Big Fish Season

Fall means cooling water temps which usually equals fish moving shallow and becoming catchable again. This trend is becoming evident on a few local lakes recently as I have witnessed some hogs being caught.

The first one to show up was a 5.2 pound smallie I caught on Clark Lake about 12 days ago on a Zoom Super Fluke. A five pounder is a good fish around here but the amazing thing was that it was very thin and measured 22" long. This fish should weigh closer to six pounds after it fattens up for the winter. It was on a shallow rocky flat in about three feet of water.

Pig number two showed up last weekend as part-time club member Nick Neves brought a massive largemouth to the launch during a small buddy tournament held on Lake Columbia. The fish weighed in at 6 pounds even on my scales and 6.4 on another set of scales. It was the biggest largemouth I have ever seen in person and Nick caught it flipping a shallow grass mat on a green pumpkin creature bait.

Hopefully a few big fish will show up at this weekends classic and with the colder temps rolling in, I wouldn't be surprised to see one. I was out tonight for a few hours and water temps are still about 67 degrees, up a little from the weekend. But lows in the 30's are expected for Friday and Saturday night so I'm not sure what to expect. I've been on the water when I thought the bite would be awesome and it was quite the opposite and vice-versa. Guess I'll let the fish tell me what they want or I'll just force feed them.

As far as the Classic goes, I'll be arriving at the 145 Truck Stop closer to 5:30 Sunday morning. I know the time was set at 6am and it isn't light until closer to 8, but getting an early start never hurts. I still plan on picking Devils as my lake due to the fact that the smallmouth may bite a little better even with the cold temps. I think this would offer the best opportunity for big stringers and a good classic, unlike last years slow bite. I'll be there at 5:30, maybe earlier.

Classic Week

As with anything related to fishing, I've put a lot of thought recently into which lake I'd like to fish for the Classic this weekend. All ten anglers will select a lake and one will be pulled from a hat which only gives me a one in ten shot but I want to pick one that suites my style of fishing. The cool thing about the club championship is that with only ten angers, smaller lakes can be fished. Gilletts and Pleasant are small lakes that have hosted recent Classics so do I vote for a smaller body of water or go for a bigger one that I've had success on?

Here are a few small bodies of water that may get my vote:

Vineyard: This lake isn't really that small but doesn't get a lot of publicity. It has a good population of largemouth in the lower end and I've caught some smallies up to five pounds in the gravely upper end. It is about 450 acres and located fairly close to town but has one small drawback. The launch is a shallow gravel launch with no pavement and no dock. It will accommodate large boats, not ideal but doable.

Clarks: This is a good sized lake but never gets tournament pressure due to lack of a good launch. Fortunately I am a member of the CL Boat Club and have a pass for their launch so that would not be an issue. The lake has big smallies in it (I caught a five pounder just last week there) and a bigger population of largemouth. The drawback is that it is relatively featureless with large sandy flats and can fish tough. The smallies are there but undersized largemouth make up most of my catches. I think it would be tough to get limits and with the cold weather coming I'm pretty sure I won't be voting for Clarks.

Portage-Jackson: A small lake that would not support a regular club event but ten boats would not be too many for Portage. Located close to town, it has a decent population of smallies and some big largemouth as well. I really like this lake in the spring but being located in a state park makes is very popular with boaters and it fishes extremely tough in the summer. It should be pretty good now and the launch facilities are awesome.

Some bigger lakes that normally get tough during the summer but could be very good now:

Michigan Center: This lake is close to town and everyone know it well. It has fished really good this year and some big weights have been brought to the scales. If we hit it right the fishing could be awesome and limits could be plentiful. But the cold weather may shut the largemouth bite down and there are no smallies present to target.

Devils: I can't believe I would ever vote for this lake but it may be the leader in the clubhouse. A notoriously tough summer lake that has largemouth and smallmouth with plenty of room for everyone. But with the cooler water temps this lake could turn on and the adjacent Round Lake could also come into play. Our club event there this past August relulted in bigger weights than expected and when I fished here last week the bite was pretty good.

I know some guys don't even think about their Classic vote until we get to the restaurant on Sunday but obviously I have and I think I'm going with Devils as of right now. I'll keep an eye on the weather and that will play a role in my selection but that's the way I'm leaning right now.

Fall Open Results

1) Dale Steward / Roger Steward 12.96 lbs
2) Jeff Elliott 10.97
3) Mark Dereadt / Kathy Maurer 10.64

Big Bass#1: Dereadt / Maurer 3.87 lbs
Big Bass#2: Wright / Wright 3.85

-There were 13 teams competing in the tournament
-The payouts were as follows: 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100
-Big Bass #1 paid $80 and Big Bass #2 paid $50
-Kathy Maurer and Mark Dereadt placed third and also served as tournament directors

Fall Open

The clubs fall open is tomorrow at Wamplers Lake so if anyone still wants to fish we have plenty of room. The check in is 8am at the Hayes State Park launch ramp and the tournament will run from 9am until 5pm or earlier if determined at the boaters meeting. Rain is out of the forecast and sunny skies with pleasant temps are expected so feel free to show up and fish. This is a team event with the best five being weighed and this event is notoriously a big weight tourney. Hope to see a good turnout.

