We spent a few days on Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac over the Memorial Day weekend. Folks, these two connecting lakes are my go to fun vacation lake. The fishing can be fantastic and a true angler’s smorgasbord. On Friday we caught bass, pike, perch, walleye, bluegill and crappie.
As many anglers already know, crawlers land plenty of bass and walleye. You can drift a crawler, slow troll a crawler, run it behind a bottom bouncer or a sinker. I remember my early years of fishing I remember fishing out of my uncles 12 foot Jon boat. My cousin Dave and I were casting nose hooked crawlers along a cabbage weedbed. We limited out on crappie! Four local guides that are members of West Michigan Walleye Club that I also am a member of shared some of their favorite ways to fish a crawler. Todd Venema from Third Coast Charters (231-740-0304) shared his thoughts. “I use a lot of slow death hooks with a Mack smile blade” said Venema. And he typically fishes them at less than 1 mph. He will also use a two hook crawler harness typically with a Colorado blade in various sizes usually a 3, 4 or 5 depending on where he is fishing and what time of the year it is. Craig Tipton of MI Time Charters (269-312-0562) will often find summer time eyes right near the weed edges feeding on bait. Another great option is trolling small crawler harnesses over weed beds. Sometimes you can locate eyes suspended over deep water, although tough to detect on sonar, these fish will feed all day long as they are out there foraging on schools of minnows. One key to this is look for a thermocline somewhere in the water column. Walleyes will always be where the food is stated Tipton. Derek Nykamp of Freedom Charters (616-723-5964) stated that when the bite gets tough in the summer months this is an absolutely go to bait. From bottom to suspended fish it will increase your catch rate. The size of the blade depends on the body of water that he is on but one thing that holds true is 1.2 mph is the go to speed with a lot of turns. “I'm not a guy that likes to go in a straight line as the fish will continue to follow it and I've learned they love to hit on turns (speed change) said Nykamp. You can determine if they want it faster or slower by the side they are hitting on during a turn. Recently Nykamp has been messing with Berkeley SR to keep the mess of worms out of his boat! “When I do run worms I was them before they get in the boat” said Nykamp. When he says I wash my worms it's exactly what it sounds like. Once they are clean I put them in a little cooler filled with water and 2 frozen water bottles. They biggest reason is you need fresh water!! Not treated as it will kill them quick. Remember to not even put ice from a gas station in your water as it has been treated! When you are done you can take them out and put them right back in the dirt. “My go to crawler presentation is by far a slow death hook. I particularly like the Northland Fishing Tackle Super Death Riggs with a butterfly blade on them. I troll them at .8 to 1.2 mph and I use a full size crawler”, said Bryan Buist of 2 B Caught Charters (626-293-0256) I bounce back and forth with my crawlers. At times I use fresh waters with ice cubes that I make from my pond water and throw the crawlers into it. Other times I place three or four crawlers with some bedding, no dirt, into a sandwich bag. I add lots of frozen water bottles to keep them chilled. My favorite crawler rigs I make. My favorite blades are the Mack Smiley blades. When I use a Colorado blade I only use a high quality blade in Gold or Silver. Half of the time I use the hammered blades and half not. If I want some added colors I scratch on some crazy lines using a Sharpie in whatever color I like. Remember, fish will see the back of the blade longer than the front, so mark it up a bit. Crawlers catch both walleye and bass. Remember to stop in at Grand Valley Sport Shop in Allendale. If you are looking for a realtor, give me a call. Jack Payne, Best Homes of Michigan.
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We just completed a few days on the St Clair River chasing down walleye. A few things came to mind. The small details and the duplication of them will always result in more fish, regardless of the species. Some of these are second nature to us and maybe you.
Mark a way point on every fish caught especially when the boat is moving. Pay attention to the exact location that the fish was caught. Was it caught on a drop-off? Was it along the weedline? We limited out on walleye 4 times over the past 2 weeks. In each case a pattern was easily spotted. We were fishing the edge of a river channel where it bordered a shallow flat. At times we caught fish on the flats especially when the cloud cover rolled in. When the sun was bright the walleyes drifted to the edge of the river channel or right into the deepest water of the channel. Each river is different. Some rivers a deep channel might be 14-20 foot range, other rivers it might be 50-60 feet deep. The point is, walleyes and other species stage and hold in certain areas of a river for a reason. They look for current breaks, seams and hide behind objects that deflect current. In a lake fish of any species love flats, weeds, edges, points and drop-offs. Once again marking a way point is critical. Then seeing that way point on a contour map will explain things. We will often mark a waypoint where we see other anglers land a fish. We can then analyze what they were doing and duplicate it elsewhere. Using a tracking mode on your graph helps a lot. We like to see exactly where we traveled. Then duplicating that drift or troll becomes very easy. You will see a pointer showing where your boat is and showing past drifts or trolls. Fishing a weedline it will show you if a fish was caught on the flat, on an inside turn or cup or on a point or opening of a weedbed. It might show you that the bottom structure changed from marl to rock or mud. We would much rather understand why a fish was there than on a certain color lure or bait. We talk to many anglers on any given day on the water. We never ask for their waypoints but will ask the depth, the general area, etc. Patterns emerge quickly on any body of water. It applies to all species. Fish are in a given spot for a reason. Yes, there are times when you catch fish moving from one area to another location. Fish spawn in certain areas, feed on certain forage which can change location over the course of a season. You can bet that bluegills and crappies will be within a good casting distance of a weed bed most of the season. You can also count on them to suspend over open water. This is due to forage. Plankton blows off of the shallow flats and at certain times of the year hatches of insects emerge from mud flats that might be hundreds of yards from the nearest weedline. Blood worms, wigglers etc. hatch at different locations. Marking every fish caught will assist you in determining a pattern. Two more tips to share. I follow the minor and major feeding periods for each day. Make me a liar when I say that 80% of our caught fish will fall during one of these two periods. Keep a log book on where you caught fish, the date and the air and water temperatures. When it comes to temperatures what I concentrate on is how it compares to the averages. Was the air temps 20 degrees above or below normal? Right that down. We keep lures and baits fairly simple. Charlie Brewer crappie and walleye grubs, jig heads from a 1/32 up to a 1 ounce, Whip R Snap plastics, Black Moon teardrops, Hot Leg foam spiders, homemade crawler and bluegill harness rigs and a Buck fillet knife. The new model fillet knife makes a quick job on walleye. Duplication, using your waypoints and monitoring your travel paths will land you more fish. |
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