# Newbie Fisher Gal



## FisherGal60

Sunday - April 28, 2019: The weather was superb today! Sunny all day and about mid 50s so wearing a sweatshirt was just enough. Started fishing on the west shore of the pond; caught a few bluegill. Headed over to the pier; activity was very light. Only caught small bluegill, one was about 7”. Quick recap: So Thursday my bait is stolen all day long but I caught a coulple 8” bluegill and two 9” shiners; Friday I was skunked and on Saturday there was much less bait stealing going on I caught the 9” bluegill and a small bass. So compared to Saturday and Thursday today was a snooze fest. 

I also have a concern. I know I’ve just been referring to it as the pond lately, but it is part of Founders ‘Sports’ Park. There are several baseball diamonds near the pond which doesn’t bother me as you can’t see them when you’re fishing (you can hear them but I can block that out). But Saturday night about 6pm a group of players about 13 to 14 I’m guessing are walking around the pond throwing rocks and tree limbs into the pond sometimes very close to where I was fishing. About an hour later an adult finally appeared and the boys were now throwing rocks directly in my direction into the area I was fishing. The adult said ‘oh we’re sorry ma’am’ but the rocks kept coming. The adult was definitely not trying to get the boys to stop and he was jeering at me so what kind of lesson was that for the boys. I honestly do not think I would’ve been taunted in this manner if I had been a guy.

So today the same thing happens with another group of players. But these guys even come right on the pier where I’m fishing. Of course they are a bit loud but I let that slide. But then someone throws an old baseball they found right into the water where I’m fishing. I had had enough. I said that this was a place for fishing, not for throwing things into the water or for being loud and if they wanted to be loud that they should go elsewhere. And if they didn’t stop throwing things in the water I would call the police. So they did stop throwing things and were quieter for a while and then finally left the pier. Throughout the rest of the day though there would be other teams walking by some with adults and they would shout out taunts and the adults did nothing. How can the adults be so clueless that they are teaching the boys that being disrespectful to others is okay?

Anyhow until baseball season is over it’s best that I don’t fish at Founders Park on Saturdays and Sundays. But I’m living to fish another day (just not at Founders Park). <*~>


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## Swampdog467

Sad to see that kind of disrespectful behavior, especially if it's not being discouraged by the adults. Glad you're still having fun though!


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## michcats

Very sad maybe me and a couple buddy's should go throw rocks at them while there playing baseball and see how they like it absolutely unacceptable


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## Petronius

FisherGal60 said:


> Sunday - April 28, 2019: The weather was superb today! Sunny all day and about mid 50s so wearing a sweatshirt was just enough. Started fishing on the west shore of the pond; caught a few bluegill. Headed over to the pier; activity was very light. Only caught small bluegill, one was about 7”. Quick recap: So Thursday my bait is stolen all day long but I caught a coulple 8” bluegill and two 9” shiners; Friday I was skunked and on Saturday there was much less bait stealing going on I caught the 9” bluegill and a small bass. So compared to Saturday and Thursday today was a snooze fest.
> 
> I also have a concern. I know I’ve just been referring to it as the pond lately, but it is part of Founders ‘Sports’ Park. There are several baseball diamonds near the pond which doesn’t bother me as you can’t see them when you’re fishing (you can hear them but I can block that out). But Saturday night about 6pm a group of players about 13 to 14 I’m guessing are walking around the pond throwing rocks and tree limbs into the pond sometimes very close to where I was fishing. About an hour later an adult finally appeared and the boys were now throwing rocks directly in my direction into the area I was fishing. The adult said ‘oh we’re sorry ma’am’ but the rocks kept coming. The adult was definitely not trying to get the boys to stop and he was jeering at me so what kind of lesson was that for the boys. I honestly do not think I would’ve been taunted in this manner if I had been a guy.
> 
> So today the same thing happens with another group of players. But these guys even come right on the pier where I’m fishing. Of course they are a bit loud but I let that slide. But then someone throws an old baseball they found right into the water where I’m fishing. I had had enough. I said that this was a place for fishing, not for throwing things into the water or for being loud and if they wanted to be loud that they should go elsewhere. And if they didn’t stop throwing things in the water I would call the police. So they did stop throwing things and were quieter for a while and then finally left the pier. Throughout the rest of the day though there would be other teams walking by some with adults and they would shout out taunts and the adults did nothing. How can the adults be so clueless that they are teaching the boys that being disrespectful to others is okay?
> 
> Anyhow until baseball season is over it’s best that I don’t fish at Founders Park on Saturdays and Sundays. But I’m living to fish another day (just not at Founders Park). <*~>


Something needs to be said to the people putting on the baseball games. The park is owned by the city. Don't these teams need permission from the city to play there? I would complain to Special Services (Parks & Recreation).
Special Services
Costick Activity Center
28600 Eleven Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
(248) 473-1800

Maybe say something like you don't feel safe safe when this happens and you feel like you are being threatened.
Maybe some other M-S member here would be willing to show up there to fish or "hang out" and add some support.


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## FisherGal60

Petronius said:


> Something needs to be said to the people putting on the baseball games. The park is owned by the city. Don't these teams need permission from the city to play there? I would complain to Special Services (Parks & Recreation).
> Special Services
> Costick Activity Center
> 28600 Eleven Mile Road
> Farmington Hills, MI 48334
> (248) 473-1800
> 
> Maybe say something like you don't feel safe safe when this happens and you feel like you are being threatened.
> Maybe some other M-S member here would be willing to show up there to fish or "hang out" and add some support.


Thank you Petronius. I did in fact email the city this afternoon and hope to hear back from them some time this week.


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## Steve

FisherGal60 said:


> Sunday - April 28, 2019: The weather was superb today! Sunny all day and about mid 50s so wearing a sweatshirt was just enough. Started fishing on the west shore of the pond; caught a few bluegill. Headed over to the pier; activity was very light. Only caught small bluegill, one was about 7”. Quick recap: So Thursday my bait is stolen all day long but I caught a coulple 8” bluegill and two 9” shiners; Friday I was skunked and on Saturday there was much less bait stealing going on I caught the 9” bluegill and a small bass. So compared to Saturday and Thursday today was a snooze fest.
> 
> I also have a concern. I know I’ve just been referring to it as the pond lately, but it is part of Founders ‘Sports’ Park. There are several baseball diamonds near the pond which doesn’t bother me as you can’t see them when you’re fishing (you can hear them but I can block that out). But Saturday night about 6pm a group of players about 13 to 14 I’m guessing are walking around the pond throwing rocks and tree limbs into the pond sometimes very close to where I was fishing. About an hour later an adult finally appeared and the boys were now throwing rocks directly in my direction into the area I was fishing. The adult said ‘oh we’re sorry ma’am’ but the rocks kept coming. The adult was definitely not trying to get the boys to stop and he was jeering at me so what kind of lesson was that for the boys. I honestly do not think I would’ve been taunted in this manner if I had been a guy.
> 
> So today the same thing happens with another group of players. But these guys even come right on the pier where I’m fishing. Of course they are a bit loud but I let that slide. But then someone throws an old baseball they found right into the water where I’m fishing. I had had enough. I said that this was a place for fishing, not for throwing things into the water or for being loud and if they wanted to be loud that they should go elsewhere. And if they didn’t stop throwing things in the water I would call the police. So they did stop throwing things and were quieter for a while and then finally left the pier. Throughout the rest of the day though there would be other teams walking by some with adults and they would shout out taunts and the adults did nothing. How can the adults be so clueless that they are teaching the boys that being disrespectful to others is okay?
> 
> Anyhow until baseball season is over it’s best that I don’t fish at Founders Park on Saturdays and Sundays. But I’m living to fish another day (just not at Founders Park). <*~>


This sounds like it may qualify as angler harassment to me.


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## Petronius

Steve said:


> This sounds like it may qualify as angler harassment to me.


I hadn't thought of that. It would be angler harassment, you are right. Wonder how hard it would be to get the DNR to stake out the pond? :lol:
Actually, I am serious about that.


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## FisherGal60

Monday - April 29, 2019: With all the rain we were having today I had no intention of going fishing. In fact I did an awful lot of sleeping in the morning. But at about 1:00pm I looked at weather.com’s future radar and it looked like it was going to be rain free until about 3:00pm. So I geared up and went to the pond. After about 3 or 4 casts it started to rain very lightly which was tolerable. I was getting some strong hits so I switched to my number 3/0 hook because I didn’t want to catch any little ones. No luck. So I went to my lighter rod with a #4 hook. So at about 3:30pm I hit a fish that was pretty far out from the shore and he was fighting. I thought maybe it was a small bass but it was a large bluegill. I thought he was 9” but when I looked at the pic later with the tape measurer he was really only 8” :-(. Anyhow I kept casting into the same area hoping to hit that monster bluegill but no luck. I did enjoy seeing my first family of ducks this Spring  And so tomorrow is supposed to be just cloudy and mid 50s so I’m living to fish another day <*~>


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## 6Speed

I'm enjoying your posts FisherGal60. You're right on your approach with the kids and I'll offer two more ideas. 

First, go talk to their coach and tell him what's going on. Grab a picture or two of the twerps so he can address them personally. 

Second, if the local government doesn't help and the coach doesn't, you can always use a triple hook rapala and accidentally stick one of the critters in the leg. Just say you're sorry and offer them a ride to urgent care to get it cut out...

Keep up the reports, they are very good!


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## Petronius

About 20 years ago, the state legislature passed some bills that prohibited the harassment of people hunting and fishing. This is the law and the penalty for harassing people who are fishing. You might be able to use this in your favor.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(rn...aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-324-48702a

*NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1994*

Section 324.48702a

*NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1994*

*324.48702a Definitions; obstruction or interference in lawful taking of aquatic species; prohibited conduct.*

Sec. 48702a.

(1) As used in this section and section 48702b:

(a) “Aquatic species” means fish, reptiles, mollusks, crustacea, minnows, wigglers, and amphibians of the class amphibia.

(b) “Take” and “taking” mean to fish for by any lawful method, catch, kill, capture, trap, or shoot any species of fish, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, wigglers, or crustacea, regulated by this part, or to attempt to engage in any such activity.

(c) “Vessel” means every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

(2) A person shall not obstruct or interfere in the lawful taking of aquatic species by another person.

(3) A person violates this section when the person intentionally or knowingly does any of the following:

(a) Operates a vessel or a device designed to be used on the water which does not meet the definition of a vessel in a manner likely to significantly alter the behavior of aquatic species in order to hinder or prevent the lawful taking of an aquatic species.

(b) Wades or swims in a manner or at a location likely to cause a significant alteration in the behavior of aquatic species in order to hinder or prevent the lawful taking of an aquatic species.

*(c) Tosses, drops, or throws any stone, rock, or other inert material in order to hinder or prevent the lawful taking of an aquatic species.*

(d) Drives, herds, or disturbs any aquatic species in order to hinder or prevent the lawful taking of an aquatic species.

*(e) Blocks, impedes, or harasses another person who is engaged in the process of lawfully taking an aquatic species.*

(f) Uses a natural or artificial visual, aural, olfactory, gustatory, or physical stimulus to affect aquatic species behavior in order to hinder or prevent the lawful taking of an aquatic species.

(g) Erects barriers to deny ingress or egress to areas where the lawful taking of aquatic species may occur. This subdivision does not apply to a person who erects barriers to prevent trespassing on his or her property.

(h) Interjects himself or herself into the area where nets, fishing lines, or traps may be placed by a person lawfully taking aquatic species.

(i) Affects the condition or placement of personal or public property intended for use in the lawful taking of an aquatic species in order to impair the usefulness of the property or prevent the use of the property.

(j) Enters or remains upon private lands without the permission of the owner or the owner's agent, for the purpose of violating this section.

(k) Engages in any other act or behavior for the purpose of violating this section.

History: Add. 1996, Act 315, Eff. July 1, 1996
Compiler's Notes: Enacting Section 3 of Act 315 of 1996 , which provided:“Section 3. This amendatory act shall not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 964 of the 88th Legislature is enacted into law.”
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA



*Penalties*

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(rn...aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-324-48702b

*Section 324.48702b *

*NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 451 of 1994*

*324.48702b Violation of MCL 324.48702a.*

Sec. 48702b.

(1) Upon petition of an aggrieved person or a person who reasonably may be aggrieved by a violation of section 48702a , a court of competent jurisdiction, upon a showing that a person was engaged in and threatens to continue to engage in illegal conduct under section 48702a, may enjoin that conduct.

(2) A person who violates section 48702a is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days, or a fine of not less than $500.00 or more than $1,000.00, or both, and the costs of prosecution. A person who violates section 48702a a second or subsequent time is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not more than 1 year, or a fine of not less than $1,000.00 or more than $2,500.00, or both, and the costs of prosecution. In addition to the penalties provided for in this subsection, any permit or license issued by the department authorizing the person to take aqunatic species shall be revoked. A prosecution under this subsection does not preclude prosecution or other action under any other criminal or civil statute.

(3) Section 48702a does not apply to a peace officer while the peace officer performs his or her lawful duties.

History: Add. 1996, Act 318, Eff. July 1, 1996
Popular Name: Act 451
Popular Name: NREPA


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - April 30, 2019: The pond was quite active today. When I first arrived, I caught an 8” bluegill, an 8” golden shiner and a small bass (all on bobber and crawlers). Moved around the pond throughout the day and caught small bluegills and 2 more small bass. I am wondering about something; why is it the only bass I catch are small or huge like Moby was? Where are all the in-betweeners? Like 11” to 15 or 16”? I guess it’s possible people are not adhering to the catch and release rule. A lot of bait stealing again today and lily pads are starting to emerge along the east and west shores. When I started fishing last August, I only started coming to this pond in late October and maybe early November so lily pads were not an issue. But I think they will definitely be an issue because there are a lot coming up and they extend quite far out from the shore. Towards the end of the day I took a Berkley fake minnow and rigged it weedless on a bobber and was getting lots of hits but it started to rain, hard, so it was time to go. I’ve had my share of fishing in the COLD and rain. I sure hope May behaves more like a Spring month as I’m living to fish another day <*~>

Thanks so much Petronius for the info on the laws regarding fishing. I wish I had had the info earlier today as there was another strange thing going on at the pond today. I was fishing on east shore and a young couple walked by me with their young baby and as I’m fishing I keep hearing this splashing noise and I could see the outer edge of the ripples. I thought, what the heck is that guy throwing in the water? So I’m leaving my spot and have to head back towards the couple and the lady is throwing in some kind of contraption connected to a rope. On the east side of the pond is a disc golf tee and I can’t tell you how many frisbees I’ve seen go into the water and I think she was trying to dredge out the lost frisbees. I was so angry because I kept thinking about how she was disturbing the bottom as the fish are in the process of building nests and spawning. But since I didn’t have any legal info at the time I didn’t say anything but you better believe I will from this point on.


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - May 1, 2019: Had a great day (and night) fishing! The weather was supposed to be threatening in the early afternoon so I decided to fish at the lake at the condo place where I’m a nanny. This way I could take cover if necessary and I’d be there when the kids came home from school. So I started at the place on the lake where there was tall grass in an alcove. Was just hitting bluegill there. Walked around to a spot that has 2 benches on the northwest side of the lake. Caught two 10” bass which is the largest one I have caught at this lake (last year I caught a 9”). More bluegill and then it was time to go to meet up with the kids. When the dad came home from work, I went back out to the same spot I was at earlier at about 6:00pm. At 6:30 I hit an 11” bass. And while I was fishing I saw a huge breach but sometimes I doubt my own interpretation of what I saw; like maybe I’m over exaggerating it in my mind. But a while later there were several guys across from me on the north side of the lake and one of them saw a breach and was very excited telling the others how huge it was. So there is a BIG ONE in this lake. 

Hit some nice pumpkinseeds and 2 more bass before dark. At that time I rigged up my lighted bobber. So it was almost 9:00pm and I catch a fish and I wasn’t quite sure what it was, maybe a large bluegill or pumpkinseed and when I got it up to the bench I’m looking at and thinking, I don’t think this is a bluegill. Turned my flashlight on on my phone and low and behold, it was a crappie! My first one!! It was only 8”, but it was still my first and I caught him on 3/0 hook as I was trying to hook bass. Then about 20 mins later hooked another one about the same size. I was getting low on crawlers at this time. At first I thought it was the bluegill stealing my bait but after catching the crappie I think they were doing the stealing as they would hit it hard and their mouths are larger than the bluegills. So it’s almost 10:00pm and I have just a shred of worm left on the hook and I’m thinking well I’ll just throw it out and let the crappie steal it lol. Nope, hit another 11” bass. Great way to end the night! In total I caught 6 bass today and the 2 crappie. Since I am still a newbie, catching the smaller fish is good for me as I am learning how each one approaches the hook. I’m working tomorrow again so I’m gonna fish the condo lake again. There’s always a chance I may hook the HUGE one that’s out there as I’m living to fish another day <*~>


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## Blaze

Congrats on your success, and your first Crappie too!


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - May 2, 2019: When I arrived at the condo lake at about 10:15am, it was cloudy and cool but no wind so the lake was like glass. Started where I left off last night at the 2 benches on the northwest shore. Caught a couple crappie and 1 bass. Moved to the northern alcove without any success and then my bait was getting stolen again and again and again... So I switched to a plastic swim bait as I walked around the north shore. Sorry to say, no takers. Set up again at the benches and caught a few crappie.

It was getting close to the kids coming home so I walked to a second set of benches on the southwest shore to cast a few before I had to leave. This section was less active as I cast to the right and bam! fish on. He was only an 11” bass but he was a fighter. Did not fish later as it was raining and to be honest I am really sick of the rain and of being cold, but I’m living to fish another day (hoping it will be warmer) <*~>


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## FisherGal60

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Friday - May 3, 2019: One of the kids I’m a nanny for was sick today so I had to be there by 8:30am, and was able to start fishing at 3:00 and since I was already at the condo, I decided to fish the condo lake again. Had issues again with the fish stealing the crawlers off the hooks.? I tried 3 different sizes and by the time I got down to the #4 hook I was able to catch a small bluegill woohoo lol. So then I decided to change the bait to a Berkley Gulp minnow on a #1 worm hook. Was hoping that maybe the crappies would go after it; they did. Caught a couple of those then moved up to my northwest bench spot. Cast out to where I had previously caught bass but no hits. So then I cast to the right and bam! fish on. And boy did he keep that bobber under for a long time. I’m like, okay this fish is definitely bigger than the 11” ones I caught the previous 2 days. And yes he was! It was 13”. Biggest one yet out of this lake. Caught him at 7:08pm. Starting at 7:00pm seems to be the time when I’ve has the most success at catching bass.

So I’m casting at various sites and nothing is hitting. I’m getting cold and said to myself, “Okay, this is the last one.” Eventually I cast back into the area where I caught the bass and bam! fish one (8:26pm). It felt heavy but didn’t put up much of a fight. Turned out to be a gnarly looking 10”’ catfish. Cast a few more times and caught a crappie and was done for the evening.

I am so looking forward to this weekend; supposed to be warm and sunny both days. Stopped on the way home at Meijers to get some more Berkley Gulp minnows and a sun visor. Haven’t decided where to go yet but I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings as I’m living to fish another day <*~>


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## FisherGal60

View attachment 396431
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Saturday - May 4, 2019: What a beautiful day to be outside! I decided to start at Village Wood Lake Park (that’s where I had the 19” bass escapade). The couple other times I have been here I have seen an elderly Chinese man on his bicycle at the park. In fact he was there the day my rod was dragged into the water by the bass and as he was leaving that day the man who helped me recover my rod and was catching bluegill, crappie and perch gave some fish to the man. So as I arrived the Chinese man was leaving the park on his bicycle and he had a fishing net in front of the handlebars with something in it. As I’m walking towards him I’m trying to figure out what kind of fish was in the net. It was a freaking HUGE carp!! I’m guessing it was about 2.5 feet long. I tried congratulating him, but he doesn’t speak or understand a word of English and he doesn’t look at you when you’re speaking to him as he kind of keeps his head down. I had to wave my hand in front of him to get him to look up. Then he said something in Chinese and I got him to at least shake hands.

Anyhow, I finished unloading my gear and started with the Berkley Gulp minnow but had no serious takers so I switched to a #4 hook with crawlers. Caught an 8” crappie and a few bluegill. Before I set out this morning I texted the dad for whom I nanny and told him where I was going and he could join me if he were free (he said a couple weeks ago he wanted to try fishing on a weekend he didn’t have the kids). He had other plans for the day but was able to stop by for a bit. So I cast out still using the #4 hook and get a fish on so I handed him the rod to reel it in. I wanted him to feel the “tug” lol. So he’s reeling it and he gets the fish ( a crappie) right up to the edge of the shore and it shook itself off. No worries as now he will know what to do next time. I continued to fish and caught a 10” crappie and a 9” bluegill.

Moved on out the Founders Park for the rest of the day and was abysmal. Caught one golden shiner late in the day. Tomorrow’s another day and I’m living to fish it. <*~>


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## haggerty05

I just stumbled on to this thread. I used to work at a scout summer camp and taught the fishing merit badge to kids. Watching them "catch" the fishing bug was one of my favorite things to see and when their parents get it too was even better. 
I saw your question about catching carp and may be able to help you catch one. A size 4 or 6 bait holder hook works just fine. Place a small sinker or a few split shots about 12-16 inches above your hook. You'll also need a can of sweet corn. Bait the hook with several peices of corn so just a little bit of the tip of the hook is showing. Take a small handful of corn and throw it out into the water to chum it up and draw carp in. Cast out into the chummed area or on the outside edge and wait. 
I would suggest keeping you drap loose enough that you can pull out line with a little bit of resistance. A small carp has more than enough power to drag your pull into the water if you dont. Once you have one on you can tighten the drag. North bay park on Ford lake is one of my favorite spots to catch carp . 
You can use worms for bait too if you want. 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## haggerty05

Me and the wife with a double we caught at Ford lake. Also I reccomend using rod holders to makes things easier. Meijer has cheap ones that extend that work









Sent from my SM-G965U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - May 5, 2019: Had a bit of an emergency this morning with my 15 year old chihuahua. She had labored breathing and an infection in her eye. Took her to an emergency vet clinic and spent about 4 hours there. She most likely has congestive heart failure so we are trying diuretics to see if it gives her some relief and she will need surgery to remove the eye but don’t want to do anesthesia right now with her breathing problem. So I was more wiped out than I thought. When I got home, had a sandwich and was just laying down for a bit and fell asleep for almost 3 hours so I didn’t even get out to fish until about 5:30pm. So I just went to Founders Park since it was so close. 

It was kind of crowded on the pier but that’s where I fished from. Hit a very small bass and the rest were bluegill, the largest being only 7”. But there’s always tomorrow cause I’m living to fish another day. <*~>

P.S. Thanks for the info haggerty05. Photo is of a rock I painted and need to put out in the community somewhere.


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## FisherGal60

Monday - May 6, 2019: I decided to give Newburgh Lake another go. Was hoping the pier was out at Newburgh Pointe, but it wasn’t. Still fished from the pavement and then walked around to the bank opposite the Pointe. Unfortunately, no luck at either place. Packed up and headed to good old Founders Park. Sat through the rain since it wasn’t going on for too long. No great catches at Founders either; couple bluegill and one golden shiner. Since I wasn’t catching much took some pics of the scenery; a man on a kayak at Newburgh Lake (looked so serene); a Canadian goose family at Newburgh; and the scenic view I had at Founders after the rain. Tomorrow’s another day as I’m living to fish another day <*~>


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## FisherGal60

Friday - May 17, 2019: Worked again today from 9:00 to 3:00. Went to Dick’s first and bought a lunkerhead and a jig (I have to be honest I did not realize a jig was an actual lure. I thought the term jig was a verb, like ‘jigging’). Decided to give the condo lake another try. As I’m walking the 1/4 mile to the point I start to see bass swimming about 10 feet from the embankment. When I get to the point and look in the water, there were 6 to 8 bass mulling in the water. They were decent sizes too. So first I tried the lunkerhead and it dragged hard through the vegetation. No hits. Then I tied on the jig. I had watched bassgeek on YouTube earlier in the day. He had a video for beginners, jig 101 lol. I was working the jig as he said, keeping the rod between 9 and 11 o’clock and jigging with the tip about 3 or 4 times and reeling the slack. As the jig came closer to the shore I could see it in the water and it looked really cool as it moved and I could see why fish would be attracted to it. In fact even the bluegill were checking it out. Oh, and because the water is looking pretty clear now I did get a natural colored jig. Also as I was getting close to the shore there was a perch checking it out. First time I was aware there were perch in this lake. I also tried the jig in the cove for a while without any luck.

Back to the point and I decided to just try crawlers on a #4 hook to see what else might be out there. Caught only pumpkinseed and bluegill on that. More bass swim by and then a couple very large carp swim by. I did not know there were carp in this lake either. I don’t know why so many fish were swimming near the surface today. Then I tried my berkley Gulp minnow on a bobber. Another fisherman was now close to me and I was telling him how I could see all these fish today and I got a hit; about an 11” bass on the minnow. The man was using the tiniest hook I’ve ever seen, it must’ve been a 10 or a 12 and was using the tiniest fake worm on it. He said he gets a lot of bass on it. So he sees a bass in the water and drops this little doo-dad and the bass takes it lol. It was about the same size as mine. It’s cool to see how other presentations work.

So I didn’t catch anymore bass at the point or the cove so I decided to call it a day; it was about 8:45pm. As I’m walking and get close to the bench area where I had done most of my fishing prior to moving to the point, I could not believe my eyes! MONSTER fish breached about 20 or 30 feet from the bench area. I still had the minnow on so I cast in that area. Cast again and the strangest thing happened. Suddenly it seemed like my entire line was pulled under the water and there was this turbulent movement and roil of water going on. It looked like when you see an alligator thrashing under the water is the best way I can describe it. I was like, holy ****, what was that?? Then my bobber came back up and it was still. I think even if it were monster fish, I have a feeling he would’ve taken everything, hook, line and sinker (well bobber in this case lol).

I kept casting in the general area and it was too dark to see the bobber anymore (I have a lighted bobber but I didn’t want to stop casting to put it on) but without being able to see I could feel the line as it went through the vegetation and I could tell when it hesitated. And when the first bass hit on it, I waited a few seconds and when he fully engaged the minnow I jerked the line up. It was so cool to go by feeling and no sight. The first one was 14”, then I caught two others that were about 10 and 11 inches. So it’s about 10:45pm now and I really have to get going and of course monster fish breaches again nearby. I only cast a few more and let monster fish win, for today; as I’m living to fish another day when monster fish will be on the end of my line!


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - May 18, 2019: I was feeling a little bit under the weather today (I think the late night fishing might be doing me in lol), so I decided to stay closer to home even though I wanted to go to Cass Lake. Went to Founders Park about 12:30. The park was packed with every baseball diamond and soccer field in use and there were some kids on the pier fishing; some pre-teen and teenage boys. They weren’t misbehaving, they were really fishing. I just happen to not feel crowded while I’m fishing so I fished around the whole shoreline when I arrived hoping they might leave by the time I was done. I used only the jig and a berkley minnow on a bobber around the pond. I am pleasantly surprised at how the jig goes through the weeds and even the lily pads without getting stuck. So a little bit after 2:00pm, I was done with the shore (no catches) but the pier still had a group of kids on it; younger than the boys who were previously on it. So I decided to go to the condo lake after I took a little break and had a bite to eat. 

Arrived at the condo lake about 3:15pm. As I was walking to the point there was a young guy fishing and he was catching small bass left and right out in open water. He was using blank crank baits that he had hand painted. At the condo place there are 3 lakes and this young man had fished at the lake by the clubhouse as well and at that lake he caught pike. Anyhow he was telling me how he also had success using senkos in a Texas rig. 

So when I got to the point after throwing out the jig a couple times along the way, I setup my senko on a Texas rig. I was getting some small hits on it. In fact there was a guy on the other side of the pond telling his buddy that he was getting hits on his wacky worm from something small. So I felt pretty good that I was using the senko correctly. Just kept alternating between the jig and minnow on bobber, but didn’t catch anything. On my way back I stopped where I had caught the 14” bass last night, but no takers. 

So tomorrow is gonna be a pop up storm day so gonna get out earlier than usual (I hope lol). Since I didn’t catch anything today, took a pic of my jig and posted a pic from 2017 when I caught a fluke in NJ. That year I only fished about 3 days in NJ at the inlet and then tried to fish in PA while camping with family and that was a disaster lol. Had no clue what I was doing on an inland pond. Anyhow, I’m living to fish another day <*~>


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - May 19, 2019: With the threat of severe weather for the afternoon in the offing, I wanted to stay closer to home so I went to Founders Park (and I did manage to get there by 8:15am). It was a most beautiful morning! The sun was shining and the water was so calm. It would’ve been a serene setting except for the baseball games going on lol. And by the way, ever since I emailed the city about being harassed and the boys throwing sticks and rocks into the pond, there have been no further altercations. In fact some of the boys have been actually fishing in their off time which is great!

There were a group of young boys, about 8 or 9 years old, fishing on the West Bank with an adult present. Of course I can just about hear every catch they make as they were all so excited. There was one little boy about 4 or 5 years old and he starts crying. I hear the man say to him, you caught the biggest fish...and that was all I could hear. Then the group of boys come to the pier, about 8 of them. They were still so excited. One boy tells me that the little boy had caught a small fish and a bass came up from behind and ate the fish off the hook. When the adult made it to the pier he told me the same thing. I have heard stories like this before and didn’t believe them. And I wasn’t a believer on using a small bluegill as bait. Well, I am now lol. 

So I’ve been fishing for about 2 hours on the pier with a berkley Gulp minnow before the boys came over. Like I said they were very enthusiastic and the next thing I know I hear them yelling, you got a bass, as one of them is reeling in. Sure enough it was a bass and he had swallowed the entire hook, it looked like a #4 long shank hook. The boys couldn’t get it out so I used my pliers and that hook was way down in the soft tissue. I’d never seen that before. By then the adult had come over to the pier as the boys had been yelling for him saying they needed his help. Anyhow, I wriggled the hook out (the bass was 11” by the way) and the adult started to tell me the story about the bass that ate the little boy’s fish. Story confirmed. But I couldn’t believe the boys caught a bass after I’d been trying for 2 hours...arghhh.

I had been thinking about leaving the pond, but after hearing the story it gave me an idea. I was going to try using a bluegill as bait. So I went to the west shore and was trying to catch a small bluegill and of course when you want to catch a dink, you can’t. Finally caught one and put on hook but when I reeled my line back in the fish was gone. Was fishing for another small one but ran out of time as it was starting to rain, which rain alone doesn’t usually stop me but there was thunder as well. Went to my car and checked the radar and it looked like these storms were gonna be around til at least 6:00pm so I went home.

Went back to the pond at about 6:45pm and stayed til almost 9:30; came up empty handed. So the pics are from Sandy Hook, NJ. It’s a place where you can get both sunrise and sunset pics. The first pic is a sunrise though I like to call it “star rise” as the sun looks like the star it really is. Second pic is sunset and as the sun sets here I’m just living to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

View attachment 400909







Monday - May 20, 2019: Opted to try Spring Mill Pond again; arrived at about 12:30pm. Bought some live minnows at My Tec-Tronics. The guy in the store asked what I was fishing for and when I said trout, he said I wanted walleye minnows. He said the minnows were dying so he gave me a really big batch of them.

So I start fishing on the side where the tall grasses are (without the sun being out I can’t tell you whether I was north, east, west or south lol). First cast caught a fish I’d never caught before; it had red eyes, greenish gold coloring and was sort of a chunky fish, a rock bass. Kinda cool looking. Caught quite a few from this location but that’s not why I was at Spring Mill lol.

