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Date: August 4, 2018 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Smallmouth Bass Time: 6:45 AM -1:45 PM (Fishing time; plenty of other travel time!) Conditions: Hot (90+), clear and calm. Water was 76 degrees F, green but very clear; more than 15 feet of visibility I returned to the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair, but this time for bass. Observations during previous trips, available intel and the results of recent tournaments all indicated that there are plenty of bass to be caught over there! I focused first on the Belle River Hump. I figured this structure could concentrate the bass, and it's a bit weedier than the surroundings. I almost immediately caught a rock bass on a Ned Rig in about 16 feet of water, but over the next several hours of scouring the Hump with jerks, cranks, Ned and a drop-shot, I only caught a small perch. Nobody within my visibility seemed to be doing much, either. By 10 AM or so, I was selecting features off my electronic mapping. Whether the water was just a little deeper, an inside turn more prominent, whatever; I figured this could lead me to something a little different that might concentrate, and therefore hold, some fish. Working a "hole" that was just a foot or so deeper than the surroundings with a DT16 crank, I finally saw a fish following my crank. A couple of casts later with Ned, I swung and hooked up! It was just a drum, but a fine one; and now, at least, I'd had a bit of fishing fun for the day! I selected my next spot off the map; a slightly deeper, irregular hole immediately off a "point" in the 15-foot contour. This spot pretty much looked and felt like most of the other areas I'd fished (the holes were slightly less weedy, though), and after a few preliminary casts with a jerk and a crank, I tossed Ned into about 18 feet of water. I got bit at the end of this long cast and set the hook. The bass was soon visible, and seemed to be pretty small. But I was fooled by the distance and the startling clarity; as I worked the fish closer, I knew it was better. By the time she was close, she was pulling hard! I was ultimately very pleased to slip the net under this feisty 18-incher! In the next half hour, a nearby boat caught a bass; and I caught another, smaller (14-inch) bass. This spot had something a little better to offer the bass; but I still don't know exactly what it was. With an hour or so left, I returned to the Dumping Grounds in Michigan; I'd caught a fine bass there during my last trip. I hoped to fire up an aggressive school of bass in this area with a jerk-bait; unfortunately, that just did not happen! What do I have to say about this? I found a couple of bass in new-to-me spots; and one of these bass was fine! I just never found the right concentration of fish this day. I'm not really sure how to either, other than to spend the time searching. Of course, the conditions were tough; flat and smooth, with bright skies and very clear water. I didn't see much else going on with other boats; so maybe it was just a slow bass day. So much to figure out! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Date: July 15, 2018 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair - Canadian side Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Muskellunge Time: 6:30 AM - 2 PM Conditions: Hot, clear, calm and buggy! Water temperatures ranged from 76 - 79 degrees, air temp 75 - 95. Water ranged from clear and blue to emerald green to murky green depending upon location. Lake St. Clair is likely the most productive muskellunge destination. And yet, I've not yet landed one from LSC. A couple of touches and a couple of follows; but none in the net! Armed with an Ontario, Canada fishing license and some intel on a new-to-me ramp at the head of the Detroit River, I decided to cross the border and cover some water, trolling for muskies. I'd picked a good day to try this; it was dead calm. I was able to exit the river and make an unimpeded run to wherever I chose to fish! It's about a 25-minute run from the ramp to the vicinity of the Belle River Hump along LSC's southern shoreline. This major structural element divides the southern basin in approximately half. By 7 AM, there were already congregations of bass anglers at two spots in 18 or 20 feet of water, just a bit west of the hump. There were a few muskie casters, too. I set lines in 18 feet and started my first Muskie Quest of 2018. My spread consisted of a "down" rod with a large, yellow and gold Spanky bucktail spinner in the prop wash; and a crank-bait on a flat line. I started with, and kept returning to, a Rapala Super Shad Rap (perch and white perch colors) as my confidence bait. I typically trolled between 4 and 4.5 mph, but varied speeds over the course of the day from about 3.5 to 5 mph. I varied the distance back to the cranks from 25 to 100 feet; and I checked lures for weeds or to change presentations very 15 minutes at a minimum. I introduced other spinners and lures (Storm Giant Stick Shad, various Bucher Raiders, etc.) over the course of the day. I covered lots of water, from the surface to about 15 feet down, in depths from 10 to 20 feet of water. Perhaps the water here was too clear, or perhaps the weeds were not yet fully developed. But, after working the hump (both edges and the spine) for an hour and a half to