Manistee Lake

[McCarter]

Not the cool one by lake Michigan, but the one in Kalkaska.  Anyone familiar with it?  That is the lake we are going to for our annual spring smallmouth trip next week.  I didnt pick the lake and know nothing about it.  i know there are a few good lakes in the area like Margrethe(sp?) and Skegemog.  Anyone know of any others.  Manistee looks pretty small and only gets to like 16 ft deep in one spot.  the rest is pretty shallow.  I am kinda bummed although i guess it could turn out to be a great lake.  Just looking for some info on this or any of the other area lakes.

Thanks in advance.

McCarter himself

[Durand Dan]

If you have the Navionics Hotmaps Explorer CD it on there. Here is a screen print of it

[Got Fish??]

 There are no smallmouth in manistee lake! Some largemouth on wood at north end or around docks. Lake is shallow. It is a great panfish lake with large gills. Bellair lake and the clamriver is a nice spot for a tournament, there is a nice state lunch at east side of lake near town. You can fish the river all the way to torchlake. I have landed meany smalles 4-6lbs there. Also a lot of muskies and large mouth. It's not uncommon to have one of those pesky large tooth's hit your tub. A state record was caught in the river last summer. Thanks for the jig I got from you at wonderland show. Already producing lots of fish, should have gotting two. I am afraid I will lose this one.

[djkimmel]

Maybe someone else should throw the dart next year??

[MadWags]

Guys,
Just an FYI for all the board members.
When taking an annual Smallmouth Bass fishing trip, it is generally a good idea
to choose a lake that is slap full of Smallmouth Bass.
Ask Mojo. He fished for Smallmouth Bass on Lake Ovid for over three hours
without any luck.

[Cheetam]

Guys,
Just an FYI for all the board members.
When taking an annual Smallmouth Bass fishing trip, it is generally a good idea
to choose a lake that is slap full of Smallmouth Bass.
Ask Mojo. He fished for Smallmouth Bass on Lake Ovid for over three hours
without any luck.

LOL!

[jcox7]

Dont worry the size of large mouth brian is use to catching are all considered to have small mouths so in one way they will catch small mouthed largies.

[McCarter]

i didnt pick the lake this year.  actually, i did pick the lake this year.  black lake.  but as it turns out, my buddy got into an argument with the woman we were going to rent the house from and ended up booking us in a house on manistee.  it looks like i am going to be doing some traveling.  there are a bunch of lakes within a 2 hour drive that are catching my interest.

Charlevoix

Crooked

Otsego

Elk, Torch, Skeg, Bellaire, Clam

Duck, Green

Burt, Mullet

Black

we fished up there a few years ago, bear lake, cub lake, and wandered over to margarethe lake.  again, didnt pick that time either, but margarethe was pretty cool.  we were only out for a few hours when i storm pushed us off but everyone caught fish.  kinda looking to fish something new this year.  leaning towards charlevoix and crooked but am open to suggestions.  never been on charlevoix, looks big

McCarter himself

[gr@ssmonkey]

mccarter,u definitely want to spend all your time on charlavoix,it's big,but the smallies are even bigger,and u won't have a problem catching them,just get a map and hit the shallow rocky areas,23+ is common this time of year!!!! fish over 6 lbs are not unusual either right now.......but if the wind keeps u off the big lake,duck and green have some big smallies,skegmog is a good choice for the day also,even elk torch like u said but myself,i would spend every moment on charlovoix,u won't be dissappointed!!

       

[stackenem]

I just got back from a turkey hunt up by torch lake and the temps were in the low 30's at night with snow last Sat morning. Sunday morning it was 36 degrees at the trailer. Take some very warm clothing with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Got Fish??]

 Wow you guys fished Cub lake! Thats a tuff lunch. You must not of had many boats, it is vary small. Live bait works best on Cub. Live leaches work best.

[McCarter]

we stopped at cub on the way back from margarthe lake.  just me and 2 buddies in my boat.  caught the heck out of 12-14" largemouth on small jigs.  it was fun i guess but not what i drive 3.5 hrs for.

McCarter himself

[djkimmel]

You should have went to bear lake... not cub lake. Baby cub... baby cub... (or whatever crazy Z is always singing)

[Got Fish??]

 Bear lake is vary deep and holds lots of lakers off deep points. I have picked a few smallies out of Bear but have to work hard for a good bite. Long lake is the closes lake to Kalkaskas Manistee lake as your heading too Torch Chane of lakes. It is a popular lake with the local fishermen.You should stop in to Jacks Bait shop, in town. Ask them to put you guys on lakes with fish. They always set me up.

[McCarter]

Well, the trip wasnt what i would call a great success but it was still fun none the less. 