Moved to the totally opposite end of the pond. There was a small cove there as well. The fish were jumping like crazy. A man arrived a little bit after I was setup. He was using a bobber as well. After a few casts he caught a really big fish. I was becoming a bit dismayed. Why wasn’t I catching anything? And dang, wouldn’t you know it, when I finally had something on the hook, it came off; it seems the story of my life lately is ‘choke queen.’ I think the choke occurred about 5:30pm. Kept trying and trying using various rods, hook sizes and either minnows or crawlers to no avail.

So at about 7:45pm, moved to an opening in the cove. I was starting to at least get hits on the minnows and caught 1 rock bass. An older gentleman came over to the spot and he casted a few while I was retying a line that has just gotten snagged in a tree. He said I wouldn’t catch anything with the rod I was using (it was the braided rod. He explained how I needed to make the line invisible and he showed me his rig which was basically a Carolina rig with a bobber (I think it was my last trip to Spring Mill where I had made my first Carolina rig, but failed miserably at using it). His bobber was probably about 4 feet away from the hook which includes about a 2 foot leader (and for his leader he said he used a 2lb test line that cost $22.00 for 100 yards I think he said). And he was only using a #8 hook which seemed awfully small to put a minnow on but he had it hooked into the back. He has caught over 30 fish since the season opened so whatever he catches now he throws back. He asked me if I wanted the fish if he caught one. I was kind of being a pouting baby lol and said, yes I would take it but that I really want to catch one of my own.

Anyhow, I decided to setup my 8lb test rod as a Carolina rig, again. I only had 8lb test to use as a leader, but at this time of the day it was worth a shot. What a difference. I was getting so many hits; one was a huge takedown and another was on the itsy bitsy #8 hook but the choke queen showed up again lol. Every thing I read and the people I talk with at Spring Mill use very small hooks. Well, the next time I come here I will just have to try various sIze hooks lol and I’m certainly living to fish another day <*~€

P.S. The second pic is: What to use your bucket for when you’re not catching any fish.


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## 6Speed

Try a 4# florocarbon leader about 2' long and use live crickets on a small white jig under your bobber at Proud Lake....


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## retired dundo

FisherGal60 said:


> Da
> 
> Dang!! I didn’t even get a nibble lol. But like I said I had been fishing on Saturday at a small pond and catching blue gills when it was warmer. It got pretty cold Sunday night. But I will try Village Park again Congrats on your catch


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## retired dundo

I really enjoyed reading all these post. I think fishinggal enjoys fishing more than anybody I’ve ever new.She doesn’t need to catch a limit to have. A good time.Some.people I know allways complain and act like they had a lousy time. If they don’t catch a bunch. She seems to allways have a good time no matter what she catch


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## FisherGal60

View attachment 401105
Tuesday - May 21, 2019: Since I felt like I was getting so close to hooking a fish last night at Spring Mill Pond, I went back there today (my fourth trip there). Went and got minnows first; arrived at the pond about 12:30. Tried a spot in the tall grasses first like yesterday and caught the same thing as yesterday, rock bass and a small bass. About 3:00pm moved to the opposite end of the pond to the same spot in the trees where I was last night. So I had my 8# test spincaster rod rigged as a Carolina rig with a bobber; 8# test 2 foot leader with a #4 hook. Was getting hits and caught a couple rock bass. Then I had something on but it swam into the weeds and my line got snagged in some weeds and the fish was off. Was able to save my line and bobber but the hook came off. So I tied a #6 hook on.

Then it happened!! Got a hit; pulled the rod up as high as I could and bam! fish on! (This was at 6:00pm) Now I have a million things going through my head: I have got to hold onto this one; will my 8lb test lines holdout along with the three knots I tied; how do I reel this big fish in (I was so afraid this fish might shake off the hook like the bass did at Founders Park); do I reel fast or slow?

So as I was catching this fish I was quite verbal lol and two girls and one guy were across the pond from me fishing. I was really excited and a bit loud so they could hear me. I said,”This is the biggest fish I ever caught. I don’t know if I can get him in?” One of the girl’s said,” You got this.” I decided to reel in fast hoping to give the fish less time to shake off. As it got closer to the shore it was heading for the weeds so I had to get him back out in open water. I was successful in avoiding the weeds and then he dives down. When he was close to my spot on the shore, I positioned myself a little higher up so I could pull him straight in and I could move back a bit as well so I could just drag him onto the shore. It worked!

I pull him in away from the water and I don’t even know what kind of fish it is. I yell across the pond to the 3 people,” I don’t know what this is. It has red dots on it?” They responded with, it’s a rainbow. Well after further research I believe it is a brown trout. So I get it far away from the water and measure it, 20”. So this is really the biggest fish I ever caught; the bass I caught at Village Wood Lake Park was 19”. So I put him out of his misery as he is on the menu for dinner tomorrow night. Caught a 14” bass after the trout and had 3 or 4 more takedowns and minnow steals but couldn’t hook them.

So as I’m preparing my rod for the next course of action I was thinking, “boy, I can’t believe this little spincaster rod could pull in a fish like that.” The rod is a zebco slingshot that I purchased last fall at Walmart for $15 I think and the reel was with it. But the reel crapped out on me after fishing a few times for creek chub in the winter. So I bought a Shakespeare Durango 8” test spincaster reel (which was $5.94) to put on the slingshot rod. 

So what’s next? After 36 days straight of fishing I may need a day of rest, maybe lol. I’m thinking my next challenge will be the big lake at the condos. I think there are pike in it and I haven’t caught one of those yet. It’s kind of funny how one great day of fishing makes up for all the stinker days lol and I’m still living to fish another day <*~€

P.S. I still need some work on my filleting skills and I can’t wait to eat my catch tomorrow.


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## 6Speed

Yea!


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## Waif

What a great accounting.
Congrats!


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## Shoeman

Don't be too hard on your filleting skills. Those stocked trout have very soft flesh!


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## 6Speed

Shoeman said:


> Don't be too hard on your filleting skills. Those stocked trout have very soft flesh!


Yea, it gets easier and faster after the first 500 fish! 

Famous Shoeman quote...


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - May 22, 2019: As it turned out I had to work today from 12:30 to 6:00. It was raining most of the morning so I didn’t miss out on anything lol. But I did fish a little at the condo lake since I was there. I figured I would try the Carolina rig with the bobber since I did catch a bass on it yesterday, plus with the 1/2 oz egg sinker I have on it I can cast it out pretty far. On Saturday while I was fishing at this lake a young man was fishing and he was catching bass left and right so I thought maybe I could catch a bass since I could get it out far, away from the freaking bluegill. But, it didn’t work out that way. So I moved further down to where I caught that 13” bass about a week ago. But the weeds have grown exponentially in the past 4 days and they extend pretty far out now. Bobber coming back in with slimy seaweed on it; the barrel swivel clip picked up slime as well. I can tolerate a lot of yukky stuff but that slimy, clingy, grasslike seaweed just gets to me lol. So I only caught a couple small bluegill and called it a night since I had a bigger fish to fry at home anyhow 

Cooked the trout from yesterday in olive oil, butter, garlic, lemon and parsley. So this was my first time eating trout. I didn’t realize it was part of the salmonoid family so it just tasted like salmon to me but it was very good since it was so fresh. 

Working tomorrow all day so not sure where I’ll go after. Thinking about going to the biggest lake at the condos. Hopefully the weeds won’t be as bad, but not to worry, I’m living to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - May 23, 2019: Worked from 8:30am til 6:00pm. Went to Founders Park and the wind was fierce again. Decided to try the Carolina rig with bobber again. Only caught bluegill but I am planning on going back to Spring Mill again so getting some practice in on the Carolina rig is a good thing. Then went to my braided rod with bobber and only caught bluegill. 

So I used to paint, started in 2015 through 2018 and I happened to do a couple fish paintings before I even started fishing. Anyhow, working again tomorrow and I’m living to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

View attachment 401711
Friday - May 24, 2019: Had a short work day; finished at 12:30. So I decided to go back to Spring Mill Pond. On Wednesday I called the bait shop guy that sold me the minnows to tell him about catching the 20” brown trout (figured it would be nice to let him know that the minnows he was selling work). He mentioned that a lot of guys were having luck with little Cleos. I’m like, okay what is that? I googled it and watched some videos. I stopped at Walmart before I went to the Pond to get some more berkley Gulp bait, also picked up some cool looking frogs made by Ribbit and then I remembered the cleos. I did not think Walmart would have them, but they did so I picked up 2 different sizes. I’ll give it a try. 

When I arrived at the Pond, someone was in “my” spot lol. So I fished from the sandy shore opposite that spot. I did not want to stop and buy live minnows today because the bait shop is a little out of the way so I was trying the berkley Gulp minnows on the Carolina rig with bobber. No hits. Tied on the 2/5 ounce Cleo, but it was too heavy so I used the 1/4 ounce instead. I definitely need to work on using it. Then tried crawlers on Carolina rig with no success. My spot opened up so I moved. 

Started over using the baits I used above without any luck. I did get one or two hits on the berkley minnow, but only when I presented it threaded through the hook so it was straight as opposed to hooking it through the back as I had done with the live minnows. It was getting late so I decided to just toss a few on an ordinary bobber line with a crawler. Fish on! And it was putting up quite a fight and the bobber was staying under the water until I got him to shore. I was surprised to find it was a rock bass. At first I thought it was a largemouth because it was kind of big. I get my tape measurer out and it was 11”. The biggest one I caught up to this point was 9”. And then I’m like, dang, to be eligible for master angler it has to be 11.5” so I triple checked my measurements and that 1/2 inch was just not there lol. Maybe by September he’ll grow a 1/2” and I’ll catch him again. No worries, I’m living to fish another day <*~€


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## Waif

Unsolicited meandering , feel free to discard.

New/unfamiliar lures deserve an experimental try close you. 
A short cast with a fast retrieve ,then a slow retrieve. The lures action compared to a minnow ,or other prey. A pause can cause a flutter ,or a floating,or just a sinking. A slight twitch can create change too. (Stuff you've found out already using a float.)

Someone had gifted me a large minnow imitation prototype as a kid.
I was swinging the fishing rod back and forth in front of the dock I was standing on and watching the lures action.
About swing #4 a large muskie erupted and missed the lure.
A friend on the next dock though I fell in...
Duplicating the trial did not give the same results. Not sure I ever caught a fish on that darned thing...

A cleo can have an enticing wobble at slow retrieve speed. Or a spin at higher speed.
A swivel will reduced line twist and snarling.
Either a clip type at the lure ,or a barrel swivel a foot or two above it.
A swivel may affect some lures action.
A barrel swivel a foot or two above can catch scummy weeds sometimes and keep your lure working.
Need to clean the swivel off after retrieve to keep it working.

All things you would ,or already have figured out. Just like your fake minnow's action when hooked through the back vs hooked inline with the hook shank. And with point exposed or not. I prefer hook exposed but if that does not work....
A kink near the tail (or head) can create a different action than if fake minnow is streamlined on hook.
Inline the minnow hooked above the dorsal fin goes through the water different than when hooked inline.(As you have proven. Lure action/presentation). But trying different presentations can make all the difference , so there is not always any simple right or wrong way.

Congrats on your fishing! You have been pretty darned productive. (!)


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - May 25, 2019: I started at Newburgh Lake today around 10:30am. The pier at Newburgh Point was out. The wind was quite severe. Caught a 7” pumpkinseed and decided to give Wilcox Lake a go even though I rarely catch anything there. Today was no different lol. I was definitely tired of fighting the wind so about 2:00pm I left. 

Since it is a holiday weekend, I had a craving for BBQ ribs. Went to Kroger and bought all the fixings to make potato salad, corn on the cob, and baked beans. Tried this private selection BBQ sauce that was Carolina inspired. It was awesome. Then about 6:30pm went to Founders Park and the wind was still an issue. It finally calmed down about 8:30pm. There were several other people there and the bluegill were biting like crazy. No bass for anyone. 

Tomorrow looks iffy again with rain showers and possible thunderstorms so not sure when a good time to fish will be. I’ll just play it by ear cause I’m living to fish another day <*~€

P.S. The picture of the mushroom is one I found in my yard, it’s a morel. I showed it to my neighbor and she found one in her yard as well. Thought Petronius would enjoy that tidbit lol.


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - May 26, 2019: Decided to go to Spring Mill Pond again. Bought some minnows first and arrived at the pond 11:30am. I had forgotten until I was pulling into the park about the public beach at the pond. But as I pulled into the parking lot it wasn’t that full. I started at the northwest corner of the shore as my spot was taken. The people in the swimming area were quite loud, even though there weren’t that many. At about 1:30 it started to rain so I put the frogg togg poncho on. The people in my spot left about 2:00pm so I headed over there. At least I would have some protection from the rain as it was tree covered. And it rained... and rained...and rained...until about 5:00pm. It would be heavy then lighter and heavier again. At about 4:00pm when it had almost stopped I caught a 13” bass, then it poured again. So I have been out fishing in the rain before, but never for 3.5 hours; lesson learned: don’t do it lol. Unless one day I go on a fishing trip to some awesome place, my experience now tells me that it does not pay off. 

When the rain finally stopped at 5:00pm, I fished for another hour from my spot and then moved back to the northwest shore again. I was getting bites and eventually caught about 3 small bass. But I have to say, no one was catching any trout. 

As an aside: the poncho did not keep me completely dry. The sweatshirt I had on had gotten pretty wet so when the sun came out I took it off of course and had a short sleeve shirt on. So as the sun goes down and it’s starting to get dark it was mosquito feeding time lol on any exposed human skin. They were attacking every nook and cranny they could; the small gap between my visor and hairline (I had even sprayed my visor earlier with OFF); but it was definitely the buzzing in the ears that was the worst. So of course 
I put my wet sweatshirt back on. It reminded me of a tv show I used to watch ‘Naked and Afraid’ and those people always got bit up at night. They were usually covered in bug bites. Good thing I never tried out for that show lol I would’ve ‘barely’ made it through the first night. But come rain, wind or shine, I’m living to fish another day <*~> 

P.S. Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!


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## FisherGal60

Monday - May 27, 2019: I spent over an hour this morning setting up my first tackle bag, like a real one with pockets and a shoulder strap lol. Before that I was using a reusable shopping bag. Now I don’t look like a ‘bag lady’. I was thinking of trying the big lake at the condos but it was so beautiful I went to Cass Lake, Dodge Park #4. Probably not the best idea since the pier I like to go to is near the boat launch. But there is another pier located at the entry of the channel leading to the bay so I went to that one as well. I’m glad I did as a little girl showed up who I thought was about 10 years old, but she was only 8 (she was tall for her age). Anyhow she loves to fish so I let her use one of my poles and she had a really good cast. I gotta admit I was a little nervous that the rod was gonna get thrown into the lake. I’m glad to see girls interested in fishing. I was thinking about it later and it occurred to me that maybe there aren’t as many young women fishers because if they marry and start having kids that’s where there time is going to be spent. I wouldn’t have had time to fish after my daughter was born.

Anyhow I’m a little off track lol. So I didn’t catch anything at the pier in the bay and caught a few bluegill at the second pier at the channel entrance. Went back to the pier in the bay at about 5:30 and boat traffic was slowing down. Caught a small perch and tried using him as bait with no luck and caught a couple rock bass, the largest being 8”. But not catching anything of consequence didn’t matter today. It was so great to be out in the sun with the cool breeze off the water and no rain in sight lol. I feel invigorated with fewer aches and pains and it’s about time too because I’m raring to go and living to fish another day <*~>


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## retired dundo

I’ve been fishing for 65years and don’t think I’ve ever new anyone who enjoyed fishing more than you


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## michcats

If you want to catch some carp and I mean some big ones I go to hydro park on bridge road it's the dam that separates ford lake from belleville lake and take 1 can of corn and some hooks and slip sinker rigs this time of year they are stacked in there under the dam on the belleville side you won't be disappointed


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - June 6, 2019: So the spot I fished yesterday for the carp at the condo lake is under two trees and today all this white fuzzy stuff was blowing and landing on my line and in the water so when I reeled in it gathered on my line as well. I went a little further down to avoid this issue. I believe I was casting I Tom


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## FisherGal60

View attachment 404991







So this is how the last message should’ve read:

Thursday - June 6, 2019: So the spot I fished yesterday for the carp at the condo lake is under two trees and today all this white fuzzy stuff was blowing and landing on my line and in the water so when I reeled in it gathered on my line as well. I went a little further down to avoid this issue. I believe I was casting into an area where several carp were mulling around as I saw several twirls there. I tried e everything under the sun even corn to no avail. So I moved on in search of bass. Hooked up a berkley Gulp firetiger minnow. Finally caught my token bass so I’m living to fish another day <*~€

P.S. The prediction for fish activity is very low for tomorrow.


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## Petronius

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 404183
> View attachment 404181
> View attachment 404179
> View attachment 404177
> View attachment 404175
> Sunday - June 2, 2019: Wow! Those silver bass are feisty little buggers!! And yes Shoeman, it was definitely a spoiling event.
> 
> Woke up at 4:30am, but fell back to sleep until 5:30. Stopped at The Bait and Tackle Box on Jefferson Ave on the way to get some minnows. Arrived at Elizabeth Park in Trenton about 8:00am. Hit some rain while driving and I was like, what the heck? It’s supposed to be a sunny day in the 60s. So it was cloudy for a while then got sunny, whew. But when I got there there were many fishermen already lined up at the mid-channel area which I guess is the better area to fish at here in Trenton. But no worries, there were open spaces just north of that section so I started there.
> 
> This being my first time fishing the Detroit River I didn’t know what to expect. The force of the water is incredible! When I cast my first 1/4 oz. line with a minnow on a #6 hook, it was dwarfed as the river seemed to swallow it up. Had a couple issues with snags the first two hours so I kept moving more and more up the river and it got better. And the sun came out to boot.
> 
> So I’m still waiting to hook my first silver bass and a young man approaches me and asked, ‘I know this might sound weird but do you post on a sports forum online?’ I said,’yes’, of course and turns out he has been following my fishing adventures. It was so cool to actually meet someone from this forum. Turns out he is a newbie as well; only fishing for about a year now so you might say when it came to how to catch these silver bass it was like the blind leading the blind, but it wasn’t really that bad. He was quite informed about what to use, such as the jigs with white twister tails and white rooster tails were another option. In fact, he and his girlfriend had been out here earlier in the week and caught 19 fish between the both of them in two hours using jigs and rooster tails.
> 
> So I’m getting some hits about 10:00am, but my minnows are getting stolen and I was having a hard time setting the hook (#6). Changed to a #4 and at 10:30 caught my first silver bass! Not too big, maybe 12 or 13”. But as the day went on I was catching bigger ones. It was definitely challenging and fun to set the hook on these fish. And boy when they are on, they try to take off and put up a great fight! Only one fish got off the hook for the entire day lol.
> 
> At 11:53am I caught a 14.5” and then at 1:46pm, I caught the biggest one I would catch for the day, a 15.5” (and of course the minimum length for entry into master angler is 16” lol. So I guess that means I’ll have to go back and try again). In the mean time as I’m starting to pile fish into my bucket, the guy from this forum was going to pick up a rooster tail at Meijers and was kind enough to bring me a bag of ice (as I didn’t think about that at 5:30 this morning lol) and he also picked up a white rooster tail for me. After a while he did hit a fish on the rooster tail.
> 
> So by the time I left at 6:00pm I caught 8 silver bass. I can tell you it will be difficult to go back to smaller and calmer waters lol. But if I get my dang inflatable boat in the water it could be another story. When I got home I filleted several of the bass (not great fillets, but enough to get a taste). After I was done I went online to find out if you could eat fish from the Detroit River and found an article that said you should NOT eat the silver bass from the river (yeah I know I should’ve checked that first). But I will at least cook one up.
> 
> Again, it was such a pleasure meeting someone from this forum who is just as addicted to fishing as I am and because today was another awesome fishing day (like I’ve said before, one great day of fishing makes up for the stinker days) I’m living to fish another day <*~€
> 
> P.S. I took more pics but can only post 5 per message.


When I was a kid, my grandfather would take us to Amherstburg on the Canadian side during the summer. We fished the Detroit River off a large dock. I found during the heat of mid afternoon, the fish would be hiding in the shade under the dock. I could catch perch and silver bass all day long. It used to tick off the old guys who were casting out away from the dock. I never told them my secret.


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## Petronius

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 404991
> View attachment 404989
> So this is how the last message should’ve read:
> 
> Thursday - June 6, 2019: So the spot I fished yesterday for the carp at the condo lake is under two trees and today all this white fuzzy stuff was blowing and landing on my line and in the water so when I reeled in it gathered on my line as well. I went a little further down to avoid this issue. I believe I was casting into an area where several carp were mulling around as I saw several twirls there. I tried e everything under the sun even corn to no avail. So I moved on in search of bass. Hooked up a berkley Gulp firetiger minnow. Finally caught my token bass so I’m living to fish another day <*~€
> 
> P.S. The prediction for fish activity is very low for tomorrow.


There is a large cottonwood across from my house that started dropping its fuzzy seeds a couple of days ago. All of those trees are on the same time schedule.


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## knu2xs

I also fish from shore and usually take cottonwood "fluff" time off, unless I get a good wind. I've found that if I get a wind that is blowing from directly behind me I can fish without too much hassle. Any crosswind just blows the fluff onto my line and a headwind stacks it up along the shore I am fishing from.

During the peak of the "fluff" it is so bad where I fish that if it's calm some small bays of the lake I fish look like they're snow covered.

Having dealt with cottonwood for years I learned something about it. When its dry I can pull it off of my line with ease, when wet, that stuff gets unbelievably strong so picking it off of the line and rod tip can be a real bugger.


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## 6Speed

I love cottonwood season and smile every year. My X wife is terribly allergic to it and it pleases me to know the evil witch is suffering right now!

Good luck today FisherGal60s. Looking forward to a picture of a big un later on.


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## FisherGal60

Friday - June 7, 2019: Got out at a little after 6:00pm on the condo lake. I didn’t even go far. Walked out the back of the condo and the northern bank is the first place I hit. There were many many fish coming up displaying their dorsal fins. Spawning I presume. I wasn’t sure if they were bass or carp so I tried rigging for carp first with corn, corn and more corn. Some other people came to fish and had a better viewpoint than me and were remarking about the ‘carp’. One guy said he was using an orange worm. Well the closest thing I had to an orange worm besides the firetiger minnows was a power bait pumpkinseed grub with the twister tail so I threw that on a #4 hook. 

It’s almost 9:00pm and it was crazy. More and more carp were moving into the area. It didn’t even matter in what direction you cast, chances are you were presenting your bait to a carp, that was totally ignoring it. I finally get a hit on this fake grub. Wasn’t sure what it was until I brought it in closer. It was a small bass. I was just excited that I caught this bass on a different artificial bait (can add it to the arsenal of what works). Caught two more bass on that grub before calling it a night (at 11:30pm lol. Honestly, the last time I looked at my phone it was 10:00pm and I was telling myself, ‘Just one more cast and you have to go’.). 

Need to figure out where I want to go Saturday and Sunday. They are going to be FULL days as I’m working quite a bit next week (Monday, Thursday and Friday are all day and Tuesday and Wednesday are 9:00 to noon). Thinking Proud Lake or Bald Mountain as one option. As always I’m living to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - June 8, 2019: Well today was not the best lol. First I tried to find a water body on the map in Rotary Park in Novi. It looked like there were possible trails leading to it. So I walked the trail, without my gear, to even see if there was access to this water. The place where the water was located was through woods thick enough you would need a hatchet to cut your way through (unfortunately, that’s not part of my gear lol). There were no paths at all through these woods. The other side of the water had houses abutting it. So when I got back to my car I had to drive near those homes so I could at least see it to make sure it was really there and it was. But there was no public access to it. 

So then I decided to try the pond behind Planet Fitness in Northville as I know there are carp in there. I get to the spot I want to fish from and some carp swim by. Tried corn and the peanut butter dough I made the other day; nothing. It was super hot in the sun so I tried to find a shady spot which was on the other side of the pond. The problem with the shady side was the terrain at the bank had rocks and some tricky sticks to navigate through. 

Decided to try Newburgh Lake. But on the way there I saw a sign for a fishing derby that had occurred at 8:00am this morning at Waterford Bend (it’s at 6 Mile Rd and Northville Rd) and there were quite a few people fishing there (this was at about 3:00pm). So I decided to give it a go. Tried my little pink trout worm up and down the stream; nothing. 

So off to good old Founders Park. Stopped at Rite Aid on the way for a bottle of water (had already finished my Powerade) and saw these coconut cashews; had to have them. They were freaking awesome!! Arrived at 6:00pm. The pond looks awful. I was here Monday and Wednesday and it was not like this. The lily pads are closing in on the pier and a thin layer of pond scum covers nearly half the pond. I only started fishing last September so fishing in the summer is new to me. Founders Park is a small body of water and I’m guessing that has something to do with it. Anyhow the first bait I used was the power bait pumpkinseed grub with twisty tail since I had success with that last night; nothing. Then tried berkley Gulp minnow; nothing. Finally, good old crawlers; nothing except bluegill. Even though it was a rough day there’s always tomorrow and that keeps me going to fish another day <*~€

Just a couple pics of flowers I’ve planted and grown over the years.


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - June 9, 2019: Well even the best laid plans of mice and men go askew. I wanted to get to the Detroit River in Trenton early in the morning, by 6:00am but I had to send my beloved ‘Peanut’, of 15 years, to dog heaven. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure 5 weeks ago and we were trying various meds, but it wasn’t enough. So I arrived in Trenton about 12:30pm. Between 1:00 and 1:30 I caught 3 silver bass on my #4 hook with live minnows. Then for a great deal of the afternoon I was having major problems with snags; lost about 6 hooks through the course of the day. And also lost on my very first cast a 2oz. triangle shaped sinker. Eventually I tied on a 1 oz. teardrop shaped bullet weight to a three way swivel with a #4 hook. But I was uncomfortable throwing it because it drifted so quickly I didn’t want to snag someone else’s line so in my other rod I was just casting a 1/2 oz. weight on a #4 hook with a live minnow. I moved around and found a spot with no snags, but no fish either. So it’s getting close to 6:00pm and this woman next to me has a rig with 2 extended hooks on it with a sinker and she’s catching fish left and right. So she and her group were packing up and in fact many people were leaving. So I now had room to cast my three-way swivel rig and boom, I get a fish, 14”. I cast again and get another and then another and another. I caught 4 in like 20mins. The biggest one all day was 15”. Tried the sinker several more times and eventually it snagged and I lost the weight and the hook. I also forgot to mention that I bought a Pflueger Trion reel on Friday night. I didn’t realize until I got it home that it was an Underspin reel. I’m like, how the heck do you put this on. So I figured out how to install it. When I tried to use it on Saturday at Founders Park, I struggled with it not going where I wanted it to go. But today was much better so I think I’ll keep it.

So total count for the day for silver bass was 10 in eight hours so it was actually better than last Sunday when I caught 8 in 10 hours (also caught one of the tiniest of fish I’ve ever caught on a hook, a goby). It was so nice to get away from all those white fuzzy things sticking to my line. Another interesting item is the Detroit River was very high today. So much so that when a large boat caused a strong wake, the river spilled out onto the boardwalk area. I overheard one man say he’s been fishing here a long time and this was the highest he’s ever seen the river.

Anyhow, it felt good again catching those silver bass and it’s really amazing how hard they fight. And as an aside, based on the Fishing Points fishing activity forecast I did catch my first 3 fish during the Major time of 11:51am to 1:52pm and then the 4 other during the Minor time of 6:13pm to 8:43pm. I do have to say I am finding the app to have pretty reliable forecast data. 

So back to work for me tomorrow, a full day too (it’s gonna take a while to get used to this summer schedule lol). But as always I’m just living to fish another day <*~€


----------



## retired dundo

Sorry to hear of the lost of your little buddy .


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## Waif

Bummer about Peanut...
Two problem heart dogs here too.

If you rig your sinker on a dropper , and depending on how you are getting snagged ;a lighter pound test line (or a poor quality knot) can sacrifice your weight/sinker and not break your mainline.


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## FisherGal60

Waif said:


> Bummer about Peanut...
> Two problem heart dogs here too.
> 
> If you rig your sinker on a dropper , and depending on how you are getting snagged ;a lighter pound test line (or a poor quality knot) can sacrifice your weight/sinker and not break your mainline.


The problem with Peanut was about a week ago she started collapsing or fainting basically. So we were trying this heart medication that is just for dogs and the vet said they were having great results with it. It’s called pimobenden or VetMedix. I think Peanut’s heart was just too weak. A couple times she cried when she was collapsing so that was enough. Couldn’t have her suffering. I am missing her dearly. Hope your dogs are doing okay.


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## Waif

FisherGal60 said:


> The problem with Peanut was about a week ago she started collapsing or fainting basically. So we were trying this heart medication that is just for dogs and the vet said they were having great results with it. It’s called pimobenden or VetMedix. I think Peanut’s heart was just too weak. A couple times she cried when she was collapsing so that was enough. Couldn’t have her suffering. I am missing her dearly. Hope your dogs are doing okay.


Running vetmidin (sp.) on one. Lasix (sp.) on two.
A lot of coughing..
One is quite an ol gal. She does not dwell on (if she knows) the fact that she has outlived one of her pups (that was around a dozen plus years old).
The other old dog is a littermate of her pup that passed.

Yes. We miss those furry partners.
But not the fond memories. Those bring smiles.


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## FisherGal60

Monday - June 10, 2019: Well, you never know what each day may bring. I guess it was good I worked today as I really didn’t want to fish in the rain (been there done that lol). Wound up at Founders Park at about 5:00pm. At first it was still very windy and I was waiting for the sun to come out. Not much biting at all. Tried various artificial baits with no luck. I guess it’s gonna be one of those days walking away with no fish in the bucket. Well tomorrow is supposed to be a warm sunny day and I’m only working until noon so I’ll be out there to fish another day <*~> 

The pics are from when I used to carry my camera with me all the time; seeing the beauty in nature and trying to capture the moment before it was gone.


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## retired dundo

Great pictures must be real good camera


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## FisherGal60

**Part One**
Tuesday - June 11, 2019: OMG OMG OMG! By far THE BEST FISHING DAY EVER! First I was thinking of going to Bishop Park in Wyandotte but I was reading a fishing report and it said that some good walleyes were coming out of the mouth of the Detroit River. So I looked up where the mouth of the Detroit River was, Lake Erie. And I’m like that’s gonna be too far away then on the map saw Lake Erie Metropark. And that was only like 15 mins away from Trenton. So I go to the park cause it says it has a fishing bridge and shore fishing. When I get there, I walk around a bit and can’t really figure out how you’re gonna do shore fishing with all these huge rocks in the way and the fishing bridge didn’t look like much to write home about. So a man was sitting near the water and I told him I was trying to find a fishing spot. He says, well you can go to the marina and there’s a pier there. I could see the pier from where we were. He gave me directions and wallah, I could fish on a pier and not in marsh and mud lol. 

So it’s about 2:30pm now. There were other people fishing and they were catching catfish and what they called sheepshead. But I just looked it up and the fish they call sheepshead are actually drum. Anyhow the guy next to me was using jumbo shrimp as bait and asked if I wanted one so of course I said yes. I think it was about 3:45pm. So I’m using a three way swivel with a 1oz sinker and a 2/0 bait holder hook. Almost everyone was using a similar setup and just letting the rod sit there until they got a bite. So I put the shrimp on and I’m tying my 2nd line with a three way swivel (prior to that I was casting and doing a slow retrieve with a minnow on a #4 hook, but wasn’t getting even a nibble) and all of a sudden the rod with the shrimp on it almost gets pulled into dang Lake Erie!! I’m like no freakin’ way! So I’m reeling and reeling and this fish is fighting hard. Luckily there were several people there who had nets (um, if I’m gonna be doing more big lake fishing, I need a net). We get the fish out and they said it was a sheepshead, which is really a drum. It was big! Measured at 20”. So that was my first fish out of Lake Erie at 4:20pm. 

So the afternoon goes on and I’m not catching anything on either rod (oh, I need to get some bells lol it’s tough to keep your eyes on the tip of the rod).

