I'm far South in Branch County.  Two big chains in my area, the town I live in is called the "gateway to the chain of lakes", includes Coldwater Lake, Marble Lake, and Randle Lake that have the most 'tourneys.

Late May and most of June I caught a lot of top water LMB's on a couple frogs mostly and I still fish a black jitterbug, Lol!  The biggest being just over 4 pounds in a small area of open water between two sets of lily pads on Marble Lake.  4 pounder is also my PB of the year.  After the top water bite slowed down in my area, I caught a bunch with different cranks up till July.  The biggest being 3 pounds.  After it got really hot, I have been hitting drop offs to mostly 10-20 ft. next to pads or weed lines (finding schools of baitfish first) with a wacky rigged drop shot (different finesse, trick, and ribbon worms), the biggest was 3.8 pounds. Also used a white buzzbait and a black buzzbait in the early mornings but all dinks and not many.  Caught some nice rock bass and pumpkinseed sunfish on the buzzbait's though!  Now I'm using a combination of drop shot rigs, Carolina, split shot, and mojo rigs which seem to be producing the best results for me than anything else at the moment.  Got some good numbers so far this year but I cannot break my PB for the year which is 4.2 pounds to be exact.  My wife, son and I like to fish Jackson Hole at Custer State Rec Area in Calhoun County and a couple different lakes at Waterloo and Pickney State Rec Area which produce some really nice fish but still can't break that 4.2!  Looking to join a bass club in my area and start to get into some 'tournaments to see how that goes next year!

Good luck to all the Michiganders this year, we don't have the biggest bass ever like Florida, Bama, Texas, or the Cali Delta for instance, but our fish are still a lot of fun to catch.

Nice thread!

How's everyone been doing? I've taken a small hiatus from fishing to figure out a few life decisions (leave my job? Build a house? Etc..).

 

It's been hot, that's for sure.

Been tough sledding for me.  I've been fishing new to me lakes a lot so I'm doing way prospecting than fishing.

Sort of like Pre-fishing for the Fall bite.

And I must say ~ It's looking quite promising too.

A-Jay

 

1. Shoreline immediately left of the ramp to the point across from the small island has stumps, pads, and laydowns in shallow water.

2. Most Western cove is filled with wood cover and moderate grass. Pads are mostly choked out in shallow water but areas closest to the main lake produce.

3. Eastern cove with 60fow has a few quality laydowns, pads, deep docks, and stumps.

4. Southern shore including the marina has scattered docks that all hold bass.

5. There are three offshore humps and a long tapering point within the deepest basin that are not visible on Navionics. Check out Bing satellite images (closely) or the Insight Genesis social map for the most accurate view of this structure.

 

 

I caught some nice ones on the West lake channel using cinnamon colored senkos. Long was just sprayed again so it will probably be slow for the next few weeks.

It's been slow.  5 or 6 every trip with a decent one peppered in here or there.    Got my first Lucky Craft fish last night from the stash I won in the spring, too.  So that was exciting.  On the Sammy 110.

Yep. August is bad and it should feel bad. Too hot and too many folks out. Hot summer usually means a good fall bite though.

Hello Everyone,

 I'm new to BassResource and this is post #1. This site is AWESOME! I'm heading out to Kent Lake or Wixom Lake this Sat to fun fish. Hopefully it doesn't wash us out. Fished a couple of tournaments last year on Kent. I am a straight up amateur. Didn't limit in either tournament. Anyone have any tips for Kent or Wixom this weekend? 

 It's great to find a forum of Michigan. 

Edited August 15, 20169 yr by swimsenkorules
spelling error

Hello from up in Otsego County and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

Good Luck on Saturday

A-Jay

Me and my best friend at lakeville lake this pas Saturday. Nothin better than catching lunkers at the same time

Never been to Kent but was just nearWixom this past weekend (fishing the Tittabawassee between Wixom and Smallwood). When it's this hot I focus on two areas during the day: deep or cover. I focused on cover since I was in the smaller part of the Tittabawassee. There's alot of it on that stretch - and I did well wacky rigging a senko in open areas of said cover or on the edge of cover.

I won the bachelor party tourney we had (10 ppl)   

 

As for Wixom, I've always had luck near the bridge across from Strykers and by the East dam. Also, don't be scared to drop below the dam and fish. They got nice fish in there if you can cast it that far (due to the recent changes to that area, it's harder to fish the dam).

 

 

 

Welcome to BR!

The Raisin River can be iffy at times but, that depends on where you put in and of course how the rainfall has been. From Dundee through Monroe it can get pretty shallow at points but you can find some decent spots for smallies, some small pike and catfish.

The Huron River is good for kayaking and there is good fishing to be had all through it. There are a couple of areas of the Huron that are classified as Blue Ribbon Smallmouth areas, which are catch and release only.

Cool! Thanks for the welcome. Since you are up there you know Fletcher's. Love that place. I deer hunt over in Presque Isle County at the family farm. 

Fletcher's Flood water ?

Never heard of it . . .

A-Jay

Agreed. That secret should be kept. 

Yes the huron is kayak friendly, I have fished the section near proud lake campground.

I only caught small mouth, there is a lot perch and crappie in there as well.

I am in the Detroit area to. if anyone wants to go fishing let me know, this week is especially good for me because I took the week off work.

Week off work? Can't complain about that!! Enjoy!

My wife asked me yesterday why I feel the need to keep rods in the car.  I sent her this today as an answer.

Just found this thread. I am from the Lansing area. Nice to know there are a couple of MI anglers here.

Went on a random trip this weekend up north and caught my PB LM 4.7lbs pure michigan

That is awesome man! looks like you could fit your hand in its mouth, gotta love it!

 

Nice Bass

PB's are Always a Blast

Congrats

And thanks for not naming the lake.

A-Jay

 

I was Fishing little swimbaits on Long in KZO county yesterday. Bass were finally biting again after the lake was sprayed for invasive weeds earlier in the month.

Glad to hear.  In Branch County, where I live, most lakes get sprayed for the same reason. Most of the lake associations use pellets, can't remember why, but they seem to kill off the craw and perch hatches and who knows what else.  Kinda sucks.  I feel our county does not care about our fisheries, seems to be more about skiing and weekend pontoon boating, stuff like that. 

Best LMG's I caught out of Branch County in the last couple weeks!