Bass that was excitedly swimming in with my hooked fish.  This was easily the largest bass I've ever seen in this lake; it was a true Michigan Giant.  I netted the 2+-pounder and noted the location of the lunker on the GPS.

Working my way around the hump, I caught a thick 3-pounder on the opposite side.  All the fish were hitting in the same type of water; offshore weed edges dropping from about 8 to 12 feet of water (and beyond.)  I was starting to get a solid pattern going!

Deep cranking provided a few more fatties to just over three pounds.

I couldn't leave this hump until I'd circled through the spot where I'd seen my lunker.   I ran into a short and fat, yet acrobatic, 4.84-pounder on the deep windward edge, but the fish I really wanted did not show herself again.  That was the only disappointment of the day.

4.84 pounds on the scale; but still not the bass I was looking for.  But this is a great anchor fish, any day on the water!

At this point I'd pretty much run out of weed-fringed humps, but I knew that a conspicuous submerged point dropping off into deep water might provide similar options for the bass.  It took a bit for me to find Bass Number 5 for the day, but when I found him (a barely legal keeper), I found a whole school of them.  I was able to barely cull once, but there wasn't much size to these guys.  Regardless, I had my limit before Noon, despite the late start.

After a photo session and releasing the bass, I moved to a new offshore area.  This seems to be an area of subtly raised hard bottom.  There's no obvious or dramatic relief, but there's a fairly extensive area between 13 and 17 feet of water, surrounded by the lake's basin of 20-23 feet of water.  I switched to a DT20 (this particular lure has taken both my largest bass and pike from this lake!), and it felt good to be grinding bottom and pulling up the occasional zebra mussel.  In a fairly short time, I missed a strike and then I caught a nice, bonus, approximate 30-inch deepwater pike.  This guy hit in 16 or 17 feet of water near the feature's edge.

GoPro Action!

A solid, bonus deep-water pike.

Not a bad day!  The rust is off!

Regression to the Mean

Things always average out appropriately in the end, and last weekend's much-better-than-average fishing was subject, and vulnerable, to correction.  I just didn't think the correction would necessarily be this immediate.

I had blocked off a few dates on my calendar to accommodate (a) trip(s) to Lake St. Clair.  But with such good fishing so close to home, my thoughts had shifted to Reeds Lake and the local advantage I'd been enjoying.  I had pretty much decided to sacrifice a trip to St. Clair and take Friday off to fish Reeds Lake again!

Imagine my thoughts when I drove by the lake this afternoon and saw multiple, prominent, yellow posted warnings.  I recognized these from afar as public notices for aquatic weed treatment; but I stopped to confirm my thoughts.  (There was always the possibility that these were notices for a future event.  I am, after all, an optimist!)  I've never had good fishing coincide with these treatments on any lake, and given a choice, I'll avoid a treated lake for a couple of weeks.  

Chemical weed control took place today!  This is a temporary game changer for my bass fishing.  Just in time for the pike opener, too!

Just in case one hadn't noticed the conspicuously posted warnings...

There are plenty of other lakes and many other options for my time away from work.  I will still go to Lake St. Clair, hopefully repeatedly, and maybe even on Friday.  But suddenly, my short-term bass options don't seem as easy or as promising.   Fortunately, Muskie Season opens on Saturday; maybe I'll use that as a distraction from this unwelcome development.

Goals Accomplished

Not that any of this matters in the least, but I've actually reached several of my stated/written fishing goals for the 2016 season!  Local bass fishing has been solid so far, and the trip to Florida provided lots of fish and several new species (snook and sea-trout, as well as "lesser" others.)  It's kind of fun to dream, act and accomplish!  As for myself, I'm not necessarily used to such straightforward results.

I reached two goals in one day recently, when I caught both a 6-pound bass and a 20-pound "bag" (i.e., the combined virtual weight of my five biggest "keepers" of the day; all fish were immediately released.)  These are stretch goals for me, here, and while I recognize that these outcomes are a bit correlated, having occurred on the same day, I still enjoyed reaching them.  Now, I will simply have to build on this success by stretching and reaching again.

