6/26/08-Scouting Fish in the Woods Park

I had never fished in the Grosse Pointe Woods park before yesterday, and all I had heard about it was that it was terrible fishing. My friend Kous said he caught one largemouth there while only given a 10 minute oppurtunity. So we decided to head over there and try to catch some bass. It looked like I was going to get skunked again as I was having trouble figuring out the patterns of the park. I was casting a Zoom Baby Brush Hog while Kous was casting a Yum Dinger in Watermelon color like always. He got the first fish of the day a Largemouth that was around 12 inches. I got pretty frustrated where I started fishing so I moved all the way down to the end of the park to fish some boat wells.

I got one hit at the very end of the boatwells from a dink. Kous said he caught another Largemouth and showed me a picture, but I was reluctant to count it because he said it would've been close and we didn't have an exact weight on the fish. The very reason I bought a scale was to eliminate guessing from our tournamnet. Anyway I continued to cast in boatwells. I threw the bait right at the wall and pulled it over some weeds fast and a big bass nailed it. I didn't set the hook and pulled the hook right out of its mouth. I cast back in there thinking maybe he'd hit it again and sure enough he did. This time I got a good hook set, he tail danced two times and shot right under the dock that I was fishing from. I managed to pull him out but as soon as I did he shot the other way shaking the hook. It was a Bass that would've got me right back into the thick of things in the tournament.

I was bummed for awhile but decided to keep fishing. It wasn't long after I missed that fish that the pattern of the park started to make sense to me. I fished some more boatwells and managed to pull up a largemouth that was over 14 inches and weighed 1lb 4ounces pictured. It pretty much gave me a good lead for second, but the one that got away was the story of the day as I missed my chance for coming back for first. The ruling on the day was that the Woods Park had decent fishing, all the bass there seemed to be healthy. The Zoom Baby Brush Hog did good work again. I'm not sure where I'll fish today.

Thanks for reading, Bass-Sniper

6/24/08-Keepers on the Milky River

Today started out pretty interesting as the Milky River changed its course flowing the opposite way it normally does. This is one of the only rivers I know that does this. Kous and I put the raft in and headed up river toward the water cleaning station and floated along a weed bed that begins up there. Kous caught the first fish of the day, on a Yum Dinger in watermelon gold color, a 12 inch Smallmouth that missed the cut off for our tourny. I caught the second fish of the day a 12 1/2 inch largemouth that also missed the cut off. This weedbed continued to produce, but as usual they were smaller. I started throwing a wacky rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hog into the weeds and a largemouth nailed it. This one felt a little better than the others ones I've gotten on the Milky and sure enough it was as in jumped out of the water, but I managed to keep it on the hook and land it. It was a Largemouth I'd estimate was 14 1/2 inches and weighed exactly 1lb 3ounces. This would prove to be the big fish of the day and is pictured.

Kous switched to a yellow jig bait that he managed to catch a baby Largemouth on. Then he switched back to his Yum Dinger. It wasn't long before he hooked up with a big what looked like Smallmouth bass that he promptly lost. This probably would've been the big fish of the day and definitely put the tournament away for this week as he estimated it was about 16 inches. He did manage to catch another Smallmouth that was 14 inches and weighed 1lb 1ounce. He got a terrible hookset on this and he had to leave his hook in the fish's throat. Hopefully it will rust out soon.

This brings up an interesting dilema the fishermen in our bass tournament are scheduled to vote on two issues next time we all get together. Majority vote will add to or edit the rules. The first issue is whether or not fish caught solo should count, the second is whether or not fish where the hookset is so bad that removing it will cause death or harm to the fish should count and whether a penalty should be assessed.

I will not be fishing tonight as I'm going to the Stevie Wonder concert here, but hopefully I will be trying some new areas out in the upcoming weeks. The Yum Dingers get a thumbs up as usual and the Brush Hogs continue to produce the bigger bass, when fished. I will keep everyone posted. Kous is winning the week 6lbs 9ounces to 2lbs 3ounces to zeros.

Thanks for reading, Bass-Sniper

6/23/08-Late Night Success on St. Clair

The water was pretty calm today as Tim, Kous and I headed down to Windmille Pointe to try some night fishing. A lot of people were at the pier, because of the fireworks downtown most were spectating but a few were fishing. I got really tired of fishing quickly (there was a time where I'd pull a 3.5lb Smallie out of there a night) because I haven't gotten anything there in what feels like weeks. I started out throwing my Rat-L-Trap trying to unskunk it. Had no luck what so ever and switched to a white tube that I bounced up in down in the current...still nothing. I switched to my walleye colored shad rap and zilch. Tim started out throwing a Jointed Shad Rap in a brown crawdad. He pulled out the first fish of the night a 13 and 1/2 smallmouth that barely missed the cutoff for our tournament.