Classic field set

With the regular season finished the next club event will be our annual "Classic" which features the top ten finishers in the Angler of the Year standings. The tournament will be held Sunday, October 3rd at a lake to be determined that morning. This years field includes two new faces, both club rookies. The entire field looks like this:

Scott Rice

Randy Peck

Matt Morgan

Jim Rice

Mark Dereadt

Bill Maurer

Leo Knox

Roy Albert

Jerry Smith

Scott Hartman

The majority of the field has been to at least a few classics so it's old hat but for Scott Hartman and Leo Knox, this will be their first. The cool thing about this event is that it's low key and pretty casual but everyone is guaranteed money and there is no entry fee. There isn't a lot of pressure to do well and I always have a good time fishing it. Hope to have decent weather.

This coming weekend is the annual fall open which will be held on Wamplers Lake again. This is a good fund raiser for the club so if anyone is interested then contact Bill Maurer or I believe Mark Dereadt. I'm not sure about Mark so call Bill and he can steer you in the right direction. This is a team event and Wamplers can be pretty good this time of year so expect 15 pounds or so to be a good benchmark. Anyone interested in fishing can contact me as well for more info.

2010 Angler of the Year - Scott Rice

After the second tournament of the year Scott Rice approached me and told me he how bad he wasstruggling and he couldn't figure it out. Scott had weighed in one fish in the event and coupled with a poor finish at Baw Beese he was not only well out of the AOY lead but a long shot to make the top ten. I commented on how he'd make up for it the next weekend at Cadillac and didn't know how right I was. Scott dominated the field both days of the Cadillac event, winning both and getting the momentum started that would propel him to the top spot.

Scott is considered one of the best fishermen in the club and had won the AOY title in 2005 but was unable to duplicate that success until this year. He won three tournaments this year and won three in 2009 but it seems like he always had one or two stinkers every year which would prevent him from winning the coveted title. He had the stinkers this year as well but fished so well in the other events it didn't really matter.

Rice trailed Randy Peck who was looking for his first AOY title as they headed to Sleepy Hollow. Randy had a slim 1.5 pound lead but wasn't able to hold Scott off on a tough day at Lake Ovid. Randy could only bring one keeper to the scales and Scott had three fish to seal the deal. Randy had an awesome year as well and I'm sure it was disappointing for him to finish second but he should be proud of a great year.

Both anglers will participate in the "Classic" which will be held on Sunday, October 3rd on a lake to be determined. More info on the Classic qualifiers to come.

Morgan destroys field

With all the good fishermen in the club very rarely does someone dominate a tournament but this year Scott Rice did it at Cadillac and Sunday Matt Morgan did it again on Lake Ovid. Matt brought in nearly 16 pounds while everyone else struggled to catch a few keepers and bested everyone else by over 10 pounds. Matt caught two that were over 4 pounds and also took home the big bass prize. Roy Albert took second with 6 pounds and Scott Rice just under six while taking home the Angler of the Year award in the process (more on that later). Here's how Matt did it.

Practice: Matt fished Ovid only once last weekend but from previous experiences on musky lakes he figured the fish would be shallow and tight in the weeds. The vegetation on Ovid is quite thick and the best way to access these fish is by flipping jigs and plastics into the weed mats. Morgan did just that and caught several good fish in practice, honing in on a few different areas and baits. He had a good idea he'd catch them pretty good Sunday but I don't think he knew how good.

Tournament: Morgan had a few key areas that had matted weeds but were close to deeper water and went to work. He flipped a jig and a plastic grub type bait (Erie Darter by Poor Boys Baits) both in watermelon hues into the tick vegetation. The water he flipped was anywhere from 2-6 feet deep and the water tended to be a little clearer inside the weed clumps. Both baits were of the 1/2 oz variety which was critical to get the bait into the heart of the cover which Matt felt was very important. At times if the baits hung up he would shake them free and allow the jigs to free fall deep into the weeds.

The bites came early and often as Matt caught two keepers fairly early including one of his big ones. He reported catching at least twenty fish and culled twice. The heavy jigs would penetrate the weed mats and once they did, the fish would grab the bait on the fall. Matt was sure the heavy weight was the key to the technique and I'm sure it was as I flipped a 3/8 oz bait all day and had only one bite. The smaller baits just couldn't penetrate the weeds.

Most flippers try and pitch their jigs into holes or openings in the weeds but the heavier weights allowed him to go right into the jungle and winch the fish out on his 50 pound power pro braid and 7'8" flipping stick. Great job and congratulations to Scott Rice for winning the AOY title as well.

