A Day on the Water — Bass Poppers

Water levels in Lake Huron and connected waterways is over a foot lower that last year.  My best shallow Quanicassee River spots, had less weed growth than previous springs and I caught few bass. Down the "South Branch Canal", casting a 2/0 White Dive Banger very close to shore provoked 12 to 18 inch bass to either violently rush or stealthily stalk the popper.  Converting stealthy follows to hits frequently required a cat and mouse game of pauses, light twitches or pulling it under the water was sometimes effective. I got bass near the bend and some times a 2nd...

On the long padIe downstream from the launch in Saint Johns Marsh, I tried for largemouth in some new to me shallow weedy bays and some seawall spots, nothing there.  Nearer the mouth of the North Channel, the current flowed briskly over deep, partially weeded flat. Drifting along the 8 foot contour, casting Poppers out across the current toward 12 or 15 ft depths near the edge of the much deeper central channel.  On the first drift the White 3/0 Marabou Banger got hit by a very big, hard fighting smallmouth that shook the hook on the first high jump.  I stopped to set...

  Wakely Lake is a long drive and a long way to drag a kayak full of fly gear just to land a few (6) bass12 to 16 inches.  I was busy with many smaller  bass, a couple bluegills and a pumpkinseed.    The best pattern was to cast Poppers to lily pad edges across deep, scattered, upward growing pond weed.  Then 3 pops and a pause.  Today, like last week, a Lime Chartreuse Bug Popper pattern was much better than black.  Fishing deep with a bead head Clouser (Popovic's Jiggy) in Chartreuse and White got a small pike and fast action on...

From mid May to some time mid summer, good sized Largemouth Bass run up a short distance into Saginaw Bay tributaries.  Even the smallest, marginal streams can get good numbers of fish.  There are usually some pike with them that are mostly small to medium sized.  Only occasionally do you find what you would call a big pike.  There are also a few Walleye, Bowfin, Channel Cats, Carp, Sheephead or Gar that show up, sometime in big numbers.  They hit flies like Rabbit Strip Leaches, Poppers or Floating Divers depending on species.  Carp hit oversized Hex Nymphs, and the Gar can...

Easy trip, low expectations because the bass here see a lot of pressure. I fished a point forming a narrows on this upper end of this Huron River impoundment. Weed growth was at the perfect stage to allow casting to shoreline cover. About 100 yards down the point toward a shallow bay got an 11 inch Smallmouth then a 17 incher that was  bleeding badly before I got a hold of her lip.  The barbless hook came out of her gills easily, I never lifted out of the water and let her go without a photo.  Bluegills were on beds and...