Michigan Bass Fishing

[michbassman1]

Bass are just getting started here , The males have just left the bedding areas and the big momma's are coming up to spawn now..........:)

[gofish]

largemouth or smallmouth? some lakes here theyre still not bedding good yet.mainly due to high water im thinking.theyre staged but just not moving in to do their thing.easy fishing though

[capt.kirk]

I was going to keep this to my self,because i dont have any pictures
to prove what im about to tell you,the wife was gone and the camara
was in the car,well here it is,on my end of the channel we have a lot of
cattails and i was setting here watching some movement around the
weeds and cattails,so i grabbed a rod with a 7 inch purple culprit worm
and my lawn chair and set out to catch one,as i have done before,some
6lb to 10lb in the past Well i made 6 casts and around 44lb of bass,lost
one with a mouth as big as a gallon bucket,as i usually do I put them
back,then here comes a near 12 pounder,i wanted to get a picture when
she got home so i have a full 40 gal aquraium with no fish in it,so i bring
the fish in that was still in shock much like myself,so i proceed to put
the bass in there and he was laying quietly on the bottom,so being the
smart person that i am i closed the lid and set a heavy antique pitcher
on top of the lid and went back out fishing and she still wasant home
with the camara,so i came in to find a broken pitcher.and a very upset
bass flopping around under a knocked loose lid and light hood,well by the
time i got hold of the bass i was soaked,the carpet was wet,but i was
able to get hold and put the fish back from where he came,i was still out
fishing when she came home,and she came out and said WHAT THE HELL
HAPPENED while i was gone,and i told her and she started laughing at
the whole deal,and i still cant belive that all this happining to me,I have
never caught that kind of weight in one week let alone in less than an hour,
as i set here looking out back at the water i am seeing some movement
so you know where i am headed now.HARD TO BELIVE??I can understand
that because i would be wondering, if some one told me this story,without
pictures to back it up!!!:cool:
KIRK

[michbassman1]

Largemouth mostly , Smallie's have already been up and spawned i beleive , Probably by this weekend or the middle of next week they'll be hot and heavy , Michigan just started a new catch and release progam this year, opens this weekend, let ya know how things went.......

[michbassman1]

Catch and release opened on friday here in michigan for the first time , Couldn't make to opener , But got out today for a few hours , My brother caught a nice 5 lbs. largie , All i got were average largies , I slayed the litttle to nice bass, but my borther got a nice one, Water temp on the lake is still below spawn temp but should be a slam fest by next week or so , Pic are posted in gallery

[michbassman1]

Hit the St. joe river today , Smacked the hell out of the largemouth , but no size, all small to average males in the shallows , Tried to hit the deeper drop off with no luck , Water temp was in the high 50's, beleive the bass have spawned all ready in the St joe above the dam , Rained on us almost all day , winds were 15-25 mph , water was very milky and stired up , posted pic in gallery of a average 2.5 lbs. laregemouth caught by my brother, was the biggest fish of the day.........

[gofish]

cool ,my boy had me take him striper fishing sat. did catch a couple largemouth prespawn on a ledge in a cove getting out of the wind though.they loved the floatin rattle trap.boy got 2 little ones,i ended up with 3 one about 3lbs

[Schoe]

It sounds like you boys have had a lot of fun with the Bass. Thank you all with the updates and info. Schoe

[michbassman1]

Hey GOFISH, never tried striper fishing ??, Is it almost the same principals as bass fishing ?? , Do you know of any Michigan lakes containing stripers ??? , As far as i know there are none .......

[gofish]

think BIG for baits. 6 inch and up is what i use. i think there are a few lakes in southern michigan with the hybrids.

[michbassman1]

Been fishing for yrs. in michigan never heard of any, let me know if you hear of any , ok ?? , Am strictly a bass fisherman here.........

[gofish]

sometime try putting the bass fishing knowledge (structure )towards other species,youll be suprised how easy it makes it. boys are getting older so put my serious bassin on the back burner for a couple years.got em throwing crankbaits and topwaters so so.but theyd rather catfish.lol

[Miss_UnDer_Stood]

I love to use shiner minnows..The bass in this part of Michigan sure knock the heck out of them...

[capt.kirk]

I still have several old CREEK CHUB baits that were made in GARRET IN.
I still use them at times and they still produce,I shold put them in a display
case before i lose any of them they are dated from 1922 till they went out
of business.:cool: KIRK

[Timotha7]

Kirk
If I am not mistaken those old creek chubs are serious collectors items
you ought to check em out on some of the antique lure sites, like anything
else if it is somthing that collectors want the prices can get ridiculous

[capt.kirk]

Yes Tim they have a lot of value,some bring huge bucks if you still have
the box,i bought most of mine when we lived close to that town,and at
time i wanted the baits and didnt care about the box 1 of those blond
things,last count best i can remember is 178 baits,just cant bear to
part with them,BUT if the right price would come along i might part
with all but 2 that i still use and would swim with alligators to retrive if
they got broke off.:D KIRK

[Timotha7]

I know how you feel bout them, my grandpa worked with Kautsky up in Ft Dodge Iowa on Lazy Ike lures when they first put them out, I have some of them in the box stored at my parents that go back to when they used to put the lures in box with a little "clipping" that looked like newspaper and had pictures of fishermen an fish with little story on them

LOL one of them, a Tiger stripe, had a picture of a small boy with a big bass an back in 84 or 85 a buddy of mine and I just looked in Des Moines phone book an found the fishermans son an talked to him, gave him and his family the lure an clipping to have

I put them up with boxes bout 8 years ago but I fished them hard up till then

Got some of his old shakespeare "jeweled" casting reels too
Those things were what made me like spinning reels :D Grandpa could go out in yard with his metal poles an dacron line on those things an hit a coffee
can bout every time with a casting plug
I used them an had to have 30 yards of that nasty dacron cut off my arms to free me from the reel :rolleyes:

Tim

[capt.kirk]

Thats how i learned to cast,using a bucket,and belive it or not i still
practice some times with a casting plug try and hit turtles or small gators on the head,one time i hit a baby gator and he took it in his mouth and
came right back with it,we got a picture of that some where.:cool: KIRK

[Timotha7]

LOL bet a lot of us learned to cast with cans or bucket an them rubber plugs

Used to sit out front with the old Zebco 202's and toss them for hours
I still got some of those 202 combos put up somewhere in mom and dad's basement

They were great! Then upgraded to the old Johnson centurys

Those were just great days, loading up with everything we could carry an
riding the bikes out to the farm ponds round here

Many a nite one of the moms would have to come get us, drive behind us
cuz it was so dark

Fishing sure has gotten sophisticated since them days :D

[capt.kirk]

Tim,you sure hit it on the head about the new tackle,we used to fish
some of those old farm ponds,some at night without being invited;)
I received a custom built rod with a garcia 7000 ambassadeur from a
good friend of mine,and it is the first of that type that i have,it had been
setting here a while so i got it out and spooled it with Stren 65lb super
braid line,and was setting here in the house in my office chair getting the
drag set and adjusting the tenison and started flipping it into the living
room,must have had the tenison a little loose,about flipped the sinker
that i was using thru the living room window,i was advised that maybe
it would be better to take it outside,I know a threat when i hear one.:p
KIRK

[Timotha7]

LOL I don't know bout a sinker, but..With 5 cats a rubber plug on the end of a rod might be kinda fun arouind the house :D