no avail, and having not encountered any muskie trollers here, I ran another 20 minutes east to near Stoney Point. The water here was quite a bit greener, and there were a number of muskie trollers and casters between here and the east side of the Belle River Hump. Some were in 10 feet of water, and some were in deeper water along the horizon. Despite my confidence in the stained water here, after a couple of hours I decided to relocate again. Mitchell Bay, on LSC's eastern shore, was within easy reach; but with this being my first effort at this, I decided to fish my way back towards Detroit. I picked up the southern shore around Puce River and worked my way westward in 10 to 14 feet of water. With no action and no other fishermen around, I bailed on this pretty quickly and located the Dumping Ground and The Ridges in the Michigan waters between the shipping channel and the international border. Here, I could use three rods, so I added a flat-line with a Bucher Depth Raider to the spread. At about 1 PM, along the northern border of The Ridges in about 17 feet of water, the white perch Super Shad Rap (30 feet back) got crushed at about 4 mph. It wasn't the muskie I'd hoped for, but it was a dandy smallmouth from a new-to-me area! The skunk had been avoided! But I was hot, tired and due home. I'd covered at least 40 miles at high speed, had trolled for over 20 miles, and had an urban drive home. I gave it another half hour before taking advantage of the easy run back to the St. Jean boat ramp. Other than for a traffic delay on I-96, I'd have been home on time. What do I have to say about this? I'll do this again! Other than the incredibly abundant insects in the hot, humid, calm conditions of the morning (at least they didn't bite), this was a pretty pleasurable way to access the Canadian side of this fishery. I'm not quite certain what was "off" for my muskie fishing; I tried to vary speeds, lures, depths, etc. as much as possible, and I tried several areas. While no muskies revealed themselves this day, they will, eventually. And I did find this more engaging than throwing Big Rubber to the expanses. Once the fish reveal themselves, I can do that as a follow-up, with confidence! I saw a couple of dandy bass get caught around the Belle River Hump, too. The Ridges might be a good, future jerk-baiting or swim-baiting area, and the eddies, marinas and shoreline cover of the upper Detroit River probably warrant some attention, too. Once I re-fill Numenon's gas tank, I'll be able to better judge my fishing range for the day. Maybe I'll be adding the vast Canadian expanse of LSC's basin and/or Mitchell Bay and the Thames River mouth to my list of reasonably realistic day-trip destinations. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: June 24, 2018 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Walleye Time: 6:15 AM - 11:30 AM Conditions: Cloudy and 65 degrees with mild SW winds; but wind swinging to NW and persistent rain developing. Mid-lake water was clear, emerald green and about 64 degrees F. Tons of insects hatching (stones, caddis, mayflies.) I decided to take advantage of the change in seasons by doing something different; I chose to target walleye. I'd already caught a few while bass fishing here, and there is obviously a strong year class of "eaters"; many were saying it was the best walleye fishing in the system in years, if not decades. I was greeted at the gas station by a dozen or more tricked-out bass rigs. I then followed them into the park to wait with a dozen more rigs for access to the launch. I was pleased not to be targeting bass; these guys would have been a disruption to my plans. All went smoothly enough, but I was surprised that this launch was hosting such a large tournament. I asked the gent in the adjacent lane what time they would return for weigh-in, and he replied in a Southern drawl that this was not a tournament; they were here to practice for the tournament starting on Thursday! The air was filled with mayflies as I cruised down the channel. At the lake, conditions were gray and calm; I decided to run to the shipping lane and target the area from markers 26 to 28. The flat on the east side of the channel, adjacent to the Canadian border is a well-documented community hole. Even I had caught a couple of walleyes there a year ago! With the mild wind generally from the south, I chose to set up a bit upwind of my 2017 waypoints. My plan was to slowly troll with the electric motor, presenting bottom bouncers off each corner of the stern, and a weighted flat line farther back. My baits of choice were Mack's Smile blades with Gulp! pinched crawlers; or a standard crawler harness in fire-tiger with a real crawler. Once I adjusted my weights to stay on bottom in 19-foot depths at my dialed-in speed of 1.2 - 1.4 mph, the bites started accumulating quickly. The real crawler produced more bites, but the Gulp! seemingly produced slightly larger fish. Using bass casting tackle designed for cranks, detecting bites was easy and the fish were sporty enough. It was relaxing and fun! The first walleye came aboard just after 7 AM, and I secured my virtual limit (eight walleyes over 15 inches; all were released to continue growing) by 8 AM. The walleye ranged from 15 to 17 inches; and by this time, there were dozens of boats fishing this general area. Fortunately, my bites were a bit