Finding bass on Lake Macatawa

[flipnjig7210]

Need help finding fish on lake Macatawa.Fished it on Sat.July 3 and never had a bite  .Anybody have any advice.

[djkimmel]

Choose another lake? It is not the easiest lake to catch bass on consistently from what I've seen.

[ROI Outdoors]

If you didn't catch any sheephead you are using the wrong baits.  Lake Mac is by no means a jig lake - but it is an excellent lake for other baits.  Because this is a tourney water information won't be thrown out publicly - if you would like some info. shoot me a PM.

Lake Mac is the most pattern sensitive lake I know - but when you figure out the pattern (which is the same pretty much year round) it is one fun lake.  July 3rd is probably the 2nd worst day of the year with the first being the 4th - lots of traffic out there. 

[gr@ssmonkey]

i'm by far someone who know's lake mac,but when i get to a lake like that,dirty water,little or no shoreline cover,limited structure??  I let my crankbaits do the walking because,i'm not even sure what i'm looking for but when my crankbait finds it........it usaully lets me know..... so just try casting and winding and work on making your crank hit something or the bottom,hope this helps......dans right though,lake mac is hard to be consistent on.

[32eml24]

Fish tighter to cover, and fish slower.  Look how muddy that water is!!! There are some huge largemouth in there though I know that.  I am yet to find the smallies but I bet there are some monsters.  You can PM me too I have a couple spots that usually produce.

[djkimmel]

I've only fished it 3 times I think. I've caught 1 big smallie. Thought I was onto something. Not. I know someone who used to be good there and could catch big smallies, but his spots are secret (tournament competition is tough over there) and sensitive to specific circumstances.

He gave me a few largemouth spots, but I did not make them work well. I did not catch very many bass and few keepers despite fishing a lot of water. If you are a patient and slow angler, you may do better. I'm not real good at either if I have another choice

What surprised me most about that lake is the boat traffic. It is like a muddy, mini-Lake St. Clair with a ridiculous amount of tuna boats creating all kinds of wakes. On a nice day, it is rougher than crap!! Just not enough deep water for that many boats, particularly big boats.

Be careful out there. Lots of shallow water you don't want to run through unless you're sure you know exactly where you are at. Running the channel limits you to hitting the wakes however they come at you.

[ROI Outdoors]

i'm by far someone who know's lake mac,but when i get to a lake like that,dirty water,little or no shoreline cover,limited structure??  I let my crankbaits do the walking because,i'm not even sure what i'm looking for but when my crankbait finds it........it usaully lets me know..... so just try casting and winding and work on making your crank hit something or the bottom,hope this helps......dans right though,lake mac is hard to be consistent on.

Hmmmmmmm........Get out your RAM Custom Cranks close your eyes and cast..........The reason I like Lake Mac is because it appears to be void of shoreline structure and cover when in reality there are rocks/rip rap galore, retaining walls dig outs, rock piles, shell beds, sand flat points, and more ditches than any other lake I know. 

I don't think it is clarity/lack of structure/cover that makes it tough but the instead all the freakin forage - it has all your mainstays plus Gobies, Alwifes, suckers, ect.  It is no coincidence that every major species found here is well above average in size.  If we just make White Bass Hybrids legal to weigh-in tourneys this would be one of the Top Bass lakes in midwest.....................

[redwing]

It's a tough lake no doubt, but my favorite lake for sure.  It better be my favorite lake because i live 1 block from it.  It's one of those lakes where you need a quality "milk run" to get your fish.  There are good docks and docks that i've NEVER caught a fish on, it's crazy.  You can take 2 3+ lber's on a dock and think:  (I got 'em figured out) then not catch another fish on that dock for 1 month.  You can catch smallies out by the piers, or you can fish the largemouth it's up to you.  PM me if you need more info.