QUANTITY & QUALITY

Since my last post ten day's ago, I have been on a terror in the land of the smallmouth! The fishing on the inland lakes has been absolutely fantastic to say the least. The quality and quantity of fish that have been caught is absolutely amazing.

Quality has been the most consistent. Most fish that have been caught are in the three to five pound plus range. Several fish have been over six pounds. The biggest smallmouth of the year so far was caught just the other day and it came in at 7lbs 4oz!! What a giant fish!!!!

Quantity has not been an issue other than wearing a guy out. The best day of my fishing life was just the other day. We boated 201 smallmouth with over 100 of these fish over four pounds!!!!! That is no fish story. My arms are still rehabilitating themselves. The average day has bee 20-50 fish with the occasional 100 fish plus day in there. What a great start to the year.

The lakes are still extremely cold for this time of year. Almost all of the inland lakes are still in the low to mid fifties for temps as of today. I was on Grand Traverse Bay looking for fish and the water was 41 degrees!! Holy coldness!!! Back to the inland lakes I went and it has been great. Most fish are responding well to jerk baits and starting to eat lipless cranks fairly well.

I'm looking forward to being on the water for the next few weeks straight! Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing.

Capt Chris

Spring Madness

What a last couple of weeks. The fishing on the inland lakes has been spectacular for early spring. The water temperatures are still cool for this time of year, but the fish have responded nicely. Several smallmouth, as well as a few largemouth have been caught. The quality of the fish has been absolutely amazing!! We are only two weeks into the season and have boated four fish over six pounds and several over five pounds. The three biggest fish of the year so far a 7lb smallmouth, a 6lb 12oz smallmouth and a 7lb 3oz monster largemouth that is my personal best largemouth bass ever! What a great start to the year.

These fish have slowly starting to get more active as the water warms. The water temperatures are still in the mid to high 40's for the most part, but a few lakes have crept into the mid 50's. Most of the fish we have been catching are still fairly deep. The shallow jerk bait bite has been slowly picking up. A twister tail grub has been good as well fished on a slow steady retrieve.

There is a shallow bite that has produced fish also. I have been making extremely long cast into 2 feet of water with a small #8 X-Rap targeting fish that are desperately trying to warm up and feeding on shiners doing the same thing. The ability to cast this small bait a long distance, has been due the new Microwave guide that Castaway has introduced to there spinning rods. The performance of this guide is awesome! The Microwave guide has definitely increased the distance that I am able to cast. The complete set up is a WaveSpin 3000z spooled with 8# Vicious Pro Elite fluorocarbon on a Castaway SKMDSM7. Be sure to check these rods out at www.castawayrods.com.

I'll be giving fishing reports and reviews on the equipment/products that we are using to catch these monster smallmouth in the coming weeks. I need to get back out on the water and enjoy the Spring Madness while it last! Until next time, Good Luck and Happy Fishing.

Capt Chris

Fishing Again

After a long cold winter, the season has finally begun. We are fishing again here in Northern Michigan even though the temperatures don't seem to be much different than a month ago. It has been a slow warm up but the fishing has started off extremely well.

Most of the lakes here have not warmed past the 50 degree mark as of today. The fish are slowly starting to move up, but most are still being caught deep(25-45 feet). We have caught several fish in the 3-5 pound class this year already and were just getting started!

The majority of the bites have been on a jigging spoon or blade style bait. The few shallow bites have come on jerk baits or twister tail grubs. The most interesting bites this year have been the number of northern pike we have caught in deep water. These fish have been real aggressive and fun to catch even though they are not the intended species.

I'm looking forward to getting back on the water! The wind is howling here today, so I'll get caught up on a few of the "honey do" items and then it's back to fishing!Until next time Good Luck and Happy Fishing!

Capt Chris