**NOW GO TO PART TWO**


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## FisherGal60

**Part Two**
Tuesday - June 11, 2019: So I didn’t catch another fish until 7:40pm. It was a rock bass (there was a great blue heron watching me so I decided to give him the fish and made a video of it lol). Then at 8:00pm til 9:00pm I’m catching drum like crazy. All were at least 16”, I think there was one at 17 or 18”. And what I was doing when I caught some of them was kind of reeling the weighted line in and jigging it a bit (I gotta tell you, sitting there and not even holding the rod is not only a bit boring but it kind of takes the fun out of hooking a fish when you feel it biting; at least for me it does).

So then a little after nine my one rod that was not in my hand starts to go crazy and I have to grab it before it gets pulled in. The guy with the net came over but he could tell it was gonna take a few minutes for me to reel it in. So when I finally get it in, it was a catfish and it measured 21”. The largest fish I’ve caught to date! And then at about 9:30pm I caught a silver bass.

I make a cast after the silver bass and I’m reeling and jigging and I feel the pull and lift up and it was on. There were only two people left fishing and they did not have a net but that was the least of my worries at the moment. Did you ever have a tooth pulled? I have and it doesn’t hurt, usually, but someone is in your mouth pulling and pulling and it feels like something huge is being used to extract this little thing. That’s what it felt like when I hooked this fish. The force was incredible. I’m reeling and all I can feel is this powerful creature at the other end pulling and pulling. I’d reel a little and it would come in a bit, then it would pull away hard. Reel a little and it would pull away. On about the third attempt to reel it in, it pulled and pulled and it won. Out comes the tooth and off comes the fish as it broke off my line. And as soon as it broke off I realized I should’ve loosened the drag on my rod a bit (and I was thinking maybe my knots were not good enough, but the line was actually broken below the knot on the three way swivel). I can see I am going to need some stronger equipment lol. The way the fish pulled away was nothing like I ever felt before and it felt so enormous, and I’m not even sure that’s the right word at this point. So I cast my other rod a couple more times trying to find it again but it was too late. I was the last one to leave the pier and as I was walking to my car there was a vehicle shining a light towards the pier. I got into my car at 10:02pm.

Of course as I’m driving home I can only wonder what may have been at the other end of my line. As I pull into my subdivision everything felt small; the street, the houses and the trees. The immensity of the lake made the world feel so big when you’re out there for almost eight hours facing it. And I liked that feeling. Going back to small lakes and ponds will not be the same. But living to fish another day will be. <*~€

P.S. I did not know a catfish doesn’t have any scales.


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## FisherGal60

retired dundo said:


> Great pictures must be real good camera


It WAS a great camera lol. My daughter majored in biomedical photographic communications at RIT so she knows a great deal about cameras and she told me the average life of a camera is about 10,000 clicks. Well I definitely put that on it in the three years I had it. Some days I would shoot over 100 pics and probably only keep maybe 30.


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - June 12, 2019: Had to be to work at 9:00am but only worked until noon. Couldn’t figure out where I wanted to go fish. I was thinking Cass Lake but by the time I went home and checked on my dog it felt too late to trek out to Cass as I would have to get home relatively early to fillet that catfish and cook it. So I went to Village Wood Lake Park. Wasn’t much going on. Was casting berkley Gulp 2.5” minnows and hit a couple bluegill. I’m kind of low on tied hooks as I haven’t had much time to do any tying since Sunday down in Trenton where I lost so many hooks on snags. So I only fished about 3 hours and headed home to fillet the catfish. On the way home I picked up some Zataran’s fish breading. The guy who was helping me with his net suggested it for the catfish. Surprisingly filleting the fish wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I gutted it last night. And I did use pliers to remove the skin. The fillets still could’ve been more meaty but I was pleased with the result. Pan fried them and had rice and zucchini with it. The fish tasted fine. I mean there was nothing wrong with it but I prefer crappie or perch. After I finished eating I totally crashed lol. Fell asleep at about 7:30; dog woke me up at 10:00 to go out and back to sleep I went until 6:30am. I think the Lake Erie excursion was more taxing than I thought. I mean every fish I reeled in except the rock bass put up very hard fights. I can’t wait to do it again lol.

Thursday looks like a washout so we’ll have to see. I’m working all day tomorrow as well. But looking forward to fishing another day on the Big E <*~€

P.S. When I was leaving Village Wood today, the Chinese man was coming in on his bike. I showed him the pic of my catfish and he scrunched his face. I don’t think he likes catfish. When I got back to my car, I could see him sitting out there and it just looked like a very zen image so I took a pic.


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - June 27, 2019: There was a minor change in scheduling so I was able to fish from 9:30am until 11:30am at the condo lake. Used the pumpkinseed twisty tail grub as that is the most effective lure for bass at this lake. Within a few minutes caught a 12” bass. And that was all I caught lol.

Went back out at 6:30pm. Again within minutes caught an 11” bass on the grub. Caught another smaller bass about an hour later. Then I decided to try the spoon again. I moved out to about the middle bank hoping it wouldn’t be too weedy there. On about the fourth or fifth cast I caught a perch. On the spoon!! I am lovin’ the spoon lol. Used the spoon the rest of the evening and eventually caught a small bass on it (getting callouses at the base of my fingers from holding the rod for such a long time while spooning lol). Cannot wait for tomorrow to try the spoon at the south bank of the condo lake where many big catches are made...just living to fish another day <*~€


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## Shoeman

Once the weeds get real bad try a scum frog


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## Tankster

I always had good luck with Panther Martin spoons for panfish.


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## FisherGal60

Friday - June 28, 2019: Well, I got out onto the condo lake about 8:00pm tonight and went to the south shore or the ‘point’ and was using my 2/5 oz. little Cleo spoon. Earlier today I retied the knot and made a palomar knot on the spoon because I was worried about the improved cinch knot I originally tied coming off. So I’m casting and friggin hit a tree and the spoon went flying off into the lake. It was my favorite spoon :-( So I used the smaller one but don’t like it as much. In any case no bites on the spoon. 

Then tried the pumpkinseed grub, no luck; tried Berkley Gulp minnows, no luck; then tried the old Berkley Gulp earthworms I had, and finally hit a small bass. And that was it for the entire night. 

But on Friday nights Downtown Northville has concerts and I could hear the music while I was fishing and the sunset was spectacular!! Can’t wait to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - June 29, 2019: Went out at 5:30pm to Founders Park. Started at the east bank so I could cast into the dense lily pads with the lunkerhunt frog I bought. No luck, but I probably have to get the knack of it. Also tried a scum frog and booyah frog without success but I’m not giving up on them. Walked around the rest of the pond mostly trying one of the new spoons I bought. Tried the pumpkinseed grub as well. And then these two guys come down the bank and start casting where I had already been and they got a nice bass. One of the bigger ones I’ve seen come out of this pond, probably about 14 or 15”. 

So I make my way to the pier. And these two dudes in scuba suits come over and go into the water to retrieve dang frisbees. They said to me they were helping out the guy who runs the disc golfing at the park. But then someone else came to the pier and he was talking to the divers and the story kind of changed. They were basically making money on each one they retrieved. They post them on Facebook and people who have lost them can claim them for a fee. The thing is they were very close to the pier for a very long time so I was thinking it was probably useless trying to cast because all the fish were being scared off. Needless to say I didn’t catch anything of consequence. Got chased out at 9:30pm. Looking forward to a better day tomorrow when I can fish another day <*~€

P.S. The pic of the flowers are actually choco-brown black eyed Susan’s. My daughter gave me them as a birthday present several years ago and I thought they just didn’t take. But I think I was pulling them out each Spring because when they first start to grow their leaves look like weeds. This year I was so busy fishing I didn’t get around to pulling them out lol. I’m glad I didn’t. And all of those flowers are on one stem.


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - June 30, 2019: Arrived at Lake Erie Metropark at 10:30am. Not much was biting. Caught one small perch and one small rock bass. Decided to leave about 2:30pm and went to William Sterling state recreation Area about 18 miles south of the Metropark. The website said they had 3 fishing piers. I found two but could not find the third. It doesn’t matter because I stayed on the one pier anyhow. And unfortunately the fish were not biting here either. Several other people would come to the pier, stay awhile, catch nothing and leave. I’m the only weirdo that doesn’t leave a fishing spot when the fish aren’t biting because I’m bound and determined to catch something, plus I hate to lose lol. So when people got to the pier they asked me how it was going and I delivered the bad news. Funny thing was two young boys, getting to the pier later in the day at different times, asked me the same questions, “What are you using? Did you try this or that? etc.” These boys at about age 9 or 10 were so learned about bass fishing made me realize how much more I really need to learn. 

Anyhow, about 8:00pm a guy gets to the pier and throws a ‘whopper flopper’ and a bass practically jumps out of the water to get it but he didn’t get hooked. So then everyone starts throwing top water lures, but no other hits. So after an hour he leaves. I decided to go back to minnows with a slow retrieve. And so each time I cast it feels like I’m possibly hitting some rocks on the bottom and the minnow is gone when I bring up the line. After about 5 or 6 times I’m thinking, maybe it’s not rocks, but a fish taking the bait. So I find one of the smallest minnows I can because I figure if the minnow is small enough the fish is gonna have to take the whole thing, the hook and the minnow, into its mouth. And wallah, I hooked it. It wasn’t fighting too hard to begin with so I wasn’t sure what it was. But then as I got it closer to the pier it was pulling and yanking hard. When I saw it, I was like, Holy Cow. It was BIG lol. Grabbed my net and brought in a 21” sheepshead! So at 21”, it tied with the 21” catfish I caught at Lake Erie about 3 weeks ago. So was it worth the wait? Yes, but would I stay all day again when I’m catching nothing, no. And I doubt I will be going back to William Sterling state park anytime soon.

At least the sunset was amazing and I’m hoping tomorrow will be better as I fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Monday - July 1, 2019: I can’t wait until later to post this. Went fishing at the condo lake because I knew there were some trees there so I could have some shade. The Fishing Points app had a major time for fishing from 10:30am until 1:00pm. The overall fish activity is at 87 today. The highest it’s been in weeks. So I get to the lake at 10:30am. Toss a few down at the south end using the pumpkinseed grub and caught a small bass. Then I walk around to the ‘point’, the north end. Tried the grub first, no luck. Went to a Berkley Gulp minnow with a slow retrieve. Took about 20 or 25 mins, but landed a nice 17” bass. It made my day!! Caught a few more small ones on the grub in a shadier spot. Left by 3:00pm. Making dinner for daughter. Not sure if I’ll go out later or not but catching the bass was quite enough until I fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - July 2, 2019: Decided to try Lake St. Clair today at the Metropark. So I’m on a pier and I’m casting out with a live minnow and doing a slow retrieve. Also had another line out with the 2 oz sinker and hook on a three way swivel. After a while the one line I was tossing out and doing a slow retrieve with I changed to a green night crawler and added a bobber. After a couple casts away from the pier I realized I should be casting into the rocks on either side of the pier because guess who are notorious for lying in the rocks and waiting for a free meal of night crawlers and minnows. On my 2nd or 3rd toss into the rocks I had a bass on, and then he was off. My bad as I definitely didn’t set the hook properly. But after a few more casts I caught a small largemouth. 

So then a young man comes onto the pier. I said hi and he was a bit aloof at first. I just told him the bass were biting in the rocks. So he’s tying his line and after a few casts he hit a bass (a nice 15” one) and asked if he could use my net as he didn’t want to lose the lure he had on. After the excitement of catching the bass he says,” you were right. The bass are biting in the rocks.” I’m guessing he didn’t really believe me. Anyhow after that he was much friendlier. 

So he’s doing good at catching bass of various sizes (I hit a few more small bass as well). At about 3:00pm I’m reeling in and jigging my pole with the sinker and minnow on it and get a hit. Set the hook and I’m not sure what’s on the other end. It didn’t fight too much until I got it closer to the pier then I could tell it was big. Got my net and and brought it in. So the young man comes over and he’s like, “that’s a smallmouth bass. I’ve never seen one that big!!” I’m glad he was there because I’ve never caught a smallmouth before and I didn’t even recognize the species. It measured at 18”. The guy says he’s never seen one that big and he’s taking pics and texting his friends and they’re responding enthusiastically. He was also telling me how they have a smallmouth bass tournament every year (not that I’d enter it).

The rest of the day was slow. So now this is the second time I make a nice catch (the other was catching the bass on the spoon at Lake Erie) and continue fishing in the same spot for too long. From now on, I leave and move on to another spot lol and can’t wait to fish another day <*~€

P.S. I wasn’t too impressed with Lake St. Clair. I like Lake Erie and the Detroit River better.


----------



## zzcop302

Very nice smallmouth!
Did he jump as you were fighting him?
You have added another species to the many different ones you have already caught.
Way to go!​


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - July 3, 2019: Got a late start today. Must’ve been more tired than I thought. Went to the condo lake again because of some shade I can get there. Started at the point with a Berkley Gulp minnow and slow retrieve. No such luck as the other day. Went to the pumpkinseed grub and hit a couple small bass. They were biting shallow and deep today. Then I decided to try for carp again. No luck, just a couple bluegill bit on the line. 

Not sure where to go tomorrow due to the holiday. I suspect the parks will be quite busy. Trenton is a possibility. Anyhow I better get some rest so I can fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - July 4, 2019: I decided to try Lake Erie first. If it was too crowded, then to Trenton. Lake Erie was not crowded, yay. Well, at first I was yay. Still tons of seaweed weighing the lines down and getting clumps of seaweed on the rig giving a false bite. So these two guys were leaving and they pull up their stringer and there’s like 3 big bowfins and 2 large catfish on the line. They said a guy gave them the fish. So the two guys got there at 6:00am and the other guy had already been there since 5:00am. But the two guys didn’t catch anything as I did not as well. So I left Lake Erie and headed to Trenton at about 2:30pm. 

Trenton was not crowded either. Unfortunately, Trenton was worse than I remembered it with all the snags. I think I lost 3 sinkers and 4 hooks. Caught a sheepshead at about 5:30pm; and that was it. Once when I was reeling in a line that had a green crawler on it I could’ve sworn I had a fish on. And as I got it closer I see this big catfish roll on top of the water. At first I thought he was on my line but my line wasn’t that close yet. I don’t know what it was doing. Then there were the gobies eating the worm. Nothing on the minnows. 

The good thing was it was the Fourth of July! Across the channel is Grosse Ile and one of the homes was putting on quite a nice fireworks display. And then there were fireworks as far as the eye could see looking up the river. It was really cool. Then I decided to drive up Telegraph and that was like driving through a gauntlet; fireworks on both sides of the road all the way from Brownstown up to Detroit. The road was even smoky from all the fireworks. Anyhow I work a full day tomorrow so we’ll see where I go after work because I need to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Friday - July 5, 2019: Since I worked today, fished at the condo lake at about 7:00pm. Fished for a while at the north end as it was closest to the condo because storms were brewing nearby. Caught a couple small bass on the pumpkinseed grub. When it looked like the storm was gonna miss me, I headed to the point. 

Went with the Berkley Gulp minnow and slow retrieve. Only caught small bass tonight. Was trying to get a big one. Fishing at the point has the advantage of having several lampposts so you can fish there all night if you want to. It started to rain at about 1:30am so I left lol. 

Had another amazing sunset tonight but no music from downtown Northville due to the holiday. Looking forward to tomorrow as the weather should not be so extremely hot and I can fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - July 6, 2019: What a freakin’ beautiful night! No rain, no bugs, no stifling heat. So I was planning on getting out at about 4:00pm today but that’s just about the time the storms started popping up. When it was finally clear enough to get out, it was about 6:00pm. I decided to try the third lake at the condo place that I had never fished. There are pike in this lake and I’ve never caught one of those. 

As I’m walking around it the shoreline looks very shallow with dense vegetation extending much further out than the lake I usually fish. I’m thinking, this may not be good shore fishing; even though my casting has gotten much better I’m not sure I’ll be able to get out far enough. There was a sandy beach area at the far end so I checked that out first. Started with the pumpkinseed grub - nothing; berkley Gulp minnow - nothing; then I tied a trident hook as I’ve never used one before and baited it with a crawler. After the hook returned several times empty I figured out how to use it lol. Only caught bluegill on it. Then I see a guy fishing from the shore and I see he brought in a bass and I’m like, I’m going over there. 

Started with the pumpkinseed grub and had a small bass on but he got off as I was only using a 1/0 gamakatsu octopus hook because I didn’t have any 3/0 hooks tied. So I tied one and used the grub again, but no luck. I go back to the trident hook with a crawler. After a couple steals, I feel the tug and pulled up slightly and then there was a bigger tug and then I pulled up with more force and he was on. I’m like, holy cow this seems like a big one! I reeled him in quickly and since I was fishing from the shore I didn’t have to worry about a long way up (there was a short mooring where small paddle boats could dock) but I yanked him out fast just in case lol. I’m like,YEAH, that’s what I’m talking about! Got him to the pavement under a light and at first I thought he was only 17”, but when I reviewed the pics later, this largemouth was closer to 18”, woohoo! This was at about 9:45pm. At 10:30pm, caught another one, 14 or 15”, then another at 11:15pm at 14”. Kept fishing for about another hour but the biting had fizzled out. But it was such a gorgeous cool summer evening I didn’t want to stop lol. But if I want to fish tomorrow at a reasonable time I have to get some sleep...dreaming about fishing another day <*~€


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## Waif

Alright You're tearin it up!

Respectfully , (you're doing fine) are you wetting your knots before snugging them up?

A very close squint can reveal dry knots sometimes "burning" mono line when the heat from dry friction is too much.

Checking mono for nicks in it is a constant around snags ,cement,zebra mussels ect.

Running lightly pinched fingers down the line .the last three feet or so often turn up the first nicks/abrasions.
More squinting once one is found will reveal different looks due to different causes. But defects mean removing bad areas and retying.

Knots don't get created easy for me any more. But after a good fight or the night before an outing ,they can be retied just for the insurance.. 

In squinting at bad spots in line , there sometimes occurs a stretch where the line is thinner and looks glassy in a tiny area.
Not unlike where a split shot was crimped too hard onto mono.
Those spots need to be removed ...

Even though we can wet and test our knots , they can be expected to be the weakest link in our rigs. (If we have enough line on the spool ,l.o.l.. Been there!)

A deliberate bad knot on a dropper to a sinker/weight can sacrifice the weight vs losing the whole rig.

Were I to encounter you fishing , a floating Rapala minnow and some pea sized split shot would be handed you.
Allowing you to fish above the snags in areas you enjoy working spoons, if shorter casts could still get among fish.
A single shot a couple feet above it will nose first sink it a little. Additional shot would run it deeper , but bass will come up for the single shot depth (if even needing the single shot).
And snag small pieces of weeds ahead of it keeping them off the lure a little while. Sometimes.
Not foolproof ,depending on weed length and numbers.

Regardless ,you're doin great. Congrats.
Enjoying your posts tremendously here.


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - July 7, 2019 PART ONE: I’m locked in Loon Feather Point Park on Ford Lake. Since it is my first time here I didn’t know how they handle closing the park. Definitely my bad. So they left a notice on my windshield at 9:40pm. I was back to my car at 9:50pm. Read the notice and had to call the Washtenaw Sheriff’s Department for them to come open it. I called at 9:55 and they said it wouldn’t be any time soon and they aren’t kidding. It’s 10:57pm and I’m still waiting :-( 

Guess they want to teach you a lesson. My lesson will be not to visit Ford Lake parks anymore.


----------



## Waif

Well , at least the parking is free...

My temptation would be to call some folks and ask , firstly could I be allowed to leave please by some one unlocking the gate.
Then ask if it is common practice to not check for occupants before locking them in?
*Last* *First* *Phone Number* *Department* *Position*
Aue Debbie 734-544-3805 Residential Services 50 & Beyond Coordinator
Balmes Bill 734-485-3943 Community Standards Electrical & Building Inspector
Barber Todd 734-485-3943 Community Standards Mechanical Inspector
Bates Rhonda 734-544-4225 Fire Department Clerk
Batianis Maria 734-485-3943 Community Standards Clerk
Bellers Dave 734-485-3943 Community Standards Chief Building Official
Burnett Edward Park Commission Commissioner
Campbell Crystal 734-328-4842 Supervisor's Office Community Engagement Coordinator
Carr Jane 734-485-3943 Community Standards Clerk
Castle-Hine Robin 734-484-0065 Human Resources Quality Assurance Specialist
Copeland Eric 734-544-4110 Fire Department Fire Chief
Corder Elizabeth Park Commission Treasurer
Cromer Mike 734-485-3943 Community Standards Building Inspector
Doe Larry 734-544-3910 Treasurer's Office Township Treasurer
Dudley Wayne 734-484-0073 Residential Services Public Services Superintendent
Eldridge Stan Board Member Trustee
Elling Bill 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Administrator
Girbach Carl 734-484-0073 Parks & Grounds Seasonal Supervisor
Gooden Mike 734-485-4393 Community Standards Ordinance Enforcement Assistant
Gosselin Linda 734-487-4927 Assessing Assessor
Gough Laura 734-485-3943 Community Standards Clerk
Graham Debbie 734-481-0617 Supervisor's Office Clerk/Purchasing
Greenwood Tom 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Enforcement Assistant
Harris Myla 734-484-3702 Accounting Senior Accounts Payable Analyst
Jarrell Roe Heather 734-780-4681 Board Member Trustee
Keen Tammie 734-481-0617 Supervisor's Office Deputy Supervisor
Kimball Dan 734-544-4107 Fire Department Fire Marshal
Kulhanek Jill 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Administrator
Liberati Jacob 734-487-4927 Assessing Residential Appraiser
Lovejoy Roe Karen 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Township Clerk
Manley Kathleen 734-487-4927 Assessing Residential Appraiser
McCleery Brian 734-487-4927 Assessing Deputy Assessor
McCrystal Lynda 734-484-1002 Treasurer's Office Clerk
Miars Andrew 734-484-3702 Accounting Senior Payroll Analyst


----------



## Waif

And if still waiting...

Neel Javonna 734-544-3601 Accounting Accounting Director
Neel Lindsey 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Enforcement Assistant
Pazyamor Sage Park Commission Commissioner
Peterson Gloria Park Commission Commissioner
Power Pete 734-485-3943 Community Standards Plumbing Inspector
Radzik Michael 734-544-3730 Community Standards Police Administrator/Director
Riley Janis 734-544-3648 Clerk's Office Election Specialist
Robinson Angela 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Election Specialist
Ross-Williams Monica Board Member Trustee
Rowsey Carl 734-482-6681 Residential Services Compost Site Coordinator
Shepardson Jenna 734-487-4927 Assessing Residential Appraiser
Sherwood II Kirk 734-485-0881 Green Oaks Golf Course PGA Director of Golf Operations
Sigler Shelley 734-484-1002 Treasurer's Office Clerk
Smith Tim 734-482-2386 Green Oaks Golf Course Golf Course Superintendent
Stanfield Lisa 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Deputy Clerk
Streeter David Park Commission Commissioner
Stumbo Brenda 734-481-0617 Supervisor's Office Township Supervisor
Swanson Debbie Park Commission Secretary
Syer Mike 734-544-3808 Residential Services Recreation Supervisor
Troy Kristi 734-484-1002 Treasurer's Office Deputy Treasurer
Verges Angela 734-544-3817 Residential Services Recreation Director
Walker Ruby 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Election Specialist
Wallin Karen 734-484-0065 Human Resources Human Resources Generalist
Willis Carly 734-484-0073 Residential Services Clerk
Wilson Charlotte 734-485-3943 Community Standards Planning & Development Coordinator
Wilson Jr. Jimmie 734-999-0049 Board Member Trustee
Wyrybkowski Nancy 734-485-3943 Community Standards Executive Coordinator


----------



## FisherGal60

Sunday - July 7, 2019: PART TWO - Well the day started out good lol. I got to Loon Feather Point Park about 1:30pm. There were two men and a boy on the pier, three generations, father, son and grandson. So we’re fishing for a while and I notice the little boy doesn’t have a pole. I go to my car and get an extra one. It was the Pflueger trigger reel. So I showed the boy how to use it and after a few tries he got the hang of it and was casting quite far. Then about 2:30pm the ‘son’ gets a nice sized smallmouth. Then he hits another one but it got off before he could lift it up over the pier. So that was when I went to my car to get the net and the extra pole. So then I’m casting a Berkley Gulp minnow with a slow retrieve and close to the pier I was hitting these what seemed to be long flat rocks like concrete slabs almost. Well wouldn’t you know it, that’s where the smallmouth were hiding lol. I get a hit and this one fought much harder than the one in Lake St. Clair. I used the net to get him in. He was 15”. Not bad for my second smallmouth lol. That was at 3:30pm. Then it was kind of dead the rest of the day. Hit a small one at 7:50pm. Dang, I didn’t take my own advice again and leave after I caught the 15”. But the company was good so I didn’t want to leave.

So then about 9:30pm I friggin had something big on after going under one of the flat rock slabs but my net was on the other side of the pier so I attempted to drag him over so I could get closer to the net and he got off!!! I was so p-o-ed!! So I kept trying and trying by dragging the minnow near and under the flat rocks, but couldn’t get a bite. So that’s probably why I got locked in the park. 

Well I gotta work all day tomorrow (hoping I get home tonight; I guess I might just have to sleep in my car). So I will fish another day tomorrow evening <*~€


----------



## FisherGal60

Waif said:


> Well , at least the parking is free...
> 
> My temptation would be to call some folks and ask , firstly could I be allowed to leave please by some one unlocking the gate.
> Then ask if it is common practice to not check for occupants before locking them in?
> *Last* *First* *Phone Number* *Department* *Position*
> Aue Debbie 734-544-3805 Residential Services 50 & Beyond Coordinator
> Balmes Bill 734-485-3943 Community Standards Electrical & Building Inspector
> Barber Todd 734-485-3943 Community Standards Mechanical Inspector
> Bates Rhonda 734-544-4225 Fire Department Clerk
> Batianis Maria 734-485-3943 Community Standards Clerk
> Bellers Dave 734-485-3943 Community Standards Chief Building Official
> Burnett Edward Park Commission Commissioner
> Campbell Crystal 734-328-4842 Supervisor's Office Community Engagement Coordinator
> Carr Jane 734-485-3943 Community Standards Clerk
> Castle-Hine Robin 734-484-0065 Human Resources Quality Assurance Specialist
> Copeland Eric 734-544-4110 Fire Department Fire Chief
> Corder Elizabeth Park Commission Treasurer
> Cromer Mike 734-485-3943 Community Standards Building Inspector
> Doe Larry 734-544-3910 Treasurer's Office Township Treasurer
> Dudley Wayne 734-484-0073 Residential Services Public Services Superintendent
> Eldridge Stan Board Member Trustee
> Elling Bill 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Administrator
> Girbach Carl 734-484-0073 Parks & Grounds Seasonal Supervisor
> Gooden Mike 734-485-4393 Community Standards Ordinance Enforcement Assistant
> Gosselin Linda 734-487-4927 Assessing Assessor
> Gough Laura 734-485-3943 Community Standards Clerk
> Graham Debbie 734-481-0617 Supervisor's Office Clerk/Purchasing
> Greenwood Tom 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Enforcement Assistant
> Harris Myla 734-484-3702 Accounting Senior Accounts Payable Analyst
> Jarrell Roe Heather 734-780-4681 Board Member Trustee
> Keen Tammie 734-481-0617 Supervisor's Office Deputy Supervisor
> Kimball Dan 734-544-4107 Fire Department Fire Marshal
> Kulhanek Jill 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Administrator
> Liberati Jacob 734-487-4927 Assessing Residential Appraiser
> Lovejoy Roe Karen 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Township Clerk
> Manley Kathleen 734-487-4927 Assessing Residential Appraiser
> McCleery Brian 734-487-4927 Assessing Deputy Assessor
> McCrystal Lynda 734-484-1002 Treasurer's Office Clerk
> Miars Andrew 734-484-3702 Accounting Senior Payroll Analyst


Well they know I was in the park cause they left a note on my windshield. About 9:40pm I heard a horn honking but no verbal message and the park is not that big. Yes, the pier is downhill from the parking lot but you would think the police would have a bullhorn. So I’m still waiting. It looks like you could drive over some grass and get to the sidewalk and then to the street but the notice says to NOT try and leave the park as it could result in criminal prosecution and they have my license plate info. They’re here.


----------



## FisherGal60

P.S. to Sunday July 7: The police officer was nice. He said being locked in is a citational offense but he didn’t give me one. Home safe and sound. 

And aside from that I meant to say in my fishing post for Sunday that I hate ending a fishing day with a big one getting away lol. But now I know it’s not a good idea to try and change the direction of the fish once he’s on the hook. ;(


----------



## zzcop302

Waif said:


> And if still waiting...
> 
> Neel Javonna 734-544-3601 Accounting Accounting Director
> Neel Lindsey 734-485-3943 Community Standards Ordinance Enforcement Assistant
> Pazyamor Sage Park Commission Commissioner
> Peterson Gloria Park Commission Commissioner
> Power Pete 734-485-3943 Community Standards Plumbing Inspector
> Radzik Michael 734-544-3730 Community Standards Police Administrator/Director
> Riley Janis 734-544-3648 Clerk's Office Election Specialist
> Robinson Angela 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Election Specialist
> Ross-Williams Monica Board Member Trustee
> Rowsey Carl 734-482-6681 Residential Services Compost Site Coordinator
> Shepardson Jenna 734-487-4927 Assessing Residential Appraiser
> Sherwood II Kirk 734-485-0881 Green Oaks Golf Course PGA Director of Golf Operations
> Sigler Shelley 734-484-1002 Treasurer's Office Clerk
> Smith Tim 734-482-2386 Green Oaks Golf Course Golf Course Superintendent
> Stanfield Lisa 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Deputy Clerk
> Streeter David Park Commission Commissioner
> Stumbo Brenda 734-481-0617 Supervisor's Office Township Supervisor
> Swanson Debbie Park Commission Secretary
> Syer Mike 734-544-3808 Residential Services Recreation Supervisor
> Troy Kristi 734-484-1002 Treasurer's Office Deputy Treasurer
> Verges Angela 734-544-3817 Residential Services Recreation Director
> Walker Ruby 734-484-4700 Clerk's Office Election Specialist
> Wallin Karen 734-484-0065 Human Resources Human Resources Generalist
> Willis Carly 734-484-0073 Residential Services Clerk
> Wilson Charlotte 734-485-3943 Community Standards Planning & Development Coordinator
> Wilson Jr. Jimmie 734-999-0049 Board Member Trustee
> Wyrybkowski Nancy 734-485-3943 Community Standards Executive Coordinator


Wow!!!
With all those numbers somebody will answer the phone!!!


----------



## Waif

zzcop302 said:


> Wow!!!
> With all those numbers somebody will answer the phone!!!


Or at least know they have a park visitor....


----------



## retired dundo

Crazy that they couldn’t take a few minutes to go look for you.


----------



## FisherGal60

I know. But they would’ve had to get out of the car and maybe walk about 50 feet to where you could see the pier and he definitely would’ve seen me. So I guess they just stay in the car and blow the horn. But I don’t think I even would’ve made it after I heard the horn because I had to gather all my gear and then walk up several stair groups. So in total the pier was about 150 feet from the parking lot. So yes they should check the pier and then yell out or use a bullhorn. Maybe that’s why he didn’t give me a citation because after I told him I was there fishing he knew whoever locked up didn’t check the pier.


----------



## FisherGal60

Monday - July 8, 2019: I made it to work on time after last night’s debacle lol. At 6:00pm I beelined to the condo lake and started at the point. Nothing going on there at all. A group of boys were fishing there as well with various lures and came up empty handed as well. So I move to the shore parallel to the point where I’ve caught bass. I hook up a pumpkinseed grub and within a few minutes hit a bass. I get him onto the edge of the pier and next thing you know the leader line breaks and he’s back in the water with my hook and grub. What the heck happened? I had just tied the hook a few hours earlier. I look at the barrel swivel still attached to the clip and the knot is still on the swivel and the line looks like it’s been cut about an inch below it. I use 10lb test for my leaders and it’s not like the line was weak or stretched so I guess it must’ve hit something sharp as I lifted the bass onto the pier. He wasn’t huge but was probably the biggest one I would catch all night. 

