Mid Michigan Bass Fishing





This weekend, I attended the Meridian Township Fishing Derby.  Last year I attended this event, and I won the category for the biggest fish, and I was hopeful for the same result this year.  I have fished this pond, at the Meridian Historic Village, a lot during the last few summers, so I had a good idea of where the fish could be found and what they were going to bite.  I was also hopeful because two days before, on Thursday, I had seen a man named Kelly stocking the pond with pike and bass that he had caught.  I thanked him for doing that! 

 

Fishing, unfortunately, was a little slow during the tournament.  Younger kids were catching some blue gill, but the bass were very elusive that day.  I did, however, manage to catch a 16.5 inch bass, which turned out to be the biggest fish caught during the day.  I caught this bass using one of my favorite approaches on this pond, which is fishing one of the many weed edges with a shiner below a bobber.  

 

 



 

 

I would like to do a shout out, and thank the gentleman named Kelly for stocking the pond and making it a great resource for kids who want to fish, and everyone else who worked hard and donated equipment to make the event a fun first day of summer vacation.  I was also pleased to talk with Mike Devlin, with the Meridian Township Recreation Department, and Mark Stephens, from Project F.I.S.H. at MSU.  These gentleman are real resources for young people like me, and they deserve our appreciation!

 

Nothing to Carp About

Several times over the Memorial Day weekend, I have hauled in some nice-sized carp: two here in the DeWitt area and one over in the Macatawa Channel at Holland State Park on  Lake Michigan. 

 

I saw several carp jumping at the Macatawa Channel, but I had been mostly catching white perch and I was surprised when my pole doubled over.  The carp, which is pictured below, probably weighed about 10 pounds, and I caught it on dropper rig with a base three-ounce sinker.  I did not have my net with me, and as I was fishing from the pier, and it would have been difficult to land the fish, given its size, so I released it in the water.  I was the only person on the pier that caught a carp while I was there, although other people were catching catfish and sheepshead.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, back in DeWitt, I was catching carp locally on gulp worms.  These carp put up a really good fight!  I'm still a pike fisherman and a bass fisherman first and foremost, but I really enjoyed the battles I had with these carp!

 



Whopper in the Pond!



May has been more successful than usual for me in the Lansing area when it comes to fishing for bass.  Many of the bass were big, they were on their beds and they put up good fights.

 

 



 

 

Most of my fishing in May was done at the Meridian Township park over behind the Meridian Mall.  Generally, I found that the fishing was better from the shore than from the fishing dock.  I have been catching the majority of my bass on wacky-rigged senkos in natural colors.

 

 

Some of the bass in the pond are real brutes!  I am a little concerned that the pond is getting a lot of pressure, maybe because I talk about it too much on this blog, and that the fishing experience is being diminished, however.  I'll be looking for new fishing locations around mid-Michigan in the summer!

Catch and Immediate Release

 

I have been enjoying early season bass fishing in mid-Michigan.  In Michigan, from now until May 28, bass fishing is catch and immediate release only. To me, this means as soon as you catch a bass, you shouldn't diddle around measuring it or weighing it, or doing more than a quick photo.  Instead, put that bass back in the water!

 

 

So far this spring, I have been enjoying fishing for bass at several of our mid-Michigan ponds and lakes.  The place where I have found the most luck lately is at Hawk Island Park on the south side of Lansing.  The technique that I have found most productive at this lake, even with the cold water, is a reaction bait know as the square-bill crank bait.  This may seem weird to some people, as typically, ice-out bass are caught on finesse baits, but I have found if you work a square-bill slow enough, it can be just as, if not more productive, than finesse baits.  With the water being so clear and cold at ice-out, you want to keep your presentation natural and on the smaller side.

 

Again, the fish this time of year are still not extremely active, so you do not want to use a bait that requires too much energy for them to chase down, or that could even spook them.

 

 

 One more tip for people heading out this time of year is to fish shallow, because the bass are trying to warm up, and they are also getting ready to spawn.

 

 

Although there might still be cold temperatures out there, and while conditions can be challenging, spring bass fishing is still a lot more fun than staying at home!

Joseph on Thin Ice

 

 

A friend of mine suggested that people who go ice fishing now, in the last days of February around Lansing, should wear a life preserver.  With that in mind, I will share information about what may have been my last ice fishing trip of the year, at least near DeWitt, which was to Park Lake near Bath.

 

 

 

 

On my previous 2016 trip to Park Lake, I only caught some small blue gills.  In mid-February, I went back to Park Lake and wound up over a number of larger fish.  The fish we were seeing were all at around 8 to 10 feet deep toward the western end of the lake, and they seemed to be very active.  One thing I did notice is that usually crappie suspend over the gills, but this time, the blue gills were suspended over the crappie.  The crappie were more bottom-oriented.  Although the fish appeared active, any time I dropped down a spoon, the fish would scatter, so I downsized my presentation to a small tungsten jig tipped with three red spikes.  Because the fish were so active, I would jig to call them in, and then pull the jig about a foot over them and wait for them to race up and bite. 

 

 

 

Throughout the day, I caught a number hand-sized gills and a nice, 11-inch crappie. 

 

 

 

It's possible there still might be ice fishing locally this winter, but time is starting to run out.  I often do a northern Michigan ice fishing trip in March, but we'll see if it's safe, or if I'd be on thin ice!

 



Joseph on Ice

This weekend was the first weekend I was able to get out on the ice.  In this post, I will talk about fishing in two local lakes here in Clinton County.  Although people may be wondering if the ice is safe, ice thickness at Park Lake and Muskrat Lake is about six inches.

I started off my weekend fishing at Park Lake in Bath.  This was also the first weekend I got to use my Lowrance Elite 4X Chirp ice fishing machine.  We started our day by drilling holes in 8 to 20 feet of water.  The only fish we were marking were in 17 feet of water, so that is where we set up and camped out for most of the day.  On the fish finder, I could see a huge school of fish, but unfortunately, they only turned out to be three-to-five inch perch and blue gills.  My technique for that day was a small tungsten jig tipped with one red spike.  Although the fish were small, they were quite finicky, which I think is due to the colder weather we have had recently.  The first day I got out, I was only able to catch three small fish, but it was worth it to be out on the ice the first time this year and to break in my new fish finder.



 

 On the second day of my weekend, I was able to visit Muskrat Lake with some friends.  Most of the lake is shallow, and it can be described as bath tub-shaped, with very little in the way of drop off points;  for that reason, I set up shallow on a mud flat.  I managed to land several keeper Michigan gills.  One thing I have noticed is that the fish are very picky, and that they want a stationary presentation, or a very slight jigging movement.  Again, I used red spikes that I nipped very slightly on the end.

 

 

 

I'll look forward to seeing everyone out on the ice this winter!

 



 







The Pike Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through the Glass, 

Not a creature was stirring,

Not even a bass.

To Bridge Street in DeWitt

I rode with a clatter,

And cast in a line

To see what was the matter.

Then what to my watering eyes

Should appear,

But a nice, hefty pike

Toward my minnow drew near.

He fought hard,

He fought fast,

But I got my wish,

I reeled in my line and landed the fish!

I put him back in the Glass,

And he swam out of site,

Saying "Merry Pikemas to all,

And to all a good bite!"