Pre-ice bass

Despite some difficult weather conditions, I have had some success fishing in the second half of November at the North Lansing Dam along the Grand River in the Old Town area of Lansing.

Although water temps are probably just a little above freezing, I have still managed to catch a few bass.  My rig for this has been a fairly heavy split shot, running down to a size-4 live bait hook.  My best technique has been lip-hooking a gold shiner and letting it drift in the current naturally.  Although the bass I have caught have not been huge, they fight harder than many fish do this time of the year.

 I have also heard reports of pike being caught in Old Town, but have not recently caught one there myself.  Fishing has been a little hit or miss, but with good bait and consistent tactics, you should have some success at the North Lansing Dam!

The Pike of November Remembered

This weekend I went fishing for pike in the Looking Glass, although by this time in the year, my success with esox luscious (northern pike) starts to fade. 

I started the day fishing all the pools with cover near-by, but did not get so much as a follow, nor did I see any pike. Through the course of the day I did not have any luck, and that lasted until I got to my last spot of the day, under the Bridge Street bridge at DeWitt's Riverside Park.  My spirits were dwindling as I fished this spot for about 20 minutes with nothing happening.  Then, the idea of trying to catch a smallmouth popped into my head.  I tied on a 3 1/2 -inch green pumpkin tube, and started to poke around.  It wasn't long until I had what I first thought was a very nice smallmouth.  After fighting it for about 15 seconds, however, I realized it was my old friend, the northern pike, and a nice, 24-inch specimen at that.

Two things surprised me about this pike:  one was how cold it was when I picked it up, and two, why it had hit a small little tube intended for smallmouth.  It was basically a bonus fish for me, since I thought I wouldn't be catching anything!

Unfortunately, this might have been the last pike I'll catch before hardwater season- and it's time to starting thinking about that!