IcatchDinks

Been a rough week for fishing. Low temps, lots of wind and cold rain. Got completely skunked Wednesday, and today, even though it was in the low 50's and raining I decided to try my luck. Hooked a good one on a Texas rig creature bait. But he came off right at the bank as I was trying to land him. Zero action the rest of the evening. The fishing season for me is winding down. I've got probably a few weeks, maybe a month and a half, left of nice weather and then I'll probably have to put the gear into storage for the winter. I love Michigan, but this time of year makes me feel sad.

Guess I'm doing it wrong. Time to try again. Lol

Spinners? Oh. You mean spoons with extra steps? I've never had much luck with spinners. Unless we're talking in-line spinners, in which case I've caught tons of smallies on them. But then again, I bank fish small rivers and ponds mostly. Lots of tight areas with little casting room, let alone room get a good long cast and retrieve. But in my very limited experience, smallmouth love to chase shiny things. And spinners, spoons, and the like all seem likely to attract their attention.

Was only able to fish for a little over an hour, but I still managed to get a nice one yesterday. Ignore my frazzled looks. I went to the pond straight from work. ?

Last weekend (August 26-28) my siblings and our families went camping up near Manistee. I took my younger sister (17 years old) fishing with me a couple times over the course of three days, but we caught nothing. And she didn't come with me on the last day when I hooked into my new PB smallmouth. Somehow inspite of getting skunked three days in a row, she managed to get hooked on the sport anyway. I promised to bring her fishing when we got back home. Fast-forward to memorial day weekend, and I arranged to take her and our younger sister (16 years old) to some of our local ponds. Neither of them had ever caught a fish, and I figured I could at least help them catch some bluegill and hopefully some bass. Sunday morning dawned, chilly and overcast, and I was worried about our chances. Nevertheless, I put together a little tackle box of essentials for the older of my sisters, as she seemed to be real eager to take up the sport long term, and loaded the car with poles and gear The first spot we tried, they caught a handful of bluegill and pumpkinseed, but the bass would not bite. And nothing was biting lures. We had to use live worms almost exclusively. So we switched to a pond I'd only ever fished once before, but had some decent success. After about 20 minutes of fruitless casting, I decide to move around to the other end of the pond. My sisters stayed put. About five minutes later, I hear the younger hollar my name with a tone of frantic excitement. I come running around the stand of pine trees separating us, and see that she's pulled a whopper out of the water and is proudly holding it up, giddy with excitement. Finally, success! About 10 to fifteen minutes later, the older sister hooks into another one, almost the same size. A couple ounces heavier and half an inch shorter: Then my wife got one on a weightless Texas rigged stick bait (she doesn't like holding them, plus this one was bleeding): I had spent most of this time re-rigging rods, untangling line, handling, unhooking, and measuring fish, so I barely had a chance to get a line into the water for myself. I finally made my own contribution: With about a half hour left before we had to head back home, I decided to pull out the whopper plopper so they could hopefully see some top water blowups. Got a few swipes that missed but finally hooked one: It was a wonderful day. There is no greater joy while fishing than to help someone who's new to the sport catch good fish. And both the girls are hooked on it now. I wish I could show you the joy on their faces in those pictures. But since both my sisters are minors, I didn't feel comfortable sharing their faces on the internet. I'm set to take some more siblings out next weekend. Should be a blast. If you've never taken a kid fishing, I highly recommend it. You don't fish much yourself, but the smiles on their faces is far better than any trophy fish.

It's rare to find one that big around me. I'd never eat them if did that.

I'm from a couple hours north of GR but have spent a lot of time there. I love the area. The city is one of my favorites in the country. Never personally fished down that direction, but if the Fishbrain app is any indicator there's a lot of good bass fishing. The snow ... Well... Yeah. There is that. Lol But I've learned it makes the spring that much sweeter.

I bank fish exclusively, and mostly fish rivers. I have my go to spots in the places I regularly fish, and it's usually breaks, eddies, structure, open holes in weedbeds, under bridges, etc. These are all the spots I've found I have the most success on my river. There's one spot I love to target with top water where the river takes a sharp bend and forms a large, slow moving pool. There's a decent hole there and the smallies seem to congregate there. On a good day I'll pull between five and ten fish from that one spot. But sometimes they just aren't there. But of course, you find them anywhere sometimes. Once caught one on a crank bait I let float down the middle of the river while I was trying to untangle a snarl in my line. But usually I target the traditional "fish holders" before I try fishing open water.

2005 Ford Five Hundred I bought off my Grandma when the transmission on my 2006 Saturn Aura died. Over 200,000 miles on it and she's still kicking.

