Sunday Fishing

Fellow club member Mike Maske and I were able to get out today for a few hours and we managed to hit one of the fall hotspots mentioned here a few posts ago. One of Lake Erie's warm water discharge rivers near Monroe was our destination today and the fishing was quite good. The water temps on Erie were in the high 40's but the discharge area had water temps in the 70's. It was quite a chore getting in there with high winds and low water but well worth the effort.

There is so much activity in these areas with all the baitfish and bass surfacing and carp jumping, it's an awesome sight. Mike and I started with spinnerbaits and jigs but quickly found a deep diving crankbait to be the bait of choice. There is a lot of wood and laydowns in the river and several riprap areas so with the dirty water (about 18" visibility) a crankbait seemed to be the obvious choice.

My main weapon was an old Strike King Series 5 deep diver in a shad color and I found the fish were actually away from the bank and cover, sitting in 8-12 foot of water. Together we caught about 20 fish, 10 being keepers and our best five went about 13.5 pounds. Not huge but lots of fun and great for this late in the season.

Our big fish was a 3.7 lb. smallmouth I caught off a small point and then Mike later caught back to back fish that both went close to 3 lbs. on a Series 6 crankbait. We both also foul hooked carp that actually pulled the boat during the fight and we managed to get one of the monsters in the net. It was a great day and hopefully we'll be back before the lake ices up.

Fall Destinations

The weather has been mild this fall but it's starting to look as if the cold weather is coming quickly. Early fall bass fishing isn't much different than in the late summer but once the water cools, things change quickly. We've seen the water temps stay in the mid-50's to low 60's for a while now but should see temps in the low 50's to high 40's soon. To me this is the mid to late fall season and not every lake has good fishing available. These are a few of my favorite late season lakes to fish or ones I hope to soon.

Columbia: This is a small rerservior and fishes better in the cold months than the hot ones. Maybe it's the murky water or boat traffic, I'm not sure but I've caught em' here well into November. Matt Morgan had a great day here a few years back on New Years Day so as long as there's open water we should be able to catch them here. There is still lots of good green vegetation on Columbia and that is the key right now for any lake. If there's still good green weeds then the fish will be there.

Michigan Center: I have not personally been on Center real late in the year but local pro Jim VanAken says it gets good when the water is in the 40's. We're not there yet according to Jim and lots of good green weeds remain so I hope to get out there soon. He also recommends using shallow running crankbaits this time of year which is also my choice on Columbia.

St. Clair: This place is awesome in fall but very fickle as far as the weather goes. Muddy water is the enemy on LSC this time of year with all the rain and winds but if you get a few nice sunny days it is worth the trip. The south shore in Canada and along the southwest side contains most of St. Claires gravel and this is where you need to concentrate. A few years back Duane Mroczka and I fished on November 1st and clobbered em'. I've heard guys doing well into late November so I still may get out there.

Warm water discharges: Lake Erie and the Detroit River have a few of these and they can be phenominal during the colder months. I was on one such area this past March and while we still had some ice around here, the water temps on the "hot ponds" were in the 70's. I've heard this is the case right now and it seems like every largemouth in the lake makes it's way into the warm water. The one I fish is located near Monroe and I can be at the launch in a little over an hour and fishing shorlty thereafter. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jigs rule here and for those that don't hunt these discharge areas can greatly extend the fishing season as long as the launches stay ice free.

Weekend Fishing

I can't believe the warm fall we're having so far but the fishing is not what I'd hoped for so far and this past weekend was no different. With mild air temps near 70 and water temps still in the mid-50's I thought we'd hammer the bass but it was just the opposite. Scott Hartman and I got out for about 5 hours Saturday and total we caught about 18 fish and no keepers.

I threw crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs and plastics to no avail. I fished deep weededges, points, cuts and main lake flats. I believe the water temps are still a little warm for the fish to go on feeding binges so hopefully this cold front moving through will get the fish active.

I talked to fellow club member Jim VanAken and he had similar results on Michigan Center this weekend as well. Jim fishes Center often and claims they bite well into November and the bite is really good when the water temps drop into the 40's. I am going out this weekend and will post all the info I can. I hope this warm spell will extend the season a few weeks because I'm having tournament withdrawls already. It's too early for that.

Recreation Passport

A much cheaper alternative is what I call it but the DNR insists on "Recreation Passport" so that's what I'll refer to it as. If you have not heard yet, the DNR will allow you to purchase this "Passport" starting now and it will get you into state parks and DNR owned boat access sites instead of the old sticker system.

Under the current system, a sticker was required for entry into the state parks such as Wamplers, Lake Ovid and Portage. The access only sites such as St. Clair and Devils would require a separate sticker and at $24 apiece, I'd be shelling out close to $50 a year for stickers. Now for $10 I can purchase a passport and gain entry into both.

I renewed my truck tabs yesterday and that is when the passports should be purchased. The Secretary of State will ask if this is something you want to buy when renewing and a special plate tab will indicate you have the passport. Your registration also indicates that you have purchased the passport and this must be shown to the DNR Ranger when entering the parks.

This saves me $38 a year and I don't have to gum up my windshields anymore. I think it's a great idea, much like the permanent trailer plates from a few years ago. Hope this program sticks around awhile.

Still Fishing

With the extended warm weather fellow club member Scott Hartman and I decided to take advantage of it Sunday and try out his new boat. He just purchased a red 1999 Nitro 882 with a 150 Mercury XR6 on it and we had to break it in. Lake Columbia was close enough so we could get about three hours on the water and still make it home in time for the Lions game.