Day 1: Margrethe Lake

Weather was crap with temps in the high 30s in the morning and mid 40s in the afternoon.  wind was strong and constant and it rained pretty much the whole time we were out there.  I found fish on mainlake humps but didnt have what it took to put the fish in the boat.  ended up missing two swipes and one hook up on jerkbaits.  also had 3 or 4 follows.  tried the silver buddy with no luck.  worked a large flat mid lake with a jerk and caught a perch.  Out of 14 people fishing, 2 people caught 1 fish each.  a 2.1  smallmouth and a 2.3 smallmouth.

Day 2:  Bear Lake

I started on the backside of the lake with jerkbaits and put 3 fish in the boat withing 15 minutes.  Thought i was onto something fishing dark bottom areas but after about an hour and a half i didnt get anymore bites.  Switched gears for a while and followed the gulls around.  Got into a gigantic school of fresh stocked rainbows.  Caught the heck out of them on jerkbaits.  Unfortunatly, they were only 4" - 5" and there was nothing around eating them.  Found a 2 lber on a bed and caught it on a 3" Nemesis Sicko and that told me to move up shallow and start looking for beds.  Ended up finding 3 more keepers on beds and a bunch of small fish guarding beds as well.  Worked hard on a fish i am thinking was close to 5 lbs but she kept taking off for long periods of time so i gave up on her.  Went back to a 3 lber and got it to go first cast on a 3" sicko.  Went over to the other fish which turned out to be 2.6 lbs and caught it first cast with the 3" sicko.  After that the clouds got very thick and the winds picked up and i couldnt see anything anymore.  Back to the jerkbait for a while with no luck.  Then we went out to a deeper flat and fished isolated weed beds with a drop shot.  Caught a few more shorts, a just keeper largie and a few rock bass.  Had the winning fish until the last 15 minutes when my buddy in another boat caught a 3.1 smallie.

Day 3: Skegemog Lake

The initial plan was to fish Charlevoix Saturday since it was the only day that would have good weather.  But come morning, everyone was fighting me on it.  So, i suggested Bellaire, and still everyone fought me on it.  They all wanted to fish Manistee.  A few of the guys when out there Wednesday but only caught 2 short smallies, a small pike, and a keeper walleye.  We ended up agreeing to fish Skegemog Lake.  My boat got into fish right off the bat.  First one right near the entrance to Elk on a jerkbait, then another on a Nemesis Spinnerbait, and a lost fish on a swimbait.  We tried a few other spots on the lake with no luck and then i took a look at the map on my GPS.  I found a stretch of shore that had deep water close to it and gravel.  We cruised over and i got busy with the jerk.  Right away i caught a 2 lber, then another, then another.  No bites for about 100 yards, then i caught another keeper and missed one.  Then nothing for another 100 yards, then another couple of fish.  Then the wind picked up.  We cruised back up to the starting spot and started making another drift.  This time, i was getting fish to follow and swipe at the jerkbait but wasnt getting hooked up.  I felt like with the wind picking up, maybe they wanted to chase more so we switched up to lipless cranks and thats when it got stupid.  we went 5 for 6 on drifts.  In other words, we only went one drift without hooking a fish, and on those 5 that we did hook fish, it was all 3 of us and multiple fish each time.  One of those fish going over 4lbs which was caught by my friend Ted.  So now he is leading for big fish overall for the trip.  The way we do it is, everyone throws in $50 and we have a $50 a day big fish prize, and a jackpot for Big fish of the trip.  So Ted was looking good.  I kept telling him that they call me "Last Minute Heroics" and that i was gonna catch a giant.  I was really only messing with him and trying to rile him up...but wouldnt you know it, we decided to make on more drift and then call it a day and thats when it happened.  I decided to switch up colors since the sun was starting to set and the light wasnt hitting the water as much.  We had been throwing Ghost colored traps but i wanted to get a little more flash in the lower light so switched to a chrome blue with orange belly.  Oh boy, is all i can say.  On the last drift, i caught 6 fish on about 10 casts, with 4 of them going over 3 lbs and of those 4, the big one of the trip.  Last minute heroics strikes again! 



The dissapointing thing about the trip is the fact that none of these guys were willing to drive an hour to get on some good lakes.  every morning was like pulling teeth.  We wake up, everyone changes there minds about what lake we are going to and then we argue for 2 hours about where we are going to fish.  I had a good line up of lakes that i know we could have whacked them on but everyone just wanted to fish sand ponds.  Im thinking next year i will look for a house on Bellaire lake.  I really wanted to get on that one and Charlevoix but everyone else fought me on it the whole time.

Oh well, still nice to get out of town with the gang.

McCarter himself

[Got Fish??]

 Hello McCarter, The next time you you want to go fish Bellaire I'll go meet ya. A long good friends family, has lived on the lake for 48 years. Not many out of towners are familiar with the lake. It's over looked a lot. That doesn't bother me in the least. Fishing pressure is low and we get the lake, at the most part. to our selves. The DNR dumped quite a few rainbows in several lakes and streams this last spring.In that area

[MadWags]

Good job Brian! Way to show em how to do it.