farther south than the main pack, and so I chose to work this spot with just a couple of companions. By 9 AM, I'd doubled my walleye catch and had also encountered a couple of perch and white bass, too. But the 'eyes were all the same size; I was no longer learning; the bite was slowing, and the lake was pretty calm. So I decided to relocate; and set up in about 14 feet of water outside the 9-Mile Tower. I almost immediately caught two 12-inch smallmouth bass. It was surprisingly weedy here, though, so I moved a bit north. As the weeds thinned out, the skies in front of me darkened. Now fishing in 16 or 17 feet of water north of 12-Mile, the flat-line got slammed! I immediately knew it wasn't a walleye; after a dogged fight including a few nice runs near the boat, it turned out to be a giant drum. Unfortunately, the small hook bent and pulled just before I could coax the fish into the net. At about this time, a persistent rain started; and it didn't look like it was going to stop. When the next fish was another walleye of the same year class, I decided I'd had enough. The boat was back on the trailer by Noon, and I was home by 2 PM or so. That gave me the rest of the day to watch the Sox and get ready for Maine! What do I have to say about this? This was a nice change of pace and let me shift gears from intense bass fishing to the intense striper fishing I will tackle over the week of July 4. The day's mission was certainly accomplished! Next stop - Casco Bay! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: May 13, 2018 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: A Target: Smallmouth Bass Time: 8:45 AM to 2:30 PM (Fishing time) Conditions: Calmer than expected (!); winds ENE at 5 mph; water was generally stained to muddy, and the best fishing was where water was green with 3+ feet of visibility. Water temps generally 55 - 58 degrees F. Skies were initially cloudy but cleared. Air temperatures were 45 - 60 degrees F. We arrived at our destination off 11 or 12 Mile Road to find conditions very similar to my last outing; so, as planned, we picked up our cranks and started covering water. Pretty quickly, a big drum picked up the tube we were dragging from a rod holder; and soon thereafter, I tagged a nice bass in the 2.5-pound range. We were off to a strong start! A fast and furious bite never developed, but over the next few hours I caught another half dozen bass, a silver bass and a walleye. All were on the same, Sexy Shad KVD crank in about 8.5 feet of water. Most importantly, they were the right bass, including the largest smallie of the season to date, a very fat, 20-plus incher. Meanwhile, A tried a variety of cranks, only to score a couple of white bass. Perhaps technique does matter. We ended our short day with a run north to L'Anse Creuse Bay, where more folks were walleye fishing in the muddy water. We peacefully slow-trolled crawler harnesses and Gulp! worms south to near our bass fishing area. Searching in 8 to 11 feet of water at speeds of about 1.2 mph, we had four solid hits (each of our three presentations was hit, regardless of color, bottom-bouncer weight or suspended with an in-line weight), but we managed to land only a single, sub-legal largemouth bass. This segment of the trip was both pleasant and informative. What do I have to say about this? The cold front over the last couple of days did prevent the bass from progressing with their spawn; and my plans for the day actually worked out nicely. I provided a gentle introduction to LSC for A, I found some crank-bait bass right where I expected them to be, and it was generally a very pleasant outing. Even the "walleye" fishing worked out! Plus, I caught a truly large brown bass; Nice! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: May 11 , 2018 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Smallmouth Bass Time: 6:45 AM to 2:30 PM (Fishing time) Conditions: Windier than expected (again); winds were solid 10 - 15 mph and NE, 180 degrees from last trip; water was generally stained to muddy, but the best fishing was where water was green with 2 - 3 feet of visibility. Water temps from consistently 59-60 degrees F. Skies were initially clear but clouds and heavy rain developed. Air temperatures stayed a consistent and surprising 45 degrees F. First to arrive at the Lake St. Clair Metropark launch, I cleared the channel at about 6:30 AM and was set up in about 9 feet of greenish water off 11 or 12 Mile Road by 6:45 AM. The water temperature was about 59 degrees, and with the wind conditions in this exposed location, I knew I wanted a horizontal presentation. I figured I'd alternate between the KVD Sexy Shad crank and a jerk-bait until the fish told me what they wanted. It didn't take long; about five casts in, I swung and connected with a healthy 17-incher. Once again, I thought it might be a great day! Subsequent casts yielded a nice keeper walleye (gyotaku-bound!), a white bass and a feisty rock bass. I also briefly connected with a heavy, unseen fish. All this on my favorite spring crank, while the pink X-Rap (so productive last trip) produced only a single white bass. There was only one other boat around, and there's something about Lake St. Clair that makes one think one can do better, elsewhere. So, I left these fish and headed south, past the Edsel Ford House. I'd hoped to make the run before it got too rough; I