So then I decided to just throw on a #4 hook with a crawler and see what’s happening on the bottom. I get two small bass and then a catfish, 11” (and the catfish totally swallowed the hook. This was the first time I ever had to cut the line and let the fish keep the hook). Then I cast out a berkley Gulp minnow on a bobber and I get a 12” catfish. Really? On a bait suspended from a bobber? That fish must’ve been really hungry lol. Back to casting the crawler on the bottom and I get another catfish, about 11”. I got three catfish in one hour. 

So then I just continue moving along the shoreline in the direction towards the condo casting a crawler to the bottom. Several times I got a hard hit but no fish. I felt like something big was out there, but I just couldn’t hook it. Caught a few ‘baby’ bass and bluegills as well. 

So I finished fishing into one eighth of the next day lol. I really did not know what time it was because I didn’t want to know what time it was and I would not look at my phone. So technically I fished on July 8 and July 9, but if I can I will fish another day <*~€

P.S. Having trouble uploading photos so the one I’m holding is the 12” catfish.


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - July 9, 2019: I did go to Founders Park for a little bit today (3:00pm to 5:30pm). I was cooking dinner tonight since I haven’t had a full meal since a week ago Monday. The Fishing Points app has fish activity at a 12 out of 100. It was correct. Barely a nibble even when using crawlers. And the pond is looking really bad again. You can see how dense the vegetation is throughout almost the entire pond. It was last treated on June 19 so I’m guessing they might do it once a month so they still haven’t done it for July and even when they do it takes about a week before you see any improvement. 

So I’m well fed tonight and ready to crash so that I can fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - July 10, 2019: Since I crashed so early last night, I woke up early and decided to go to Ford Lake again. But this time it was a park with no gates lol. So I arrived at 7:15am. It was Lakeside Park. There was one man there fishing before he went to work. I don’t think he had caught anything. He must’ve left about 8:30am. Then about 9:30am a man arrived and he had a canopy!! It was great for a day like today. Then a friend of his arrived and later the 13 year old daughter of the friend.

So I had a sinker going with first a Berkley Gulp minnow; nothing, so I changed to a crawler; still nothing. With the Abu I was casting a Berkley Gulp minnow with a slow retrieve. At about 12:30pm hit a smallmouth. It was 14”. So the one I caught on Sunday at the other park was bigger, 15”. The man with the canopy insisted on taking a pic of me holding the fish lol. Caught another one at 12:55pm. Didn’t get a measurement because the man with the canopy just wanted to get him on the stringer (I was giving him and his friend the fish I caught and a guy in a boat brought over two walleye and a perch). I would say it was 13 or 14”.

At about 1:00pm the friend’s 13 year old daughter arrived. So she was moaning a bit about not being able to fish as her dad had not brought an extra rod. So...of course I set her up. I got rid of the sinker line on the Shakespeare spincaster rod. Apparently she had never fished before so I showed her how to use the spincaster and after a few casts she was doing really good.

At about 5:00pm the trio leaves. At 5:30pm, I caught another smallmouth, 13”. The way I’ve been catching them is the Gulp minnow, no retrieve. Then I drag or bounce along the rocks and especially slow down near the larger rocks as they seem to be in those. But wasn’t catching anymore. A young guy showed up about 8:00pm and he had something on, but it got off. Then about 9:30pm I had a hit but didn’t get him.

So the young guy left about 10:00pm. I’m still working the Gulp minnow without success. Then this man shows up at the pier with his dog. The dog LOVES the water. Then the man goes in the water as well. Before he went in the water, he asked me what I was pitching. He said he was at the pier yesterday night and was catching smallmouth with a senko on a wacky rig. Hmmm...I had some of those. (And I knew what a wacky rig was. Last year when I was fishing I looked up how to use a senko.) Oh, I forgot to mention that the depth of the water at this pier was 20 to 25 feet which was pretty cool. So the man goes back into the water and I’m ‘pitching’ the senko (which I had tried using a couple times last year and maybe once this year) and get a big bite. Was working on reeling him when he just took the bait and ran off. Dang! I was so excited to catch something on a fake worm. So the man was out of the water now and I had some choice expletives uttering out of my mouth. Tried again with senko and BAM, that fish is not getting away from me this time; was a 14”. Now I’m really really happy for bringing a fish in on the senko. 

So when the trio was there, one guy caught a pretty big bluegill; the friend caught something and threw it back, I didn’t see what it was; and the 13 year old didn’t catch anything. I had caught 3 smallies before they left. I think it’s really weird how I’ve been catching smallmouth lately. Up until that trip to Lake St. Clair I had never caught one and now I can’t stop lol. Working a full day tomorrow and hope I’m not too tired to fish another day <*~€

P.S. I thought the orange dragonfly on the top of my Abu was really pretty


----------



## retired dundo

I give you credit for not giving up.You sure do put in some long days fishing.Usualy 4hours is enough for me unless ice fishing


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - July 11, 2019: Fished on condo lake starting at about 6:00pm. Went to the point and used a Berkley Gulp minnow; nothing. Went to the good old pumpkinseed grub and started hitting small largemouths, like 10 to 11”. So you have the point and then behind it is a cove area. That’s where I was getting the bass. Then I dropped my line at the base of some tall grass and a green sunfish hit on it. Funny thing is it was in the exact same spot where I caught it at the end of March I think it was. 

So nothing big tonight (left at 11:00pm, early for me lol) but hoping to get one when I fish another day <*~€

P.S. The first photo is of the cove; 2nd is the point so I was standing between the two for the pic; third is the green sunfish; fourth is a pic of the size of bass I was catching tonight.


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## FisherGal60

Friday - July 12, 2019: Dang! I had written a paragraph about my fishing experience tonight and left the website for something and when I came back it wasn’t there. Usually it is autosaved. Anyhow, it was uneventful. I fished at the condo lake by the clubhouse (Lake Curtis) where I caught an 18” bass last Saturday. Tried crawlers, Gulp minnows and a new orange/yellow grub since I’ve been to two places and can’t find the pumpkinseed grub. Caught a few very small bass and bluegills on the crawlers and caught a small bass on the new grub. 

So I’m a bit tired after working two full 10 hour days and fishing 10 1/2 hours over the 2 days. But when I’m refreshed tomorrow you can bet I’ll be ready to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - July 13, 2019: Went to Village Wood Lake Park at about 4:30pm. Was still pretty hot but there were some shady spots. I found a pumpkin colored grub at a different Walmart made by yum so I tried that first. Did get a nibble on it. But then I went to the southwest end of the park and tried the grub for a bit, nothing. Tried a Gulp minnow, nothing. Tried Gulp fake corn, nothing. Tried Gulp earthworm on the bottom, nothing (only lost one hook on the rocky bottom). Tried a minnow again before leaving that spot, nothing. It was getting dark so I moved up to the front end of the park. 

The weeds are really bad and there was a sign posted that it was treated on July 11 so it will take a while before there is improvement, therefore, I used a bobber with a Gulp minnow. Still very light activity. Caught an 8” bluegill as the highlight for the day. Saw some shady activity at about midnight lol. Two cars parked at the entrance to the park and the occupants entered the park (there are no lights in the park so they had a flashlight). After about 10 mins they departed. 

Anyhow today and the past couple days have not been the best so I’m hoping it will improve soon. I need a day to fish on big water, soon lol. <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - July 14, 2019: What a difference a day makes. Went to the condo lake at about noon as the Fishing Points app reported high fish activity today, 77, and a major time for the day was 10:40am until 1:10pm. It was a crappie day!! They were biting everywhere and on anything lol. Caught about 9 of them. At about 2:30pm I moved to a set of benches that are under two big trees. I don’t usually fish there because it’s difficult to cast but I wanted to get out of the sun. A little boy showed up about 3:00pm and kept me company until 5:30pm lol. He did not have a rod so I let him reel in the Abu Garcia that I had setup with a crawler that was sitting on the bottom.

Anyhow before I setup the crawler on the Abu I was tossing the Yum pumpkin grub I bought and I would say it was about a 14” bass on the line when all of a sudden he was off. I looked at the line and it appeared to be cut again (the same thing happened at this lake a few days ago and I thought maybe it got cut from something sharp on the pier. But I hadn’t even gotten him near the pier this time so I can’t figure out what is causing this. I’m using 10lb test on my leader). So then I tie another hook and duh, I forgot to close the clip, so that hook was lost. Finally got it right and was catching some bass, 11 and 12” ones on Gulp minnows. Only caught bluegills and pumpkinseeds on the crawler that was on the bottom. So at about 6:00pm I go back to the Yum grub and I took a chance and casted through the trees further out. Suddenly the bobber goes way down. It was a catfish, 14”. So just about everything in this lake bites on the grub, bass, crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed and now catfish. Never had a perch or carp bite it though lol.

So then I moved from under the trees and used the grub and got a small bass. On my other line I had a #4 hook with a crawler sitting on the bottom. As I’m reeling it in I get a hit and the bass (with a very large mouth) jumped out of the water and shook himself ofz. Based on the size of its mouth I would say it was about 14”. Kept trying with the grub to get the one that got away, but no luck. 

Finished up at about 8:30pm. Daughter is having car trouble so she’s spending the night at my place so I can take her to work in the morning, but we are looking at cars after work so I need to squeeze in some fishing while she’s at work. Anyhow I’m hoping to fish another day despite the oppressive heat that’s expected to head our way this week. <*~€

The map photo is of the condo association lake group. In the upper right hand corner, Curtis Lake, is the lake close to the clubhouse; the western middle lake is the one I fish the most (you can see the land mass jutting out on the eastern side, that’s the point); and the bottom lake I only fished once.


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## Scottygvsu

Check your line guides for chips. One time I casted about a half dozen pike spoons away before I figured out a chip in a guide was cutting my line. May also try unspooling 20’ or so of line and discarding it. If you leave your rods out in the sun, the UV will deteriorate your line. If you can get down to fresh stuff, you’ll be ok.


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## FisherGal60

Monday - July 15, 2019: Took daughter to work at 9:00am and then had to prep some food for dinner tonight. Went to Newburgh Lake as it is only one mile from my daughter’s workplace. And apparently the curse of Newburgh still haunts me lol. What I mean is last September I came out here and caught my first bass, 13”, and I went to Newburgh Lake many times after that and never caught another thing. Aside from it being convenient to go to today I was thinking how it’s summer now so surely I should be able to catch some fish. Not a one!

First I tried the grub and had a nibble. Then tried a crawler and that was just stolen off the hook by little fish; tried the Gulp minnow, nothing. So by now I’m getting a little frustrated and desperate lol. I decided to do something unconventional. There were some good weeds but pulling through them was a real pain. I wanted to do a senko but the weeds were so dense it would’ve been difficult to jig it in the weeds so I used a bobber. I had a good leader line length so it was pretty close to the bottom from what I could tell and there was a slight breeze so it was moving the line so the senko was moving without me jigging it. After a few casts the line starts to move across the weeds. Something was pulling it so I waited until the bobber went under a bit and then tried pulling up like I do when I use the grub but I couldn’t hook the fish. This happened a few more times before I had to leave but never hooked the fish. 

So the only way I’m gonna fish Newburgh again is if I’m in my inflatable boat (which I still haven’t launched yet lol). My daughter bought a car tonight so I am free tomorrow to go anywhere I want to fish YAY!! Fishing Points has the fish activity level at 100 tomorrow so I better be pulling them out with every cast lol. So I’m glad I’ll be fishing another day <*~€

Photo is of the bass I caught at Newburgh last September.


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## Waif

Quality line is worth it. If a budget is tight , and a reel spool has a high capacity ;a filler can be added behind the line. Anything from chalk line ,to heavier line acquired at discount (though quality is still worth it if a fish nearly spools you.)

As mentioned check your line guides. The tip too! 

Until you figure out why your line is getting cut I'll offer....A giant pike (60 inches plus) is grabbing your catch an inhaling your line with it! L.o.l..

Had braided line on a reel up in Canada (and line guides need to be compatible with such line or grooves get worn/cut into them faster) and was fighting a pike near the boat in stained water (run off color due to spring thaw between a couple lakes) when my line got slammed from the side and went limp. Guessing another pike took a swing at the lure in the other pikes mouth.(?)
As tough as that line was...It was a clean cut.


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - July 16, 2019: Was debating whether to go to Flat Rock or Ypsilanti right up to the moment I got in my car and chose the Flat Rock Dam. I get there and two guys are standing in the park entrance so I asked them about the fishing. Their report was grim. They said the water level was too low and that I’d be better off going to the lake (Lake Erie). So I went there. There was nothing happening there at all after I tried live minnows, crawlers, a spoon and a senko. Decided to try the pier in Bishop Park in Wyandotte. There were only 2 other people there and neither had caught anything.

I was using a 2oz sinker and 3/0 hook on a three way swivel with crawlers or live minnows and caught nothing. For about an hour something was eating the crawler and the bell would go off, but nothing on the hook. Then there was something biting in the small area between the pier and the main park wall. It was taking the crawler and the minnow. So I eventually went down to a size #6 hook and caught a dinky perch.

Then the weather started looking ominous, like the Wizard of Oz storm. There were two men just talking to me about their fishing exploits and all of a sudden phone alerts are going off everywhere. A flash flood alert had been issued. So anyhow one of the men said he would help me carry my things to a park shelter. So I’m scrambling to pack up and he’s reeling in my sinker rod. I’m still casting into the small channel and he finally says, “C’mon lady! I’m trying to help you and you need to leave NOW!” Of course I did not want to leave, but I knew I had to. Made it back to my car without any rain. Radar showed a very bright orange storm heading my way. As I was driving home it wasn’t the rain itself that I was driving through but it was the flooding in the roads that scared the bejeebies out of me. Every time I drove through a flooded section I kept envisioning being swept away by the water. Fortunately that did not happen so I’m living to fish another day
<*~>


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - July 17, 2019: Decided to go to Ford Lake in Ypsilanti (Lakeside Park) even though the weather forecast was for rain. (As it turns out it never did rain and it also didn’t stay cloudy too long). 

So I’m trying the same things I used a week ago: Gulp minnows, crawlers and senkos. Nothing was working. At about 3:00pm a small family comes by to fish. There were 2 guys and they kept tossing lightly off the side of the pier that faces the land. The depth is about 15 to 20 feet right off the pier. So I was at the other end of the pier and I see one of the guys holding up a nice size fish. He’s asking me if it was a walleye. And sure enough it was. It was about 16 or 17”. So after another hour I go to my car to get a bottle of water and when I get back the other guy has a fish, and guess what it was? Another walleye and it was about 19 or 20”. They were using leeches for bait.

Anyhow I keep trying in the area where they were fishing using a crawler; nothing. When they left they gave me about 3 leeches they had left. So, yes, I touched a leech and put it on the hook. Still no luck. I guess some days are great and others are stinkers but I’ll be back to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - July 18, 2019: My schedule was a little different today so I was able to fish for a few hours in the morning at the condo lake. It sure didn’t take long for it to get hot so I fished under some trees. Caught a small bass on the pumpkinseed grub. Worked from 11:00am to 6:00pm. 

While I was working I remembered a rig I had read about when I first started fishing where you tie a hook in the middle of your leader line and tie a weight at the end. If done correctly, the hook will be perpendicular to the line. So I attempted to tie it from memory without googling it again. When I was done, the hook was definitely perpendicular. So I go back out fishing about 6:30pm at the condo lake and I went to a spot a guy had told me about where there was a large stone slab and you know there will be fish hiding in the crevices. So I cast the rig I made out to the slab and let it sit. With another rod I’m casting a Gulp minnow; caught a couple crappie with that. At about 8:30pm there is movement on the line I cast out to the slab; had a bullhead on it. I was using a Berkley Gulp flesh colored worm as bait. So I cast out to the slab again and an immediate nibble. I worked this rig for the rest of the night. Once as I was reeling it in caught a small bass. Finally, at about 11:00pm I was reeling it slowly and jigging it to give the worm movement and something hit it hard and the line is moving across the water and then it wasn’t. Brought it in and the hook was gone but the line was in tact with the sinker still on it so I knew I had not tied the hook properly. Will definitely google it tomorrow so I do it right. 

Working all day tomorrow but you can bet I will be back out here fishing another day (or evening). <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Friday - July 19, 2019: So the first thing I do today is google how to tie the hook on a drop shot rig. I had forgotten a step when I tied the other hook yesterday. It was soooo hot today. While I was working I tried to sit outside, in the shade, and tie the rig. So I wasn’t even moving around much and sweat was starting to drip. Looked at weather on my phone and it was 91 degrees and felt like 107!! And this was at 12:30 in the afternoon. I’ve been in Michigan since 1985 and cannot recall ever having a heat index of 107. So naturally I went back inside to finish up. 

So I go out to the lake about 6:30pm and the weather radar looks rather dicy. There are thunderstorms popping up randomly so it’s difficult to say if or when one might hit. So I get to fish for about 45 mins and the sirens in Northville start going off. So I go back inside. The storm that was approaching was huge but it was so slow moving. Eventually the edge of the storm hit; really it was just a heavy downpour for a few minutes but I wasn’t able to get back out until about 9:00pm. A gorgeous full arch rainbow appeared after the rain. 

So I go back out and I’m still seeing lightning as the storm is moving away and I read once that lightning can strike as far as 10 miles away. So I cast the drop shot and lay the rod on ground and step back away from the water. After about 30 mins I felt comfortable holding the rod. So I’m casting out to the slab and it was about 10:15pm and as soon as I cast, instantly it hits. But I don’t feel tugging. It feels more like I’m pulling a big clump of weeds but I’m reeling it in keeping the rod low to try to avoid the fish coming to the surface and dislodging the hook. At this point I’m thinking okay I have a BIG fish on here; it could be the one from last night; just keep reeling low and steady; I’ve been here before and I CAN get this fish in.

After I had all those thoughts it breaches and I’m like: NOOOO! And then I’m like: WTF!!! I couldn’t really see too much but the splash on the water reminded me of how an alligator splashes in the water, or more like thrashes in the water, that’s the only thing that comes to mind; and now I am way more concerned about being able to get this fish in; I can’t lose this fish. So he did not get off the hook when he breached but within 1 or 2 seconds when he was back under the water the line broke. And this time it was not that the hook came off but it looked like the line was cut.

Needless to say I was quite angry! Good thing everyone had their windows closed and running the A/C because I was swearing like a sailor and I threw the rod down. This fish would’ve been THE catch of a lifetime. If only I could’ve seen it. 

So I happened to have a rod that was rigged with a three way swivel, hook and sinker so I started casting that out once I recovered a bit. But nothing bit on it. Eventually tied a new drop shot rig using the flashlight on my phone. But at about 2:30am I gave up. 

Well tomorrow is gonna be another brutally hot day so I will come back here tomorrow night and try again <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - July 20, 2019: So when I wake up today I’m trying to figure out once again (this being the third time the line looks like it was cut, at this lake only) how my leader line was cut. I google, “do carp have teeth” and “do bass have teeth”. So carp have teeth in the back of their throats and bass have teeth in the lower jawbone area. I use 10lb test for my leader lines. The thing is I’ve caught bass, big sheepshead and a big catfish on this 10lb test line and never had this issue before. So is it possible that a carp in each instance is swallowing the entire hook and then it’s teeth just cut the line? In any case I decide to use braid for my drop shot rig. 

Once again there was another storm just before I was ready to go out at the condo lake. I think it was about 7:45pm when I finally was able to get out and I brought my net, just in case. But even with the net, I think I would have to lie on the ground and lift this fish out. So I’m casting out to the slab and reeling in slowly and I get snagged. There are some thick weeds about 30 feet in front of me that weren’t there last night. So I recast and I sit on the ground (there was a slight slope from the water to the path so it was almost like a chair lol). I’m just sitting and almost relaxing for a change when a fish rolls out of the water about 20 feet in front of me. It was a BIG fish; couldn’t really say if it were the same one that got away last night. Then it rolls three more times. I could see it’s face; a carp; I could see it’s eyes; could it see me? Was this kismet? Was I meant to see this fish so I at least didn’t have to keep wondering what was on my line last night? I cast into the vicinity of the fish. After I few minutes I get a small bite, but nothing on the hook. 

It was about 10:30pm now and too dark to see anything so I decided to call it a night and since it’s not going to be as hot tomorrow I am looking forward to fishing another day <*~€

P.S. The pic is of the drop shot rig and the bait I used.


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## retired dundo

It is just amazing how much you fish and how long you stay out.I would s love to see someone take you out in the Detroit or st.clair river next spring when walleyes are going crazy.You would have a bl


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - August 11, 2019: So how many bet I wouldn’t wake up until noon? NOT! I got up before 8:00am so I could get the ribs rubbed and put in the crock pot lol. Now off for a day of fishing. 

First stop, Brighton Recreation Area. On their park map it showed several lakes where you could fish. Since their largest lake had a swimming area and newly added splash play area I figured I’d try Appleton Lake. So I enter what looks like the main entrance at about 10:45am. Asked the booth guy how to get to Appleton Lake and he says I need to go out and back to the road I just came in on and go across the road to get to Appleton. So I need to go through another booth check as well. After driving around a bit I try to find fishing access to Appleton but there is none. There was a sign that said fishing for Little Appleton lake and a boat launch. So I go there and it was a narrow boat launch area where you could stand but certainly not much of a fishing area. I go back to the main entrance and now there’s about 15 cars in line. 

So I look at the main lake, Bishop Lake, and I see a decent sized pier down aways from the swimming and splash pad area. It would be quite a hike with all my gear, but I see some cars parked a bit closer to the other side of the pier so I get back in my car, leave the beach area and now I have to enter the main campground area and the lady at the booth explained how to get to the pier. So far this Brighton Recreation Area is very disappointing. And unfortunately the fishing at the pier did not fare any better. It was a bit shallow and very weedy. At first I was alone but then a couple arrived to fish; then several families with their kids arrived so it was time for me to move on.

I decided to try Huron Meadows Metropark as it was nearby and on the way home. Found the area where the fishing pier was on Maltby Lake. The pier itself was nice even though it was a bit high up, but the water was again shallow and weedy. Further up the shore I could see a couple people fishing on a small platform so I decide to trek over to it and it was definitely an uphill trek at that lol. So I get to it and it’s rather small so I didn’t want to intrude on the two people fishing there. So I left the park to head home. 

As I was driving (which I think I did more of than actual fishing today) I was thinking how summer is fast approaching to an end and I feel like I’m not going to get the “BIG” one this year. I kind of wish I had not caught that 19” bass back in April because that’s what I’ve been trying to beat ever since. 

Made one more stop on the way home to the clubhouse condo lake, Curtis Lake. When I looked into the water, I couldn’t believe I was catching bass last night in such a shallow area. It was about 4:00pm so I only casted a few as I wanted to get home to eat those ribs that had been in the crockpot all day! No luck today at the condo lake but dinner was amazing! First I cooked the corn in the husk on the grill and then threw on the ribs to get the BBQ sauce carmelized and served with the potato salad I made yesterday. YUM YUM YUM. After I finished eating I realized I should’ve taken a picture and that I should’ve taken a few pics while I was fishing but when I get to a place to fish I only have one thing on my mind, decide what bait to use and get that first cast out there.

So in summary, I will not go to Brighton Rec Area again as the layout is such a debacle and as far as going to Huron Meadows again, I wouldn’t make it my main choice but I’m looking forward to fishing another day <*~€


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## michcats

I only fish Appleton and bishop in the winter ice fishing do really well but it's a waste in the summer


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## FisherGal60

Monday - August 12, 2019: So what am I going to do on the 120th day in a row of fishing? I decided to inflate the Seahawk 4 boat I bought back in April because I wanted to see how heavy it was when inflated because when it’s not inflated it’s 47lbs. My thinking was to inflate it at home and then put it over the roof of my car, and then secure it with bungee cords through the windows. So I get it inflated and the darn thing is so long I cannot carry it by myself and I can’t risk dragging it from let’s say a parking lot to wherever the water is. So I ordered a Seahawk 2 which says it’s only 17lbs inflated and is much shorter than the Seahawk 4. So that’s how I spent the morning and then decided to go to Cass Lake since I had not been there in a while.

Arrived at Cass at about 11:30am. Went to my usual fishing spot Gerundegut Bay. No one else there; someone arrived at about 4:30pm. Boat traffic was very light today so I was very happy about that; but not too happy about not catching anything or even getting a nibble so I moved to a spot on the shore near the boat launch. Wasn’t getting anything from the shore so I went on the boat launch docks and cast a few from there before some boats came in (using a 3/0 worm hook with Berkley Power Bait 4.5 “ “hit worm”. It’s the same one I’ve been using and calling the pumpkinseed worm). And then I feel it...that bit of grab (I love that feeling; the anticipation activates the adrenal gland)...and now skill comes into play...don’t pull it hard, just jig it ever so slightly...wait for the stronger grab and pull the rod up...and BAM, fish on!!! My first bass ever at Cass Lake!! 16”, 3:47pm. Last fall Cass Lake was really my go to place as I was just “getting my feet wet” in the world of fishing.

So a guy arrives at about 4:30pm and he liked to talk lol but he was really a nice guy. He was relatively new to fishing as well and he said he’d been out about 10 times so far this year and was frustrated because he had not caught anything. But he’s telling me about all these places to fish here at Cass Lake and I’m like, I’ve been here quite a bit and never heard of or seen the places he’s talking about. 

So I set out to find these other fishing locations. So near the beach is a long paved pier or jetty with rocks on all three sides. Tried a few drop shots from there, no luck. Then further down I saw what looked like a small pier so I went there. It did jut out a good 50 feet but still very weedy. Tried a couple drop shots and the power bait hit worm, nothing. Then behind the shore was a small canal and people were fishing there. I cast a few hit worms, but nothing. It was almost 8:30pm now and I had quite a walk to my car. Drove back to Gerundegut Bay thinking as it was getting later there would probably be more bass out. Cast into the same spot where I caught the 16” bass and I did get a small grab, but no hooking. Tried again on the boat launch docks, nothing. Then wanted to give that one spot another go and it started to rain and then it rained heavy but I kept trying. Then it was 10:00pm and I had to leave because the park was closing and as I got to my car an emergency alert came across warming about flash flooding and that made me nervous because I had to drive through low lying areas to get home. Luckily I got out in time because as soon as I was away from Cass Lake and into Keego Harbor it was barely raining so I’m good to go fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - August 13, 2019: Decided to try Wilcox Lake in Northville/Plymouth. Don’t usually have much luck there but I haven’t been there in a while. There were bass jumping in the pond part of the lake and a guy who was there said he can’t get them to bite on anything so I tried the power bait hit worm and also had the same result; no bites. So I moved on to Plymouth Township Park. I hadn’t been there in a while as well so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I think the last time I was there I only caught bluegill. It is a smallish pond but I remember that there were some very large carp and possibly large bass in it. 

I think I got to the park at about 3:30pm. I was casting the hit worm alongside some lily pads off the pier and at 5:16pm hit a 15” bass. Then a young man joined me on the pier at about 6:00pm and he said that on either this past Saturday or Sunday someone caught a 6 pound bass! So we joked about how we’ll be aiming for that now. 

At about 7:00pm a large group of boys came to the pier, probably ages 16 through maybe 18, like 6 or 7 of them. They were polite to me but the pier was a metal floating pier and they were, well, being boys lol so the pier was rocking a lot. I’m not one to be pushed around but it wasn’t worth making an issue of it, this time, so I just moved and went across to the opposite shore. 

I’m glad I did move because the sunset was amazing! And I caught a small bass at 8:45pm on the hit worm. Got chased out at about 9:30pm lol. Can’t complain though, it was another good bass catching day and I can’t wait to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - August 14, 2019: I decided to try Maybury State Park today; not sure when I was here last, it may have been last fall even. So I unknowingly take the long trail to get to the pier (I think the pond trail is about a mile so I knew it would be a hike with the addition of my gear, but I was ready for it). So I hit the first set of piers and there are two men there fishing and they had a fish in the water and it was quite a large bass, maybe 18 or 19”. That gave me hope lol. After fishing from the pier for a while I decided to walk along the shore as there were several openings; but no luck on the hit worm. When I left the pier, one of the men had been talking quite a bit (in his native tongue) and when I got back he was still talking. He pretty much talked the whole time lol. So I left that pier about 12:30 and went to the second set of piers and wasn’t very hopeful I would catch anything there; very weedy and I had to leave by 2:45pm as I sold the Seahawk 4 inflatable boat to a guy who was going up north this weekend and he was picking it up at 3:30pm. But at 1:55pm I caught a 13” bass, at Maybury lol. I was shocked. 

After the guy came for the boat, I went back out fishing and trued Pavilion Shore Park on 13 Mile Road just west of Novi Road. It abuts against Walled Lake. The guy I met at Cass Lake reminded me of this place because I had been here once before, and he showed me a pic of the bass he caught here so it was worth a shot.

There was some good vegetation by the one side of the pier so I started casting there with the hit worm; but nothing. Also tried a drop shot to get out further; but no luck. At about 6:00pm the wind became a factor. I almost forgot what it’s like to fish when the wind is blowing steady at least 15mph (and I certainly haven’t missed it). As soon as I walk away from the lake at about 7:00pm, it’s totally calm. Decided to go to the condo lake at the clubhouse, Curtis Lake.

It was a bit early for the bass to be coming in but I started casting the hit worm anyhow. Watched the spectacular moon rise over the water while casting and waiting. At 10:47pm I caught a 15.5” bass. I was thrilled to have caught bass today at two different locations and as usual the power bait hit worm did not let me down. And of course the big fish was out there taunting me again lol. I got a couple more tugs but didn’t hook anything. 

Working all day tomorrow and then possible outing with daughter to go see a movie so if that happens, this would be the 122nd day in a row that I fished and the consecutive day count will end but that won’t stop me from fishing another day indeed <*~€


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## 6Speed

Girl, it's a good thing you don't have a big boat or the rest of us wouldn't find a fish within 30 miles of here!

Keep after it, that 6#er is laughing at you....


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## Steve

FisherGal60 said:


> Sunday - August 11, 2019: So how many bet I wouldn’t wake up until noon? NOT! I got up before 8:00am so I could get the ribs rubbed and put in the crock pot lol. Now off for a day of fishing.
> 
> First stop, Brighton Recreation Area. On their park map it showed several lakes where you could fish. Since their largest lake had a swimming area and newly added splash play area I figured I’d try Appleton Lake. So I enter what looks like the main entrance at about 10:45am. Asked the booth guy how to get to Appleton Lake and he says I need to go out and back to the road I just came in on and go across the road to get to Appleton. So I need to go through another booth check as well. After driving around a bit I try to find fishing access to Appleton but there is none. There was a sign that said fishing for Little Appleton lake and a boat launch. So I go there and it was a narrow boat launch area where you could stand but certainly not much of a fishing area. I go back to the main entrance and now there’s about 15 cars in line.
> 
> So I look at the main lake, Bishop Lake, and I see a decent sized pier down aways from the swimming and splash pad area. It would be quite a hike with all my gear, but I see some cars parked a bit closer to the other side of the pier so I get back in my car, leave the beach area and now I have to enter the main campground area and the lady at the booth explained how to get to the pier. So far this Brighton Recreation Area is very disappointing. And unfortunately the fishing at the pier did not fare any better. It was a bit shallow and very weedy. At first I was alone but then a couple arrived to fish; then several families with their kids arrived so it was time for me to move on.
> 
> I decided to try Huron Meadows Metropark as it was nearby and on the way home. Found the area where the fishing pier was on Maltby Lake. The pier itself was nice even though it was a bit high up, but the water was again shallow and weedy. Further up the shore I could see a couple people fishing on a small platform so I decide to trek over to it and it was definitely an uphill trek at that lol. So I get to it and it’s rather small so I didn’t want to intrude on the two people fishing there. So I left the park to head home.
> 
> As I was driving (which I think I did more of than actual fishing today) I was thinking how summer is fast approaching to an end and I feel like I’m not going to get the “BIG” one this year. I kind of wish I had not caught that 19” bass back in April because that’s what I’ve been trying to beat ever since.
> 
> Made one more stop on the way home to the clubhouse condo lake, Curtis Lake. When I looked into the water, I couldn’t believe I was catching bass last night in such a shallow area. It was about 4:00pm so I only casted a few as I wanted to get home to eat those ribs that had been in the crockpot all day! No luck today at the condo lake but dinner was amazing! First I cooked the corn in the husk on the grill and then threw on the ribs to get the BBQ sauce carmelized and served with the potato salad I made yesterday. YUM YUM YUM. After I finished eating I realized I should’ve taken a picture and that I should’ve taken a few pics while I was fishing but when I get to a place to fish I only have one thing on my mind, decide what bait to use and get that first cast out there.
> 
> So in summary, I will not go to Brighton Rec Area again as the layout is such a debacle and as far as going to Huron Meadows again, I wouldn’t make it my main choice but I’m looking forward to fishing another day <*~€


Try pulling all your stuff off the ice at Maltby in the winter up that hill near the pier. Thats one heck of a stress test.


