Kent Lake and djkimmel's monster fish!!! Saturday 9/2/06

[djkimmel]

After reading some of the tales on here of practically epic proportions about Kent Lake - a lake I still know little about, I was concerned that my fishing report would pale in comparison due to lack of knowledge about this challenging lake, but THEN, I go out and catch this MONSTER fish. I MEAN A MONSTER - my first fish right off the bat!!!

So now, I have a tale of my own to tell and it may be of epic proportion - maybe not 'Old Man and the Sea' proportions - not Hemingway, but definitely approaching Grumpy Old Men fableness (is that a word?) at least.

So how does one start such a tale, knowing it may be told in Hooters Restaurants for days, even weeks beyond??

First I thought, I?ll give it a HUGE title and bring it on like a Hollywood big budget epic:

Lord of the Big Fish

Starring Djkimmel As himself
And cameraguy as his 'missed the first fish at the boat and didn?t even see what it was' faithful sidekick and guide? Bassum

But then I thought, naw. cameraguy would kill me...

I know, I'd make cameraguy the star of the fishing report (although my BIG fish would obviously steal the show in the end...)

A Big Fish Runs Through ItStarring cameraguy as, well cameraguy
With supporting fishing from djkimmel as Dan the big fish catchin' man
Lights. Cameras (his area, not mine)

But, in the end... it seems like the best idea is to let the strong supporting cast tell the story as it happened with no (or little) theatrics. The story will stand or fall on its own?

So here?s our story without any exaggeration and minimal embellishment?

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. But hey, we?re going fishing so who cares? I meet cameraguy at the East ramp on Kent Lake. First time out there this year for me and only my 5th or 6th trip ever to the popular big fish lake.

Cameraguy says, ?Do you know where that hump is that PoorBoy and Maize were catching all those toads on??

I say, ?No.? So crap, let?s just do what we always do and go down the east shore again. Okay I guess. We actually did trip over a hump or point, but caught nothing. Then, cameraguy looks away as we are zigzagging in and out (I think it was right after I said, ?Hey, let?s go fish that cement thing.? But maybe it was earlier or later?

Anyway, cameraguy looks away and something (probably a big pike, we always get bit off, splashed or actually catch a big pike in that same area) makes a big swirl right at the boat as he lifts his lure out. ?Did you see that??

?Yeah, what the heck was it? A big pike??

?I don?t know, I looked away right as I lifted my lure out!?!?

?Shoot! I bet it was a big pike.?

I mention how that reminds me that I sometimes get followed by a big walleye right after the big pike deal goes down, but I can?t remember what I?m usually throwing when the walleye follow occurs? and by gosh! I want to throw a G-finish Big O because I like ticking wobbling crankbaits through the weed tops on reservoirs during the summer, especially as the weeds start to thin out.

So I throw the Big O thinking how we usually don?t catch much going down this shoreline even though someone in the boat (not me, but I won?t mention any names) always tells me that this is a good stretch to fish? All of a sudden ? HOLY SMOKES ? my Big O has stopped wobbling and it isn?t the ?caught in the weeds? stop, but more of a ?grab; stop! Kind of a ?doink!? You fellow crankbaiters know what I mean.

I put the metal to the fish and feel solid resistance. Then a POWERFUL SURGE that tells me this is no mere keeper. No lightweight. A BIG Pike?!? No? It?s not rocketing along the first 10 or 20 feet. No, just a powerful surge with some real weight behind it.

Could it be a largemouth to put other largemouth to shame?!? I can?t tell for sure, but I?m thinking Master Angler patch!!! This fish is powerful. I?ll skip a couple things I said because they weren?t important, but I will add that several other boats were watching with the look of anglers who know one of their own has a giant on! One of those rare fish we are only fortunate once in a while to hook and sometimes lose only so we can tell stories about it at Hooters?

?I?m going to need the net,? I say! ?Well there it is. You told me to get the camera, so I can?t get the net,? retorts cameraguy (he may not have actually retorted, but I like the word for some reason)!

Cameraguy says, ?Just lip it!? ?I?m not lipping the thing. You lip it,? I retort right back!

