Opening day Michigan 2010 brief summary

[djkimmel]

cameraguy has all the evidence but we got out to one of my favorite, small shallow water lakes over in Barry County. Lots of wood, pads, thicker and thicker weeds all the time. Had a feeling before long that very slow X-worms (Xtreme Bass Tackle stick worm) would be needed on a day like today with the chilly breeze and some rain.

That was the hot ticket for the day over all. Water was 59 degrees and we actually found a fair amount of beds. Many seemed empty early in the day, but as the day progressed, bass started appearing. We popped a few off the beds.

Most did not shoot out and slam the X-worm. It had to often flutter all the way to the bed and even sit there for a minute. In between, we caught some wandering males and a few respectable females casting to cover and just scatter casting out in to pad stems. Sometimes the X-worm had to sit there for a while (I don't like fishing that way much, but cameraguy doesn't mind).

I had one smaller bass that hit next to a piece of wood after I had the X-worm sitting there for almost 3 minutes (or 20 years in 'Dan' time )!?! Yikes.

My first Michigan bass of 2010 was a mini-Mexico bass that had a big head and a huge egg-filled belly to weigh much more than she should. Took the X-worm off the bottom out from a piece of wood after it sat fir 15 or 20 seconds. Just felt the line moving slowly all of a sudden. Not a monster, but a respectable 3 1/4 pounds maybe.

cameraguy whacked the biggest one of the day in a similar fashion though his first bass of 2010 was a teeny, tiny largemouth bass with a BIG heart. The nice one probably weighed maybe 3 and 3/4 or so. (The little one probably weighed 4 ounces )

We both caught just enough bass to make it an enjoyable day on the water. I think I landed 5 or 6 keepers and a couple dinks and cameraguy caught a couple, three more than I did (more patience for dead-sticking stuff). I also had a approximately keeper-size musky (of course) try to steal my KaRu VibraSpin. The toothy critter hit almost at the boat in a rush, and safety-pinned the spinnerbait so the hook did not catch anything. At least he didn't steal my lure. Just nicked the line.

I had one blow up on a Strike King Rage Tail Shad, and broke two solid feeling bass off on last year's line with the X-worm. Probably should have retied the leader after the first one. I threw melon tinsel all day.

Despite that and the steady rain late in the afternoon, we had a good, fun Michigan catch and release bass opener. cameraguy did get some pics and a little video of the action. cameraguy? cameraguy...? Bueler?

[cameraguy]

Nice report, Dan...and almost completely accurate.  I had a little flurry of bass-catching in the middle of the day, but you caught more by the end of the day, not that we were counting.  Regardless, I had a great day on the water despite the rain and vexing problem with the wireless mic.  Thanks.

[Big dreams]

Sounds like an enjoyable day!  I went out with pal of mine and had issues for the first 1.5 hours.  I totally revamped my Champion and installed all new electronics and trolling motor with recessed foot.  Everything worked until we hit the water.  From the bad connection on the main battery to the no connection on the trolling motor, we spent about an hour fixing the boat. 

We were able to fish Wixom Lake from 10a-4p.  Though I was unsuccessful, my partner was able to pick a 3.5LB on a PB&J Yum Craw Papi along with a monster female that had to be over 4.5LB on a red rattle trap.  Both bass were in less than 4 feet of water. 

The light drizzle was not that bad.  I think it deterred a lot of anglers from coming out.  I would guess there were 10 other bass boats out and about.

[djkimmel]

It's so nice to get some peaceful spring fishing in! Boat problems are a pain. I didn't do a good precheck other than I remembered I broke my trolling motor rope the last time out late last year and fixed that.

Thankfully, the Yamaha started up nicely for the first time of the year. Trolling motor worked and the electronics worked. Still have a few things to fix, but we did have a very nice day. Stayed home today to get some other things done.

[djkimmel]

That little sunfish's belly was so much brighter when I first caught it and then it faded to a darker, more plain shade. I don't know that I ever noticed they could fade colors like that so fast before. (And your bass was bigger, but that female I caught sure had a pack of eggs in her.)

[djkimmel]

Forgot to mention we saw something neither of us has ever seen before. A bubbling lily pad. cameraguy has some video that might eventually make it on here. Very strange. We couldn't figure it out. We watched it bubble furiously for at least 6 or 7 minutes. It was still bubbling when we moved on. Something about those Barry County lakes that allows some strange things to occur...

Here's some old footage from a few years ago from a nearby lake where I saw something else I've never seen before. Couldn't find a cause for this one either and never saw it happen again after about 15 or 20 minutes that day in 3 places.

[Bobber]

Thats an easy one. You caught a glimpse of some bass with gas issues.

[mikesmiph]

Get Kim to dive down there and see what it is.

[djkimmel]

It was definitely coming from the lily pad this time. No idea where the strange white smoke was coming from in the video above, but it wasn't very deep. I could see the bottom clearly.