Three of the bass contributing to my 20-pound "bag"; the largest was captured on video instead of stills.  Oops!

I've plenty of other goals for my version of a successful season.  I'll keep you posted on my progress (or lack there-of.)  Enjoy!

Easter Bassy

I was able to enjoy some very good bass fishing on Easter Sunday.  It was a pleasure to be out on such a nice, gentle and productive day.  It was great to land a few really nice fish.  And, it was wonderful to reflect on certain Easters Past, when my Dad and I would occasionally get to work off the traditional feast and extra candy by sharing a pleasant evening of bass fishing.  I don't recall ever catching* anything on those trips.  But now at least I know that doesn't matter.

The first bass of 2016 was a fatty!

Time to fire up the GoPro!  No. 2 was a dandy!

Close to five pounds of Michigan Largemouth!

Pretty average, on a really good day!

*  I do specifically recall an Abbott's Run Giant that blew up on a slow-waking River Runt.  Somehow it missed the bait, but it still impressed me!

Fishing with Kate

With Kate in town for only a couple of more days, I recently took the day off work; we planned to go bass fishing.  We knew the afternoon might be more productive if it got warm and sunny, but once the decision was made and we were ready to go, we hit the water.  It was still pretty chilly, but at least the day's snow was done, and there sure wasn't much pressure out there!

The bass fishing success was nonexistent, but we did catch a couple of pike.  At this time of year, any fish is a bonus!  With no real boat problems, nobody getting hurt, the proper clothing and each other's company, it was a super nice day together!  It always seems to be so!

Let the 2016 Bass Season begin!

This bait was intended for bass, but only pike played this day.

A mouthful of Shadow Rap!

Beautifully colored and stout; but short.

Pike No. 2 was long and lean.

Make that "very lean."

Decent Fish

I recently had the pleasure of catching my first decent fish in a while.  Limited time on the water and a possibly misdirected mania for muskellunge have really pinched my numbers.  This recent fish wasn’t the biggest, most dangerous or unpredictable quarry, but it was the largest targeted game fish of the day.  The day was just unpleasant enough (weather-wise), and the fishing just difficult enough (by which I mean it wasn’t Stupid Easy) to make me think I earned the encounter.  I shared the day with a good friend, who was just pleasant enough to not get tossed overboard (by which I mean he was on his game in relentlessly attacking my abilities and character, as only a brother or true friend could.)  So really, what else could I ask for?  Time on the water, a few fish, a successfully executed plan, some laughs, a picture and providing for a shared meal; these are all good things. 

So while my first impression was that this was a decent fish, further reflection indicates that it is clearly more than that.

Pretty decent!

For the record, she came from a local, urban lake and measured 32 inches.  She ate a gold and black Husky Jerk HJ12 presented on two colors of lead, trolled with an in-line board off the break line at typical pike speed (2.2 -2.7 mph).

Easily Amused

It seems so long ago, and in our current dark winter's night, the thought of active frogs seems so remote...

One beautiful evening last August or so I was walking the dog, when I came across a likely candidate for a "poor sap" nomination.  My nominee had a kid's spin-cast rig and was headed out on a shallow, weed-infested public dock.  I love to fish, and yet I'm always surprised to see so many others who must love it more.  They use misdirected tackle and techniques in such unlikely spots; there's no way I'd spend much of my time in such low-yield pursuits.  But they're having fun, or at least are fishing, while I watch.

Oliver and I continued with our walk, reversed our course, and finally came upon the "fisherman".  As I approached, I could see that he was teasing frogs into attacking his small rubber (hookless) worm.  At this point, I was thinking that he was a bio professor at one of our local colleges.  Further discussion with him indicated that he didn't have a clue about what kind of frogs they were.   He admitted to simply playing with them.  They were his family's "pets".  He admitted to being very easily amused.

Bull frog - from the web!

Leopard frog - from the web!

Pickerel frog - from the web!

Green frog - from the web!

He had originally stricken a chord of pity, but now he seemed like a super nice guy with simple motivations.  He was enjoying a beautiful evening out, he seemed happy, and here I was, engrossed with watching his efforts and the frogs.

So who's Easily Amused?