By this time, other anglers have figured out something is horribly wrong. I?m not whooping it up enough. But it is a Master Angler class fish and a MONSTER!!! Nonetheless (another good word).

I have one of those fancy-smancy nets with the bracing handle that makes it easier to net your own fish, so do my best to drag the big?un into the net, which it doesn?t want to do:


But I finally win out and drag the TOAD (an apt nickname for this creature) into the net and hoist the flexing hoop into my trusty Ranger 492VS (another supporting castmember). It?s a whopper! Biggest I?ve caught in several years!!!

?Lip it,? says cameraguy again. ?I wasn?t born yesterday,? I retort again!

?You ever try to lift one of these thick, slippery demons up,? I ask? ?Hold it up for the camera,? says cameraguy. And he keeps laughing at me because I won?t just stick my hand into the gills possibly to be shredded when the prehistoric piscatorial beast decides it still has some fight left in it (and they always do, crafty monsters).

?Just hold the net over this way so I can see it,? says cameraguy. Maybe that will be good enough. So I try that for starters.


?En guard Monsieur cameraguy," I say. ?You hold the thing up and I?ll take the picture.? (Ok, I didn't really say that.)

?No way. I?m the cameraguy, not you?? (I think he did say that.)

So fine then, I?m going to lift the darn thing up because cameraguy says it might be the biggest one he?s ever seen. Maybe some kind of record (but cameraguy doesn?t slum it as much as I do so I know better?)

I try several time to pick the thing up, but it keeps thrashing around, sliming up my net and my carpet when it comes part way out of the net several times. I can?t quite get a grip on anything that doesn?t involve shredding my hand. ?Grab it across the back like you do a pike,? he says. Yeah, right! The brute is too wide across the back for my hand reach around, and too strong, heavy and slippery to hold that way anyway.

It has to be by the gill plate or not at all? I try, but those tiny black beady eyes keep watching me and then going after me every time I reach in for some kind of grip.


You can see the beady little eye just watching for its chance to shred me but good. I finally have a great idea and pull out my neoprene glove. It might end up pureed along with my hand anyway when the thing decides to start spinning and thrashing again, but I feel safer and that?s what really matters.

Now I get the monster up and immediately start in saying, ?It?s slipping. Hurry! Get the shot. Hurry! It?s slipping. I?m going to drop the thing. Would you just take the shot!??!?

?Step back. I can?t get the whole thing in the picture. It?s too big. Just a minute. Almost got it.?

?It?s slipping. I can?t hold on much longer with ending up with a real mess. Hurry up!!! It?s slipping. It?s going to start thrashing around again and I won?t be able to hold it!?!?

In the end, cameraguy got the picture of the creature ? probably Master Angler size, but I only know a few guys who have done so. Here it is. What do you think?


Mutant, huh? The thing had a huge belly on it too (kind of like mine only I don?t think this thing?s belly is from eating too much Mexican).

Well, that was our day?

Just kidding. We actually did catch some bass, but they would have all been doggie treats for the first fish of the day.

Cameraguy managed this keeper smallie a short time later although I can?t for the life of me remember now where and how he caught it.



We tried some stuff. Caught few dink largemouths and a tiny smallie despite finding some nice scattered rock on a point and cameraguy seeing a decent smallie on the Seaviewer underwater camera. He ended up doing a lot of underwater taping despite complaining how murky it was down there all over.

I caught a dink and a keeper largie of a ledge edge ? about 13 feet that drops to over 25 feet ? on a drop-shotted Zoom finesse worm. Cameraguy found that there was one stick sticking up right there on an otherwise plain mud bottom all around. What were the odds of that?

We then found some bass moving around an edge with scattered wood and rocks. I finally hooked a bass ? a smallie no less ? on a chatterbait. I lost the fish near the boat while I was also trying to get my camera out to record this momentous occasion, but it didn?t get in my hand.so no chatterbait picture.

Cameraguy had to go so I dropped him on the dock and then went way north slop fishing. I had a heck of a time with a seeming pattern of certain pad patches holding bass ? some keeper size ? that would blast my Zoom Horny Toad up into the air ? often twice before giving up. I missed a 2+ and caught a dink just by swimming the horny toad out from the pads ? a nice thing about horny toads.