I couldn't buy a bite so I started screwing around and trolled my Heddon Tiny Torpedo around I almost caught a Gar Pike on it, but fornutately I didn't. Right when I was ready to go I headed up the pier to tell my friends the news. I was watching them troll and Kous hooked into a 20inch 2lb 12oz Walleye on a bleeding olive minnow rap. This fish put him in a commanding lead for the tournament this week, because of our doubling system. He now is winning 4lbs 4oz to 1lb. We took the fish home and filleted it, currently its in the freezer getting ready to be cooked up tommorrow. I'm pretty sure I will pan fry it with for either my secret Walleye nuggets or try a new recepie with an Italian spice to it.

The results for today are that the Minnow Rap produces as usual and its another big fish. Its a great buy for anyone looking for a solid big fish crankbait. My impatience definitely got a hold of me today. The fishing at the pier since the thermocline has been terrible and this definitely had an effect on me. I'm really want to catch some big bass and I think I found an area where they may be. I just need to use my raft to get there. I'll probably hit the Milky River tommorrow after I cook Kous' Walleye for him.

Thanks for reading, Bass-Sniper

6/22/08-Decent Day on the Milky River

Today was the second day I took my new raft out onto the Milky River here in Michigan. Again I was with my good buddy Kous, and we were determined to put ourselves on some fish this time. Instead of going straight down river, I battled the current to move up toward the water treatment station. I rowed all the way up to treatment plant and we flowed with the river back down. Here at the very top of the river is where we found a large weedbed. Kous pulled the first fish out a 12.5 inch largemouth that didn't count for our tournament. I caught the next fish a decent 14inch largemouth that weighed exactly one pound. Unskunking me and pushing me temporarily into first place for this week. We both were using green Yum Dingers, which provided the majority of the bite for the day. We caught a total of eight bass all on the Dingers. Most of which were baby bass or just a tad under our size limit.

We then floated back down river, under the overpass is where we got our next solid bite. Kous got it on a Texas rigged Dinger, but he missed two hits right in a row, one of which caused him to lose his Dinger. I casted my wacky rigged Dinger near where he got his hit and I caught it almost immediately. It was another Largemouth about 12.5 inches long. We continued to float down river Kous continued to cast his Texas rigged Dinger and I switched to a Johnson's Beetle Spin. Soon after I caught a decent Pumpkinseed, which I promptly released. We decided to call it a day and we started to row back to where we cast off. I had a small Largemouth I'd say 8inches on while rowing, but I lost it, which was no sweat. The rest of the unloading went fine all though we did briefly lose the seat cushions.

The ruling on the day was decent we got the first keeper out of the Sevylor Fish Hunter and post importantly we found where the fish are. Apparently there are a few Smallmouth in there and a couple big pike according to a man that was working in his backyard on the banks. The Dingers produced as they normaly do and the Beetle Spin was also a pretty good bait. It gets perfect hooksets on Bluegill. The Raft handled nicely in the swiftest current it has encountered. I think I need to get some sort of anchor for it. I may go fishing tonight, and I probably will tommorrow. Where? I don't know.

Thanks for reading, Bass-Sniper

6/20/08-Brutal Last Couple of Days

Hey everyone sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been camping the last few days. I was in Jackson Michigan, camping and fishing and boy did I get drilled out there. The two lakes I mainly fished were Wampler's Lake and Round Lake. I litterally threw my entire tackle box at the fish and number one I couldn't find them number two they wouldn't bite. It was mostly heavy cover and shallow water. I started out throwing jigs into the cover and got nothing, I through my Rat-L-Trap...nothing. Even my senko worm was useless. My friend did catch one Bass around 14inches that weighed 1lbs 6ounces. We rented a boat but alas the motor broke and we just ended floating into shallower water. In the actual time we got to fish in the boat we ended up trying to find new water and only fished for maybe 20 casts a piece. I did manage to get a hit from a small smallmouth while trolling.

The week was not a total failure as I made two major break throughs in my fishing life. I finally got a handle on using my bait casting reel. I discovered a couple nuances with casting, which was extremely helpful, because I wasn't fighting backlashes nearly as much as I've been used to in the past. I also discovered a trick to undoing backlashes.

The real major break through I discovered has to do with new areas to fish more effectively. For those of you who don't know I mainly fish a pier off of Lake St. Clair, the pier forms a harbor that is filled with boatwells and weedbeds that contain many bass. However the rules of the park are that fishing on this side is forbidden. I recently discovered a law that allows me to lawfully fish these waters. This is the exact passage I discovered in the Michigan Constitution.

"If public access to navigable water has been established, the public user enjoys the same use rights and privileges of the private littoral owners. Thus, the right to fish a public lake extends to the whole lake. In fact, a lawful user of any lake, be it by public access or permission, has the right to any reasonable use of the lake.