I've never put much stock in photos other than to document my fish. But now that I'm married, my wife is always snapping photos of people, scenery, and funny little things we may happen across (i.e. a road with a funny name or something.) And when I look back on them it really makes me appreciate the memories that much more.

I love spinning. Line twist? Just use a swivel and leader. But it's not usually that bad. Tbf I've never used a baitcaster. I own one, but one of the knobs fell off between the store and my house and I need to replace it. Maybe once I use it I won't go back. But I doubt it. I'm pretty darn good with a spinning set up.

Thanks! I'm super stoked about it. Today's been really fun.

Today was a good day. We went camping this weekend up near Tippy Dam in Michigan. I tried all around the dam and caught nothing. Then we went to the beach on Lake Michigan today and I tried fishing off the pier but also caught nothing. Then just before heading home I tried little manmade pond (literally named Man Made Lake) just inland from the shore of Lake Michigan. Finally got lucky. First fish was a little pike on a Mepps inline spinner. He shredded the tail feathers right off it. After that I caught a little pumpkin seed on a swimbait the same size as the fish. Then I caught my PB smallie on a square bill crank bait. He hammered it the second it hit the water. Finally, just before heading back to camp, the largest rock bass I've ever seen hammered the whopper plopper. Tons of fun today.

I've only been seriously fishing for 2 years now. Not even. My only regret is not getting into it sooner. I'm young compared to most of you: 26 years old. Wish I'd spent more of the past few years out on the water instead of in front of a computer screen playing games. I still enjoy my computer games. But fishing is so much better. I used to see bumper stickers and Tshirts with the slogan "I'd rather be fishing." And I never got it. Now I do. There are very few activities I'd rather be doing.

Thanks guys. I fished up stream of the dam, and downstream. Crowds weren't too bad. But enough that I wanted to not be there. No luck in the river. We went to Manistee today and I fished off the pier in Lake Michigan. Also nothing. Then I fished Man Made Lake. Finally got lucky. Caught a nice little pike (22 inches), the largest rock bass I've ever caught (about a pound), and my pb Smallmouth: 16 inches, 2lbs 2oz. I plan to try the Red Bridge area tomorrow. Thanks for the advice!!!

Hey, my fellow Michiganders. I'm going camping this weekend with some family and friends up near Tippy Dam. I've read that there's good fishing there, but have never been. Have any of you been there? Any tips/tricks/advice for me?

Oh, I've got a lot of bad habits. Fishing the same spot WAY too long even if there's no evidence of fish is one of my biggest. Also not switching baits that aren't working. Probably the one that's the worst as far as costliness is buying gear I don't need. Whether I'm in Walmart or any of the big sporting stores, or browsing the web, the temptation to buy more lures or tackle or what have you is nearly irresistible. I have to bring my wife along to help steer me away from the fishing department every time we go shopping.

Congratulations!!!

Sometimes those little guys are shockingly aggressive. This is the only fish I've ever caught on this bait. Somehow the little fella thought he was gonna get that in his mouth.

It seems it's been a dry summer across the country. All my regular spots are pretty low too. Everytime it rains, I get really excited. Glad to hear you got some water. Also, nice catches!

Was able to get out today. Been pretty absent. Haven't had a lot of time for fishing. Caught a 13 inch and a 14 inch smallie. (I'm guessing on size. Didn't bother to measure them.) Plus a handful of dinks. Unless you count the pike and carp, they're aren't a lot of giant fish near me. But smallies fight like fish twice their size. Plus a couple weeks ago I caught this largie in a little pond. For the size pond, this guy is a beast. He was only 15 inches but weight a full 2lbs :

Been a slow summer so far. Finally caught a decent largemouth. He had a nasty cut on his side. And several previous wounds in his mouth from being caught before. Made me feel bad for catching him. I wish people would be nicer to the fish they catch. Also caught a beautiful little smallie the day before.

Been struggling for fish as of late. Smallies aren't biting anything I throw at em. Plastics just don't seem to work like they were, for bass or anything else. I've got probably 3-4hundred dollars worth of lures/gear/hooks, and today I decided that I'm just gonna be using live worms for a while. And it worked! Nabbed a handful of bluegill and panfish, and couple bass, and overall had a really fun day at the pond. I think sometimes I get so caught up in picking the right lure for the right fish/water/temp/location, that I forget how easy it actually is to catch fish. Sure. I didn't catch any records. I don't normallly anyway. But I had a lot of fun, and that's what makes fishing great. So if you're struggling for fish, maybe stop trying so hard. Grab a handful of worms, a bobber, and some splitshot and go drop a line in the pond.

Welcome!

I hope to avoid them in the future. Lol.