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - August 15, 2019: Of all things, my daughter bailed on going out to the movies; I was more likely to be the one to bail lol. So I fished at the condo lake at about 7:00pm. I was kind of tired so I started under the two trees where there were benches. Cast the power bait hit worm of course and there were some hits but I think it was small fish as they were grabbing the end of the tail. Then moved from the trees to the usual spot.

I was thinking of just getting set up for chumming corn and sitting down and not do a drop shot but I practically forced myself to do the drop shot otherwise I might regret it. Well, the decision to do the drop shot paid off; caught a 17” bass in nearly the same spot I caught a 17” a week ago. Then I remembered reading about bass behavior online and it mentioned how some bass are “resident bass”. If this fish were the same one as last week, he isn’t anymore. The hook was way down his throat and upon extract there was a great deal of blood. So I tried several morev times and nothing else.

Then setup chair and started and chunming with corn and nothing major. So at least I caught one bass and can’t wait to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Friday - August 16, 2019: Got setup on condo lake at about 7:00pm. Started with the power bait hit worm as a young boy who I’ve run into before was fishing alongside me; didn’t catch anything. Went to the do the drop shot and the dang thing got stuck on a rock and I had to cut the line (unfortunately I also had to cut the line last night as well so when I cut the line today, that exhausted all the line on the reel). Luckily I had enough Berkley x5 50lb braid left so I spooled the reel and also made another drop shot rig. Eventually caught a small bass on the drop shot.

So I get my usual spot ready before it gets dark (which I’m not liking how early that is now) and start chumming with corn. At 9:22pm caught a small yellow bullhead on #4 hook with split shot on leader. Not much else going on the rest of the night except for some light rain and of course I stayed way longer than I should have lol. But I’m looking forward to fishing another day provided it’s not too hot <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - August 17, 2019: So since I stayed out way too late last night, needless to say I slept in a bit, like to almost 11:30am. Pumped up my new boat and it is totally manageable yay!! Then I took a shower as I was going to Walmart to get some necessary boat equipment like a life vest, a whistle and some rope but I fell back to sleep until 4:00pm yikes! Still headed out to Walmart (made a brief stop at Kohl’s but they didn’t have what I wanted anyhow) and been having car trouble so I wanted to go somewhere close so I chose the condo lake at the clubhouse, Curtis Lake. It was about 8:30pm now. 

Bought some more hit worms at Walmart and that’s what I mostly used the whole time I was at Curtis Lake. It was definitely a slow night lol. Wasn’t having any luck from the pier so went to the shore at about 11:00pm and caught a small bass, maybe 13”. Then back to the pier.

So I'm just looking out at the water while casting and I notice a breach (can’t see really because it’s dark) but this breach occurred right where some ducks were swimming and then I remembered seeing the same thing happen Thursday night at the condo lake. So I googled, do bass eat ducks and found out they do. In fact there is this cool video on YouTube of someone filming a baby duck in the water and a bass approaches and swallows it; whole. This happened again here at Curtis Lake about an hour later. So I’m thinking to myself that a big fish that eats ducks certainly isn’t going to be interested in the little 4.5” fake worm on my hook lol.

At about 1:00am a big one is now within striking distance of my casts. He is in the area where I caught the three bass last Saturday night. I’m assuming he’s in for the night so I continue to cast in that area. At 1:54am, hooked a 15” bass. Kept casting, sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left. In the mean time it has become pretty quiet on the lake, no more breaches anywhere so I was pretty sure the big one was still to the right of the pier just resting. At 3:58am, hooked another 15” bass to the left of the pier. At 4:27am after casting near the drain off the right side of the pier, caught a 14.5” bass. Still very quiet on the lake as predawn was now commencing. 

So somewhere between 5:00 and 5:30am I was casting to the left and thought to myself it might be a good idea to start casting to the right since the big one may be starting to stir and sure enough as I was still casting to the left he breached on the right. He was starting to wake up so I knew I didn’t have much time left before he moved out into bigger water. Nothing was happening with the hit worm so I tried the green crawlers I had and unfortunately nothing happened with those either. As I was putting a hit worm back on the hook, he breaches and begins to breach more as the dawn approaches. Then as the sun is coming upon the water he is like doing his morning calisthenics. He’s swimming back and forth on top of the water. It was quite amazing to see. I’m still casting to no avail. In the mean time there’s another big fish doing his thing off the shore to the left of the pier so I go to the shore and cast in his direction. But couldn’t get him to bite either. 

It’s almost 7:30am now so it’s time for me to leave lol. Head back to the pier, not sure if the other big one has left or not but then I do see him further out to the right outside of my casting ability so that was it. Hung out all night with the big one again and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise, something I don’t often see. So I’m thinking that the only way to catch a fish like this is by chance; by having my bait plop right in front of his face so that he only has to open his mouth and grab it lol. If anyone has any ideas on how to catch a fish like this, please let me know but until then I’ll be out there to fish another day <*~€


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## retired dundo

You sure do put some time in fishing.How are the bugs fishing all night


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## FisherGal60

retired dundo said:


> You sure do put some time in fishing.How are the bugs fishing all night


Most of the time the bugs aren’t bad; I wear a long sleeve shirt and spray it with Deep Woods Off. The worst bugs are when I put my headlamp on and they fly around in my face.


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## Waif

IF you have a stout enough rod and line to manage it , a 3/8 oz. buzzbait would be worth a try.
Don't over do it by casting to many times ,it is work....

A retrieve starts as soon as it hits the water. Enough speed to keep it working on top of the water to start. Weeds need removed off prop now and then.
Wait to feel the fish on a strike before setting the hook.
You'll take the lure away from a fish or two till you do.
Other top water baits exist too.
All are fun and can garner explosive strikes. Or a subtle slurp.

Having a stout rod comes first though....
Used older ones can run monofilament line just fine.
Old lures like "Bass-Oreno" or similar are big. Also like to grab weeds.
When price factors , just consider size and action.
A moss frog ,or moss mouse avoids a lot of weeds.
Stuff worth watching for if you hit yard/estate sales and such.


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## Liver and Onions

Stopped to visit with a lady shore fishing on a small lake within our Association today. Guess who it was?!!
It was good to meet you FisherGal. 
I did try to figure what had eaten all of the neck meat off that duck by describing it in the predator forum. No was able to say---"Yeah, ______ always eat the neck meat and leaves the rest behind." 
BTW, I do see a very large carp jumping in front of that willow by the boats on Silversprings.
Stange, only 1 and that's the only area on the lake I see the jumping.

L & O


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - August 18, 2019: So to begin with I’ve been having car trouble :-( Have to drop it off some time today at the shop. But that won’t stop me from fishing lol. 

Slept most of the day; until about 4:00pm; dropped off the car at the shop then got out to fish at the condo lake at about 11:00pm because of thunderstorms. Caught two small bass; one on the drop shot and one on the hit worm. Finished up about 2:30am. Hoping the fishing is better tomorrow night <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Monday - August 19, 2019: Worked from 8:00am until 6:00pm; got on the condo lake about 6:30pm. Not a good evening. Was totally skunked and that hasn’t happened in a while. Tried several different spots with the hit worm and something would start to pull on the worm then stop so I knew it wasn’t a bass but I wish I did know what it was. The area where I was casting was a place I had caught a perch some time back. I believe they were going after the tail. Also tried the drop shot without any luck. Was done by 11:45pm as I would like to fish another day but at dawn tomorrow . <*~€

P.S. The pics are of a caterpillar I saw on Sunday.


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - August 20, 2019: Well I did wake up at 5:30am but I was just a bit too tired to make a dawn fishing excursion. Woke up at about 7:00am and got out onto the condo lake a little after 8:00am. Decided to walk around on the opposite side of the lake where there are no moorings as I have never done that before. There were more openings in the grassy areas than I thought. I was using the hit worm and I was getting hits but it felt like small fish or possibly turtles. As I was nearing the opposite side of the Pointe, of course a nice sized bass breaches right against the mooring at the Pointe lol. Tried casting across as close as possible, but nothing.

I think it was about 10:30am by the time I got around the whole lake. So my plan was to sit under the two trees and stay in the shade most of the day as it was going to be very hot. It was hot for a while but then a wind really picked up over the lake for the rest of the day. I got situated under the trees and thought I would try for carp as someone once told me they can be found here (plus I did see them swimming by this area in the Spring). Unfortunately I did not have any corn today so I was using bread. Tried the bread for a bit but it comes off the hook so easily. And then a man approached me and mentioned the dead duck a little ways up the path and asked if I had an extra bag (okay so when I got my tackle bag, I still couldn’t fit everything in it so I use grocery bags for stuff like the bobbers and extra power baits lol) so yes, I had an extra bag and the man was going to dispose of the duck. And then he mentions a person who writes on this website and is named FisherGal and he thought there was another FisherGal but we soon determined I was the one he had been reading since I’d fished over 100 days lol; he was Liver and Onions and it was a pleasure to meet someone from this website again. 

Back to fishing: I switched to using Gulp waxworms instead of the bread and almost immediately had a bite. It was a 13” yellow bullhead at 12:09pm. Shortly after that at 12:20pm, hooked a 9.5” bluegill or pumpkinseed, not exactly sure which. Kept casting under the trees for a while longer but nothing much happened, an occasional small bluegill would get on, but that’s it. 

Wanted to give the drop shot a go for a little bit so it I walked to the “usual” spot to do that; nothing. Cast a few hit worms as well with no results. Even tried the waxworms as I walked along the shore but no takers. Went back to the trees and finished up there at about 5:00pm with no additional catches. At least I didn’t get skunked today and can look forward to fish another day <*~€


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## Waif

Working bread into a doughball is a compromise.
Too firm and getting a hook set is difficult. A hook point flush with surface of the dough , or just slightly above can help.

To experiment ...Remove crust from a slice of bread. 
Flatten a sample 2 inch square of non crust between palms of hands till about an eighth inch thick.
Now it depends on the ingredients in the bread how it handles. The old standard "soft and good" is a doughy bread. Others seem too dry. 
Here is where we tear off a corner of the 2 inch square sample and try to fold it over a hook.
If too "dry"/porous it will break. If it folds well and can be molded...we just need to consider the hook point when we set the hook so not to have it be ineffective.

If too dry , the flat piece can be dampened slightly in a mouth (depending on cleanliness of bread and hands of course) , or lake water in scant amount dabbed on the bread. 
Experimenting with the bread un compressed before molding onto hook is fine. As experimentation is often part of fishing.
Too much water/moisture makes a very hard doughball. We want the bread to be at least a little more porous than modeling clay. And softer would be better.
To little firmness though and it gets "gloppy". Though gloppy is chummy while it lasts and should catch more than a too hard example.


An oblong doughball on a treble hook (3/8 hook gaps on a treble are enough for medium carp, even bigger ; and reduce the snags more frequent using bigger hook gaps) can weigh enough for a well lobbed cast to get out a ways. 
The tapered ends of a conical doughball allow hook barbs to be more effective and less weeds catching on the front end.
Doughball can set on the bottom rigged below an egg sinker . The salt and grain scent creates a scent "cloud" of sorts. 
Depending on dough firmness ,unless it dissolves (not common on a compressed /dampened to an almost dry dough bread to start) it continues to work.

Canned corn is not all equal. One brand , and both the corn and the salt type in it can make all the difference.
Experiment.
Sweet. Crisp. Sea salt.....
Or flavors added at home.
Corn is mentioned in a post about a doughball to hint of experimenting again.
A doughball leaving a generous gap between dough and a hook barb (s) can have a single piece of corn (which end up?) put on the hook in a manner that fills the gap ,holds the kernel secure ,but allows a good hook set due to the corns softness.
Plus the addition of scent. And color. Without it falling out or off easy.


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## Trout King

Fishergal is becoming a bassmaster!


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## snortwheeze

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 424485
> View attachment 424483
> View attachment 424481
> View attachment 424479
> 
> View attachment 424477
> Saturday - August 17, 2019: So since I stayed out way too late last night, needless to say I slept in a bit, like to almost 11:30am. Pumped up my new boat and it is totally manageable yay!! Then I took a shower as I was going to Walmart to get some necessary boat equipment like a life vest, a whistle and some rope but I fell back to sleep until 4:00pm yikes! Still headed out to Walmart (made a brief stop at Kohl’s but they didn’t have what I wanted anyhow) and been having car trouble so I wanted to go somewhere close so I chose the condo lake at the clubhouse, Curtis Lake. It was about 8:30pm now.
> 
> Bought some more hit worms at Walmart and that’s what I mostly used the whole time I was at Curtis Lake. It was definitely a slow night lol. Wasn’t having any luck from the pier so went to the shore at about 11:00pm and caught a small bass, maybe 13”. Then back to the pier.
> 
> So I'm just looking out at the water while casting and I notice a breach (can’t see really because it’s dark) but this breach occurred right where some ducks were swimming and then I remembered seeing the same thing happen Thursday night at the condo lake. So I googled, do bass eat ducks and found out they do. In fact there is this cool video on YouTube of someone filming a baby duck in the water and a bass approaches and swallows it; whole. This happened again here at Curtis Lake about an hour later. So I’m thinking to myself that a big fish that eats ducks certainly isn’t going to be interested in the little 4.5” fake worm on my hook lol.
> 
> At about 1:00am a big one is now within striking distance of my casts. He is in the area where I caught the three bass last Saturday night. I’m assuming he’s in for the night so I continue to cast in that area. At 1:54am, hooked a 15” bass. Kept casting, sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left. In the mean time it has become pretty quiet on the lake, no more breaches anywhere so I was pretty sure the big one was still to the right of the pier just resting. At 3:58am, hooked another 15” bass to the left of the pier. At 4:27am after casting near the drain off the right side of the pier, caught a 14.5” bass. Still very quiet on the lake as predawn was now commencing.
> 
> So somewhere between 5:00 and 5:30am I was casting to the left and thought to myself it might be a good idea to start casting to the right since the big one may be starting to stir and sure enough as I was still casting to the left he breached on the right. He was starting to wake up so I knew I didn’t have much time left before he moved out into bigger water. Nothing was happening with the hit worm so I tried the green crawlers I had and unfortunately nothing happened with those either. As I was putting a hit worm back on the hook, he breaches and begins to breach more as the dawn approaches. Then as the sun is coming upon the water he is like doing his morning calisthenics. He’s swimming back and forth on top of the water. It was quite amazing to see. I’m still casting to no avail. In the mean time there’s another big fish doing his thing off the shore to the left of the pier so I go to the shore and cast in his direction. But couldn’t get him to bite either.
> 
> It’s almost 7:30am now so it’s time for me to leave lol. Head back to the pier, not sure if the other big one has left or not but then I do see him further out to the right outside of my casting ability so that was it. Hung out all night with the big one again and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise, something I don’t often see. So I’m thinking that the only way to catch a fish like this is by chance; by having my bait plop right in front of his face so that he only has to open his mouth and grab it lol. If anyone has any ideas on how to catch a fish like this, please let me know but until then I’ll be out there to fish another day <*~€


Hook a little fish just under dorsal fin without paralyzing it so it's wounded and swimming around under a bigger bobber.. big bass eat little fish, and you miss are HARD CORE !!! good for you


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## FisherGal60

Trout King said:


> Fishergal is becoming a bassmaster!


I’m the Bass Queen lol


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## 6Speed

FisherGal60 said:


> I’m the Bass Queen lol


I think the boys are scared you'll buy a big boat and wipe out the bass population on Lake St. Clair! 

Keep having fun gal, I sure wish I could fish as often as you do. Thanks for the reports!


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## Fishfighter

I enjoy reading your posts I think a rapala in gold/black should catch that big bass.


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - August 21, 2019: So I’m fishing at the condo lake again this evening. I decided to just go to my usual spot and was focused on catching a carp. I tried the drop shot first as it is in the area near to my usual spot and nothing was there. So then I set up my spot and started chumming with corn about 7:30pm. I figured out how to project the corn out further instead of trying to just throw it out there. Last time I was chumming the word catapult came to mind so I looked in my utensil drawer at found a large plastic spoon that had some flexibility. It did the trick! 

While I’m fishing a nice lady is talking to me and I catch a 13” yellow bullhead at 8:18pm. So I’m trying to remove the hook from the catfish and my back is to the water and the lady says,”There’s a big fish.” I turn around to look but it was gone. I was a bit peeved with the catfish now. But I thought if there’s one big fish, they’ll be another. So I stuck it out for the rest of the night; but no carp. Occasionally I tossed out the hit worm and at 1:18am caught a small bass. There was a nice size fish breaching about 40 feet in front of me, but I couldn’t catch it. So that was it for the evening and I hope tomorrow is better <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - August 22, 2019: Well today is day 130 in a row. Who would’ve thought lol. I’m at the condo lake again and I decided to change positions. Carp are known to be near the south end near the two trees so I was just out from under the two trees. Got setup and started chumming with corn. I get kind of bored when fishing for carp so I lay down the rod right next to me and I cast out another. So I cast the hit worm out and got a small bass at 8:11pm. As it got later and colder lol I decided to try the drop shot from this position. First cast was deep into weeds so I dragged it out and as I did a fish rolled out to the left of where I was dragging. I’m thinking I may have disturbed him. So I cast the drop shot a few more times trying to go to the left and I did get a nibble on one cast but nothing else. Still had one rod resting in the area where I had chummed with corn; but nothing going on there either. Cast the hit worm out a few more times and caught one more small bass. Stopped at about midnight, mostly because I was cold lol. 

Well I’ve come to the conclusion that a may be a Bass Queen, but I’m a Carp Jester lol. Plan on trying one more time tonight for carp and then take a break from that. I’m gonna have some temporary wheels tomorrow so I gotta go somewhere awesome! Unfortunately, my car has the Metropark pass and my registration has the state park pass so either I go somewhere that’s neither of those two or go to one and have to pay to get in :-( Anyhow I am so looking forward to tomorrow with the great weather we’re having to fish another day! <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Liver and Onions said:


> Stopped to visit with a lady shore fishing on a small lake within our Association today. Guess who it was?!!
> It was good to meet you FisherGal.
> I did try to figure what had eaten all of the neck meat off that duck by describing it in the predator forum. No was able to say---"Yeah, ______ always eat the neck meat and leaves the rest behind."
> BTW, I do see a very large carp jumping in front of that willow by the boats on Silversprings.
> Stange, only 1 and that's the only area on the lake I see the jumping.
> 
> L & O


So I saw a very large woodchuck today at the condo association and I was wondering if that’s what could’ve eaten just the neck on the dead duck. This is what I found in Wikipedia: 

Some additional foods include sheep sorrel, timothy-grass, buttercup, tearthumb, agrimony, red and black raspberries, mulberries, buckwheat, plantain, wild lettuce, all varieties of clover, and alfalfa.[55] Groundhogs also occasionally eat grubs, grasshoppers, insects, snails and other small animals, but are not as omnivorous as many other Sciuridae.

Groundhogs will occasionally eat baby birds they come upon by accident.[56]An adult groundhog will eat more than a pound of vegetation daily.

Maybe?


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## retired dundo

I wonder if anyone else on this forum ever fished 130 days in a row .I dough it I bet you hold the record.


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## Liver and Onions

FisherGal60 said:


> [
> .....
> Maybe?


Maybe. I thought chucks were pretty strict vegetarians.
What was unique about the duck was that every bit of neck meat was eaten, but nothing else on the animal was touched. 
We have skunks, *****, possums and hawks around the association and they all like meat, but I don't think any specialize in neck meat only. A weasel has been mentioned.

L & O


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## FisherGal60

Friday - August 23, 2019: On the condo lake by 7:00pm. Started with the drop shot and had a little pull but nothing caught. Got setup at the usual spot and started chumming with corn. It’s do or die tonight as far as carp fishing goes lol. While I have the one rod in with corn, I cast the hit worm out on the other. Hit a small bass at 9:28pm. Nothing happening with the corn. 

Had to end early tonight as I have to get a rental car in the morning and of course then go fishing lol. I can’t wait, been going a little stir crazy without one. So no more carp fishing for a while lol and as the summer winds down the race is on to seek out the other species I haven’t caught yet so I definitely need to fish another day <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - August 24, 2019: Ahhh...wheels...FREEDOM. Lake Erie or Bald Mountain Recreation Area were the two places I was considering, but then it occurred to me to go to Ford Lake as there are many areas there to fish, some free and the others would only be $3.00 (you pay to get into one, but the day pass is good for the others as well). So it was off to Ypsilanti after stopping at Dick’s first; needed new pliers for hook removal, new tape measurer, some hooks and a new reel of course lol (Okuma spinning reel; since I have an Okuma combo I bought several years ago when I took my nephew fishing and it’s still working I like the quality of it). Also bought some baits, some pink and white ones and a husky linked jerk bait (I’ve never tried a jerk bait). 

So I get to Lakeside Park at about 1:30pm after stopping for some live minnows and leeches. What a spectacular day!! If only the fishing had been the same lol. About 2:00pm some guys in kayaks started coming in. There had been a kayak tournament this day. The one guy said he was in 6th place out of 30 something entries. Then another guy came in and I asked him how he did. He had caught 32 smallmouth (starting at 6:30 in the morning)!! I asked him what he used: a crank bait, a Ned rig and a jig head. So of course I tried the Ned rig I had and a jig head, but nothing. Mostly I used a senko with a wacky rig setup. Was also using leeches, but nothing on those either. At about 5:00pm caught a small smallmouth on the senko (I was way out at the end of the pier and I didn’t have my phone with me , so I didn’t get a pic). 

So finally it’s starting to get dark and two guys show up to fish and the one guy casts a jerk bait and lands a small smallmouth on his first cast lol. He said he was at this pier the night before and caught a 19” smallmouth. Well the only thing he caught tonight was that first fish. So I try the new jerk bait I just bought at Dick’s, but no luck. 

I went back to the senko and was at the end of the pier and was getting some interest. Then practically right at the edge of the pier I had a drag and my line was moving so I pull up and had something and I get it up to the surface (the depth around this pier is 20 to 25 feet) and the dang thing got off the hook and the expletives erupted from my mouth. So it was on now lol. 

For the next 2 hours I was on a mission. Soon after I lost him, I had another bite, but couldn’t set the hook. Then I lost a hook in some rocks so I had to tie a new one (good thing I have that headlamp lol). But try as I may, the fish won again. It was about 11:30pm now and a guy and his girlfriend come to the pier, to fish lol. I pack up and on my way out we start talking. They had been fishing elsewhere before they got here so they were telling me where they had been and even showed me on a map the exact spot they fish at. I couldn’t believe it, it was that North Bay Park on Ford Lake that I said was awful and I would never go to again. Apparently there are islands in the lake that you can walk on. When I went to the park, I was on the east side and as I said there were only weeds as far as I could see. I could not see any islands from where I was. And I usually only look at terrain maps when I’m looking for somewhere to fish and my terrain map doesn’t show the land masses in this lake for some reason. So I go to satellite view and there they are. The couple said the fishing there is amazing, always. The guy also said it is the most beautiful place he’s been to fish in Michigan with the exception of up north fishing. Can you guess where I’m going tomorrow??

So when I got home, I’m like I have to get to sleep so I can get out there tomorrow even though I couldn’t stop thinking about this place. So I’m anxiously awaiting to fish another day!! <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - August 25, 2019: Well the only two certainties in life are death and taxes lol, fishing is definitely not. I arrived at North Bay Park at about 1:00pm. The first thing I hit was a large fishing pier and there were 2 men packing up. But in their wagon were two very large carps. I asked what they used for bait and when did they catch them. They caught one at 7:00am and the other at 11:00am and they used corn kernels from a fresh corn on the cob, which they gave me before they left. I was like I do not want to fish for carp lol. But I loaded up a hook with corn and threw it out there. In the mean time I put a leech on my other line and I had a nibble. Cast a few more times and no more nibbles. So a man comes over and starts talking to me about how he works 6 days a week and pays his taxes (he was a foreigner but I couldn’t make out the accent). Then he says I have the leeches on incorrectly on my hook. So he leaves then about a half hour later he comes back, brings me a water and kind of repeats how he works and pays taxes and he brings me some crawlers and says my hook with a worm on it is incorrect. Then he invites me over to his fishing spot to eat, his cousin and another guy are with him. I have to walk past them to get into the islands so he talks to me again and I think he mentioned paying taxes again. I could not stay there and fish near him if only for the reason he talked too much and I could barely understand him. So first I went across from where he was and cast a few but it was really shallow. So I go back to the more open water and cast a few with no luck; was using a crawler on a #3 circle hook with split shot; no luck. From there I packed up and just took off further down the island. My goal was to reach the spot the young man and his girlfriend shared with me last night.

I finally made it to the spot but no luck. Tried several different things: jig head with a grub; leeches and worms with a split shot; my hit worm; and a senko wacky rig. Lost about 3 hooks on snags so that was a bit frustrating. After losing the 3 hooks I decided to try a Carolina rig with a bobber; but nothing. At one point I went across the way to the shallower water with a crawler and caught an 8.5” perch ( I thought it was 9”, but after looking at the pic a bit of the new tape measurer is blank before the 0, zero so I lost a 1/2”).

So I continue down the islands stopping at various spots on either side and a man, who I couldn’t understand, picks up the rod I’m not using and is holding it in a way that the line gets all tangled up at the top. I’m like what the hell. Maybe in his culture if someone has two of something, it’s the norm to let another person use it, geez! If another person tries to touch my gear, I’m not gonna be so nice.

As it’s getting later, maybe about 7:30pm now, I’m in a kind of feverish state as I want to catch something decent and I need to leave while there’s some light as it’s a good 3/4 mile walk back to my car from where I was at. I’m not usually fearful but part of the walk back is through trees on both sides and after running into some rather forward people who knows what could happen. On my way back there were two guys fishing so I decided to try near the area where they were fishing as they came late and looked like they knew what they were doing. So I cast the husky jerk bait. Nothing was biting so I was on my way back when one of the guys stopped me and asked if I were the lady he met at Lakeside Park last night (Told him I didn’t recognize him without his girlfriend lol). So I’m chatting with him and his friend and his friend was angry that the other guy told me about their honey hole lol. I said I was just as shocked that someone revealed that info as well. Anyhow told them about this website and how I write about each day that I fish and gave them the info to get here (I carry small strips of paper in my tackle bag with the info on how to get to this thread). In addition the guy I met last night also said how he’s caught Pike and walleye in the area where he was fishing. I had to keep going though. Oh yeah another issue was my line with the new reel; i let dick”s spool the line on my new Okuma reel and it’s been a nightmare to say the least. I asked for 10lb fluorocarbon and he said he had it but it has to be the cheapest line ever plus I don’t know how he spooled it (I know they use a machine) but it was so loose it was ridiculous. Next time I spool my own.

It’s about 8:30pm now as I’m on my way out and I stop at a spot one of the guys had mentioned as one last attempt to catch a decent fish and of course I get snagged, cut the line and on the other rod was using a jig head with grub and it got snagged as well. So both rods disabled now; out I go. But tomorrow is another day for fishing and I’ll be there with bells on lol <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Monday - August 26, 2019: Decided to try Bald Mountain Recreation Area today. I don’t understand why these state parks are so spread out and unconnected. I would prefer a self contained lot of land where you didn’t have to leave an area and drive on horrible dirt roads for miles to get to the next area. I think this will be the last state park I go to that’s spread out. My first stop was at Trout Lake (whether there’s trout in it I don’t know) and there was a small opening to fish from and about 20 feet of weeds in front of it. The wind was monstrous, about 12mph steady, gusting to over 25mph; I know the wind speed because I was so curious to know what it was I actually bought an app for 0.99 called, what else but anemometer.

So one of the bigger lakes at Bald Mountain is Graham Lake and it says it has a pier so that was the next stop. As I’m parking the only thing I see is a narrow opening into the lake where the boat launch is located and I’m thinking, oh no, I hope I didn’t come all this way to fish in a space that’s only ten feet wide and surrounded by weeds. But just to the left of the boat launch there was a pier, not huge but not tiny either and it was “L” shaped. There were seven people on it and maybe it could accommodate 10 comfortably. Four of the people were two grandparents and their two grandchildren. And after I was there for about a half hour the little girl, age 4, had had enough and probably needed a nap as she was whining to leave. Thank goodness they did leave, I mean when there are other people fishing it’s not right to have a child there that is becoming loud. Then, surprisingly, the other three people left as well and I was alone on the pier...ahhhh. 

So I was trying different things as two of the people that left were catching perch and crappie about 40 to 50 feet in front of the pier, but they had live minnows and I only had crawlers but nonetheless I tried using the crawlers; no luck. Then I thought about how I caught that bass at Cass Lake at the boat launch area so I decided to use the hit worm near this boat launch and I caught a small rock bass at 3:16pm. Then at 3:25pm I caught a bullhead with the hit worm. I couldn’t measure it because I couldn’t find my new tape measurer as it’s kind of on the small side so I just placed my flip flop alongside it and measured the flip flop when I got home which is 11”. So it looks like the bullhead was about 13”. Cast the hit worm a few more times but no further interest. So I focused on doing a crawler under a bobber for a while and of course only caught bluegill; no big ones. I also had one line set on the bottom with a worm hanging over the back of the pier. 

At about 6:15pm two people arrived and within 15 mins, the woman catches a large pumpkinseed, at least 9”. How does that happen? I’ve been out here for hours using the same kind of bait and I get squat lol. But that was all the lady caught, one fish. So they leave about 7:15pm (it was raining and had been raining at various rates since about 4:30pm; I stayed hoping the rain would stop). After they leave I notice my other line behind the pier is moving. I reel it in and it’s another bullhead, a bit smaller than the one I caught earlier. But now it’s apparent the rain is not going to stop so I called it quits. 

Anyhow, I wasn’t totally thrilled with Graham Lake. I’m becoming more and more disappointed with the state park lakes with the exception of Spring Mill Pond and Cass Lake. Not sure where I’m going tomorrow but I need to fish another day to find a big one <*~€


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - August 27, 2019: Decided to stay close to home today and went to Founders Park since I haven’t been there in quite some time. Got there a little before 10:00am. Started with the hit worm looking for Moby #1 (Moby #2 is at the condo lake). Had a lot of little fish pulling at the worm but no bass. After a while walked around the shore and tried the jerk bait and another lure I have that has the ring on the fish’s back and it rattles but I don’t know what it’s called. It just says Super Spot and it’s by Cordell. So after casting the super spot I went back to the hit worm and as I was casting that a fish breached right in the area where I had been casting the super spot. I wondered if it were possible the fish was drawn to the area by the rattle on the super spot so I hooked that one up again and cast it out; no luck. Went back to the pier and tried a #2 hook with crawlers and only caught a teeny bluegill. Then tried a grub on the #2 hook, but no takers. 