It is the enforcement rule of the DNR, based on many Michigan Supreme Court opinions, that state regulations regarding the taking of fish apply to both navigable (public) and non-navigable (private) waters. People v Collision, 85 Mich. 105; 48 NW 292 (1891).

It is only where a private body of water is entirely unconnected with other bodies of water that the fishing regulations do not apply. People v Conrad, 125 Mich. 1; 83 NW 1012 (1900). The theory behind this rule is that where fish are free to swim from place to place and to and from public waters, publicly stocked waters also, the public through the State has a substantial interest in the fish."-Public Rights on Michigan Waters Law Enforcement Division

Basically what this law constitutes is that if I am in a small craft propelled by oars or motor I can legally fish in any water directly connected to Lake St. Clair. In fact if the park guards try to interfere with my lawful taking of fish, I can file a complaint against the park that results in a misdemeanor offense punishable by jail time. This is great news as it widely expands my fishing areas.

It just so happens that my small oar propelled craft came in the mail yesterday! So I can now fish practically wherever I want whenever I want. Today I took it down the Milk River in Michigan, pretty much as just a scouting trip. I once again was skunked, but that was okay because I was navigating the boat most of the time and finding potential bass holding areas. I started throwing a popper and then switched to a jig followed by a spinnerbait. I got a few hits on the jig that I just wasn't prepared for. My buddy caught a baby Bass on a wacky rigged senko, and caught a nice pumpkin seed on a Beetle Spin. My new raft is a Sevylor Fish Hunter 280 HF Series pictured. It controls very nicely and I liked the way it preformed in its maiden voyage. I still haven't decided on a name yet, but right now its the Nefertiti. I got some catching up to do before Saturday's 12:00AM deadline. I currently am sitting in third for the week and need to make up four ounces.

Thats all I have for now. Thanks for reading, Bass-Sniper

Summer Classic Standings Week 2 (Rules included)

OFFICIAL SUMMER FISH OFF RULES

The tournament will be determined by a weekly points system resulting from a three fish cull from each contestant. The winner of each week will add three points to there total, second will add two and third will add one to their total score. The person with the highest total of fish at the end of the summer will win. A total weight will be calculated for a second prize. Their will also be a big fish award for the person that catches the biggest fish of the summer. The big fish can not result from the doubling of weight from a Walleye. It must be the actual weight. If someone wins all three categories they will win “triple crown”. Each bass must be at least 14 inches to count.

Fish must be caught on lures. The only exception is a pork rind trailer.

Each week starts on Sunday and ends Saturday at midnight.

For fish to count in the tournamnet at least one other fisherman will have to be present when the fish is caught. The fish must be weighed and if possible photographed.

In the result of the catch of Walleye of any size or Pike, or Muskie under 20inches the weight of the fish will be doubled for your cull, because of the low frequency and high value of these fish.

Hopefully we will have our own miniature version of the bassmaster classic, which will take place at the Hunter’s Creek Club. The winner of the tournament will win three points, second two, etc. This will give the winner the possibility of winning six points in the week, because the points from the tournament will be added.

The Summer Classic will be a two day tournamnet on the Hunter’s Creek Club Lake with two fisherman per boat. During this tournament there will be a four fish cull.

The winner will receive bragging rights for a year and depending on the price a patch for which prize they won.


Standings (The weights are the weights from week 1 and the second number is your weight from all your fish)
Week 1 Total

Harrison - 8lb 1oz -14lbs 8oz

Kous -3lb 12 oz -3lb 12oz

Tim - 2lb 8oz -2lb 8oz

Iggy -1lb 4oz -1lb 4oz

Week 2 Total (in progress)

Tim -5lb 0oz -15lbs 2oz

Iggy -4lb 8oz -14lbs 3oz

Harrison -4lb 4oz -21lbs 3oz

Kous -0lb 0oz -3lb 12oz

6/17/08-Luck on Misch Lake

Today I went to Misch Lake with two of my buddies. I planned on throwing a popper all day, but it was rainy and there was a bit of wind coming across the lake. The air tempature was around 60 degrees and the water tempature was very warm and I'd say close to the air temp. I am hard headed so I started out throwing my frog colored popper anyway. We started in a cove off the main lake that has some fall downs and is protected from the wind. I started throwing the popper around the fall downs and it wasn't very long before I got a hit, set the hook and brought in the first keeper of the day. A Largemouth Bass that weighed 1lb 7ounces. My friend Iggy caught the second bass of the day on a wacky rigged brown Berkley Power Worm that weighed 15ounces. Me and another one of my buddies Tim continued to throw poppers with no avail. I switched to a texas rigged Power Worm and caught a dink that did not count in the summer tournament my friends and I are competing in (I'll explain more later).