But, I found if I flipped a black/blue Zoom Super Hog into the back edges and first few holes of the right pad patches, I could pop a few of these bass much easier. I caught a few 2 pound class largemouths. I missed 5 at least on the Horny Toad though. That was fun, but annoying that I didn?t get them despite as least 3 trying more than once.

Later, I went back to the main lake ledge area again and cranked up a respectable largemouth, but that was it. I found some interesting structure and cover, and have plans to go back to that area in the future to check it out again.

So about 5 keepers for me, but nothing over 2.5 pounds. Just the ?trophy? dogfish. I still have a lot to learn about Kent Lake, but I made some headway this time.

[cameraguy]

Nice story.  I'll just roll with the literary license thing so I won't dispute the accuracy of some of the quotes since I'm sure they were written with the interest of the reader in mind and my original utterances were probably not nearly as interesting or entertaining.  After all, I was tired from working until 1:00am the night before.

Okay, I promise never to make you go down the east shore again unless I know that the weeds are up better and the fish are much more active in that area.  I swear that has been a good pattern in the past and the huge number of boats (okay-3 or 4) moving in and out in front of us proves it.

Now I'll address your memory failure.  My lunker smallie (okay-it was about 2 lbs.-a lunker that day) was ripped from it's aquatic santuary on the Island Lake Rec. Area side (south of the freeway) of the lake and was near some wood sticking up above the surface in about 8 feet of water.  It bit a Watermelon Yamamoto Kreature, Texas-rigged with a 1/8 oz. lead bullet sinker and a 3/0 black Mustad hook.

I know it had nothing to do with the story and would have made it even longer, but, you failed to mention the icky goopy crud that I saw on the camera suspended everywhere below about fifteen feet and showed up on your fishfinders.  What in the heck is that stuff?

Also, everytime we go to Kent, we see a boat or two on plane.  What's up with that?

Finally, I've decided that Lake St. Clair costs too much and that Kent Lake is a much cheaper alternative.  I'm also going to target dogfish.  At least I know where that hot spot is.           

[Cheetam]

Nice bowfin Dan.  I always manage to catch one of those or a big carp when I'm out there with Poorboy.  That dude is a junkfish magnet...

[djkimmel]

cameraguy - you just did the sequel... thanks! I completely forgot about those 2 or 3 fish you caught out of the wood.

Yeah - and what was that icky creepy gook stuff down there past 16 feet??? I think the lake is turning over somehow because there were gobs of that black goo floating on the surface up near the Buno Rd bridge and past it! Yuck!

We should have taped those guys on plane - maybe there's a reward? At least none of them were large flashy fiberglass bassboats - thank goodness!

Also, note I did not provide any clues to our new camera-found super secret hotspots where we actually saw one big bass...

[djkimmel]

Nice bowfin Dan.  I always manage to catch one of those or a big carp when I'm out there with Poorboy.  That dude is a junkfish magnet...

Why does that not surprise me?? (In fact, now that I think of it, the croak my dogfish made kind of sounded like Poo Boy...??)

[McCarter]

Also, note I did not provide any clues to our new camera-found super secret hotspots where we actually saw one big bass...

Next time you guys get out there with a camera, get into the back lake ( south of the I96 bridge ) and follow the east shoreline til it makes the point.  Right on the other side of the point, there is a large laydown.  There is always a bigun under there.  I cant catch it, maybe you guys will have better luck.

PB The Carp Finder himself

[djkimmel]

SHOOT!!! There goes the super secret hot spot!

[MaizeNBlue]

You sure that was a lone stick and not my rod and reel???

[cameraguy]

We fished for your rod and reel and couldn't catch that either.  My Kent Lake mojo is way off kilter.  We passed a couple of guys in a bass boat the other day.  They said they had caught 20-30 bass.  I curled up in the fetal position and blubbered until Dan got me back to the ramp.  After thinking about it for a few days I've come to the conclusion that my hands are oozing fish repellent.  It sickens fish for acres.  I'll just have to wear gloves next time.

[djkimmel]

Now that you mention it... I caught a lot more bass after you left the boat... er, went home...