Kent Lake Report 9-5-06

[McCarter]

Maize demanded a rematch at Kent lake and i accepted.? I got off work early and headed home to change while Maize finished his chores.? He called me shortly after and told me to head out to the launch to meet him.? I got there around 3:15 and waited about 15 minutes for him to show up.? As we were loading the boat, i came across my rain gear.? For a second i had it in the pile of rods and boxes i planned to bring, but after a quick glimps to the sky and my expertise on Michigan weather patterns, i threw it back in the truck.? Once we were loaded, i backed the truck down the ramp and dumped the boat in.

Walking back from the parking lot to the docks, i noticed some heavy minnow activity in the corner where we launched.? Maize noticed it as well.? We dicided to try that area first.? There were minnows popping everywhere and game fish hitting on them.? Neither one of us had a spinnerbait or a buzzbait.? And neither of us felt like rigging up a topwater, so we just used what we had.? I was swimming a jig while Maize bumped bottom with a tube.? I hooked into a small largemouth flipping a small bush but he came off at the side of the boat.? we tried this area for another 15 minutes with no takers.? At this point it is raining cats and dogs and other small fury creatures.? We decided to head back in to grab the rain gear.? So much for my weather reading skills.

Our next spot was one that has been on fire as of late.? The HUMP!!!? I dont know what it is about this year that is making this spot so hot compared to years past.? Maybe it has something to do with the weed kills or maybe it has something to do with the water level ( it has been pretty high this year ), i dont know.? But this spot is on.? Or i should say was on.? Couldnt buy a fish on the hump, but Maize managed a nice 3 lb smallie in the channel as i worked a small sand point on the north shore.? Its raining even harder now, and it is very cold.? I am now whining like an 8 year old girl.? I hate cold rain.

Next we moved to another hump in the main lake.? This is one we found on our way back in a couple weeks ago but have never fished.? What better time than today.? We stopped about 50 yards east of the hump and tried to work our way to it, but the heavy down pour prevented me from keeping my head up long enough to troll a straight line to it.? It was coming down so hard that my boots were filling up from rain water that was running down my face, down the man melons, across mount Gutmore, past mr happy who was not very happy at this moment, continuing down the legs and so on.? I dubbed this spot sucky and complained for another couple minutes, cursing the clouds and the rain.? Then Maize noticed that his line was floating high above our heads.? Thats when my rod started to buzz.? We had no choice.? We had to make a decision.? We thought long and hard on what the best place would be to take cover in a lighting storm.? We both agreed that hiding under a huge metal bridge was the only rational choice.? Smart thinking, i know.?

So here we are under a huge metal and concrete bridge, lighting crashing all around us.? Sensing that these moments could be my last, i figured i better get to fishing.? If im gonna die, i wanna die stinkin like fish slime.? I started pitching the bridge and had a small bite but swung and missed.? A couple minutes later, i pitched to one of the pilons or whatver you call it from the grand river road bridge and whacked a nice 3 lb smallie and a black and blue jig.? The rain and lighting was letting up so we worked our way south under the bridge to the back lake and started fishing the shorelines.? We caught a couple short fish and then i caught my second keeper flipping a laydown.? This one was barely a keeper largemouth.? We worked our way back towards the bridge and caught a few more shorts on the way.

Our next move was to fish the rip rap near the bridge on the main lake.? We hit that for about 20 minutes with no takers.? We followed the channel edge out a little way and just started dragging.? I hooked up with another nice 3 lb smalllie this time on a green pumpkin spider grub rigged open hook on a 1/4 oz screwball head.? Maize is still dragging a tube and is now down 3 -1.? ?I saw the opportunity for total domination and took it.? In the next 20 minutes i would catch a solid 4 lb smallmouth, a 3.5 lb largemouth, and a close to 4 lb smallie that was definatly the hardest fighting fish of the year.? Maize is now down 6 - 1 and is desperate to at least catch a dink.? He is back to his old tricks of using two rods at once.? It never happened for him and i caught one more 2 lb fish, catapulting my lead to 6 fish over him.?

Final Score:? PB 7 keepers - Maize 1 keeper

It was business as usual.? Kent is on fire and it will only get better.? Every fish i caught was FAT.? Pictures coming soon.

PB himself