The water is still surprisingly warm at 59 degrees and a lot of green weeds still remain. The bite was slow but steady and we caught five keepers and a total of about 12 pounds. Scott caught the biggest one which is pictured above, a 4.1 pounder that inhaled a spinnerbait on a shallow stumpy flat. I caught four keepers myself with the biggest going 2.5 lbs on a jig.

The fish aren't concentrated yet and most were very skinny. I believe the next big cold front will cause the fish to go on a big feeding frenzy and hopefully we'll be there to capitalize. Neither of us hunt so fishing will be our #1 priority this fall and hopefully I'll have a few more good outings to report on. St. Clair hopefully this weekend.

October Meeting

I just got home from the clubs October meeting and I'd like to pass along a few of the highlights. First of all I'd like to congratulate Scott Hartman and Kathy Maurer on their new positions with the club. Scott took the Tournament Directors spot while Kathy will be the newsletter editor. Both will do an awesome job next year I'm sure.

Art Honsinger re-uppped as the President again but the special activities director seat is still open. This is an important post and hopefully someone will take the assignment before the new year.

Also, the banquet money was due tonight so if anyone is interested in attending then contact Mike Pritchard and let him know. The party will be at Steves Ranch House I believe and the cost is $20 for a prime rib buffet so it's a pretty good deal.

There will not be a club meeting next month so the next time we meet will be at the banquet. Decembers club meeting is when we select the lakes for next year schedule so it's not too early to start thinking about that. I haven't put the boat away yet and will not do so until all the launches are iced over so I'll keep the fishing reports coming.

Burt / Mullett

Just returned from my annual fall trip up to Burt and Mullett lakes and it was a blast as usual. We had four guys go this year and other than myself two were club members, Mike Maske and Matt Morgan. The weather plays a big role this time of year up there and we've had everything over the years from almost snowing to sunny and warm. This year was pretty good as far as the weather goes with temps in the mid 60's and sunny and the water temps were in the mid to high 50's.

We stay in a cabin at the state park and fish Friday, Saturday and a little Sunday. The first day was probably the best fishing with Mike catching a 6+ pound smallie on a spinnerbait and Matt and I catching 12-15 good ones ourselves. The fish hadn't really moved up yet do to a recent warming trend but the smallies were still showing up and eating crankbaits, tubes and spinnerbaits.

Saturday marked our annual two boat tournament on Mullett and both teams brought 19+ pounds to the scales so we called it a draw. Once again Mike Maske caught a good one over 5 pounds and I added a 5 and a 4.7 to anchor our teams sack. Mr. Maske probably caught more fish than anyone on the trip and also guided his partner to several in the four pound category which were personal bests. I also added a 24" steelhead to my resume, caught on a crankbait which is always a bonus.

Sunday was a short one and most of our time was spent idling around and marking deep cover with Matt's side-imaging electronics. It was awesome seeing logs clearly in 15 fow and I probably marked 20 such spots. Hopefully there will be big fish bedding on these coordinates when I return next June. We also did a little fishing and Matt and I caught about a 15 pound limit in ten minutes off a large point on Burt to end a good trip.

The weather was great, we caught big fish and I got to spend time with three good guys, what more could you ask for. We ate more than you can imagine and unfortunately we probably drank more beer than we should have but what else are you going to do all night in a 12" x 12" cabin? Can't wait until next June.

Club Meeting

I gave the wrong date in my last post about the October club meeting. The correct date will be next Thursday the 14th at 7pm. Sorry about the bad info. I will be heading up to Burt Lake tomorrow with club members Mike Maske and Matt Morgan to do a little smallmouth fishing and hope to have plenty of good pictures when we get back. Hope the weather cooperates.

Classic Pattern

I don't ever remember a year when there have been more "blowout" wins at our club events. Matt Morgan did it at Ovid, Scott Rice at Cadillac and Randy Peck dominated at St. Clair. It was pretty much the same at the club championship this past Sunday at Gillettts lake when Jim Rice caught a limit and culled a few times while the next closest competitor brought three fish to the scales.

I talked to Jimbo afterward and although the water temps were around 55 degrees, he caught most of his fish throwing crankbaits. A shallow running Manns Baby-1 minus did the damage early and later in the day when the fish were deeper he switched to a Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crank. Rice commented that most of the fish he caught literally swallowed the bait and he needed pliers to remove the hooks.

The early bite was up shallow and that's when the 1-Minus shines, diving to only a foot or so. When the fish moved deeper the better bite was out on the flats close to deep water and that's where I saw Jim spend the majority of the day. Rice also caught about 20-25 short fish, an incredible statistic considering the bite was so tough. Mark Dereadt managed to finish second and also bring in the big fish of the day, a 3 1/2 pound largemouth. Although there are smallies present at Gilletts, none were brought to the scales on this cold windy day.

Great job everyone who made the Classic and don't forget about the meeting this coming Thursday when we elect new board members and turn in our banquet forms.

Classic Results

Gilletts Lake - 2010 Classic

1 Jim Rice 9.28

2 Mark Dereadt 7.92

3 Leo Knox 5.28

4 Jerry Smith 4.59

5 Scott Hartman 3.88

6 Matt Morgan 1.54

7 Scott Rice 1.51

8 Roy Albert 1.28

9 Randy Peck 0

10 Bill Maurer 0

Big Bass #1: Mark Dereadt 3.85

Big Bass #2: Jerry Smith 2.89