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Date: July 14, 2019 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Walleye Time: 7 AM - 11 AM (lines in water) Conditions: Clear but hazy, unexpected Northerly wind and a 1.5-foot walleye chop decreasing over the morning; water was 72 degrees F and green-clear To be honest, I didn't have the energy or motivation to take on Lake St. Clair's bass or muskies with full-blown summer having set in. But, the walleye fishing was reportedly still solid, and that seemed to be my best option. At least, slow-trolling crawler harnesses in the abyss with the quiet of the electric motor and the prospect of a bunch of bites appealed! I stopped at the gas station before the ramp and picked up a couple of dozen crawlers. While I prefer Gulp! baits (less messy, easy to manage and have assessable, resistant to pesky, small fish, etc.) , I'm glad I did, as most bites and the two largest walleyes of the day ultimately ate real meat as opposed to my fake offerings. It was 7 AM by the time I arrived in the vicinity of Red Marker "28" on the main shipping channel and near the Canadian border. A couple of dozen boats were already in the area; folks expected walleyed to be present. I quickly set my spread of two bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses. One soft casting rod featured a double-hooked conventional harness and spinner in fire tiger; I equipped this with a juicy crawler. The other casting rod received a green Mack's Smiley blade with and orange/brown pinched Gulp! crawler. Down the middle, I set another Mack's Smiley blade (white) with half a crawler on a slow-death hook; for weight, I had a 1-ounce keel sinker. This rig was equipped with metered line, and I settled on "two colors" back (i.e., 50 feet), which seemed to keep me near bottom (20-21 feet), but not dragging. The middle rod bounced almost immediately; this fish took my bait. That was it for the first hour! Nor did I see anybody else catch anything. I maintained a down-wind and down-current speed of about 1.0 mph (+/-). Having passed through most of my previously productive waypoints, at 8 AM I was presented with a decision; to pick up and repeat this unproductive drift (most people seemed to be doing this), or continue south, into "new" water? I chose the latter, and it was good decision. Between 8 and 9 AM I scored 4 legal-sized walleyes (15-17 inches) and a few perch (from tiny to just over 10 inches.) I was releasing everything, but it was nice to know I could catch food fish if I had to! I'd had first crack at this "new" water, but the fleet was following me, now. At about 9 AM, I picked up lines and headed back north, but not all the way; I inserted myself into the fleet at about Red Marker "26". I picked up a couple of walleye on this pass, including 18- and 20-inchers. Both of these had eaten "real" crawlers, while my Gulp! remained relatively unmolested. (I did catch a variety of small perch on it this day, and lost the likely largest walleye near the boat; so it was still worth pulling!) A final pass yielded another walleye as well as a couple more perch. All rods had produced (both perch and walleye), but the real crawlers were most productive this day. I'd had visions of a quicker limit and then exploration with new techniques (aggressively jigging grubs off bottom, trolling small spoons or cranks for 'eyes, deep cranking or jerking for bass, etc.) But by now it was 11 AM, hot and calming; every power boat in southeast Michigan seemed to be on the lake. I decided to call it a day before LSC could get the best of me; I was home, in good shape, at 2 PM! What do I have to say about this? This is a relaxing way to fish, I just need to team up with somebody that would like to eat these walleye! I made two good calls this day: to get crawlers; and, to continue south into undisturbed waters. The best fishing of the day occurred as I led the fleet south; I had first crack at this group of fish. And this group seemed to stay in this same area (although I could not discern any difference in the bottom or cover.) All my walleye came from south of my previous waypoints. I got my share, too, as I saw only a single fish netted by the fleet all morning; and that fleet grew to about four dozen vessels between 9:30 and 10 AM. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Date: June 17, 2019 Body of Water: Lake St. Clair (LSC) Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Walleye and then Smallmouth Bass Time: Launched at 7:30 AM; returned to ramp at 3:30 PM Conditions: Generally overcast with a northerly wind, diminishing over the day from about 10 mph. Water was chalky green and 55 degrees offshore; very clear and 63 degrees on the spawning grounds at Memorial Park; and 65 degrees and stained to muddy in L'Anse Creuse Bay. As I drove to Lake St. Clair, I still didn't know if I was going to target smallmouth bass or walleye. I'd thrown some bottom bouncers, crawler harnesses and Gulp! into the tackle bag; when the bass get post-spawn and finicky, I've been able to rely on off-shore walleyes at this time year to keep the bites coming! But, it's been a late spring; bass were reportedly still spawning; the moon was