Then tried a senko, wacky rig out in the spot where I had often seen a breach on a previous visits. Got some hits and eventually caught a small largemouth. Cast back out there and as a I was turning to reach for a drink, I got a strong pull. It seemed like he was on and I was able to pull him in for a bit, but then he was off. I kept trying to find him again but could not. It was 6:00pm now and I would’ve stayed longer but I had to get home to cook burgers on the grill and corn on the cob on the grill (can’t remember the last time I had a full meal lol). But I’m looking forward to tomorrow to fish another day and hope it doesn’t rain. <*~€ is a


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## FisherGal60

Friday - August 30, 2019: It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you, tragically, my sweet and lovely Emerson,”Emmy”, Rose (the special needs girl I’m a nanny for) passed away unexpectedly this morning due to possible complications from general anesthesia. I know this may not be the right place for this but I didn’t want to just disappear without an explanation; life is too short for playing games and being secretive or mysterious. I just don’t know when I will be writing again; could be next week or a month from now, etc.

I know you will keep Emmy’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. She is free now from all her limitations; and for the very first time in my 61 years on this earth, a butterfly landed on my shoulder while I was telling someone about Emmy and a fuzzy caterpillar walked over my toes. That’s my Emmy, a beautiful butterfly now.


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## retired dundo

So sorry to here.I know you will be going through a long bad time,


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## zzcop302

You have my sympathy for your loss, sad news .
Take the time you need to return to fishing and posting....
You will know when it feels like the right time.
Take care.


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## Waif

Fishing can wait ,of course.

Leaves fall from family trees.

Some "family" is closer than blood kin...

Condolences for the pangs of loss. But remember the good!


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## Swampdog467

Thank you for sharing of your loss, we will be thinking of you while you're off and looking forward to your return when you are ready. Prayers for you and and Emmy's family. 

Sent from my XT1585 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## 6Speed

I have found that time on a lake or river is very helpful for the greiving process. When your ready, it should help....


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## 6Speed

Your posts are missed and everyone understands. Hell, I was jealous of you going everyday myself!


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## Far Beyond Driven

"So I grabbed my net and caught it because I wanted to see what it was."

This is technically illegal. Even if the fish was 98% dead and you just wanted a look and let the fish go - if a Conservation Officer saw this he'd probably write you a ticket, even if your intentions were harmless.

Miss the daily updates - as it's 11 degrees and snowing here!


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## FisherGal60

Monday - October 21, 2019: It was so nice after work I had to go fishing. Went to the condo clubhouse lake of course (Curtis Lake). Wasn’t having much luck with the usual fare, the bright tipped senko on a Texas rig, the Berkley Gulp General, etc. So as I was going through my stash of soft plastics I found one that was a different color from any other worms I had and it was designed to be used on a ned rig, but I didn’t have any ned jig heads so I decided to just try it as a Texas rig. 

So it was a very calm evening, right up to about 2:00am (yes, I was out fishing in the middle of the night and had to be to work by 8:30am). The wind started to blow and out of the corner of my eye I thought a saw a green flash. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me since it was so late. I cast to the right off the pier and I had a tug. I took my time, waiting for the right moment to lift up as I’ve had difficulty on occasion the last couple weeks of getting the hook set. For a while I was like, what is going on? I’ve done this many times with much success, but during this transition time it hasn’t been as easy to hook these fish. So I slowed it down and waited a bit longer before setting the hook and wallah! The fish was on. Turned my headlamp on and got it close to the pier and was pleasantly surprised to see it was a pike! A much bigger one than I caught on October 3, which was only 15”. I was stoked! Got it up onto the pier with my net and walked off the pier to the land because I didn’t want to risk losing it before I could get a photo. So it’s on the ground and I walk back to the pier to get my glove and pliers and by the time I get to the pike, it had already freed itself from the net. So I get the photo, it was 24”, my first legal size pike and as I’m working on it the wind becomes quite intense, once again feeling like a gale force wind and it’s starting to hail as well. I’m like, what the heck is this and where did it come from? So it was now raining as well as I took the pike back to the pier to release it. I’m standing there casting to the left now and the same place I thought I saw the green flash lights up again with green, red and yellow lights. I’m like, okay, I’ve never seen lightning like that before. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it because I had another tug. I took my time, but this fish was ready to bite, so I set the hook and wrangled in an 18” bass at about 2:20am on the same worm I had just used for the pike. The rain had just about stopped by now so I cast for another hour, but got nothing. 

It wasn’t until the next day that I thought about the weird lightning I had seen. It was perplexing to say the least and my scientific mind was having a hard time trying to figure out how lightning could present itself in multiple colors. Could it have been something I’ve always hoped I might see some day? Is it possible it was a UFO? There was no sound, and the way the wind just broiled up out of nowhere is still very odd to me. You all know I’ve been out fishing for many many hours since April and I’ve been in my share of rain and storms and there’s always a period of time when the storm is approaching; the wind increases slowly and I look to the sky at the cloud movement and usually start gathering my gear in case I need to dash for cover. There was no time this evening for that. Anyhow it was definitely a first for me and something I won’t forget and it definitely won’t stop me from fishing another day <*~~~<


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## FisherGal60

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 456613
> View attachment 456611
> 
> View attachment 456609
> Monday - October 21, 2019: It was so nice after work I had to go fishing. Went to the condo clubhouse lake of course (Curtis Lake). Wasn’t having much luck with the usual fare, the bright tipped senko on a Texas rig, the Berkley Gulp General, etc. So as I was going through my stash of soft plastics I found one that was a different color from any other worms I had and it was designed to be used on a ned rig, but I didn’t have any ned jig heads so I decided to just try it as a Texas rig.
> 
> So it was a very calm evening, right up to about 2:00am (yes, I was out fishing in the middle of the night and had to be to work by 8:30am). The wind started to blow and out of the corner of my eye I thought a saw a green flash. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me since it was so late. I cast to the right off the pier and I had a tug. I took my time, waiting for the right moment to lift up as I’ve had difficulty on occasion the last couple weeks of getting the hook set. For a while I was like, what is going on? I’ve done this many times with much success, but during this transition time it hasn’t been as easy to hook these fish. So I slowed it down and waited a bit longer before setting the hook and wallah! The fish was on. Turned my headlamp on and got it close to the pier and was pleasantly surprised to see it was a pike! A much bigger one than I caught on October 3, which was only 15”. I was stoked! Got it up onto the pier with my net and walked off the pier to the land because I didn’t want to risk losing it before I could get a photo. So it’s on the ground and I walk back to the pier to get my glove and pliers and by the time I get to the pike, it had already freed itself from the net. So I get the photo, it was 24”, my first legal size pike and as I’m working on it the wind becomes quite intense, once again feeling like a gale force wind and it’s starting to hail as well. I’m like, what the heck is this and where did it come from? So it was now raining as well as I took the pike back to the pier to release it. I’m standing there casting to the left now and the same place I thought I saw the green flash lights up again with green, red and yellow lights. I’m like, okay, I’ve never seen lightning like that before. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it because I had another tug. I took my time, but this fish was ready to bite, so I set the hook and wrangled in an 18” bass at about 2:20am on the same worm I had just used for the pike. The rain had just about stopped by now so I cast for another hour, but got nothing.
> 
> It wasn’t until the next day that I thought about the weird lightning I had seen. It was perplexing to say the least and my scientific mind was having a hard time trying to figure out how lightning could present itself in multiple colors. Could it have been something I’ve always hoped I might see some day? Is it possible it was a UFO? There was no sound, and the way the wind just broiled up out of nowhere is still very odd to me. You all know I’ve been out fishing for many many hours since April and I’ve been in my share of rain and storms and there’s always a period of time when the storm is approaching; the wind increases slowly and I look to the sky at the cloud movement and usually start gathering my gear in case I need to dash for cover. There was no time this evening for that. Anyhow it was definitely a first for me and something I won’t forget and it definitely won’t stop me from fishing another day <*~~~<


P.S. About 10 days before I caught this pike and bass a guy was fishing at this lake using a spinner and he asked what I was using and told me pretty much that the senko wouldn’t work as it was a transition time and if I had a spinner that I should use it. I do have a spinner and tried it but went back to the worm. I was also reading last week that using a senko is good for winter Fishing so that’s what I’m sticking with lol.


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## Waif

Multi -colored flashes huh.... Hmmm.

Could be a serious deal. 
My diagnosis is that it is a symptom of a Melody malady known as fishing fever.
The greatest symptom of concern is fish like vision through a prism of sorts lens.....
:lol:

Thanks again for sharing your adventures.
When fishing is not at hand , you can still scheme about fishing. 

Congrats on your work/job.
Stay well.


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## FisherGal60

All I can do on a day like this is daydream (sigh) about fishing. Been going out once or twice a week at night for the month of November without catching anything; Saturday and Sunday too, but nothing (didn’t go this Sunday as I think I’m going to stop fishing for now as the fish are out too deep and I can’t reach them :-( Gonna go back to painting and crocheting for a bit. Some of the younger women at work have little ones that I could whip out a couple baby blankets if I want lol. No big projects just in case I can’t finish them. A big thing changed at work last week as they let the part time medical records gal go so now I’m it lol. Was a bit nervous last week but getting the hang of it. It’s quite a bit of work but I’d rather be busy than not. It seems there’s not enough time in a day to finish. The room I’m in is kind of small but I brought some of my smaller paintings to hang up to brighten it up a bit. 

Anyhow if I do catch something you all will be the first to know (except for the ones I’m catching in my dreams).


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## michcats

Fish are on the move right now getting ready for winter don't be afraid to move around and fish spots that didn't do so hit in the summer just some tricks I use


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## FisherGal60

To all outdoorsman, 

Hope the new year fulfills all your dreams and wishes!

I have been fishing a little when I can find a spot that doesn’t have ice lol. Christmas Day I was finally able to fish at Founders Park as there was only some skim ice in a few spots. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch a thing but I saw one of THE most beautiful and amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen. The photo doesn’t even do it justice but I was glad I was out there to be a part of it.

On some of the warmer days we’ve been having, I’ve just been going to Shiawassee Park in Farmington and fishing for creek chub. Sometimes if it’s been warm enough on a weekday I go after work for a little while. 

Last Sunday, December 29, 2019, I finally went to the Lake Erie Metropark Marina (no ice there). It was very peaceful there. There were about 9 or 10 people fishing at various spots on the marina docks. Didn’t see anyone catching much until about 3:00pm when there was a little flurry of activity for about an hour. The guys at the end of the dock where the channel was were catching some small fish, maybe perch. Then just as the sun was setting there were all these splashes on top of the water. A spot opened up at the end of the dock so I moved there to be near the channel. As it got dark I could hear bigger splashing going on in the channel so I just kept casting out into it. Now I know if there were fish out there feeding they were more than likely going to eat a fresh moving live minnow than bite on my 1/64 oz jig head with a crawler on it; but there was always the possibility it would land directly in front of them. But that possibility did not occur on this day lol. 

So it’s getting later and a bit colder so I move from the outside dock area heading back towards the land and parking area tossing my line in the now vacant slips as the minnows were still extremely active. When I reached the land the parking lot lights illuminated the water, and I could not believe how many minnows there actually were. At first I thought maybe there thousands of minnows, but they were thick as peanut butter and they filled the entire marina so there had to be 100s of thousands of minnows. It was mind boggling and I was in awe of this circle of life event. 

At about 8:00pm the Metropark police came by to lock up. So I may have left without catching a thing, but I also left with the desire to come back and fish another day <*~~€

P.S. I’ve been painting again and did a painting of Emmy and gave it to her dad. I’ve been missing her a lot lately.


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## retired dundo

Welcome back hope you have a great year.Missed reading your posts


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## 6Speed

Yep, I was just thinking about her posts a couple days ago. The late winter has me stranded small game hunting instead of ice fishing.


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## FisherGal60

Wow. I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything since Jan 1 :-(

Not that I have been fishing a whole lot either. Made a couple trips to the Lake Erie Metropark Marina without much success and occasional trips to the creek, but not much luck catching creek chub either. Anyhow I’m thinking of heading to Grand Rapids this weekend. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated as always. Hope to hear from you guys. Miss y’all and miss fishing even more <*~^~~€


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## Waif

FisherGal60 said:


> Wow. I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything since Jan 1 :-(
> 
> Not that I have been fishing a whole lot either. Made a couple trips to the Lake Erie Metropark Marina without much success and occasional trips to the creek, but not much luck catching creek chub either. Anyhow I’m thinking of heading to Grand Rapids this weekend. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated as always. Hope to hear from you guys. Miss y’all and miss fishing even more <*~^~~€


Downtown Grand Rapids? Been quite a while for me , but worked it about a year when living in the city about that long.
My best memories are of catfishing at night. But did catch fish from when above freezing on.
Quite a mix of species depending on time of year.

River will probably be up from snow melt. Stay out of it. l.o.l..
Sixth street dam is popular for fishing.
Tough scenery compared to more secluded areas.
Keep an eye on your gear too.
I'd stick with daytime too...

The river bottom has lots of rocks and debris.
You'll sacrifice tackle ,so leave the costly lures ect. in the car.
The wall opposite the fish ladder side has/had parking near.

A white jig is worth a go.
Or a medium salmon hook with a fake egg or two depending how they handle.
You don't need to fish far out from the wall.
I've be-bopped offerings rod length (distance out) along it at night.
Now and then in the day.
I didn't use floats to present offerings , but would today.
To avoid the snaggy bottom. Slinky rigs (para-cord with lead shot inside) have a home in such conditions.
A sacrificial dropper on a three way swivel with lighter than main line on the dropper ,(or a poor quality knot on the same test as main line) might be a go.
Split shot on such a rig can strip off when snagged. Other times you'll still break off.
Within a easy lob distance of the wall if you can spot a current seam. Or just to lob.
Yes you can cast farther. Just didn't work for me. 
Nights I be-bopped offerings right along the walls edge almost. Touch bottom now and then ,but barely so not to snag. And...Pull of gobs of wire ,and line and this and that anyways.

Trouble is if you hook a big fish.
Sometimes someone has a long handled net or a dip type.
I used to walk the wall upstream after a fish tires (there's a railing) up towards the dam spillway and drag the fish shallow . There's (was) a spot you could see where a small boat could be carried in there.

You'll see folks wading and in boats working for steelhead maybe.
They are not working the wall usually except for drifting casts towards it from nearer the spillway.
That does not mean the wall is not doable. Or needing their rigs.

Despite the environment (cement and glass jungle) , it is a place for folks to fish. And fish to be fish.
You'll need to get your own opinion of it. Get past the environment (it's not so bad if you're fishing) and the snags , and you're halfway there.

You could look up Riverside park too.
It seems to flood (at shore) at times, meaning shallow water in some areas.


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## FisherGal60

Thanks Waif for all the good info. I am so distracted at work right now lol. Keep thinking about how I’m going to approach the Grand River on Saturday!! 

First pic was sunset at the marina on Super Bowl Sunday; needless to say I was the only person there at sunset lol.

Second pic is painting I did for lady at work and she paid me for it woohoo!

Last pic was sunrise reflection on a building in the parking lot where I work; I like to get in early when it’s quiet at work. 

Can’t wait for the weekend!!


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## retired dundo

Nice pictures


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## 6Speed

Great painting!!!


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## FisherGal60

6Speed said:


> Great painting!!!


Thanks. This was the first time I painted something and didn’t want to part with it.


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## FisherGal60

So I’ve been looking at maps, in my spare time of course, looking for dams near Grand Rapids and I see the Rockford dam which looks great but then I read a fishing report about the Muskegon River so I followed the river on the map and found myself in Newaygo at the Croton Dam. I think that’s gonna be my first stop now. If anyone has any word about this dam, I’m all ears. Looks like there’s an awesome bait shop there as well.


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## Wyandotte

FisherGal60, sounds like you've hit every pond in the area. 
Have you ever fished Sherwood Pond in Sumpter? Wonder if you thought it was worth a half hour drive for me this summer. Thanks.

(if you've not heard of it, I didn't either until yesterday. It's at Sherwood and Wear Roads. Looks to be in the middle of a public park).


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## FisherGal60

Wednesday - May 6, 2020: So I’ve been writing about what’s been going on with my fishing but I haven’t finished writing it yet, but I will lol. I just wanted to share at this moment the BIGGEST CATCH OF MY LIFE!! I’m at Lake Erie Metropark Marina on Lake Erie. Caught him on a new chartreuse spoon I bought at the bait shop this morning.


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## 6Speed

Ha, ha! Been wondering where you've been. Cool catch! Go Girl...


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## FisherGal60

Friday - May 15, 2020: So I decided to go back to Newburgh Lake today. Went about 1:00pm as the rain had stopped and it was supposed to get sunny and near 70. Well it only spritzed a little while I was there and the sun came out at about 6:00pm lol. So I cast out the “hawg creature” again in the same area as the night before and on the 2nd cast I got a tug. I was like DANG that fish is still there! Got a 2nd tug but still couldn’t hook it. Kept trying without any further tugs. So then I thought I would try fishing right at the edge of the concrete embankment for maybe a monster bluegill. So I put a worm on a #8 hook using my new small ugly stik that is spooled with 8lb test. As I was moving it slowly across the edge I had a nibble. I’m like okay at least something is here. After a couple nibbles I checked the hook and the bait was still there which I did think was peculiar because little fish will just keep pecking at it until it’s gone. And then something was pulling on it so I let it pull until I thought i would be able to set the hook and BAM!! I’m reeling this 8lb test line (luckily I didn’t have to reel too much as I was standing right over water) and as I got the fish to the surface I couldn’t believe it!! A BIG largemouth was on it! I reached down and grabbed the line and he was mine!! (well for a few minutes at least since he is still out of season.) He measured 18”. I couldn’t believe it. And to think he had just been lying there in the weeds right at my feet. So after the photo ops I dropped the line into the same area with a worm on the same gear. I got another nibble. But I had to leave at 4:00 to run an important errand.

I got back at about 5:15. Dropped the line in the same spot and kept getting nibbles. At one point it started to pull the line but I tried to set the hook too soon. All the while I’m doing this I can feel my heartbeat in my hand as I’m holding the rod and I’m wondering if it can be felt or sensed in the water and if it were, is that a deterrent or an attractant to the fish? Anyhow at about 6:00pm, the fish was pulling the line again but this time I let it pull until my rod started to bend down so I pulled UP and BAM!! Another largemouth!! This one was only 16”. So after catching this one I tried a little bit longer in the same spot, but no more nibbles. I started casting the weedless hawg creature for a while with no luck. And I made sure I wasn’t the last person to leave either lol. Thinking of hitting Lake Erie tomorrow so Stay Tuned...

P.S. just wanted to show the hookset on the 18” bass. I was never a huge fan of using small hooks. I just didn’t get how they would hold a big fish, but now I get it


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## FisherGal60

(This post is out of order as it was one I’ve been writing about my fishing adventure starting with my furlough in March through April and the beginning of May.)

Sunday - May 3, 2020: By far the past 7 days have been the best fishing experiences I’ve ever had! Hi all you fishing enthusiasts. It seems like I’ve been away forever. So with all that’s been going on with COVID19 my last day of work was March 17. Our facility didn’t actually close until March 27, but on March 17 management said that anyone who didn’t feel comfortable working could take leave (using PTO time of course) without any repercussions. I decided immediately to take the time off as I felt I was in a high risk category due to age and at that time we were seeing patients without doing any prescreening and I wasn’t comfortable with that. Even though I didn’t have direct contact with patients I really really did not feel “comfortable “.

Soooo...what else would I do when I’m not working lol. It would’ve been nice if the weather hadn’t been so up and down these past 6.5 weeks. But all the bad days seem to fade into obscurity when you have a mind blowing GOOD day!! And today was off the freakin “hook” LMAO

So over the past 6.5 weeks I pretty much was going to my old haunts such as Founders Park, Newburgh Lake, the Lake Erie Metropark Marina, Wilcox Lake, Cass Lake and Ford Lake. Some new places I tried were Huroc Park (was still trying to get my first steelhead; but no luck), Brandenburg Park (off of Lake St Clair), Selfridge Boat Ramp, Hull,s Trace (a boat launch area about a mile south of Lake Erie Marina), Belanger Park and Peninsular Park (dam) in Ypsilanti. Many days were skunk days even though it said Spring on the calendar (getting snow in April is crazy - when it comes time to fully retire I am seriously considering moving to a warmer climate like North or South Carolina) most days I was out there in 7 layers of clothing.

So on Monday, April 27, I went to Lake Erie and caught my first sizable walleye at 20”. And I was the only one to catch a walleye that day lol. (My very first walleye was caught on March 22 at Belleville Lake when it was out of season (16”).)

Thursday, April 30, I went to Wilcox Lake. I had surprisingly caught an 11” crappie there on April 11, a personal best. So I wasn’t even getting a nibble while fishing from the pier so I moved over to the river area at about 7:00pm, in the rain lol. Finally at about 7:30 I caught a yellow bullhead that was about 11”. Caught a few more at about the same size but at 9:00 caught a 14” bullhead which makes it eligible for a master angler patch lol.

Friday, May 1, I went to Lake Erie and only caught some small bullheads and small perch.

Now we’re back to Sunday, May 3 which was THE most exciting and exhilarating day of fishing I’ve ever had!! I arrived at about 1:00pm and it was a bit busy out on the large pier but I was able to squeeze into a spot and still practice social distancing lol. It was pretty slow most of the afternoon, but couldn’t complain as it was one of the best Spring days we’ve had in a long time. I had a line out with a 2oz sinker and live minnow hoping to maybe catch a silver bass as I was still waiting for the run to start. At 5:15pm the bell on my line starts dinging. Something was hooked on it as I didn’t even have to coax the fish to bite again and it felt BIG. So I’m reeling and reeling and a guy came over with his net and netted it for me and when I saw that fish in the net hanging out over the water I was like HOLY COW!! When it was on the ground and out of the net, it was a freakin BIG smallmouth bass!!! This was certainly the biggest one I’ve ever caught (I caught an 18” one at Lake St Clair Metropark last Spring). It measured at 19”!! Everyone came over to look at it lol. 

Then shortly after that, about 5:30pm someone caught a silver bass. Now on the past days that I’ve been here at Lake Erie someone would catch a silver bass and I was like, is this it, is this the start of the run, and each time it was not...but...BAM!! today was the day!!! Last year I was at the tail end of the run when I fished at Trenton. I can hardly express what being at the beginning of the run was like today. EXHILARATING and AMAZING are understatements. I started with the sinker rigs, but then realized the fish were coming in way closer so I saw a guy using a spoon so I decided to use my spoon. Now mind you last year the only thing I caught on a spoon was a largemouth bass here at Lake Erie. BAM I was catching silver bass on a freakin spoon!! It was a fishing frenzy!!! At least 10 people lined up on the right side of the pier completely forgetting about “social distancing”, myself included lol. There were some young boys there and I was helping them set up their rigs for the run and one of the boys did catch a silver bass; he was so happy and I was very glad for him as well. So this frenzy went on for about 2.5 hours. My goal was to catch at least a 16” silver bass for master angler patch, and I did and I even caught a 17” woohoo!

So I took a little break at 8:00pm as I had to charge my phone in my car. When I got back, I rigged the 2oz sinker with a live minnow again as most of the people had now left anyhow. After about 10 minutes the bell starts singing, again. It felt like another big one. So I’m reeling and reeling and a guy came over to net it for me. I’m following his instructions to get it in as close as I can and he’s bending down trying to scoop the fish up and it got off. He said it was a channel catfish. This would be the first one at Lake Erie. Boy was I bummed because I didn’t even see the dang thing lol.

Took a day off on Monday, May 4, and went back to Lake Erie on Tuesday, May 5. Wasn’t a whole lot going on during the day but at 8:00pm hit a silver bass and then 2 more until 9:00pm when I hit a 20” walleye on the sinker setup with a minnow. So I was doing quite a bit of fishing through the end of March and during April but really didn’t start catching until May lol. I am convinced Spring is the best time to fish! I always seem to catch my biggest fish of the year in Spring. So now you’re up to date on my fishing escapades so Stay Tuned...

P.S. I don’t know what the problem is with the pics coming out upside down and sideways. I never used to have a problem uploading them...arghhh


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - May 16, 2020: I didn’t think it was possible to experience the thrill and exhilaration I had on May 3 during my first silver bass run, but it happened again! My plan was to go to Lake Erie Metropark Marina in the morning since it was a Saturday and I expected it to be busier than a week day. I got to the bait shop by 8:30am but there was a line outside the store for those of us waiting to buy minnows and he was running low. Luckily I was able to get some and arrived at the marina at 9:00am, but there were no open spots.

So I figured I’d try *Pointe Mouillee DNR* Wildlife Field *Office on Campeau Rd. Seems fishing was pretty good there from what people were posting on Fishbrain. Well, maybe for others it was good, but not for me. Only caught some little perch but did catch 2 perch on one hook lol. I couldn’t believe it when I brought it in. As it turns out one perch was on the hook and the other was tangled in the leader line and he had the minnow in his mouth. How did that happen lol? Then about 2:00pm silver bass start running by but they were too far off the shore for anyone to be able to cast out to them. I tried my damndest and got close hoping a straggler would bite, but that didn’t happen.

So I decided to leave and first went back to the bait store as the owner said he would be getting more minnows in later and I really wanted some walleye minnows. So I do get some “walleye minnows”, well at least that’s what I thought I was getting as only young boys were now working in the store. I thought I’d go back to the marina since it was now about 3:30 and the morning group would probably be gone and the late group probably wouldn’t show up until at least 4:30 or 5:00. I saw an empty spot and took it. But it wasn’t long before a group of “weekend” fisher people arrived speaking a different language and nudging in around me. It’s just that people who don’t fish all the time also don’t know much about fishing etiquette. When fishermen are out there, we try very hard not to in cringe on the other guy’s space and not cross his line. Those who do not fish regularly cross lines unmercifully.
Anyhow at about 5:00pm it started! The silver bass were coming through again!! Since I had limited space to cast, I just brought in my line with the sinker and started using a spoon and BAM!! Just like May 3, they were biting again. A guy next to me who I’ve seen before and I call the “catfish guy” because that’s what he fishes for at the marina, was catching a silver bass on every cast he made with his spoon. In about 2.5 hours I probably caught about 10 on a spoon (didn’t keep any.) Didn’t catch anything bigger than 16”. 
By 8:30pm everyone had left except me, the catfish guy and another guy who fished regularly here. He caught a walleye on a spoon as the silver bass run died down and gave it away to someone who was leaving. Then when it was just the three of us he caught another walleye and gave it to me. I tried like crazy with a spoon to catch a walleye but it didn’t happen. I did have my sinker out though with a baby perch on it. It was in with the minnows I bought in the morning at the bait shop, as he only had small ones then and it was just about only one of the live ones left (the other small ones were dead). Oh, so the story on the “walleye” minnows I bought at 3:00pm is that there were maybe 2 or 3 large emerald shiners in the bucket. The rest were golden shiners I think, baby suckers and another small fish with a red stripe along its side. None of which I thought a walleye might be attracted to. I thought maybe the baby perch, even though it was small and still alive might work better. Well I wasn’t disappointed. At about 9:15 there’s a bite on the sinker line and I’m casting a few feet away with the spoon and the catfish guy yells out that I have a bite so I figure I have a little time to get to the rod and lure the fish a bit more. The catfish guy yells again,”You have a bite! Your rod is going to get pulled in!!” I was like, NOT AGAIN, I’m not gonna lose another rod like I did to that carp at Ford Lake. And dang that rod was starting to go over the rail, but I got there in time...whew. And boy was this fish fighting and he was out there quite far. So I finally get him close enough and the catfish guy had a much bigger net than I have so he netted it for me; a 22” channel catfish! I forgot how hard they fight. So this was a personal best as the biggest I caught last year here was 21”.

So I went home with a nice walleye and a beautiful catfish. Put them on ice in the cooler in my car and took them out today for dinner. I actually did the best fillet job I’ve done so far on both of them. The pic shows the walleye fillet on the left and the beautiful white catfish fillet on the right, no discoloration whatsoever. Dredged them both in Zatarain’s and pan fried them. They were freakin awesome!!! As far as tomorrow goes, the weather report says rain all day, but it said that for today as well and it did not rain all day so I’m gonna take my chances and go out. Probably to Lake Erie Metropark Marina. I have a rain poncho lol so Stay Tuned...

P.S. I forgot to mention in the previous post that when I fished at Peninsular Park in Ypsilanti at the dam on April 20 I caught a smallmouth bass and a small walleye when it was out of season. I also fished there on April 24 and caught my first white sucker lol.*


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## Fishfighter

Emerald and golden shiners will both work on walleye. Sucker minnows are good Pike and catfish bait. Great job on the fish.


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## 6Speed

Where did you go gal? It's been weeks since we saw a report from you...


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## retired dundo

6Speed said:


> Where did you go gal? It's been weeks since we saw a report from you...


Been wondering toHope she’s okay


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## FisherGal60

Okay, I’ve been putting it off way too long, I know lol. But I’ve been fishing my butt off while I was on furlough and didn’t even have time to write about it. Especially when I got the call on June 3 that I had to go back on June 8. I stayed up all night twice during those last 5 days. But let me start with the past 3 days that I fished after work. 

Tuesday, June 16, 2020: I went to Dodge Park #4 on Cass Lake. Not a great idea as the boat traffic was horrendous despite it being a week day. I was hoping the traffic would slow down so that I could cast out at the boat launch as that was where I caught a bass last Fall. It was about 9:30pm when I was able to get over there (the park closes at 10, of course). When I was finally able to cast to the spot where I caught one last Fall, I got the tug! I was using the ‘creature hawg’ that I had used at the condo clubhouse last fall on which I had interest, but never hooked one on it. Then the DNR was at the boat launch harassing the boaters that came in late. So as long as they were still there I kept fishing. Kept getting the tugs but I couldn’t hook a fish. I was getting really upset. So I left about 10:30 and recalled that there is a DNR boat launch south of Cass Lake on Orchard Lake so I decided to stop there if it were open. It was open, until 11:00pm. There were no boats coming in so on the 3rd or 4th cast I had the tug!! I was so thrilled that the same lure was working in a different lake! So I was having the same issue of not being able to hook a fish. So about 11:22pm an Orchard Lake police car pulls up and I walk over to him and say,”I guess I have to leave, right?” He asked me if everything was okay. I said I kept getting bites. So he said I could stay a little longer and he would come back to lock up. So I then decided to go to a #4 hook as I was using a big 3/0 hook. Then I think it was about midnight when he came back, but he didn’t stop to talk with me and just drove off. So at about 12:20, I finally hooked one and as I was reeling it in I thought, do I have try to bring him up onto the pier or drag him to the end of the ramp and take him out that way. I decided on the pier and as I pulled him up out of the water he got off. Then I think it was almost 1:00am and I hooked another one so I dragged him to the end as close as being out of the water as he could be and was doing the final pull to throw him onto land and he got off. I was really really disappointed. But it was so late and I had to work in the morning so I left.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020: You know I had to go back to Cass Lake and Orchard Lake as I had a vendetta with these fish. But because of the boat traffic at Cass I started at the southern end of Cass at Marshbank Park. The traffic was worse there. There is a floating pier there and it was moving so much I was feeling nauseous and that has never happened. At about 8:00pm I was going to just toss a few more and I reached into my tackle bag and bam, it happened, I got a hook embedded in my right index finger. I tried using my pliers to pull it out without success. It was one prong on a trident hook. I asked a man who was there with his son for help but there wasn’t much he could do. His son did have wire cutters so he was able to cut the ring that held another trident hook so at least I didn’t have to worry about that as I drove to urgent care. It didn’t hurt; I was more worried about it hurting at urgent care when they were taking it out. But that didn’t hurt either. It was just the needle that hurt when they injected the numbing crap. I did keep my eyes closed while they were extracting the hook lol. A guy at work told me that they push the tip of the hook through and snip it off then pull it out. It sounded like that’s what they did. So I was done fishing for the night, duh, lol.

