lakes you want to fish in 2014

[robhj]

I'm fortunate I live on the west side & get to fish Muskegon, White, Pere Marquette, & Manistee regularly and I have family in NE MI so I get to fish Hubbard, Long, Grand, & Fletchers a few times each year. On my list this year is Thunder Bay & Charity Islands, and also to spend more time on Mullett. Great problems we all have-too much awesome fishing & not enough time!

[MSURoss]

I did a little guided trip on Fletchers about 7 years ago. Caught a 3.5 lb smallie in the weeds 

I've always heard about the largemouth bass, and lots of small pike, over the years, particularly in the 'old' days. But lately, I've been hearing more and more about smallmouth bass too. Wonder if they were always there? Or did someone once again start their own private stocking program?

Maybe the river system?

[bwebber]

    Fletcher's has had smallie's for years, they just hang out in certain area's of the lake so they are not widely caught.

[21XDC]

    Fletcher's has had smallie's for years, they just hang out in certain area's of the lake so they are not widely caught.

Smallies in Fletchers? 

[bwebber]

  Mike,

Didn't you win a tourney on a smallie sack?  If I remember correctly you camped on east grade most of the day?
 

[21XDC]

I also won big bass "smallie" and 1st place at the BBC rally held there.

[VinceR]

Mullett, and always more time on St Clair. Maybe a little Erie, too.

[TheFishinPollock]

Gonna go find that  winning fish on mullet again Vince LOL

[VinceR]

...or some of her BIG sisters!

[MSURoss]

Can't wait to fish Ovid, upper grand and lansing 

[djkimmel]

You missed naming a good one Round that same area...

You should branch out and try the lower too. I like urban fishing. You get asked about 20 times, 'what're ya fishin' for, carp?!? OMG that's a smallmouth bass!' Me: 'No, it's a carp. No bass, walleye, pike, salmon or trout in this river. Move along.'

[MSURoss]

I'll have to try round never have...is lower Grand dangerous for lower units?

[djkimmel]

Round doesn't have a lot of spots and they probably will tell you it's no wake. At 80 acres, not really a problem. You can fish most of the lake in one day. I didn't get out there last year but it was pretty good the 2 or 3 seasons before.

The Lower Grand can eat a lower unit, but not much more than the Upper Grand can if you don't know where you're running. Luckily, kind of like Round, you can no wake it and fish most of it in one day.

It's not real long and I'd recommend no wake and someone watching from the front deck, or just get on the trolling motor and fish, because the lower water we've had makes the downstream part a little past I-496 have lots of shallow places - the old bridge they took out and up past Washington Ave - mostly lots of obstructions scattered around some semblance of the channel.

I wouldn't take a fiberglass boat past the train bridge very far even on the trolling motor. I've seen people do it and I've done it a few times (in higher water though). You can scrape some fiberglass or get stuck. Not too much to fish up there anyway.

Downstream from the ramp there are some junk spots under the Kalamazoo and Shiawassee St bridges. Used to be a wicked old rerod about 40 feet right of the center support under Kalamazoo. Not sure it's still there now? I stick fairly close to the right of the center support and take it slow just in case. The left side (going from the ramp) is very iffy.

Fairly safe in the middle of the channel from there to the Shiawassee St bridge. There's some junk around that bridge, mostly under/just upstream (towards the dam) but you can trolling motor around there find near the center support.

The next bridge towards the dam is the old train bridge they now use for pedestrians. There are a couple old underwater bridge support bases left there including one near the center of the center opening. At times that pile is shallow enough to mess up your prop or take off a lower unit. You can't usually see it. If the water is really down you could scrape your hull a little though I don't expect the water will be that low this year.

I almost never run in that part of the river since we've had the lower water. It only takes a few minutes to travel the river with the motor trimmed up at a low wake anyway. There's a ridge a short ways past that bridge that has no fish on it. Don't fish it... It's no good. You won't like it. Don't even look for it... Just stay to the right near the East. There's still a narrow channel there.

I haven't been down there since the year before so I don't know the status of the Saginaw St. bridge rebuild. You probably can't go much past there anyway if that is still being built as the latest satellite images show. I haven't driven down that way either but if the bridge is still out and they're building they may have it buoyed off and/or there may be construction stuff in the water you don't want to find the hard way. The fishing isn't generally awesome from there to the dam anyway in my experience.

One thing I do every year when I re-acquaint myself with the river (most rivers) is to take a low speed ride through the parts I want to run and fish anyway because they're rivers. Stuff moves. It isn't uncommon to find new treasures in the channel that weren't there or weren't apparent before. You're better of finding them that way instead of the hard way.

I've found whole new trees in deep water (usually in the worst places) on the Upper Grand - most often the good way above thank goodness rather then the hard way. Along the Lower Grand, you can find trees, vehicle axles, home appliances, bicycles, shopping carts, any number of interesting items. Bridge repair almost always creates new things in the river, and if they haven't done a recent cleanup you will usually find more of the unnatural cover in the river. Find them the easy way first.

I take it all as it comes along. Just part of fishing urban. Plus! I like getting asked that question from people walking the boardwalk - 'what're ya fishin' for??' I especially like it when I hook a nice bass or walleye and they freak out! Makes fishing a little more fun. I've fished in front of quite a crowd a few times downtown... And there's surprising lots of wildlife using the river, even while lots of people are walking and riding nearby on the Riverwalk.

[DennisB.]

Hardy, mi. Center, Dubonette, Hamlin, reedsberg,

[BIGSHOW]

Are you talking about Lake Dubonette in Interlochen Dennis?

[DennisB.]

Are you talking about Lake Dubonette in Interlochen Dennis?

Yes. We went there every year till I went in the navy in 91" I'm now 40 and want my son to see it. It used to be a pike factory but we always did well on the bass.

[BIGSHOW]

I want to fish it also. I probably will this year. I want to fish cedar hedge too. I've done good there. I have a place on bass lake less than 10 mi. From there.

[YpsiBass]

Revising my list to include Detroit River, LSC, Erie, and probably Belleville as sad as it is to say 

[djkimmel]

Try to go to Belleville at a weird time. Maybe that will help?