full; and, I simply prefer bass. I would generally prefer to fish for brown bass! Upon arriving at the the ramp, though, walleye seemed like a better deal. The gray skies, north wind, walleye chop (but not so much as to make the run to the shipping channel too difficult or painful) all seduced me to try the 'eyes, at least first. I'm not much of a walleye fisherman (I'm not crazy about harvesting or eating them), but I do enjoy a peaceful day involving a simple spread of bottom bouncers, a lot of space to roam and plenty of bites. For whatever reason, mid-June walleye seem to drop down from the St. Clair River's main channel to markers 27 and 28 in the shipping channel of Lake St. Clair. I've found them there each of the last several years. Unlike previous years, this time there were no signs of mayfly husks on the water, and the water was a solid 7-10 degrees cooler than similarly timed trips in 2017 and 2018. But, a dozen or so boats had also made the trip out there, so there was at least a general expectation for some golden walleye to be present. I deployed three rods; a bottom bouncer with a small Mack's Smiley blade (silver) with a pinched Gulp! crawler (chartreuse); a bottom bouncer with a more conventional fire-tiger perch spinner dressed with a full Gulp! crawler; and a long-lined crank-bait behind the boat. (I used a variety of slender- and shad-style walleye baits, but none of these ever got hit at the slow speeds I was fishing. This presentation will not be discussed further, here.) I presented these, moving with the current and wind at about 1.0 mph (+/- 0.2 mph) with the electric trolling motor. I started just north of marker 28 and went south, along the east side of the channel, almost down to marker 24. Depths were generally 20-21 feet. The Mack and pinched bait got hit almost immediately, but the Gulp! got stolen from the hook. I re-set with high hopes, but then a lull hit the fleet. It took almost 20 minutes before I got my next bite, and a 15.5-inch walleye was welcomed aboard. I'd prefer bigger; but this size (to about 17 inches) represents the current, dominant year class; and I'm rarely in a position to bicker, when it comes to 'eyes. I'd collected another, 16+ inches and a hefty silver bass before I ended this first drift. I'd seen only one other net; the fishing was not fast and furious, but I was getting my share; I ran upstream to set up my next drift. I collected two more legal-sized walleye on this drift (as well as a tiny 12-incher). I cut this drift short on both ends. One of my fish was on a waypoint from the first drift, and several of the fish had come from a slightly deeper, mapped depression; my third and last drift now focused on this area to a greater degree. It was now about 10 AM, and I was hoping to get my fifth legal-sized "limit" fish by 11 AM; what I didn't expect was for the bite to improve to the degree by which I had 10 walleyes by 11. All but one came on the same silver Mack Smiley combo; for the third drift I'd switched out the traditional spinner harness for a chartreuse Mack Smiley blade. Strangely enough, all but the last fish continued to eat the silver blade. Perhaps color does make a difference! And I still had enough time to go bass fishing! I ran into the Mile Roads, near Memorial Park. Very few people were bass fishing, and many were out in deep (14+ feet) water. All observed appeared to have "low energy". I decided to try my trolling tactics here, switching over to cranks at 1.7 mph or so. I caught quite a few fish in 11 - 12 feet of water. Once again, KVD Flat 1.5 cranks in white perch and sexy shad produced well. At just a short cast back, these ran deep enough to occasionally tick the scruffy weeds emerging from the lake's bottom. In addition to 6 or 8 rock bass (which seemed to definitely prefer the white perch lure, to which they bore a strong resemblance in shape and color) to true trophy size, I landed three bass to 18 inches. I jumped a few bass, too. The 18-incher kept me going; those are the fish I was hoping for. But, at 1 PM, I ran away from these fish (twice in one day? Really?) to go look for more walleyes in L'Anse Creuse Bay's muddier waters. I had to run that way to return to the ramp, anyway, and I figured this was a good excuse to give this newer area (a known community hole, especially with the stained water) a legitimate shot. However, other than finding some nice, deep cabbage patches (waypoints were secured) for future efforts, nothing productive happened by the time I pulled my plug at 3 PM. What do I have to say about this? It really was a relaxing day; a full weekday of fishing with no troubles! It was good to convince myself that I can walleye fish, and it was a pleasure to soak in the peace and quiet of slow, e-trolling in the middle of this lake. I'll get back to bassing when they settle in to their summer patterns. And, my bass cranking rods with 15-pound fluoro make great bottom-bouncing rods! They telegraph bottom conditions and bites, are light enough to be sporting, and have enough backbone to handle all the fish I've encountered, so far! 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 |
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