Thank you DVTracker! They sure put up a fuss when hooked! I love to see these limber 10' 6" rods bend backwards on a strike!

Thank you Fredfish! Ah yes...I like your photo showcasing that particular Rapala model...it has great shape, size, color and action!

Two of the bass came on that minnow pattern, and the other on the crawfish today. There are small alewives present here right now...which is why I think they liked that one!

Decided to skip lunch on shore and head out fishing for smallmouth bass at noon today. The plan was for a game of catch and release, and as good luck would have it...three fish accepted my impromptu invitation.

The surface temperature of Lake Michigan has finally reached 55 degrees around here, so I was glad that at least a few fish were up to the challenge and showed up hungry. I set out 2 rods with mid sized shallow diving Rapala crank baits and started a Westward troll in ten feet of water. The action began almost immediately, so that was a good sign!

After the initial action subsided, the next hour was very quiet so I figured that I probably caught the tail end of the morning bite. It made sense to wrap things up and call it a day so I pulled lines and headed back to the beach.

The trip ended up being defined by a 2, 3 and 4 pounder. All strikes were nice and aggressive, with solid hook ups and safe releases.

Getting into the trolling groove after the initial pair of lines are set.


A scrappy little 2 pound smallmouth bass.


This big gal was the largest smallie of the outing, eclipsing the 4 pound mark with a robust girth and a tenacious battle for her freedom.


These two lures get the "effective" award from today's excursion. They rarely let me down in terms of catching fish!

Very funny stuff. The parrot wrench was a real hoot!

That's a lot of catching action! Glad you guys had a fun day on the water!

That's a good report in terms of getting hook up's and some catching as well. Those rascals sure do take their share of tackle though!

Great way to spend time together! Nice to have the bass cooperate too!

Nice catch! Thank you for sharing your tackle choices and technique as well!

Nice to catch some...even if there were not jumbo's! Just being there and having an experience show up like that muskrat make it well worth the while! Very cool that you were at the right place at the right time to enjoy!

Those are some great catches hotrod! Welcome to the Stage site as well!

I like a small glass of orange juice...with a bowl of cold cereal...smothered in fresh fruit! Somehow that became a tradition for me!

For me the best way to set the cares of the world aside for a while is to just be out on some flat water paddling a kayak. Of course a fishing lure in trolling mode is usually deployed as well...but sometimes I just like to paddle, observe and listen.

For some reason I never became interested in coffee, but I make a pot for my wife every morning and it sure makes the house have that "wake up" scent!

Thank you for sharing the story and tips on what worked for this particular outing. Great photos as usual!

Sounds like being out in the water via your kayak ended up giving you the edge on catching!

Congrats' on that 31" blue! That's big one for sure!

I can sympathize on having that break off and losing a lure. Those fish are so aggressive! Last month I surrendered a good number of lures to the fish in a similar way, and I from what I hear regarding "shore talk" from other fisherman, everybody runs into that same scenario at times!

Glad to see that you had good action out there!

Sounds like you guys had a fun time and definitely caught some fish to maintain your tradition on the trip! "Winni" is a beautiful lake and she cooperated as usual for some hungry fish to greet your lure offerings!

Nice photos of the pickerel and bass....