Bass attack!

Lately, I have been doing extremely well fishing for bass, and I believe the secret to all my success is the wacky worm.  During the past month or so, I have been hammering bass using this technique wherever I go.  It has even produced five 18-inchers and many more bass over 15 and 16 inches.  

Now, for those of you who do not know what a wacky rig is, I take a senko worm and hook it through the middle.  This is a little more technical than using just any hook.  You have to use a special wacky hook for increased hook-ups and you can use rubber bands so you don't lose as many worms.   Here is a photo with some examples:

The method is to cast out as far as you can, usually along a weed edge, and let it fall to the bottom. Then you give the rig two to three pops every ten seconds or so and then let it fall back to the bottom. Many of the strikes will occur on the fall;  when you go to do the popping motion, you will hook your fish.  I have also enjoyed success with quick, two-second pauses, and then reeling the rig back. When you use this technique, you want a long, sensitive rod, so you can feel the light bites and keep in touch with the light lure.  

Several times in May, I have caught more than 12 bass in just a couple of hours! I can tell you from experience, the wacky worm works!

The Maple River State Game Area

For several years, people have suggested that I visit the floodings in the Maple River State Game Area to fish for pike, crappie, and maybe even a bowfin.  I finally went there this past Saturday, in an area just to the west of U.S. 127 in southern Gratiot County.  I did catch some small pike, and I suspect there was a bigger pike right nearby, as something was striking at my bait.  I think this fish might have been about 28 inches long.  I was using gold shiners as bait.  

There were mosquitoes everywhere because this is kind of a swampy place.  I scouted this area back in the winter with a friend and we saw a couple of guys spearing bowfin.  A huge pile of decaying bowfin is still there, and was causing the place to smell pretty bad.  The fresh scent of springtime was not in the air!

The water where I fished seemed pretty stagnant and I didn't see any pan fish, which is a little unusual.  I wonder about the extent of the food sources in the floodings as compared to the Maple itself.  If you're a bird watcher, I think this would be a good place to visit, but if you're an angler, there might be better choices along the Maple close by, like the dam in Elsie, where I caught a huge number of rock bass during Memorial Day Weekend in 2014.

The Pike of Spring

The pike in the Looking Glass river in DeWitt are hungry as we head into May.  On May 3, I was surprised to see two pike in the Glass that I was unable to catch the weekend before.  These pike were spoon-fed, and were notorious for nosing up to my bait, but not taking it.  But this weekend, down at the east end of the riverfront park, they hit my bait again and again.  When the action at the east end of the park died down, I went down by the Bridge Street bridge and tossed out an eight-inch sucker, not expecting to catch anything with a bait that size.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the line shooting off the bail of my spinning reel.  I saw the line stop, so I closed the bail and snapped the hook into the pike's snout.  At first, it felt like I was snagged on a log, by then I felt the tell-tale pull of a nice pike.  It was actually a quick fight, as I was trying to make sure the fish did not get tangled up in all the debris around the bridge.  The pike I scooped up was 28 1/2 inches.

Recently, I noticed an increase in the number of pike in the Looking Glass.  It seems like the pike population has recovered from what I think was a die-off in 2012.

Another good spot early this pike season is the Meridian Township park, behind the mall in Okemos.  Just recently, I was able to pull in a 30-incher there as well.

Meanwhile, I did some bass fishing at a friend's pond in DeWitt this weekend, and the bite was on there, too.  May is a good time to catch up with those hungry fish!