We headed across the lake to calmer waters and that is when we really started pounding the bass, at least my buddies did. I caught a bunch of 13 inchers on a wacky rigged senko. My buddies caught a ton of other keepers on a wacky rigged senko and a wacky rigged Baby Brush Hog which suprisingly yielded the best results. My friend Tim caught the three biggest bass of the day including the 1lb 12oz Largemouth pictured. My other buddy Iggy had the second best day catching a ton of keepers everywhere from 15ounces to 1lb 8ozs. The Wacky rigged Brush Hog continued to suprise as it yielded the first Northern Pike caught this year also caught by Tim. It measured 19inches and looked like it weighed about a pound.

I liked my new Stren line alot it seemed to fly off the reel very nicely and the line memory was not bad. Needless to say it was much better than the Yo-Zuri I was using previously. The Baby Brush Hog gets an A+ for the day as it netted the biggest three fish and a northern pike. Tim eventually had Iggy and me caught on the to the fad of throwing the brush hog. I tried to use the Rat-L-Trap, but the lake Misch is a little shallow for it in most areas holding fish. I need to experiment with it a little more however. I don't know where I'll be fishing tommorrow, but at some point this week I will be fishing in Jackson Michigan, I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Good fishing everyone,

Bass-Sniper

6/16/08-Night Fishing on Lake St. Clair

I went out to Lake St. Clair tonight with three of my buddies. I started out by throwing a SR-7 Walleye colored Shad-Rap, my buddies were throwing a Deep Down Husky Jerk in black and silver, a Hot-N-Tot in gold, and a bleeding olive colored minnow Rap. There were a few people crowding the pier where we were trying to fish, which made it hard to get a consistent troll. I wanted to throw a new Heddon popper, but it was way to windy to even entertain that thought. I didn't even get a hit on my Walleye so I switched to my bleeding olive minnow rap. On the night I didn't manage to catch anything nor did my buddy who was also throwing the minnow rap. The buddy who was throwing the Hot-N-Tot caught a small rockbass and my buddy who threw the Deep Down Husky Jerk managed to catch a 14inch Smallmouth weighing 1lb 7oz which put him in the lead for this week in our summer fishing tournament.

I will be heading back to Misch Lake tommorrow to try again for largemouth. I can't wait to use my new line for my Quantum Accurist 500PT, which is 12lb Stren Original monofillament in gold. The previous line I was using Yo-Zuri Hybrid was terrible and I wouldn't reccommend it to anyone. The line memory was bad and it wasn't very good for casting. The stren seems like it will be much better and looks good on my combo.

The skies are supposed to be overcast and hopefully it's not to windy. My plan is to drift along the shore lines and pound them with a popper, if that doesn't work I'll throw a wacky or texas rigged senko. After we drift along I'll throw a Rat-L-trap in the middle of the lake, I might use a spinner at some point as well.

Good fishing everyone. I'll let you know how it goes,


Bass-Sniper

6/15/08-Father's Day Fishing

Today I headed up to Misch Lake in Michigan to fish with my Dad for Father's day. As soon as we got up there I noticed a little bit of chop on a lake that is usually calm. Unfortunately I left all my tackle in my buddies car so I only had a few supplies including culprit curly tail worms, a Hula Popper, Rat-L-Trap and grubs with jig heads. I headed over to an inlet on the lake and pitched the popper in some softer patches of water under overhanging tree branches and around tree falldowns. I got a hit and I set the hook feels like I missed him. I keep trying to pop, but my popper kept sinking so I reeled in. Turned out to be a little bluegill was hooked on, which was a pleasent little suprise. I kept popping with no success so I thought I would reach into my limited bag of supplies.

I pulled out the curly tail worm in an earthy color and tied it on. I had no luck when I was casting it around, but as I had the boat drifting I noticed a fairly large hole in the ground where a tree had uprooted. I dropped the curly tail down into it and BAM! Got a decent hit I set the hook and pulled up this fella which I'd guess was 16inches and maybe a lb and 4 ounces. I kept casting my curly tail worm the rest of the time out there, but the wind actually pushed our boat into some reeds and then the battery on our trolling motor died.

The spot where we got pushed was so filled with weeds I couldn't even drop the curly tail down. After this we had to have someone else come and help us out of the irons. Once we got out we decided we had enough fishing for the day. The verdict on the day was pretty good I liked the earthy colored curly tail I was using and I really liked the popping action of the Hula Popper I had. I never got to break the Rat-L-Trap out, because I forgot it was in my shirt pocket, but I'll be sure to use it next time I'm out there.

It was a good day all in all, because I got to spend some qualtiy time with my Dad. Even though half the day was spent trying to get out of the wind. I hope you enjoyed the first installment of my fishing reports and I might get out Walleye and smallmouth fishing tonight if I'm not too preoccupied with the NBA finals.


Good Fishing everyone, Bass Sniper A.K.A. Walleye Assassin