did not. Conditions were now solidly gray and raw. With the increased fetch, seas were a solid two feet. This made the water here too muddy and boat control next to impossible. After just a few casts, I relocated to the productive sea-wall from the last trip. Here the water was just as muddy and conditions were downright dangerous. This was all wasted time. I ran north to L'anse Creuse Bay, hoping to get out of the wind and perhaps find some clearer water. But the water here was hopelessly muddy for bass, so I turned south again. As I headed south, I could see that the submerged point at about 15 Mile Road was perhaps deflecting the muddy outflow of the Clinton River and cut-off out into to the lake; and the protected "eddy" from here to the south was likely the clearest water available to me on this day. (At least in the pre-spawn depth range that I felt most comfortable with for finding bass this day.) Since this area has produced my biggest ever LSC Bass, I set up once again in about 10 feet of water, on the clearer side of a color edge. I continued to cast a variety of cranks while dragging a 3.5-inch tube jig (greenish brown; it matched the water quite well), presented via rod holder. By now, it had been more than a couple of hours since my last fish. I was pleased with this area when the tube produced a couple of small brown bass (14.1 and 14.5 inches) and a fully grown freshwater drum. Again, these weren't the fish I really wanted, so went back to my starting area. I now appreciated the relative clarity of the water here. I also knew there were some bass present, I had lots of history from multiple years here, and I knew they might continue to eat cranks. Plus, one of them could always weigh six or seven pounds; what more motivation could one ask for? After an initial drift, I made a slight change in depth and quickly caught a white bass. Not my target, but life! And, confirmation that my crank (I was back to throwing the KVD Sexy Shad) was visible to the fish! Plus, this fish was at the same depth as my first, early-morning bass. It made me confident to continue to throw this particular crank in this particular area. I was then quickly rewarded with a fat, 3-pound bass. Over the next 90 minutes or so, I enjoyed some really fine fishing. All ate this same crank, and all were from about 8.5 feet of water (+/-). I refined my retrieve and cadence, and my location, too; I was no longer wasting time, I was making the most of what I had left. The bass were all over 17 inches, up to a fat 18.5-incher that I'll claim weighed four pounds. "Culling" three of my initial, smaller bass, my final "limit" (virtual; no fish were kept) was conservatively between 15 and 16 pounds. Not too bad, given these conditions; and possible only because of perseverance. Bonus catches included a nice, 20-inch class walleye, a feist channel cat of about four pounds, and a couple of additional white bass and rock bass. I also missed a couple of fish, but these were unseen and so cannot be identified; but at least one seemed substantial. What do I have to say about this? This cold front will prevent the bass from continuing their spawn; and Sunday looks like a decent weather day. I hope to successfully introduce A to Lake St. Clair. I hope we find some crank-bait bass, but if it's other fish, that's okay, too. In fact, I'm bringing some walleye gear just in case I've lost a clearer-water window as the rains continue; I suspect that slowly trolled cranks or crawler harnesses will generate a few bites. Meanwhile, I'm feeling pretty good about this tough fishing day; I succeeded under pretty tough conditions. I also lost my windsock along a windward, rocky shore and lost steering functionality of my trolling motor steering. Any of these are not good things that might have derailed me to a certain extent in the past. Now, they're just part of the story of the day, nowhere near powerful enough for me to conclude that it was anything but Another Fine Day! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: May 5 , 2018 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Smallmouth Bass Time: 7:15 AM to 3:45 PM (Fishing time) Conditions: Windier than expected and a day after a tremendous blow; winds were solid 15 mph and SSW, as opposed to the WSW and < 10 mph predicted; but water was green and chalky clear with visibility of about 4 feet and so very fishable. Water temps from 54 degrees F (AM; Edsel Ford House) to almost 60 degrees F (Mile Roads in later afternoon.) Skies were generally clear with scattered clouds, temps from 55 to 75 degrees F. Third to arrive for the day at the St. Clair Metropark ramp, I cleared the channel just a few minutes after sunrise. It was clearly a bit windier than forecast, and the southern fetch eliminated any thoughts of fishing L'Anse Creuse Bay. Instead, I pointed Numenon toward the 9 Mile Tower and made the 20-minute run to the Edsel Ford House. Here, a dozen or so boats were already working the point to the north. I set up a half mile south and deployed the wind sock in about 6 or 7 feet of water. The water temperature was 54 degrees F, and clarity was favorable. I chose to alternate every few casts through a Berkley Cutter jerk-bait; a Berkley War Pig rattle-bait; and a KVD Sexy Shad mid-depth crank. After about 12 minutes of casting, my crank's cadence was interrupted by a faint tick; I swung and