Ovid Results

1 Matt Morgan 15.94

2 Roy Albert 6.14

3 Scott Rice 5.89

4 Bill Maurer 4.06

5 Jim Rice 3.54

6 Connie Honsinger 2.33

7 Jerry Smith 2.07

8 Randy Peck 1.81

9 Art Honsinger 0

9 Kathy Maurer 0

9 Tom Curry 0

9 Scott Hartman 0

9 Matt Zelenka 0

9 Mike Mullaly 0

Big Bass #1: Matt Morgan 4.43

Big Bass #2: Roy Albert 4.34

Last minute report

Well I spent about three hours on Lake Ovid today and it was SLOW. I fished with Matt Zelienka and between us we had three bites and caught two small fish. Matt has fished the lake routinely for the past few weeks and he has seen the fishing go from good to miserable in the span of two weeks.

The water temps have dropped about ten degrees to the mid-60's over the past week and the rain today may drop it even more. I was flipping a tube and a jig and will probably do the same tomorrow, looking for bigger bites. I talked to two other club members who were on the water this weekend and the results were similar.

The good news is that the sun will be out tomorrow and maybe that will improve the fishing. Also, in a tournament like this when the bites may be at a premium it could only take a few fish to get a win so anyone could pull it off. Hope to see everyone at the launch tomorrow and drive safe.

AOY up for grabs

Just like in 2008 the Angler of the year title will come down to the final event of the season on an unfamiliar lake with several anglers still in the hunt. Randy Peck is the current leader but Scott Rice is only 1.5 lbs behind and don't count out his brother Jimbo who is about 5.5 lbs back. Randy has never won the coveted title and it will be great drama whether he can hang on or if someone will jump up and claim the trophy. Back in 08' there were three fishermen within 3 lbs of first heading into Austin Lake and then Scott Rice came in with a big stringer to almost steal the title all the way from 4th place.

Equally as interesting is the race for the last "Classic" spots. We will be taking 10 anglers this year for the club championship and rookie Scott Hartman is currently sitting in the 10th place slot. Just 5 lbs behind is Art Honsinger and 12th place belongs to Mike Pritchard who is 7.5 lbs out but definitely still in it.

The weather has cooled considerably and the latest reports have water temps on Ovid dropping 5 degrees from last weekend. Initially this could slow the bite for a few days but they might start biting come Sunday. Hopefully we'll have a good turnout for the last event of the season and good luck to everyone, especially those with a lot on the line.

Club News

Don't forget the September club meeting which will be held Thursday Sept 9th at Art Moehn Chevy. I will not be in attendance due to parent teacher conferences at my daughters school, seems like there's always something going on. Also, the tentative date has been set for the club banquet by special events director Mike Pritchard. As of now November 6th which is a Saturday looks like the day so pencil it in. The venue looks like it's locked in as well but I won't announce it until it becomes official.

As for the fishing, the weather is starting to cool down which seems like happens every year right after the holiday. I have not been on Lake Ovid since last week but plan on going Friday. I've only heard one report by a club member this past weekend and he said the fishing was pretty good so I'm looking forward to getting back up there. I'll post a more recent report later in the week as well as updated weather info.

Lake Ovid Report

I was able to spend a few hours on Lake Ovid Wednesday night and all I can say was it was interesting. First of all it took me 50 minutes to arrive at the launch from Jackson and the facility is one of the best you'll see in Michigan. Everything looks new this year and there is ample parking.

The lake is not giant but there are a lot of little ins and outs and a couple of islands in the middle. Most of the lake is shallow but several holes over ten feet are present. The West end close to the swimming beach probably has the deepest water, close to 20 foot. The water is quite dirty with visibility of around two to three feet.

There is quite a lot of vegetation and I'm not sure what type, I'm guessing milfoil. Whatever it is it gets thick and heavy mats are present throughout the lake. If you're in 8 foot of water or less, expect the weeds to be thick. Some areas are so thick that they're almost unaccessible with a trolling motor.

As far as the fishing goes, I was out with Matt Zelienka and we had about 5 bites in a little over 2.5 hours. We caught one keeper but Matt reports having some good days out there last week. As we were out there a front was coming through containing rain, cloudy skies and dropping temps. I think that probably had more to do with the tough fishing than anything, I hope anyway.

I did see lots of surface activity, so much so that it got frustrating not being able to catch much with fish jumping everywhere but I'll get out hopefully next week and try to figure something out. More reports to follow and hope everyone has a good holiday.

Directions to Lake Ovid

-From Jackson take 127 north for 47 miles to Price Rd. (exit 91)

-Exit and take a right (east) for 4.5 miles to the stop sign at shepardsville rd.

-Go straight through the stop and the state park drive is 100 yards ahead on left.

-It's a brand new launch with plenty of parking. A really nice facility.