You will typically find the largemouth in shallow waters filled with weeds whereas the smallmouth will be found closer to rockier beds and rivers. Fly fishing Indianas Lake Michigan coast for smallmouth bass is an adventure every serious bronzeback angler should experience.
While Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great Lakes with 14 million acres and depths of hundreds of feet it also has over 200000 acres of extremely shallow water.
Lake michigan smallmouth bass fishing. This Northland Fishing Tackle pro can remember catching smallmouth bass along the Lake Michigan shore as far back as twenty years ago but back then a 15-inch bass was a noteworthy fish. According to Steiger the bass fishery seemed to explode when an invasive species called the goby found a home in Lake Michigan. Many Michigan bass fishermen consider Lake Charlevoix the best smallmouth bass lake in the state.
Lake Charlevoix has two big arms and map study definitely will pay off there by finding the biggest flats in this lake Stout reports. When you start fishing those flats look for scattered wood on the bottom. Frank Ryan and Bobby targeting smallmouth bass on L.
Time On The Water 2016 Ep4 Lake Michigan IL with Frank Hyla featuring Ryan Whitacre and Bobby Bergren. Michigans top bass lakes include Lake Charlevoix Mullet Lake Thunder Bay Lake Huron Burt Lake Lake St. Clair Grand Traverse Bay Lake Michigan Check them out here.
In addition heres a bit more advice from Jonathan Van Dam on the best smallmouth fishing in Michigan. And if there is a better state for smallmouth bass fishing than Michigan it has yet to reveal itself. Michigan is home to some 11000 inland lakes.
The state touches four of the five Great Lakes and is home to tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams. And while not all of those waters hold fishable populations of smallmouth bass many do. Ive been fishing smallmouth in Lake Michigan for 20-plus years often in nothing bigger than a kayak or canoe and sometimes just by wading.
While Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great Lakes with 14 million acres and depths of hundreds of feet it also has over 200000 acres of extremely shallow water. Beautiful scenery abounds Lake Gogebic and for the bass master looking to conquer a legendary lake with your next personal best- your trophy fish is waiting out there. Michigan has one of the best selections of smallmouth bass and largemouth bass throughout the state yet you would find more smallmouth as you move north.
You will typically find the largemouth in shallow waters filled with weeds whereas the smallmouth will be found closer to rockier beds and rivers. This is known as one of Michigans premier inland walleye lakes. Smallmouths generally take a back seat to walleyes in the minds of most Burt Lake anglers.
Anglers who do pursue smallmouths on the sprawling 17000-acre lake will find not only good numbers of bass but also fish up to 6 pounds and bigger. In both the sprawling Lake Michigan bays and smaller inland lakes where Noffsinger guides many smallmouth spend the summer in superdeep water. Youll catch smallies 60 feet deep on a drop-shot rig in August but once the days grow shorter and the water temperature drops to around 65 degrees theyll transition to shallow offshore.
Lake Michigan is home to a great population of smallmouth bass and the fishing for them has never been better. In fact the near-shore smallmouth bass fishing on Lake Michigan is actually fantastic. Bass anglers have the opportunity to catch fish in the 3- to 4-pound class nearly every time they hit the water with a real chance at a trophy in the 5-pound range.
32 miles long 10 miles wide. Smallmouth more than 7 pounds come from this section of Lake Michigan every year. Bassmaster Opens pro Chris Noffsinger guides here and believes it will produce the next state record smallie.
And dont be surprised if you have 50-fish days. Allens Guide Service offers fully guided Smallmouth Bass fishing trips on Lake Michigan. Captain Scott Allen is a United States Coast Guard Captain a Wisconsin Licensed Guide and he is American Red Cross certified in CPRAED and First Aid.
Scott has over 30 years experience fishing these phenomenal Smallmouth Bass waters including over 20 years. Lake Michigan may be best known for salmon but it is also well known for the outstanding smallmouth bass fishing available along most of the Indiana shoreline. Smallies measuring 12 to 14 inches are commonplace.
Bass in the 2- to 4-pound range. Lake Michigan has so much to offer. The southern basin of Lake Michigan offers excellent Salmon and Trout fishing year round.
In the spring and fall it offers world class smallmouth bass fishing and during the summer some of the biggest perch anywhere in the country. However in Late August and early September brown bass want to be shallow but you may have fish spread out all over the lake. Deep shallow and some in between.
Like so many smb waters may depend on the recent past the current weather when youre there. Warm-ish may mean more fish. Fly fishing Indianas Lake Michigan coast for smallmouth bass is an adventure every serious bronzeback angler should experience.
Indiana is home to roughly 40 miles of smallmouth-rich lakeshore between the Illinois border and Michigan City. There is basically no competition from other anglers and the bass. With a maximum depth of 85 feet Hubbard is one of the most well-stocked lakes with pike bass perch and muskie making up some of the most common fish caught in it.
Gun Lake is one of Michigans best lakes for walleye fishing. Watching a 4-7 pound smallmouth swim from over 100 feet away to strike is amazing to say the least. This happens every spring and fall and it never gets old.
When fall approaches some of the best bass fishing of the season takes place. Fall colors begin to transform the. Smallmouth bass are quite common in many of our northern Michigan waterbodies particularly the larger lakes said Northern Lake Huron Management Unit fisheries biologist Tim Cwalinski.
They rarely receive the attention that walleyes and pike get which is a shame because some of the populations of smallmouths are quite healthy. The whole southeastern coast from Port Huron to Lake Erie is nationally known for its size and number of smallmouth bass. Many of the lakes across the northern tier of the Lower Peninsula offer outstanding smallmouth fishing as do many of the rivers of southern Michigan.
Look for smallmouth bass in Flat River upstream of Lowell the Grand River below Lansing below Moores Impoundment or the Kalamazoo River DHHS has do-not-eat advisory for fish between Morrow and Lake Allegan dams Try deep pools on outside bends especially pools that have log jams for cover. Posted January 3 2019. Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource.
I live in northern Lower Michigan Otsego County and fish several of the lakes in around this area. Most any lake north of rt 72 all the way up to the Bridge has some population of smallmouth. The bigger lakes have the bigger fish but because of their size they are more affected.
Elk Lake one of the largest inland lakes in northern Michigan is an overlooked gem for trophy smallmouth. Carved out by glaciers eons ago Elk looks remarkably like a Norwegian fjord. Its superclear water and dearth of shallow wood or weed cover may cause it to appear sterile to Bassmasters used to fishing murky reservoirs but dont be.