Made the RDT Classic on Paw Paw Lake!! Now what??

[Waterfoul]

Needed to finish in the top 19 Sunday on Muskegon to make it.  Ended up 17th which put is at 24th overall... they take the top 25 so we're in!!  Never even seen this body of water.  It's 72 miles one way from my house so I can't afford to go pre-fish it more than once (maybe).

We'll be there on Sept. 16th so I have some time.  Any one got some advice on where and what to fish (I'm sure TCook won't want to contribute! LOL ).  The satelite view shows some good points and a LOT of docks, some of them very large that might hold as many as 20 boats.  I hate fishing docks!!

Is it mostly largemouth or is there a fishable number of smallies too?  Lots of pike (curious to know before I start throwing $20+ C-Flash crank baits around!)?

Any info would be appreciated (feel free to PM or email me).

Also... where is the ramp?  Look like it might be in the north east corner.

Thanks!

Mike

[Jmeis]

Many years ago it was one of the best kept secrets for very large fish especially in the fall. I used to fish it quite often mostly in the dark. The weeds got horrible then the lake association went on a rampage and it was nearly impossible to find a weed. There are a couple of launches on opposite ends and sides of the lake I usually used the one at the little park near Watervliet. It is near the islands you can see on Google Earth.
My guess is those high dollar cranks might not last a long time but who knows. If you have any specific ?? shoot me an IM and I will do my best to answer.
I see Randy VD made it and am fairly sure he has "been" there before but most likely not lately. Congrats on making the dance, good luck to you and Tcook. Seems he had a tough tounament on Muskegon.

[TCook]

Congrats on making it Mike, not easy against that field. Paw Paw is my home lake I am excited about a big classic coming to my home water although it is bitter sweet. Like mentioned before the lake association did an entire weed eradication with sonar and there is not a single weed left in the lake so just about everything I know is now worthless. I have an idea of what will be going on but have to keep that to myself. I will be all over that lake for the next month, I have a real bad taste in my mouth after muskegon and want some revenge.
   To get to the coloma ramp take exit 39 on 94 north through town on Paw Paw st. That road will come to a split in Front of a grocery store I believe Martins, take the right on Paw Paw Ave. You will go a half mile or so then take a left on wil-o-paw drive (you will see a laundry mat on the corner). Follow that until you see island court take a right and the launch will be immediately to your left.
   Yes I had my worst tournament ever on muskegon last weekend. With such a large cushion to make the classic we decided to go for the win and grind in the channel where the winning fish were for most of the day. Apparently half the field had the same idea and the key areas were taken by the time we got there (boat 66). We stuck it out for about 5 hours and came up empty, not sure why we got them in practice there. Turned out to be a really bad decision on my part. I think I got alot to learn about that area so I will chalk it up as a learning experience. On the way out my partners engine was leaking oil and we had to address that so that didn't help either.

[Waterfoul]

We were boat 40 and watched about half the boats in front of us head straight to the channel.  We opted for plan B and fished weedy breaks and points all day.  JUST missed the money.  Funny thing is I didn't catch a single keeper in the channel on Monday when I prefished it.  The weather turned things around for the channel I'm sure... cooler water probably brought a few smallies in.  A couple teams I know caught a limit out there and then culled nearly all of them out in the main lake.

Looks like Paw Paw is going to be a dock fest... ring around the rosie I guess.  Man I hate dock fishing!  When there's no weeds they have to find cover or suspend... mabye I'll get lucky and find something on that one trip I'm able to make down there.

[djkimmel]

Guess you better change your 'dock paradigm' or find some alternative cover maybe? I've never been there (fishing anyway - swam in the lake as a kid - really good sunburn I recall) but I have heard some great fishing stories from the past about that lake.

[Jmeis]

Guess you better change your 'dock paradigm' or find some alternative cover maybe? I've never been there (fishing anyway - swam in the lake as a kid - really good sunburn I recall) but I have heard some great fishing stories from the past about that lake.

The docks were good even back in the day. First time I fished it was a club classic back in the 90's came in with one over 5 and about 16 total got my butt handed to me. Then an older fellow that had been on the lake all day came up and asked if he could use the scales to weigh his catch before he released them, 26 or 27 pounds from one spot all day. CLaimed he had caught 25 keepers and was kind enough to share. That has always been an awesome spot.

[Mike S.]

Looks like somebody is fishing docks! 

[djkimmel]

Guess you better change your 'dock paradigm' or find some alternative cover maybe? I've never been there (fishing anyway - swam in the lake as a kid - really good sunburn I recall) but I have heard some great fishing stories from the past about that lake.

The docks were good even back in the day. First time I fished it was a club classic back in the 90's came in with one over 5 and about 16 total got my butt handed to me. Then an older fellow that had been on the lake all day came up and asked if he could use the scales to weigh his catch before he released them, 26 or 27 pounds from one spot all day. CLaimed he had caught 25 keepers and was kind enough to share. That has always been an awesome spot.

That's some good fortune right there. Pays to be friendly.

[Firefighter Jeff]

Congrats on making it Mike, not easy against that field. Paw Paw is my home lake I am excited about a big classic coming to my home water although it is bitter sweet. Like mentioned before the lake association did an entire weed eradication with sonar and there is not a single weed left in the lake so just about everything I know is now worthless. I have an idea of what will be going on but have to keep that to myself. I will be all over that lake for the next month, I have a real bad taste in my mouth after muskegon and want some revenge.




   Not a single weed Tim  ?  Hard to believe from what I've seen there in the past  !!!!!