Poll: Pick the 2012 Fall MadWags Memorial West Michigan Lake for Sunday Sep 30

[thedude]

how about take mitchel off and add long lake or leelanau instead?

[Frank]

If you mean long lake in hale then I'm in.  we have my cabin with 7 beds and room for 8 trucks and boats in the yard.  On west londo lake ten minutes away

[Mike S.]

Sorry, Mojo, I meant Hardy. So far, Hamlin looks to be the popular lake. I've never been there, despite an invitation last year. That one isn't far from home, either. Hey Jeff, do you still hit the horn when you pass my exit?  Lol!

[thedude]

mojo, why you want to go to hardy? i'll take you out during C&R - bout the only good time to go out there.

[djkimmel]

how about take mitchel off and add long lake or leelanau instead?

Forgot about Long Lake. I've never been on it. I have heard it has gotten much better for a while now. Not sure about the fall. I picked lakes people had previously favored or asked about. I didn't put Leelanau because of the size, concern about a bad wind day and it can be daunting for new people to fish there. I know a few of you really like it there. Not sure how it would turn out for everyone. Maybe next year?

I almost didn't put Hamlin on there because the fish seem to be smaller lately but I figured once Dan gets back he can give us an update? Cadillac/Mitchell - some variety with two different lakes and it is the day after the Fall Classic. I was wondering how many are fishing that and won't want to drive. I really expect Skeg, Manistee or Hamlin to get the most votes with Mona as the dark horse. Up to all of you to pick the to few and then we can decide on the winner.

[customfishn]

Mojo Ill take you on hardy when ever you want.  Its a very misunderstood body of water, last July I had 19.5lbs in a tournament.  Most other tournaments throughout the summer it takes 14 - 16 pounds to win and we had many 25 fish days all smallies.

[djkimmel]

It's an interesting body of water. Full of pike and lots of walleye too.

[Waterfoul]

Mojo Ill take you on hardy when ever you want.  Its a very misunderstood body of water, last July I had 19.5lbs in a tournament.  Most other tournaments throughout the summer it takes 14 - 16 pounds to win and we had many 25 fish days all smallies.

Herein lies the problem with Hardy.  Guys coming to fish this tournament won't have time to prefish much, if at all.  Hardy can be one of the toughest lakes in Michigan to figure out.  Been fishing it for many years... some days you can find em, others they seem to dissapear and make the lake seem "fishless."  It's not a great place to hold a fun tournament like the Madwags Open.  I see the results of quite a few Hardy tournies... a few guys seem to win all the money there.  The lake just doesn't lend itself out for "fun."  I prefished for a tourney there last year.... whacked em in a couple spots.  The next day when it mattered... not a thing.  No fun.

[Dan]

I like Hamlin Lake. For a fun tournament, in my opinion, you want to catch a bunch of fish. Hamlin is the place where everyone gets a limit. They may be mostly two pounders, but those two pounders will pull hard. You'd swear they were bigger when you hooked them. There are some bigger fish that swim there, but Dan is right, in that tournaments there have just not been weighing the five pounders that use to be common there.  It also has lots of places to stay, and is only about 25 minutes from Little River Casino.
Manistee, can be a much tougher body of water to fish. I know Mike and Ed whacked them there last Fall late, but for the regular Joe, it will take much longer to find the fish.
Portage Lake is a good lake, but can also turn on you on a dime. It can go from boon to bust.
Long Lake, up north of Interlochen, produces big stringers in the Fall. Some big fish swim there. It is close to Interlochen so you have the state park to stay at or the hotels of Traverse City. Also Traverse has a lot to do if you made it a weekend with the wife.
The Hamlin, Manistee, Portage, lakes are close enough to the Manistee Casino for a cheap stay. They have a RV park so you could probably work out something with them to plug in your boat.
Again, it would be my choice for a fun outing to go to Hamlin. It also, due to its upper and lower lakes, has places to get out of the wind should it get nasty. Manistee seems to be a straight shot for the wind to howl. Portage is more exposed as well, but people say to fish in the wind, so...
Personally, I don't like Cadillac and Mitchell as well. I've done well there and have won a tournament there, but it really can be tough to fish in the wind, and there will be guys that don't know it well who will blank on it. Cadillac does have some great places to eat and plenty of places to stay.
Check out my teardropbass.com website. There are articles and pictures on those lakes going back several years. Lately, I haven't been putting those lake articles on the main page, but placing them in my "Latest Blog." Click on the "Latest Blog" button and then at the top you will see where I've archived previous months. Look back through the summer months and you will find articles on Hamlin, Portage, Manistee, Cadillac and Mitchell, Long, Duck, Green, etc.

[djkimmel]

I didn't put Hardy on for the reasons that Waterfoul mentioned. It is interesting to fish there but not too many times. I am a little worried about Hamlin and wind though the upper arm used to be real good in the fall. Been a loooonnnnggg time for me since I last visited though. I was little anxious about Cadillac and Mitchell too for wind and that it can be real spotty. But I guess most lakes over there can be real spotty in the fall. I do wonder how well Manistee would fish for many boats verses a boat or two? Maybe we will all just fish next to Waterfoul??

If we got a fairly calm day on Hamlin, that might be fun? Too bad Skeg didn't show its normal good fall fishing. We can't all fit on 'Don's' spot!

[Firefighter Jeff]

Sorry, Mojo, I meant Hardy. So far, Hamlin looks to be the popular lake. I've never been there, despite an invitation last year. That one isn't far from home, either. Hey Jeff, do you still hit the horn when you pass my exit?  Lol!

  You know Mike, I think of you but have stopped the practice.  I promise to honk good and loud next trip up  !!!!  LOLOLOL  Shoot, I should stop by with the wife some time. 

[bassfan586]

I voted skeg.  We caught some nice fish the day before and had lots of bassy looking places.  Elk sucks bad though when its blowing.  I want another crack at it.

[TheFishinPollock]

Actually Elk is at its best when the wind is blowing, Cuts up that  light penetration in that gin clear water .

[Cy]

NO!!!!

I don't wanna go back to TC this fall!  I wanna go to Hamlin!  darn it now YOU GUYS NEED TO CHANGE YOUR VOTES!!!

[MSURoss]

NO!!!!

I don't wanna go back to TC this fall!  I wanna go to Hamlin!  darn it now YOU GUYS NEED TO CHANGE YOUR VOTES!!!

There's no big fish at Hamlin tho lol

[djkimmel]

I will let this go for a while and then make the best choice based on all factors.

[Mike S.]

Sorry, Mojo, I meant Hardy. So far, Hamlin looks to be the popular lake. I've never been there, despite an invitation last year. That one isn't far from home, either. Hey Jeff, do you still hit the horn when you pass my exit?  Lol!

  You know Mike, I think of you but have stopped the practice.  I promise to honk good and loud next trip up  !!!!  LOLOLOL  Shoot, I should stop by with the wife some time. 

You are welcome any time Jeff.

[Mike S.]

It definitely looks like there's a good chance of towing the boat back to Skeg this year. If so, Don has to fish with paper clips for hooks!  Just kidding, Don. As long as I'm fishing, it will be fun. I would like to catch some fish there, though.

[TheFishinPollock]

Hey Mike . Does that mean everyone will follow him  instead of me this year      That way I can get to my super duper special spots with no one watching LOL

[Mike S.]

Maybe. It's you, isn't it?  You are responsible for the 8 votes for Skeg, aren't you?  It's all starting to make perfect sense now. Super duper secret spot, and a strategically placed dead duck.