Underwater detective work....
Jul 4, 2023 15:51:18 #
My wife and I decided to cool off and spend some time at the local beach this afternoon. This would mean snorkeling gear is OK...but fishing might be out of the question since there may be some other swimmers around. Did not want to raise the ire of anybody!
Covered a 500' long stretch of shoreline hovering over 15 feet of water along a nice linear weed bed that spans the whole distance.
Managed to enjoy watching, and counting the following variety of fish: 1 sheephead, 22 smallmouth bass (12" to 17" sizes), 2 walleye ( a 17 and 22 incher) and a small school of baby yellow perch (all around 3" in length with a couple of 5 inchers mixed in).
Followed one of the largest bass that seemed to be on the prowl for a meal, but he just kept swimming and turning from side to side now and then...doing a "crazy Ivan" like the Russian submariners in the Hunt for Red October!
I have a 3 foot long mini rod with an original vintage Zebco 33 on it and I think I might go back soon with a jig or rubber worm to see what happens by doing some submersive styled fishing!
Came home refreshed to enjoy the balance of the day. My wife suggested that we should go back after dinner this evening for a kayak paddle. Of course I said..."absolutely dear...whatever your heart desires!"
Covered a 500' long stretch of shoreline hovering over 15 feet of water along a nice linear weed bed that spans the whole distance.
Managed to enjoy watching, and counting the following variety of fish: 1 sheephead, 22 smallmouth bass (12" to 17" sizes), 2 walleye ( a 17 and 22 incher) and a small school of baby yellow perch (all around 3" in length with a couple of 5 inchers mixed in).
Followed one of the largest bass that seemed to be on the prowl for a meal, but he just kept swimming and turning from side to side now and then...doing a "crazy Ivan" like the Russian submariners in the Hunt for Red October!
I have a 3 foot long mini rod with an original vintage Zebco 33 on it and I think I might go back soon with a jig or rubber worm to see what happens by doing some submersive styled fishing!
Came home refreshed to enjoy the balance of the day. My wife suggested that we should go back after dinner this evening for a kayak paddle. Of course I said..."absolutely dear...whatever your heart desires!"
Spent about an hour cruising along via snorkel gear to observe fish. I am always amazed at what really goes on beneath the surface!
This is not from today, but all fish stories need a "fish hero", so here he is!
Jul 4, 2023 16:29:59 #
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! You know how to live and your wife is one heck of a lady!!! Happy Fourth!!! I’ll be in touch soon coming up this late summer/ earl fall is about 90%
Tight lines
J
Tight lines
J
Jul 4, 2023 17:35:18 #
fishyaker wrote:
My wife and I decided to cool off and spend some t... (show quote)
Nice post Yaker. Are y'all in wet suits or is the water that warm?
Jul 4, 2023 17:36:09 #
J in Cleveland wrote:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! You know how to live and your wife is one heck of a lady!!! Happy Fourth!!! I’ll be in touch soon coming up this late summer/ earl fall is about 90%
Tight lines
J
Tight lines
J
Good luck when you get up there Jason
Jul 4, 2023 17:43:32 #
Gordon wrote:
Good luck when you get up there Jason
Thanks G!! Happy Fourth!!! I wouldn’t think a wet suite is needed waters probably not warm by your standers but I’m sure Yacker has thick blood living up there.
Tight lines
J
Jul 4, 2023 17:50:00 #
J in Cleveland wrote:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! You know how to live and your wife is one heck of a lady!!! Happy Fourth!!! I’ll be in touch soon coming up this late summer/ earl fall is about 90%
Tight lines
J
Tight lines
J
Thank you J! It was a hot one for our region today...90 degrees and humid. Swimming was definitely the way to go! We might have looked a bit silly, but after a dip, since there is no shade, we pop up standard "golf umbrellas" to filter at least some of the sun rays coming down!
The Titleist golf ball pictured is the one "treasure" I found to take home. Somebody with "means" must have been feeling wasteful and knocked it out into about 12 feet of water. Mint condition and it cleaned up real nice. I'll be using it this week sometime, as I've had a hankering to go play a round of golf!
I hope your plans to head North work out. It will be fun to connect and do some fishing!
Jul 4, 2023 18:00:00 #
Gordon wrote:
Nice post Yaker. Are y'all in wet suits or is the water that warm?
Thank you Gordon! Funny you should ask about the water temp... In general, it was plenty warm for swimming...especially when staying right on top. When I dove down for that golf ball the first thermal was right about at the 10' mark and a bit chilly. I just had a classic swim suit on.
At times, when I was finning around, I would pass thru really cold blotches of water and then right back to the warm stuff. I was about 100' from shore to be over the 15' depth...but very quickly this area, known as "deep water point", plummets in depth (to several hundred feet) and the cold lower waters tend to come up with wind/breeze and water currents all the time so this phenomenon is normal around here.
I only made one pass along the route...many times just hovering in place to watch the fish. The bright flappy looking thing near the right fin is a skin divers "BC"...buoyancy compensator...so with a few puffs of air in it the results are like wearing a PDF.