Thursday, June 18, 2020: It was still on with these fish at Cass and Orchard Lakes. Went to Cass first and again the boat traffic was pretty bad. I first tried a rubber toad with a wiggly end and I thought I had a small hit in some dense weeds but I wasn’t sure. Then I put on the ‘creature hawg’ and cast in the same area and definitely had a hit. But it must’ve moved off as I cast there several more times and got nothing. Got to the boat launch area about 9:40pm. Finally was able to cast in the right spot at almost 10:00pm and got the good tug but I didn’t want to piss off the DNR again so I left after the last boat left. Went down to Orchard Lake and there were 2 boats at the one pier so I was able to fish from the same pier I had fished from on Tuesday night. First cast, I get the tug! I was now using a small circular hook that I found at Cass Lake. I think it was like a #2 maybe. Couldn’t hook it. Then about 10:35 one more boat comes in. While the one guy was getting the trailer the other guy was talking in general about fishing and I had to stop him as I got another tug and had for a few seconds. After they left, I brought one up to the surface but he got off. I was really getting discouraged that I would ever land one using this creature hawg. But I think it was about 11:05pm and I had one on and seriously pulled up on that sucker as high as I could. I reeled him in fast and pulled him out onto the pier. FINALLY!! I was hoping to catch a 22” for master angler, but it was only 18”. But I was totally satisfied that I was able to bring one in on this lure. As I was walking to my car to measure him the police came to lock up and it wasn’t the same guy as Tuesday night :-(. So I measured him and did the photo op and left. But I was certainly a happy camper to say the least 

More to come...stay tuned.


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## retired dundo

Glad your okay.(Enjoy your post more than any other one.You work so hard at it.And so happy just to fish and if you catch a couple your happy of you don’t catch any you still seem happy just to be able to fish.I know a lot of people if they don’t get there limit or a bunch they act like they had a bad time.My dad allways said if your going to be mad when you don’t catch a bunch or get something when hunting find a different hobby because you will be mad a lot


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## Steve

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 546483
> View attachment 546485
> View attachment 546487
> View attachment 546489
> Okay, I’ve been putting it off way too long, I know lol. But I’ve been fishing my butt off while I was on furlough and didn’t even have time to write about it. Especially when I got the call on June 3 that I had to go back on June 8. I stayed up all night twice during those last 5 days. But let me start with the past 3 days that I fished after work.
> 
> Tuesday, June 16, 2020: I went to Dodge Park #4 on Cass Lake. Not a great idea as the boat traffic was horrendous despite it being a week day. I was hoping the traffic would slow down so that I could cast out at the boat launch as that was where I caught a bass last Fall. It was about 9:30pm when I was able to get over there (the park closes at 10, of course). When I was finally able to cast to the spot where I caught one last Fall, I got the tug! I was using the ‘creature hawg’ that I had used at the condo clubhouse last fall on which I had interest, but never hooked one on it. Then the DNR was at the boat launch harassing the boaters that came in late. So as long as they were still there I kept fishing. Kept getting the tugs but I couldn’t hook a fish. I was getting really upset. So I left about 10:30 and recalled that there is a DNR boat launch south of Cass Lake on Orchard Lake so I decided to stop there if it were open. It was open, until 11:00pm. There were no boats coming in so on the 3rd or 4th cast I had the tug!! I was so thrilled that the same lure was working in a different lake! So I was having the same issue of not being able to hook a fish. So about 11:22pm an Orchard Lake police car pulls up and I walk over to him and say,”I guess I have to leave, right?” He asked me if everything was okay. I said I kept getting bites. So he said I could stay a little longer and he would come back to lock up. So I then decided to go to a #4 hook as I was using a big 3/0 hook. Then I think it was about midnight when he came back, but he didn’t stop to talk with me and just drove off. So at about 12:20, I finally hooked one and as I was reeling it in I thought, do I have try to bring him up onto the pier or drag him to the end of the ramp and take him out that way. I decided on the pier and as I pulled him up out of the water he got off. Then I think it was almost 1:00am and I hooked another one so I dragged him to the end as close as being out of the water as he could be and was doing the final pull to throw him onto land and he got off. I was really really disappointed. But it was so late and I had to work in the morning so I left.
> 
> Wednesday, June 17, 2020: You know I had to go back to Cass Lake and Orchard Lake as I had a vendetta with these fish. But because of the boat traffic at Cass I started at the southern end of Cass at Marshbank Park. The traffic was worse there. There is a floating pier there and it was moving so much I was feeling nauseous and that has never happened. At about 8:00pm I was going to just toss a few more and I reached into my tackle bag and bam, it happened, I got a hook embedded in my right index finger. I tried using my pliers to pull it out without success. It was one prong on a trident hook. I asked a man who was there with his son for help but there wasn’t much he could do. His son did have wire cutters so he was able to cut the ring that held another trident hook so at least I didn’t have to worry about that as I drove to urgent care. It didn’t hurt; I was more worried about it hurting at urgent care when they were taking it out. But that didn’t hurt either. It was just the needle that hurt when they injected the numbing crap. I did keep my eyes closed while they were extracting the hook lol. A guy at work told me that they push the tip of the hook through and snip it off then pull it out. It sounded like that’s what they did. So I was done fishing for the night, duh, lol.
> 
> Thursday, June 18, 2020: It was still on with these fish at Cass and Orchard Lakes. Went to Cass first and again the boat traffic was pretty bad. I first tried a rubber toad with a wiggly end and I thought I had a small hit in some dense weeds but I wasn’t sure. Then I put on the ‘creature hawg’ and cast in the same area and definitely had a hit. But it must’ve moved off as I cast there several more times and got nothing. Got to the boat launch area about 9:40pm. Finally was able to cast in the right spot at almost 10:00pm and got the good tug but I didn’t want to piss off the DNR again so I left after the last boat left. Went down to Orchard Lake and there were 2 boats at the one pier so I was able to fish from the same pier I had fished from on Tuesday night. First cast, I get the tug! I was now using a small circular hook that I found at Cass Lake. I think it was like a #2 maybe. Couldn’t hook it. Then about 10:35 one more boat comes in. While the one guy was getting the trailer the other guy was talking in general about fishing and I had to stop him as I got another tug and had for a few seconds. After they left, I brought one up to the surface but he got off. I was really getting discouraged that I would ever land one using this creature hawg. But I think it was about 11:05pm and I had one on and seriously pulled up on that sucker as high as I could. I reeled him in fast and pulled him out onto the pier. FINALLY!! I was hoping to catch a 22” for master angler, but it was only 18”. But I was totally satisfied that I was able to bring one in on this lure. As I was walking to my car to measure him the police came to lock up and it wasn’t the same guy as Tuesday night :-(. So I measured him and did the photo op and left. But I was certainly a happy camper to say the least
> 
> More to come...stay tuned.
> View attachment 546481


Great stuff. Glad to hear you are OK.


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## 6Speed

Good catch up Gal, I figured you were out there tearing em up.

Don't worry about the hook thing, it happens to all of us at one time or another!


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - June 20, 2020: Decided to try a new place today; an Oakland County Park, Independence Oaks in Clarkston. It was a very pretty lake. I had a little faux pas after I bought minnows in Milford at Holdens I googled Independence Lake and wound up in Washtenaw County instead of Oakland. When I pulled in and it showed the rates for Washtenaw County residents, I knew something was wrong. So I told the attendant I think I’m at the wrong lake so I turned around and then googled Independence Oaks and sure enough I was in the wrong place &&$&$,???!!#<>~#. So it took me longer to get to my destination of course.

But my first cast with a live minnow at almost 3:00pm didn’t disappoint too much lol. Caught a 15” bass. Then a small perch about 20 mins later, another perch, then a bass at about 4:00, only 14”, a bullhead catfish at 4:07, then a small 13” bass at about 5:00pm. Then it pretty much died after that. I think it was about 8:00pm when I decided to try the ‘creature hawg’ and I think I had a bite on it, but only once. The park closed at 9:00pm (which is ridiculous because you know how the fish start biting when the sun goes down). But it was still worth the trip out there. 

More to come...stay tuned!


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - June 21, 2020: Today I decided to go to Spring Mill Pond even though the DNR website still shows they have not stocked it yet with any trout. I did not buy minnows today, just used some worms I already had. Today was going to be a short day as my daughter was coming over to have dinner with her dad for Father’s Day. 

My first cast using a drop shot yielded a small bass at close to noon. I was in ‘my spot’ but after about an hour it was way too hot so I moved to a spot that has some nice shade. But the only thing I could catch were bluegills. At about 4:00pm I moved to another spot, casting through the tall grass using a fake minnow and something kept biting on it. Took about 45 mins but then hooked a rock bass. Cast a few more times and didn’t get anything and it was time to leave anyhow. 

Went to Holden’s Deli hoping they still had some of their fried chicken as I kid you not it is one of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. They also have Mac and cheese that I never tried so I bought some of that as well and it did not disappoint and a side of cole slaw. One of the best doggone dinners ever! And root beer floats for dessert! 

More to come...stay tuned!


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## wpmisport

retired dundo said:


> My dad allways said if your going to be mad when you don’t catch a bunch or get something when hunting find a different hobby because you will be mad a lot


That sound a lot like the way some people play golf. Just not happy if they are not cursing and throwing clubs.


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## FisherGal60

Monday - June 22, 2020: Went to Cass Lake after work. The boat traffic was finally way done compared to the past two weeks. I started at a different spot than I normally fish at as there was shade. Some people were leaving the spot and said they only caught some little pan fish. I had stopped to get minnows and got them for free since the guy didn’t have hardly any left. I did buy leeches though. Well, I had no luck whatsoever at the spot after trying the minnows, the leeches and the creature hawg so I moved to my usual spot on the dock near the boat launch. It was about 8:30pm now. I used the Carolina rig with a bobber and a live minnow as last week one night after work I had used the same setup and had a hit on it. Within a minute something took it down. I hooked it and it was a freakin nice crappie! I’ve never caught a crappie at Cass Lake; it was 11”! Caught 2 more crappie, not as big but nice size before 9:30pm. But I wanted to try the boat launch again before the park closed at 10:00pm. I had a tug on the creature hawg but wouldn’t you know it a dang boat was coming in on the side where I get the hits. Didn’t get anymore hits after that as it was 10:00pm anyhow. 

So what did I do next? Went to the DNR boat launch on Orchard Lake that is open until 11:00pm lol. By the time I got there had about 40 mins to fish. So I cast in my usual spot and had the tug and he started to run with it but I couldn’t hook him. Cast several more times in that spot and nothing. So I cast to the left a bit and had a tug, but nothing. 

I didn’t have a timepiece on me but I knew it had to be getting close to 11:00pm so I cast in a spot way far to the left that I had never cast to before...and BAM!!! As soon as that creature hawg dropped down he hit it and ran with it!! Dang...those are the best kind of catches ever!! So I’m reeling it and he’s coming to the surface at a good 15 or 20 feet out and I’m like Nooooo! Not yet!!! So I’m reeling kind of fast to try to keep him under the water until he gets closer to the boat pier. I get him to the pier and I risked pulling him up onto the pier without grabbing the line first and got him!! Picked him up and walked to my car for a measurement and photo op lol. He was almost 18” (still trying for that 22” master angler one lol). As I was taking pics I couldn’t find the creature hawg so I don’t know if he swallowed it or it just came off during the struggle. And as I got to my car the Orchard Lake police arrived and he did say it was a nice catch lol. 

More to come... stay tuned!


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## retired dundo

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 547731
> View attachment 547729
> View attachment 547727
> View attachment 547725
> Monday - June 22, 2020: Went to Cass Lake after work. The boat traffic was finally way done compared to the past two weeks. I started at a different spot than I normally fish at as there was shade. Some people were leaving the spot and said they only caught some little pan fish. I had stopped to get minnows and got them for free since the guy didn’t have hardly any left. I did buy leeches though. Well, I had no luck whatsoever at the spot after trying the minnows, the leeches and the creature hawg so I moved to my usual spot on the dock near the boat launch. It was about 8:30pm now. I used the Carolina rig with a bobber and a live minnow as last week one night after work I had used the same setup and had a hit on it. Within a minute something took it down. I hooked it and it was a freakin nice crappie! I’ve never caught a crappie at Cass Lake; it was 11”! Caught 2 more crappie, not as big but nice size before 9:30pm. But I wanted to try the boat launch again before the park closed at 10:00pm. I had a tug on the creature hawg but wouldn’t you know it a dang boat was coming in on the side where I get the hits. Didn’t get anymore hits after that as it was 10:00pm anyhow.
> 
> So what did I do next? Went to the DNR boat launch on Orchard Lake that is open until 11:00pm lol. By the time I got there had about 40 mins to fish. So I cast in my usual spot and had the tug and he started to run with it but I couldn’t hook him. Cast several more times in that spot and nothing. So I cast to the left a bit and had a tug, but nothing.
> 
> I didn’t have a timepiece on me but I knew it had to be getting close to 11:00pm so I cast in a spot way far to the left that I had never cast to before...and BAM!!! As soon as that creature hawg dropped down he hit it and ran with it!! Dang...those are the best kind of catches ever!! So I’m reeling it and he’s coming to the surface at a good 15 or 20 feet out and I’m like Nooooo! Not yet!!! So I’m reeling kind of fast to try to keep him under the water until he gets closer to the boat pier. I get him to the pier and I risked pulling him up onto the pier without grabbing the line first and got him!! Picked him up and walked to my car for a measurement and photo op lol. He was almost 18” (still trying for that 22” master angler one lol). As I was taking pics I couldn’t find the creature hawg so I don’t know if he swallowed it or it just came off during the struggle. And as I got to my car the Orchard Lake police arrived and he did say it was a nice catch lol.
> 
> More to come... stay tuned!


Sounds like you had a fun couple e days.P.S bullheads are real good


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## FisherGal60

ARE YOU READY??

HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS! THE BEST 2 DAYS OF FISHING ARE COMING YOUR WAY!!!

Wednesday - June 3, 2020: So I get the CALL...to return to work June 8. A mania overcame me. I had no control over the next five days. After the call I headed directly to Lake Erie Metropark Marina.

I arrived at the pier at about 3:00pm which was a good time because the morning people were long gone and the late day people had not arrived yet. It’s been very busy at this dock with so many people off from work. So not too much was going on. At about 6:00pm a guy at the other end of the dock catches a nice pike. So I immediately throw on a new silver streak spoon I had. Within a few minutes I had a hit...a BIG hit! I’m reeling it in (it wasn’t too far out which was lucky for me lol.) Someone came over with a net and helped me bring it in. It was my biggest catch so far! A mother bleepin 32” northern pike!!! Weighed in at 7.29 lbs!! Biggest catch yet in my short fishing career! I still get a rush when I think about catching it. 

Nothing after that. So when the marina closed at 10:00pm I went to Hull’s Trace down the road. It’s a 24 hour boat launch area with ample dock space for fishing. The gar were everywhere even though I couldn’t hook one. I only caught a bullhead catfish, all night. Went back to the marina in the AM.

More to come... stay tuned!


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## maddiedog

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 547773
> View attachment 547777
> View attachment 547775
> View attachment 547771
> View attachment 547769
> ARE YOU READY??
> 
> HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS! THE BEST 2 DAYS OF FISHING ARE COMING YOUR WAY!!!
> 
> Wednesday - June 3, 2020: So I get the CALL...to return to work June 8. A mania overcame me. I had no control over the next five days. After the call I headed directly to Lake Erie Metropark Marina.
> 
> I arrived at the pier at about 3:00pm which was a good time because the morning people were long gone and the late day people had not arrived yet. It’s been very busy at this dock with so many people off from work. So not too much was going on. At about 6:00pm a guy at the other end of the dock catches a nice pike. So I immediately throw on a new silver streak spoon I had. Within a few minutes I had a hit...a BIG hit! I’m reeling it in (it wasn’t too far out which was lucky for me lol.) Someone came over with a net and helped me bring it in. It was my biggest catch so far! A mother bleepin 32” northern pike!!! Weighed in at 7.29 lbs!! Biggest catch yet in my short fishing career! I still get a rush when I think about catching it.
> 
> Nothing after that. So when the marina closed at 10:00pm I went to Hull’s Trace down the road. It’s a 24 hour boat launch area with ample dock space for fishing. The gar were everywhere even though I couldn’t hook one. I only caught a bullhead catfish, all night. Went back to the marina in the AM.
> 
> More to come... stay tuned!


Best eating fish out there!

Sent from my SM-A515U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## FisherGal60

P.S. on June 3, 2020: Forgot to mention the 22” channel catfish I caught at about 8:00pm. The best I did last year was a 21”.


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## 6Speed

Great posts!


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## FisherGal60

Thursday - June 4, 2020: So after I was kicked out of the marina at 10:00pm on Wednesday night, I went down the road to Hull’s Trace, a 24 hour boat launch. Of course the spots closest to the boat launch were taken so I fished to the left of the boat launch as I could hear fish breaching out that way. Couldn’t catch anything out there so I tried close to the pier and caught a bullhead; not my favorite fish to catch lol. Then later there were these fish coming to the surface. I couldn’t tell what they were but I couldn’t get them to bite as I think they were spawning. Some guy, who was harmless but turned out to be a “drinker” traded me a piece of jewelry for some money to get beer (this was about 1:45am). I knew it was probably a bad trade but I was hoping he would just go buy his booze and not come back as he talked a lot. But he came back with some old bottles of booze he had at home because he got to the store too late to buy beer. Some of the bottles had turned hard and were sour as they were old. I had a couple sips of some wine but that was it as I don’t like to fish in an impaired state lol. 

So I think it was about 4:00 am when enough people left the boat launch so I could fish there. And there were tons of fish coming to the surface and I still wasn’t sure what they were and couldn’t catch any. Then my plan was to leave no later than 5:30am as I wanted to get back to the marina for the sunrise. And it was a most beautiful sunrise indeed!! I setup in my usual spot at the far left corner as you can fish out deep with your sinkers and fish to the far left that is rocky and close to shore. Nothing much was happening; just a few little perch. 

At about 11:00am I could hardly keep my eyes open so I went to my car and took a nap until 1:00pm. One of the ‘regular’ guys was there next to me so he kept his eye on my gear. 

Then at 3:00pm the magic started to happen. I had 2 lines out with sinkers and one I was just casting out for fun with a perch minnow on it. So I’m reeling in the ‘fun’ line and get a hit. Got a silver bass. And as I got him on deck one of my sinker lines is getting hit. So I drop the rod with the silver bass on it and I reel in a 28” pike that I netted and as soon as I got him on deck, the third line is getting hit. It was another silver bass. I never had hits on all three lines like that before lol. So after that I went to 1 sinker and 1 for fun line.

At about 4:15 minutes get a hit on the sinker. Boy was I surprised when I got it in. It was a 28” longnose gar (never caught one of those before). Then about an hour later had another hit on the sinker and it was another longnose gar. This one was almost 30” and of course it has to be 32” for master angler lol. So I kept trying for a while to get another one, but no luck. Went home and got some real sleep so I could fish the next day.

The next morning at about 7:30 I laid out the 2 pike and 2 gars to take some pics as they had been on ice in the cooler in my car. The gar looked so cool I was thinking of mounting them myself but I googled how to do that and it would’ve taken some time and I wanted to get back out to fish. Unfortunately, I don’t have a big freezer to keep them in so I had to dispose of them :-( 

So this is a tough call. Was the first silver bass run THE most fantastic day this Spring or was it these past 2 days where catching a 32” and 28” pike and 2 substantial longnose gar occurred? I think it’s gotta be catching that 32” pike that is certainly THE highlight of my Spring fishing 

More to come... stay tuned!


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## 6Speed

I feel that 30# salmon is s coming soon.....


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## retired dundo

Great report


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## stickman1978

Sounds like you are becoming a legend.


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - August 18, 2020 & Wednesday - August 19, 2020:
So Tuesday and Wednesday were not the greatest fishing. I went to Hubbell dam both nights. They have the area on the left side of the dam blocked off with fences so you can’t fish down into where the dam comes in. But some boys climbed over the fence to fish there on Tuesday night and at about 8:30 PM one of the boys caught a 31 inch pike. I was down below the dam fishing which unfortunately is blocked with pylons and metal wire going across so you can’t even cast into the spillway. It was very weedy beyond the spillway as well. And on Tuesday night before I left I tried fishing the top side of the dam. Had no luck there either. Well on Tuesday I did catch a small largemouth bass maybe about 11 inches. 

And Wednesday night I caught nothing. It’s a pretty little place. And of course on Tuesday night I find out that it doesn’t close. So I overstayed on Tuesday night until about 1 AM. And then on Wednesday I did try to go to Kensington but that was very weedy at every location I went to there. So I decided to go back to the Hubbell dam. But with no luck.


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - August 22, 2020 & Sunday - August 23, 2020:
So I decided to go back to Grand Haven on Saturday and then stop at Portland. But I got a late start because I had a stomach flu or something. And I had to make sure that I could keep something down before I left. So I left about 1:30 PM. I got to Grand Haven at about 4:30pm and there were quite a few people fishing along the railing. I think most of them left at about 6 PM. Then about 8 PM or so quite a few people came down and went out on the concrete pier to fish. I decided to stay at the railing because I wasn’t confident enough to go on the pier yet.

Of course I caught a couple gobies. But then nothing the rest of the night. The highlight of the evening was a huge freighter. It must have been as long as a football field. And when it came through it displaced my lines from where they were sitting because of the mass of the ship.

So as some people were leaving the concrete pier and walking back I asked them how they did and everyone just said there was one guy who caught a catfish and nobody caught anything. And one group of people were a little disappointed and said they drove two hours as they were from Pottersville. Then when I finally left at about 5 AM I got to my car and the last group of people from the pier also were coming back and got to their car and they were the people that caught the cat fish and nothing else. They were disappointed as well because they said they came from two hours away and they came from Lansing. One of the guys in the group was really chatty but it was good information as he was talking about what to use for steelhead. So it was a good conversation but it set me back from getting to Portland earlier. I wanted to get there by six or 6:30 but I didn’t get there until seven. 

And there wasn’t much biting by the time I got there. I caught one smallmouth at about 8 AM and then caught another smallmouth at about 10 AM. Then I decided to get ready to go wade in the river. And as I was walking to the spot where the tree was to cross there were four people walking by. They were going to cross also. It was three young men and their mother. She wasn’t as old as I was and she was having trouble walking and navigating through those rocks. So I decided not to cross the river because there are many rocks and I just didn’t want to take the chance of twisting my ankle or my leg trying to cross that river on my own. But I did stand in the river and fish and it was really cool. I caught a rock bass and a little sucker fish while I was fishing in the river. And as I moved back closer to shore but still in the river these little fish were kissing my ankles LOL. I know they were probably attacking me but I’m going to go with they were kissing my ankles.

Then there was this dude fishing from the corner of the island into the spillway and I don’t know why I never thought to do that. I’ve been there so many times and I just never thought to cast in there when I know that often there are pretty big fish in the spillway. So he pulled out probably about at least a 16 inch smallmouth. But he stayed a long time. I wanted to get my shot in there but I think he left about 4:30pm or 5 o’clock. But I cast in there and I used some shrimp that I had bought for Grand Haven. And I caught one that maybe was 14 inches on shrimp. I was getting a lot of bites on it but I only landed one. And that was about it. No new fishes today no red horse suckers and caught about 6 or 7 smallmouth.

But how do I explain this, the day felt long and I mean that in a good way. I mean most of the time when I fish I always feels like there’s not enough time. That when it’s time for me to leave I feel like I didn’t get enough done. But yesterday was a good long day of fishing; I felt satisfied and content. And I think it’s because I just fished with the worms and the shrimp and did not knock myself out trying all these different things to catch a fish. If I lived closer to the Portland dam, I would definitely be going there every day after work LOL.


So as always there will be more to come... so stay tuned!


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## FisherGal60

Tuesday - August 25, 2020 & Wednesday - August 26, 2020:
So Tuesday night I went to the Nankin Dam to fish. First cast into the spillway and got snagged. Hooked up with a lighter weight and got nothing so I moved downstream. Caught a few teeny bluegill and one teeny bass. Tried the spillway later with a bobber and nothing. 
Wednesday - Decided to give Newburgh Lake a try at west end at Sumac Point. Haven’t fished in the location in a very long time. Was very weedy of course so used a bobber and crawlers. Was in one spot most of the evening only catching bluegill then moved a little more west at about 8:00pm. Caught one or two more bluegill and then BAM...finally caught a friggin bass! I know I haven’t really been trying for bass with all the river and dam fishing I’ve been doing so it felt good to catch one again. And since I don’t fish at the clubhouse like I did last year I haven’t really been trying for bass either. But it was at least legal size, 14”. 

Taking Friday off from work and heading to Grand Haven again...so stay tuned!


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## retired dundo

Nice report you sure do put your time in


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## Waif

{First cast into the spillway and got snagged.}
Oh yes. Gotta sacrifice something right off the bat sometimes.

Great accounts Melody. You're observations are clear and logical , and you're really been through a lot of firsts discovered. Fun!

Your feeling content with a days fishing is/was a milestone. 

Congrats on getting out!


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## FisherGal60

I AM DONE FISHING FOR CARP!!!! (At least when I’m by myself lol). It’s August 29, 2020 and about 6:00am at the north side of the Grand Haven pier. So I’m throwing out crawlers on a sinker looking for that catfish that got away. I get a bite. It’s big and it’s heavy. Caught it on my Abu with braid so I wasn’t gonna play around with it. It was fighting and get it to the surface and it was a carp...a BIG carp. He pulled for a while taking the drag, but I pulled back. As I’m getting his head towards the net which was not an easy task as the water is very turbulent from the storms I realize this sucker may not even fit in the net!!! I finally had half his body in and I’m pulling the net straight up so I can grab onto the rim because this fish is so heavy. The dang thing was 34” and almost 16 lbs. Man was I shaking after catching that one. But it is master angler eligible, 30” is the minimum. 

When I tried to do a selfie with it, it bled all over my skirt and I don’t know why because the hook was in its bottom lip and there was no blood there. I happened to have long pants on under the skirt so I took it off and threw it in my net to rinse the blood off. It looked like I killed someone. So I’m not throwing out anymore crawlers lol. Using minnows right now lol. 

Back to it and more to come...so stay tuned!!


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## Jeffish74

Way to go on the whale of a fish. I very much enjoy reading your reports! If you try a small piece of dead fish or some shrimp the carp won’t touch it and the cats will not hesitate. 
I regularly fish the St Clair river and hope to hear you try it again. Walleye can be caught from shore after dark casting lead head jigs with a rubber minnow.


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## Waif

Wow , what a brute of a carp! Congrats.

GrandHaven when we hit it used to challenge us with guessing which pier to hit.
We'd try figuring the wind before leaving home , but being it was a fifty fifty chance of choosing the right pier , we often ended up switching after arrival. Or after trying one a while.
The wrong wind seemed to affect fish ,but when water is coming over the pier , it affected those doing the fishing too!
And it's not simply walking over to the other to switch , l.o.l..


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## waterwolf90

It was nice to meet you this morning Fishergal!
I had fun surfing today, got some good waves at GH state park.


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## stickman1978

Had fun as a youth battling them big carp on the Tawas River.


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## 6Speed

waterwolf90 said:


> It was nice to meet you this morning Fishergal!
> I had fun surfing today, got some good waves at GH state park.


Cool!!!!


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## FisherGal60

Friday, August 28, 2020: So the day was rainy all morning and I was bummed out because I had taken the day off from work to go fishing. So I ran some errands in the morning, ate some lunch, took a little nap and woke up at about 2 PM and the sun was out. So I looked at the weather reports and there was a little break now until about six 6 PM. So I decided to head out and made it to Grand Ledge at about 4:30 PM. The dam there is pretty awesome but very difficult to fish. There was an area level to the river but I would have had to climb down through some trees and I was worried about slipping and falling. I need to get some shoes that will grip really good I guess LOL. I did not catch anything in the rapid area so I went to the top side of the dam and I was getting some nibbles but I did not catch anything.

Now it’s about 7:30 PM and there are some clouds building and so I look at the weather report again and I see that it is no longer going to be storming in Grand Haven all night as it showed earlier. It was supposed to have scattered clouds by 11 PM or so and no rain the rest of the night. 

So I start driving out that way and occasionally on 96 there were a few showers but there was a heck of a big storm going on south of 96 and I just kept hoping it wasn’t going to come up north and impede my way to Grand Haven. So I got to Grand Haven about 11:45 PM and for a change it was just like they said, scattered clouds and the moon was out; it was warm and beautiful. Later I found out that Holland got really pounded with some bad storms.

So I got my first hit at about 4 AM. It was a 23 inch catfish. Then at about 4:30




























I caught a 25” carp weighing in at 8.25 lbs. Then you know what happened at 6:00am lol.


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## FisherGal60

Saturday - August 29, 2020: So as daylight arrived there were fish jumping but I couldn’t get a hit on anything; tried spoons, jointed jerkbaits, jig heads with grubs on them etc and nothing worked. At about 8:00am there were clouds to the west and bright sunshine towards the east but it was raining lightly on me in the sunny area and there was a beautiful rainbow over Lake Michigan. I think that’s about when waterwolf90 arrived after reading my post about the 34” carp. It was great to meet another avid sportsman!

At about 9:30am I caught a small sheepshead and then a dang gobie at about 1:00pm. The water was still pretty fierce after the storms from the day before and two teens were swept off the south pier as I watched the sheriff’s boat tear down the channel and a helicopter flying above. It only lasted about a half hour and the sheriff came back so I figured everything worked out okay (I looked online on Monday and the 2 teens were fine.)

So I left the pier about 6pm and went to a rest area to sleep. I think I got back at about 10pm. Put out a couple sinkers, one with shrimp and one with a crawler but nothing happened. It was a little cooler but not COLD and I had socks on and long pants and layers of sweaters and a hoody so I was good. I did fall asleep for a few hours though lol but it was great sleeping out in the open air near the water...can’t beat it. I don’t have any pics of the evening or the morning so I guess I didn’t catch anything lol...but stay tuned!!


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## FisherGal60

Sunday - August 30, 2020: So since I wasn’t catching anything around I decided to head to Portland at about 2pm. And as I was driving east on 104 I turn my head and saw some water to my right so I’m like I’m going to check that out. I drive down the side street and there is this little area with a bench and a railing and it’s called Tanglefoot Park. And I’m like I’ll just stop, take out my small rod, cast out there and see what might be biting. Started catching some small perch. That was cool, at least I was catching something. And while I was fishing a young girl showed up to fish. She was in her final year at Grand Valley for electrical engineering and she had just started fishing this summer. Her boyfriend introduced her to Fishing and she cannot stop LOL. So she asked me how to rig a weedless hook. She had a Yum worm and I put it on the hook for her and she caught her first bass on it. She was so excited and was glad I was there to see her catch it; I was glad as well. It’s always nice to make a good catch and there are others around to see it. Then I threw out a weedless worm and as I was bringing it in and it was near the top of the water a bass came out of nowhere and hit on it but I didn’t hook it. But I kept fishing there for a while longer and caught a rock bass before moving onto Portland.

I got to Portland about 6:30pm and started from the island so I could cast into the spillway; but didn’t get anything. Moved back to my usual spot on the little dock and as it got dark I see a friggin walleye swimming near the island. I’m like you gotta be kidding, I was just fishing from there. So I cast closer to the island and downstream hoping as I reel it back the dang walleye might bite on it, but nope. I actually did not catch anything for the first time in Portland. So I left about 10pm and was trying to drive home, but exhaustion got the best of me lol. I got to a rest area and turned the car off and the next thing I know it’s 5am. I didn’t even get the seat back or get my pillow out, I just crashed. But I still had time to drive home and get ready for work and make it to work on time. And when I walked into that building and put on the mask, I detested being there; I really need to change the duality of my life...so stay tuned.