the rod loaded. My first Lake St. Clair fish of the season was a very fat, 18-inch, near-4-pound smallie from 8 or 9 feet of water; this was a great start! I continued casting the crank (while mixing in the jerk and the Pig to keep things honest) while expanding my search radius both shallower and to the north. I also placed a rod with a tube in a holder to scout the bottom; this revealed lots of rocks, especially in about 6 feet of water. By 9 AM, I'd still not had a another bite, and the several dozen boats in my vicinity had apparently only caught a few fish. Others' tactics seemed to be divided between dragging plastics on the bottom and jerking. I've had this location turn on and produce a heavy limit in very short time; I gave it another half hour before I pulled stakes and relocated to the heavily developed shoreline to the north of the 9 Mile tower. I'd never fished this area, but it was calm and peaceful. It reminded me, too, of Muskegon Lake, and so I decided to fish it like Muskegon Lake. Instead of hanging in 6 - 12 feet of water like the other boats, I tucked in along a stretch of rip-rap. The water's temperature here was 56 degrees F. An initial cast with a pink Rapala X-Rap jerk caught a 14.25-inch largemouth from right along the rocks. Shortly thereafter, I thought I'd perhaps missed a fish; I pitched in a Z-Man Finesse Jig (PB&J), and an identical green bass came aboard. This fish was followed immediately by a nice rock bass. There were definitely fish among these rocks! I crossed a channel and picked up a long stretch of rip-rap that I could drift and cast along, instead of into. The pink jerk seemed a bit too garish for largemouth, so I switched to a green crew-colored Rapala DT4; I cast this to the color line at the edge of the water's visible range, and banged it hard along the rocks. My first cast was greeted by another nice largemouth; and this bait and stretch provided at least three more bass in the next 20 minutes. These included a remarkably fat, 16.5-inch largemouth that weighed in at 3 pounds; and a nice smallie, too, that weighed at least 2.5 pounds. This fish smashed the bait right at my feet for a very pleasant surprise. The day had quickly turned from a bit of a struggle to a satisfying grind; at 10:30 AM, my five best legal bass (two brown, three green) weighed approximately 12.25 pounds. Time to find some more new water! I hit another bay with some prominent rip-rap; it looked promising, but perhaps was too shallow; I had no action in here. I returned to the productive wall at Jefferson Marina and gave it another pass, but caught nothing this time. At Noon, I was heading north toward water familiar to me. Boats were scattered from 5 to 12 feet of water. I stopped in about 6 feet of water, south and upwind from an area loaded with waypoints from a May 2015 trip. I knew bass spawn here, and having secured a legal "virtual limit", I was willing to try to upgrade my weight. I still had plenty of time, and I was hoping to replace any of my fish below 3 pounds with solid smallmouth specimens. Once again, an initial cast was eaten. While the smallmouth bass was sub legal-sized, it devoured the pink X-Rap with abandon. When another cast a few minutes later was eaten in a similar manner by a 14.25-incher, I felt confident in this approach and bait. For the next couple of hours, I control-drifted from 6 to about 8 or 9 feet of water. Ninety percent of my casts were with the pink jerk-bait; occasionally I threw a crank or Pig. I caught at least half a dozen smallmouths to 17 inches. I caught my fish of the day, a 19-inch, near-5-pound smallmouth that T-boned the X-Rap. She really wanted it! She almost made up for the fish I'd lost a few casts earlier; that smallmouth, I believe, was an easy 6-pounder. Darn it! All this action was just to the south of the "Big White Tent" along the shore that provided my visual cue for that 2015 trip. The tent wasn't up yet for this year, but the frame was! At this point, I'd "culled" all the largemouths except the real fatty. I'd achieved all my goals for the day; a 19-incher and a "limit". Moreover, that "limit" totaled about 17 pounds; pretty good for a tough, windy day! I tried to repeat my success here at my 400 Club location; and it worked here too, on several 15-inch class smallmouths. These were fun but didn't help my bottom line; the one fish that might have disengaged from the chase right at boat-side; she looked to be an easy 4-pounder. She appeared right on a waypoint from last year, and specifically from the day last year when I caught a 6-pounder here. There might be something about that spot; I'll have to keep trying to figure that out. At 3:45 PM, I was pounding north; and even though the lake and park were extremely busy, I was able to pull the boat out with no wait or problems at all. What do I have to say about this?This was a Big Day; there was lots of travel, effort and action. It felt good, though, to be back on the water and to see what might happen. And on Lake St. Clair, you never really do know what might happen; so it's probably always worth going! Along the way, too, I caught a white bass. This was the first harvestable fish I've caught this season, and so it became my Gyotaku test subject. More on that later, perhaps. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
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