Glad you enjoyed the post...Happy July 4th back at ya!
By the way...oddly enough...a series of pop up thunderstorms just rolled over us so we won't go back out to kayak this evening. Those fish will have to await my arrival tomorrow morning if it's calm!
Jul 4, 2023 18:07:35 #
fishyaker wrote:
My wife and I decided to cool off and spend some t... (show quote)
Sounds like a lot of fun! I often wonder what’s beneath me when I’m fishing. Hopefully you can get back there and catch that Russian submarine! Have a safe and great 4th buddy! Good luck and be safe
Jul 4, 2023 18:12:39 #
Bassmatter wrote:
Sounds like a lot of fun! I often wonder what’s beneath me when I’m fishing. Hopefully you can get back there and catch that Russian submarine! Have a safe and great 4th buddy! Good luck and be safe
Thank you Bassmatter! It's a whole different world down where all our fishy friends live! A lot of interesting things that they do. I love to follow a fish and observe what they are looking at and what seems to peak their interest.
When you are that far above them they do not really sense your presence and have no qualms with taking a bait if they are hungry. I have fished that way now and then using live bait like worms, but never an artificial worm. It hit my thoughts today that it would be a very intriguing experiment so I plan to go back with 2 different gimmicks to try!
Jul 4, 2023 18:49:09 #
fishyaker wrote:
Thank you Bassmatter! It's a whole different world... (show quote)
Best of luck! Let’s us no how it turns out? Be safe!!
Jul 4, 2023 19:49:57 #
fishyaker wrote:
My wife and I decided to cool off and spend some t... (show quote)
Yacker, you amaze me, and I'm not amazed easily. Have a good evening, my friend.
Jul 4, 2023 20:28:36 #
fy, I presume you are on Lake Michigan?
I always wanted to do that as I have read about and been told many tales about the snorkeling and the way that lessons can be learned by watching the fish relate to structure, etc.
I always wanted to do that as I have read about and been told many tales about the snorkeling and the way that lessons can be learned by watching the fish relate to structure, etc.
Jul 4, 2023 20:29:46 #
flyguy wrote:
Yacker, you amaze me, and I'm not amazed easily. Have a good evening, my friend.
Thank you flyguy! I'm just a big kid that will probably never fully grow up!
I've been itching to swim over this particular area because it's been a while since I was right in the water with the fish there. I kayak along this spot from time to time and have caught some nice fish there...mainly bass, yellow perch and northern pike. The presence of the walleye today surprised me and I am hoping to catch some if they stuck around!
I just finished rigging 3 set ups on my "snorkel rod"...a crawfish, wacky worm (3" green pumpkin flake...weightless) and a natural shad with a chartreuse tail. I should probably bring along a few split shot sinkers in case that weightless wacky takes forever to reach bottom.
The plan is to swim again in the morning, and then kayak troll after dinner tomorrow all along the stretch. I will cover more water in the kayak...but swimming I will keep it just like today.
The tricky part will be how to photograph the catches, as well as release fish...all while bobbing in the water. If I catch walleye they are coming back home...but then I need to bring a stringer! Oh my...the logistics are starting to pile up!
Have a great evening!
Jul 4, 2023 20:49:16 #
OJdidit wrote:
fy, I presume you are on Lake Michigan?
I always wanted to do that as I have read about and been told many tales about the snorkeling and the way that lessons can be learned by watching the fish relate to structure, etc.
I always wanted to do that as I have read about and been told many tales about the snorkeling and the way that lessons can be learned by watching the fish relate to structure, etc.
Yes OJ...technically Lake Michigan, but at the Southerly end of what we locally call "East Bay" in Traverse City. It is probably the water I fish the most, although I like to mix things up and spend time elsewhere too. The Bay is about 20 miles long, and there is good habitat all along both sides, the South end and way out in the middle (lake trout, whitefish, Cisco and salmon). That makes for a ton of good water to cover all Summer long without going too far from home!
When swimming in shallow water, where you end up being in the fishes "cone of vision", they do tend to startle and stay aloof. When you are overhead, they do not seem to panic as much.
A person can definitely learn a lot about how fish react when you actually see what they do. Many moons ago I was into scuba diving, so you could go deeper and stay with fish longer. Those days are behind me now but I still enjoy surface snorkeling. Deep dives always bothered my ears....
After today's swim, I gained a new appreciation for what the updated habitat does look like in this area, and I discovered a long section of small woody debris that has become waterlogged and sunken, but all bunched up...making for some terrific forage areas for the fish to check out. It was about 200' long. I made notes of homes and docks on shore that line up with the wood so I'll know when I am kayak trolling!
I posted this last Fall...caught right behind the swim fins in the above photo...right below where I swam today. The weeds are perfect pike ambush habitat. The walleye were cute today. The big one swimming freely and the smaller one sitting on bottom
Jul 4, 2023 22:32:55 #
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