A Day on the Water

Sand Hill Crane Foraging on left, Eagle Nest on Right.  In the first patch of cattail cover, I  took the first Pike, a crappie and the first bass on a 4 inch 1/0 White Bead Head Jiggy Bucktail fly pattern.  Moving to the the long rip rap dike, I hooked and lost a few more Bass. Long Dyke neat the Boat Ramp looking West. I paddled up wind to the shallow end of the Dyke and switched to a floating 3/0 Silver-White Dive Banger popper. That got hit regularly and I got the biggest pike of the day and the best...

I started on Lake Hudson at the big point and caught an 11 inch bass there on a 5/0 White-Silver Musky Dive Banger.  Lots of boats on the lake. I hopscotched down the lower north shore.  Everybody was polite, respectful and obeying the lake no wake rule.  I headed to the back of one of the finger bays in the Bear Lake Backwaters.  There is a 3 feet wide,5 inch deep beaver channel back to an extremely shallow and weedy pond where bowfin spawn.  I spooked a big fish in that tiny channel that was certainly a huge bowfin.  The...

That Sinking Feeling.  New delivery of top quality Tungsten beads at low prices, more beads in the bag. 30 Tu Slotted  1/8 inch 3.0mm   Sliver, Copper, Black Nickel   $4.00 30 Tu Cyclops  7/64 inch  2.8mm  Silver  Black Nickel             $4.00 27  Tu Slotted  9/64 inch 3.5mm   Black Nickel              $4.00 27 Tu Cyclops  5/32 inch  3.8  Black Nickel, or Silver    $4.00 25  Tu Slotted  5/32 inch   4.0mm Tungsten unplated   $4.00 22 Tu Slotted  5/32 inch  4.0mm  Black Nickel              $4.00           17 Tu Cyclops 3/16 inch  4.6mm Cyclops  Sillver or Unplated  $4.00 17  Slotted ...

Low wind was forecast so I headed to the big dyked in duck marsh at Point Mouillee State Game Area.   The wind was pretty strong so I headed for shelter down wind of the long dyke.  Staring in close to the kayak launch where I usually get nothing, about the 8th cast got the best pike of the day.  Good sized but not one of the really big ones. Easy fishing, casting, counting down a few seconds depending on how close to shore it fell, then hard short strips in a calm rhythm.  The 3rd Pike was as long as...

April 17 to April 20, many small steelhead around 14 to 18 inches were jumping, some dark, some silver.  Over two half days and two full days, small white minnow jig patterns got me a few of them.  I got two very big males on very small 1/64 ounce size #8 jigs.  Only one fat brown hit one of my usual bright UV bead colors.  Very pale, dull pink or pale yellowish white hooked a few steelhead and brown trout  for me and other people. Small white minnow pattern jigs fished under a bobber hooked the most steelhead over on...