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## Waif

Great accounts!

Fishing can be a / the needed balance sometimes. Knowing it always awaits can be good for one's health ,mindset sometimes. Cheaper that a cottage to think about visiting ,while visiting to little. In theory anyways. Depending on how overboard one gets with fishing.... 

And yes , that fresh air with the scent of water can help ya sleep. L.o.l..


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## 6Speed

Go Gal Go! Love reading your adventures. You're a hard core fishergal for sure.


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## FisherGal60

Monday - September 7, 2020: (This is out of order but I wanted to tell this story first lol.) I decided to go to Belle Isle; I have never fished from there. I texted my daughter to see what she was up to to see if she wanted to go and we could have a picnic lunch. I was pleasantly surprised as she agreed to go. She lives in Detroit so she was going to meet me there. Went to Joe’s Produce in Livonia to pick up some cantaloupe, a specialty salad (after all, an afternoon with my daughter is special) and some really tasty bean chips (pick di gallo flavor) and daughter was bringing turkey and provolone sandwiches. Went to Moe’s Bait Shop and got some minnows, then to Belle Isle.

After looking at the map of Belle Isle I chose the area to the right of the Detroit Yacht Club. It was cement with a railing and benches rather than fish from one the piers that juts out into the water. So I throw out a sinker with a piece of shrimp and I’m working on another line and my daughter says,”Mom, mom, you got a bite!” So I told her to pick it up. It was a big fish lol. So I had my daughter get the net (she’s never manned a net before lol). So a dude a little further down from us came over to help out. It was a 21” sheepshead. Not huge but they still put up a good fight. So I cast out the same thing again, sinker with shrimp and after a little while get another bite. This time my daughter manned the net by herself lol. It was another sheepshead, 25”, 8lbs (same as the largest sheepshead I caught at Lake Erie in the spring.)

So then I was tired of catching sheepshead lol and stopped using shrimp; switched to crawlers and minnows. In the mean time I was catching some very tiny fish. Caught a perch, a baby flathead catfish and something else that I don’t know what it was, but it was shiny. So I replace a store bought minnow with the shiny fish. I saw some activity on the line and when I reeled it back in the lower third of the shiny fish was bitten off. I have no clue as to what was eating on it.

So I think it’s about 6 or 6:30pm and my daughter leaves and I’m just casting a spoon now as it’s getting later. So there were a man and a woman just about in the center of the pier and they were catching some bass so I head over that way since there’s no one else to the left of them. Just me and my spoon lol. I’m just walking down the pier and casting and get to the opening of the channel to the marina for the Detroit Yacht Club and cast there; but it was too weedy so I start walking back to the center of the pier, casting as I went along and just as I reached a small turn I could see my gold and red spoon in the water and suddenly a big green body chasing it. But I was already in retrieving it mode as it was really close to the surface so I didn’t get it.

So I cast a several more times in the same area and on one of the casts I let it go deeper and BAM I got him; well for a few seconds. I was pulling up making sure the hook was really set and before I knew it the line broke. It broke right where the barrel swivel snap goes on which is tied directly to your line so you can change lures. I’ve been really good at checking my sinker lines because I’ve been catching so many heavy fish I check to make sure everything is tied securely. But I don’t remember when I checked this line and I was going to respool this reel (even though I just did it 3 weeks ago) because I’d been using it to river fish and when it snagged I would pull it to break it and I know that can weaken the strength so it’s my fault he got away. So then I tried some other spoons and some other lures but no bites. I imagine he wasn’t very happy with the hook from the spoon probably still in his mouth. I was so angry with myself...but there will be more to come...so stay tuned!!


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## Waif

Wow you were right amongst fish again!
Congrats on the mix.

A knot is often a/the weak link.
Not saying it will help much if your line is in poor condition , but wetting a loose monofilament knot before tightening helps prevent "burn" as it is snugged up.


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## Jeffish74

Big and green will most likely be Muskie or northern pike especially given the location to lake St Clair. Both fish have lots of sharp teeth that easily cut through mono and braid. Some prefer to use a “steel leader” when casting lures in this area.
https://www.fishusa.com/Terminator-PreRigged-Braided-Titanium-Leaders
Thanks again for your reports!


----------



## retired dundo

Great reports I could never keep up with you in the amount of time you put in


----------



## 6Speed

Shhhh...she's probably up north salmon fishing....


----------



## FisherGal60

6Speed said:


> Shhhh...she's probably up north salmon fishing....


Shhh....I can’t tell you yet...soon, very soon


----------



## retired dundo

6Speed said:


> Go Gal Go! Love reading your adventures. You're a hard core fishergal for sure.


Have you ever known anyone that loves fishing as much as fishinggal Iam 75 and I never have


----------



## FisherGal60

Where to start lol. I guess the beginning would be a good place. It has definitely been a long haul to say the least. I could definitely write a short novella about my quest for salmon. 

It all started when I was reading the master angler records from 2019 and noticed that the largest salmon of the year were caught from Lake Michigan in August. And at the same time there was a post of a woman catching a steelhead from the pier in Grand Haven the last weekend in July. So I decided that’s where I would start my quest and set up shop so to speak. But before I get into that here are a list of the places I went 11 weekends in a row:

August 8 - Moore’s park dam Lansing
August 9 - Portland dam
August 14 - Grand Haven
August 15 - Grand Haven & Portland 
August 16 - Portland 
August 22 - Grand Haven
August 23 - Grand Haven & Portland 
August 28 - Grand Ledge & Grand Haven
August 29 & 30 - Grand Haven (with evening stop at Portland on the way home on the 30th)
September 5 - Portland & Grand Haven
September 6 - Grand Haven
September 7 - Belle Isle
September 11 - Portland (went after work)
September 12 & 13 - Portland 
September 14 - Portland (called in sick)
September 19 & 20 - Portland 
September 25, 26 & 27 - Portland (prairie creek)
October 2 - Portland (went after work)
October 3 ,4 & 5 - Portland 
October 9 - Portland (went after work)
October 10 & 11 - Portland (prairie creek on 11th)
October 17 - Portland 

Before I set out I read as much as I could online about fishing for salmon. The most appealing method to me was bead fishing so I purchased a good variety of beads, weights, hooks and floats. As time went on and after meeting and talking with local fishermen at the various sites I visited I added spoons, inline spinners and thunder sticks to my arsenal. And finally near the end of the 11 weeks added yarn, yarn balls ( that I made with the yarn) and spawn.

So August 8, 2020, I arrived at Moore’s Park dam about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Unfortunately the right side of the dam walkway where the spillway is located was blocked off due to construction on the dam. That was where I caught a pretty nice sized channel catfish last year. But it wasn’t a total bust at Moore’s; caught a few smallmouth in the early evening, only about 12 or 13 inches and got snagged a lot as well :-( At about 1:00am I decided to go to Portland. I was fishing for a while when a young couple arrived. They went to the island area and the young man said there were lots of fish just in front of him. But between the three of us, we couldn’t get them to bite, all night, as the couple stayed all night as well. It wasn’t until just before dawn that they started to bite and they were small smallmouths. I’ll tell ya there’s nothing like sleeping in the outdoors lol. When I’m out all night the, the most difficult time for me is between 3:00 and 5:00am especially when nothing is biting lol. But I’ll put a line out, thread it through the arm of my folding chair and doze for a while (weather permitting). It’s very serene.

Anyhow, no big story on this weekend but there’s more to come... so stay tuned!


----------



## 6Speed

That's quite a list!!!


----------



## retired dundo

6Speed said:


> That's quite a list!!!


It sure is amazing what she does


----------



## FisherGal60

It seems like I’ve been away forever but here’s the quest for coho rundown: 

As you know from my previous post I spent many weekends heading west in search of salmon and tried a multitude of ways to attempt to catch them, all because I got the notion in my head that they could be caught from shore in Lake Michigan. I have learned soooo much during the three months of trying so it wasn’t a total waste of time and effort. And I was pretty lucky with the weather as well that sleeping outside under the stars and the moon on clear summer nights was spectacular!

When I was in Portland in about mid September, there was another area, the Webber Dam, where folks were starting to catch salmon but everyone who went there would stop at Portland and say how crowded it was and I did not want any part of that. And of course the 6th Street dam in Grand Rapids was productive but all I heard from others who had been there were horror stories of fighting so I wasn’t going near there. So one local guy in Portland who had been talking with me each weekend I was there, said that he had a log from last year and the salmon arrived at the Portland Dam the first weekend in October. So that’s what I was hoping for; I wanted to catch my first salmon in Portland.

Here’s a little side story: I bought a pair of waders and the first weekend I used them they felt really good like I felt I could stand firmly in the water as opposed to when I went in the water with just water shoes but I still wasn’t confident enough to cross the river on my own. So one weekend I’m in my waders and I’m near the wall that then turns to go into the spillway so that I can cast into the spillway. At about 8:30pm there was no one there so I think it was about 9:00pm I decide to get out of the water and as I turned to left and place my right foot down there was nothing there and my leg was swept out from under me in a current; and down I went. I was like OMG I have to keep my head above the water or that’ll be the end. So somehow I was able to grab onto a rock under the water and pull myself out of the current. Like I said no one was there so I walked up to my car and got out of the wet clothes (always have a change in the car) as it was a bit cool, probably about 50. And so I hear something and I look back towards the dam and I see a dog and I know he belongs to the guy that talks a lot with me, but I didn’t see the guy. He had been at the dam earlier so he knew I was there fishing. I go back to my car and a few minutes later he walks up and says, “I see you went for a swim.” HA HA! So then he says he was at the top of the stairs and didn’t see me but then it looked like the Loch Ness monster coming out of the water; I did think that was kind of funny. And then we talked about the incident and he said that if I had died we would’ve had a funeral at the dam, which I thought was quite funny. Ya see, I met a lot of people in Portland who come







to the dam regularly and it was funny to think of them showing up to the dam for my funeral lol. Anyhow, a big lesson learned either get a life vest or don’t go in the river when there’s no one around. I did not use my waders after that. Oh and by the way the guy was kind enough to take my wet clothes home with him and wash and dry them for me.

So now we’re in the first weekend of October, October 4th to be exact and it’s about 7:30am and I’m casting and casting my chartreuse and silver spoon over and over again trying to get it as close to the wall that leads to the spillway as possible. I usually can cast for about 30mins before my arm and wrist need a break. So I take a break and then back to it. Finally at 8:30am it was fish on. So now I’m like just because I hooked it doesn’t mean I have it yet. Opened the drag a bit more as he was trying to run. But I didn’t give him too much leeway. Finally got him close to shore and someone netted him. He was 28”. So I caught him on a 6.5ft Ugly Stik using 15lb Pline fluorocarbon on a spoon. Some people asked me how was the fight and honestly after catching that 16lb carp at Grand Haven, this fish didn’t seem difficult compared to that.

It is said that salmon are the fish of 1,000 casts and I probably did at least that many. Then I was wondering if it took 1,000 casts to catch this one, will it take another 1,000 to catch a second one because I don’t think I had another 1,000 casts left in me. But it didn’t take that many lol. I returned to Portland the following weekend and caught another one on October 10 (it was a smaller one, about 23”) using the same setup and casting in the exact same spot I caught the first one.

But these fish are seriously difficult to catch. They will be a bunch of them swimming to get to the fish ladder and they just won’t bite. Spawning is all they are driven too. So I know the next fish that comes in after the salmon are steelhead so I went one weekend to Portland to try for them but again it was nighttime, which is supposed to be a good time to catch them and we could see them in the water swimming to the fish ladder but no bites. And since it was now late October it wasn’t as warm to even be sleeping in my car lol.

The weird thing was that catching my first salmon was bittersweet. Yes, I was ecstatic that all the time and effort I put into it paid off, but at the same time I felt an emptiness I can’t explain. And as I was driving home the waterworks turned on and I realized my time in Portland was coming to an end and I was going to miss the people and camaraderie I experienced there. The same thing happened in the Spring when I was on furlough and fished at Lake Erie. I think I may have said this before that fishing alone for the most part is what I like but maybe this pandemic has gotten me in touch with my mortality and getting to know others is worth the effort.


----------



## Waif

FisherGal60 said:


> View attachment 613549
> View attachment 613545
> View attachment 613547
> View attachment 613541
> It seems like I’ve been away forever but here’s the quest for coho rundown:
> 
> As you know from my previous post I spent many weekends heading west in search of salmon and tried a multitude of ways to attempt to catch them, all because I got the notion in my head that they could be caught from shore in Lake Michigan. I have learned soooo much during the three months of trying so it wasn’t a total waste of time and effort. And I was pretty lucky with the weather as well that sleeping outside under the stars and the moon on clear summer nights was spectacular!
> 
> When I was in Portland in about mid September, there was another area, the Webber Dam, where folks were starting to catch salmon but everyone who went there would stop at Portland and say how crowded it was and I did not want any part of that. And of course the 6th Street dam in Grand Rapids was productive but all I heard from others who had been there were horror stories of fighting so I wasn’t going near there. So one local guy in Portland who had been talking with me each weekend I was there, said that he had a log from last year and the salmon arrived at the Portland Dam the first weekend in October. So that’s what I was hoping for; I wanted to catch my first salmon in Portland.
> 
> Here’s a little side story: I bought a pair of waders and the first weekend I used them they felt really good like I felt I could stand firmly in the water as opposed to when I went in the water with just water shoes but I still wasn’t confident enough to cross the river on my own. So one weekend I’m in my waders and I’m near the wall that then turns to go into the spillway so that I can cast into the spillway. At about 8:30pm there was no one there so I think it was about 9:00pm I decide to get out of the water and as I turned to left and place my right foot down there was nothing there and my leg was swept out from under me in a current; and down I went. I was like OMG I have to keep my head above the water or that’ll be the end. So somehow I was able to grab onto a rock under the water and pull myself out of the current. Like I said no one was there so I walked up to my car and got out of the wet clothes (always have a change in the car) as it was a bit cool, probably about 50. And so I hear something and I look back towards the dam and I see a dog and I know he belongs to the guy that talks a lot with me, but I didn’t see the guy. He had been at the dam earlier so he knew I was there fishing. I go back to my car and a few minutes later he walks up and says, “I see you went for a swim.” HA HA! So then he says he was at the top of the stairs and didn’t see me but then it looked like the Loch Ness monster coming out of the water; I did think that was kind of funny. And then we talked about the incident and he said that if I had died we would’ve had a funeral at the dam, which I thought was quite funny. Ya see, I met a lot of people in Portland who come
> View attachment 613539
> to the dam regularly and it was funny to think of them showing up to the dam for my funeral lol. Anyhow, a big lesson learned either get a life vest or don’t go in the river when there’s no one around. I did not use my waders after that. Oh and by the way the guy was kind enough to take my wet clothes home with him and wash and dry them for me.
> 
> So now we’re in the first weekend of October, October 4th to be exact and it’s about 7:30am and I’m casting and casting my chartreuse and silver spoon over and over again trying to get it as close to the wall that leads to the spillway as possible. I usually can cast for about 30mins before my arm and wrist need a break. So I take a break and then back to it. Finally at 8:30am it was fish on. So now I’m like just because I hooked it doesn’t mean I have it yet. Opened the drag a bit more as he was trying to run. But I didn’t give him too much leeway. Finally got him close to shore and someone netted him. He was 28”. So I caught him on a 6.5ft Ugly Stik using 15lb Pline fluorocarbon on a spoon. Some people asked me how was the fight and honestly after catching that 16lb carp at Grand Haven, this fish didn’t seem difficult compared to that.
> 
> It is said that salmon are the fish of 1,000 casts and I probably did at least that many. Then I was wondering if it took 1,000 casts to catch this one, will it take another 1,000 to catch a second one because I don’t think I had another 1,000 casts left in me. But it didn’t take that many lol. I returned to Portland the following weekend and caught another one on October 10 (it was a smaller one, about 23”) using the same setup and casting in the exact same spot I caught the first one.
> 
> But these fish are seriously difficult to catch. They will be a bunch of them swimming to get to the fish ladder and they just won’t bite. Spawning is all they are driven too. So I know the next fish that comes in after the salmon are steelhead so I went one weekend to Portland to try for them but again it was nighttime, which is supposed to be a good time to catch them and we could see them in the water swimming to the fish ladder but no bites. And since it was now late October it wasn’t as warm to even be sleeping in my car lol.
> 
> The weird thing was that catching my first salmon was bittersweet. Yes, I was ecstatic that all the time and effort I put into it paid off, but at the same time I felt an emptiness I can’t explain. And as I was driving home the waterworks turned on and I realized my time in Portland was coming to an end and I was going to miss the people and camaraderie I experienced there. The same thing happened in the Spring when I was on furlough and fished at Lake Erie. I think I may have said this before that fishing alone for the most part is what I like but maybe this pandemic has gotten me in touch with my mortality and getting to know others is worth the effort.


Congrats Lady!

People and places. Oh , and fish!


----------



## retired dundo

Congrats on your catch you sure did earn it and great write up.


----------



## waterwolf90

Great to hear from you again Fishergal.
Congrats on your fish.
Glad you made it outta the drink ok.
A wading staff really helps while wading. I've got mine marked with a piece of white tape to indicate how deep/ my limit for wading depth.
It really helps with getting around and you can wedge it against the bottom and lean on it while fishing.


----------



## FisherGal60

Saturday - December 12, 2020: 

Here we go again lol. I was so bummed out about the weekend forecast of rain all day Saturday and was seriously depressed Wednesday through Friday with how nice the weather was those days and I was trapped at work :-( But when the sun came out at 3:00pm it was like a magnet for me. I quickly gathered my gear and made it down to Lake Erie by 4:00pm. I went to the Detroit International Wildlife Refuge hoping to catch perch. Caught 2 with only one being a keeper. Now I’m not exactly sure how the hours work at this place. The sign says it closes at dusk but I was there a couple weeks ago and when I left the gate was closed but it opens automatically to let you out. No one came down to the pier to say it was time to go that day either. 

So today there were 2 other people fishing and they left about 5:45pm but I stayed since I knew I could get out. So that’s why I’m confused about the hours because if you can get out after the gate closes does that mean you can stay and fish as long as you want? Anyhow, I wasn’t getting any bites until about 6:10pm and it was one of those “thud” tugs I’m gonna call it lol. The one where something pretty much hooked itself. But I pull up to make sure it’s on and it started to run. I’m like holy crap I have something big on here! I was hoping it was a huge walleye but was thinking it felt more like a catfish. I was using a #4 gamakatsu octopus circle hook with a minnow with split shot. So I open the drag a bit and he really starts running. I’m like hold on there so I tighten the drag and was able to get him to the surface without him breaking off and I couldn’t believe it, another huge carp like I caught in Grand Haven! So I lower my net and somehow the hook came out of his mouth. I’m like, dang, even though it was a carp I wouldn’t have minded bringing him in since I wasn’t catching anything else. 

So after a little foot stomping I decided to cast out again as I wasn’t going to stay much longer and I was still hoping to maybe catch some perch. In about 10mins I had a bite and guess what it was another thud tug. I’m like no way!! So I pulled up an extra number of times trying to make sure the hook was set. And lo and behold, another carp. This one was smaller than the first one. Got him in with my great extended handle net and he turned out to be 24”. Now remember the one I caught at Grand Haven was 34” so this one was kind of like a dwarf to me lol. But at least it was a decent sized fish.

So I did leave the refuge and headed to Lake Erie Metropark and went to the boat launch area. Online it says they are open until 10pm but when the park police came over as I was getting my gear out I found out the park closes at 8pm. I didn’t think the park being open to 10pm was unusual because there are some State Parks that are open 10pm year round like Belle Isle and Island Lake Recreation area in Brighton but Lake Erie did close at 8pm. The Metropark police officer said that the spot where I was fishing should produce some perch as there was a guy out there earlier who limited out on perch in 2 hours. Well, not the case for me. 

So I packed up at 8pm and went down the road to Campau. It’s a little pull off and the Huron flows under a small bridge on Jefferson. In the summer I was fishing from the bridge (all night usually), but decided to just fish from the bank. Didn’t catch anything but enjoyed the snow squall after being out in 54 degrees earlier. The weather in Michigan still blows my mind after being born and raised In New Jersey. In NJ the weather is pretty predictable but not in Michigan and I googled that question once and it said that the Great Lakes weather is unique and something about it being the only place on the planet that has these geophysical properties. I didn’t understand all the meteorological terminology but it is the reason our weather can change in 5 minutes lol. Anyhow, left about 11:00pm. 

But there’s more to come (when I get around to writing it)...so stay tuned!

P.S. Since I didn’t have many fishing pics here a few other pics from Halloween and some Xmas decorations that I put up. Regarding the jack o lanterns I did the one on the right and my daughter did the one on the left. Decided to go with a small artificial tree this year as there won’t be any guests this holiday season due to COVID. I am very excited about the vaccine and I would be the first in line to get it if I could. In case I don’t post again before December 25, Happy Holidays to everyone and most of all, stay safe! We're almost there, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and all the sacrifices we have made and the mask wearing will be but a distant memory. Normality will return.


----------



## Wyandotte

I think the refuge will be a productive place to fish once natural structure gets established along the shoreline. Been there a couple of times just looking, I haven't fished it yet.


----------



## 6Speed

Merry Christmas Gal. Thanks for your posts. Good luck in 2021!


----------



## stickman1978

Saw a post that someone caught a Laker off the pier in Lexington. That might be one to add to the bucket list.


----------



## Wyandotte

My dad says he seen FisherGal at the Erie Metropark marina today.


----------



## FisherGal60

Wyandotte said:


> My dad says he seen FisherGal at the Erie Metropark marina today.


He certainly did ;-)


----------



## FisherGal60

Friday - November 6, 2020, Saturday - November 7, 2020, Sunday - November 8, 2020: What a “crappie” weekend!! So Friday we got out of work at 1:30 as they were doing maintenance on the server so I headed to Ford Lake in Ypsilanti. I remembered from last fall how a bunch of guys were catching crappie although I wasn’t sure they would still be biting since last year it was in September when they were catching them but I figured I’d take a chance. Of course the weather was amazing for November; I think we hit 70, it was perfect! So a few guys had caught some crappie by the time I got there which was about 3 or 3:30. There’s this one spot where the crappie congregate in the right hand corner of the dock. This is the place where I caught my big carps last year and had one run off with my Abu Garcia rod lol.

After it got dark on Friday there was a guy who was fishing in the right hand corner where the crappie congregate and he had submerged a green light to the bottom which is about 20 to 25 feet deep and he and a friend of his were pulling out slabs like crazy. The fish were from 11 to 13”! I was fishing at the front of the dock where they also seemed to congregate and caught about 6 crappie but also had a bonus catch of a 16” silver bass! So I stayed there all night with the guy with the green light and in the morning decided to go to Portland on the off chance I might be able to catch another salmon. No luck even though there were still some coming through.

So I go back to Ypsilanti on Sunday, November 8, at about 8 or 9 pm and I’m all by myself. First I start at the front of the dock and had a line sitting out and it gets a hit, a big hit! The rod is bending down, so I get to it and I open the drag on the 7’ Ugly Stik and it’s going. And eventually I get it close enough to the dock and it broke off!! So I’m guessing it was either a pike or a walleye. I had 15lb flourocarbon, PLINE, on it with a 10lb Suffix leader and a #4, gamakatsu octopus circle hook. So I go back to my car to get my net, just in case I were to get another bite like that. Unfortunately, I did not get another hit like that the rest of the night. 

So I moved to the inner right hand corner for the rest of the night, leaving one rod at the front of the dock hoping I would get another big bite. So I ended up pulling out 12 or 13 crappies throughout the night, all between 11 and 13”. Could not catch that elusive 14” that I needed for master angler. So I get home at about 7:30am, take a shower and go to work lol. On the way home from work I bought an electric filet knife. Definitely the best purchase I ever made lol. I fileted all the crappie from Friday and Sunday in record time, even fileting the skin off was a breeze. I forgot how good they taste!! I gave some to a guy at work who appreciates food and he finally cooked them up after Thanksgiving and he said it was definitely one of the best fish he’s ever eaten.

And that brings us to today, December 28, 2020. I cooked up the last of the salmon I had from Portland. Several king salmon filets, those were the ones given to me, and 2 coho filets that I caught. Found an amazing recipe where you sear the fish in olive oil and butter, then use garlic, orange juice, soy sauce and honey to carmelize over the seared fish(I also added some fresh ginger); It was to die for!!

I so need to catch some more fish but I have to be honest this cold weather is really hard for me. It doesn’t take long for my hands to get bitterly cold when I’m handling the bait. It’s the wind that’s the worse in the winter. So depending on that will determine if I go out or not, but I hope to try...so stay tuned!


----------



## retired dundo

Rest write up and great catch of crappy your right they are real good tasting.Best of luck in future


----------



## Shoeman

Not sure if you are aware, but much of the Huron Chain of lakes are under a Do Not Eat designation for all species.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 31, 2018

CONTACT: Angela Minicuci, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. – Today, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued an expanded ‘Do Not Eat’ fish advisory for all fish in the Huron River in Livingston, Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Monroe Counties. The original advisory was issued on August 4, 2018.

The ‘Do Not Eat’ advisory for the Huron River starts where N. Wixom Road crosses in Oakland County and extends downstream to the mouth of the Huron River as it enters Lake Erie in Wayne County. This includes:


Norton Creek (Oakland County)
Hubbell Pond, also known as Mill Pond (Oakland County)
Kent Lake (Oakland County)
Ore Lake (Livingston County)
Strawberry & Zukey Lake (Livingston County)
Gallagher Lake (Livingston County)
Loon Lake (Livingston County)
Whitewood Lakes (Livingston County)
Base Line & Portage Lakes (Livingston/Washtenaw County line)
Barton Pond (Washtenaw County)
Geddes Pond (Washtenaw County)
Argo Pond (Washtenaw County)
Ford Lake (Washtenaw County)
Bellville Lake (Wayne County)
This extension is a result of new perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) fish data from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Base Line Lake and Argo Pond fish fillet data, downsteam from Kent Lake, were found to have high PFOS levels. Additionally, high PFOS surface water levels were found upstream of Kent Lake.

Touching the fish or water and swimming in these water bodies is not considered a health concern as PFAS do not move easily through the skin. An occasional swallow of river or lake water is also not considered a health concern.

For current guidelines relating to PFAS fish contamination, visit Michigan.gov/pfasresponse. For more information about the Eat Safe Fish guidelines, visit Michigan.gov/eatsafefish.


----------



## 6Speed

Another great story and catch Gal!! Try some chemical hand warmers for your hands and stick one or two inside of your coat. If you keep your core temp up, it will help with the fingers.

GREAT catch Shoeman. I shoulda noticed that when I first read her post. I musta been in a trance wishing I caught those specs.


----------



## Shoeman

Thanks man!

That designation killed one of my favorite spring flyrod bites. It would kill me to throw back all those 8-10" bluegills.


----------



## 6Speed

Bump! 

Maybe she's in the Keys this week...?


----------



## Swampdog467

Maybe she started a new thread? Not really a newbie anymore..
Hopefully everything is ok with her. 

Sent from my E6810 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## Tankster

She must of quit fishing.


----------



## retired dundo

Tankster said:


> She must of quit fishing.


Hope she is okay.I enjoyed reading her posts.She sure did love to fish


----------



## Steve

retired dundo said:


> Hope she is okay.I enjoyed reading her posts.She sure did love to fish


Yeah, I hope she is ok too. Sure miss the posts.


----------



## retired dundo

Something must have happened to her.Hope not hope she just moved to better area or best would be just to busy catching fish.Getting worried about her


----------



## Fishfighter

Hope she is alright she hasnt been on in 2 months.


----------



## 6Speed

Bump....


----------



## stickman1978

6Speed said:


> Bump....


Still no word. huh.


----------



## 6Speed

stickman1978 said:


> Still no word. huh.


Not yet?


----------



## Fishfighter

6Speed said:


> Not yet?


Any members that know her that could try to contact her?


----------



## 6Speed

Good news. She answered a PM I sent her a while back and she's doing fine (I was worried she was sick or something). 

She's working full time and still fishing every chance and has just been very busy. She promised she'd stop in for a visit soon.


----------



## retired dundo

6Speed said:


> Good news. She answered a PM I sent her a while back and she's doing fine (I was worried she was sick or something).
> 
> She's working full time and still fishing every chance and has just been very busy. She promised she'd stop in for a visit soon.


Glad to hear was afraid something bad happened.Looking forward to her fishing reports


----------



## Big Frank 25

6Speed said:


> Good news. She answered a PM I sent her a while back and she's doing fine (I was worried she was sick or something).
> 
> She's working full time and still fishing every chance and has just been very busy. She promised she'd stop in for a visit soon.


Good to hear! I went into full cyber stalking mode. Name, address and phone is the best I came up with.


----------



## FisherGal60

OMG!! So sorry to worry you all. I’m glad 6speed was able to quell the angst of uncertainty. I do post on fishbrain as it is usually just a matter of taking a pic and posting it. My handle there is fishergal58.

Where to start...I’m guessing the present is as good as any place. Working full time and fishing in ALL my spare time (and when I say ALL, I mean day and all night when possible) certainly doesn’t leave me any time to write, but I’m gonna try to get back into it.

Wednesday, June 29, 2021 - Thursday, June 30, 2021: So I decided to go to the Selfridge boat launch on Lake St. Clair after work. Online it says it’s open til 11pm which makes it worth the trip out there. So the corner spot leading into the channel was open (my favorite spot anyhow). There were a bunch of bluegill swimming in the corner so I toss out my 1/32 micro jig (I’ve been experimenting with those and caught my first bluegill on one a couple weeks ago and a crappie). This jig is called a ‘Lil Nipper’ by Lindy and it had chartreuse and lime feathers. So I toss it out and got a hard bite; it was a freakin crappie! I’ve never caught a crappie on Lake St Clair before. It was about 10”. So I kept tossing it and didn’t get anymore bites. I still don’t get that; how can there only be one fish, in this case one crappie, in the area? 

Anyhow, the bait shop was out of minnows but I had leeches I had gotten over the weekend and crawlers. Then when a guy was leaving he gave me his crayfish even though they were dead. So it was a pretty slow night and at about 10:30pm some guys show up to fish and I’m like, if this closes at 11pm why are they coming now? As time went on I realized no one was coming to lock it up so I’m guessing in the summer they leave it open all night (not necessarily a good thing for me lol). I kept telling myself that I had to leave so I could get up in the morning for work, but I didn’t listen to myself and kept fishing. Had some hits on a leech but couldn’t hook anything. So at about 2am used a crayfish on a sinker and as I got close to the pier I thought I felt a hit but there was also some sort of structure that my weight was getting stuck on. So then I cast short several times and ran the line over this structure. And BAM, got the bite, a 20” bowfin. I love how strong these fish are.

So somehow I withstood the fish/mayflies throughout the night and at about 4:30am went to Speedway to get a coffee and something to eat. Went back to the boat launch and it was now drizzling but kept fishing with my rain gear on and caught a nice sized bluegill (oh, and called off from work.) But if I was going to fish in the rain, I wanted minnows so I called another bait shop up the road and he has them. So as long as it was just drizzling I figured I’d give Brandenburg Pier a shot. I only fished there once before last year some time. After a few casts with a minnow landed a nice sized perch. Caught a couple more perch until about noon, then it kind of died. I was using a slip bobber going about 4 feet down for the perch. Another rod with a sinker and a minnow I just had dangling from the pier straight down (caught a perch on that as well). So that left my light 6lb test rod that I rigged with an 18” 20lb test flourocarbon P-line, one split shot and a small bobber I pilfered off the side of the pier and it was maybe 3 feet down. So I cast the slip bobber to my left and the other bobber line in front of me. And BAAAMMM!! Down goes the bobber on the 6lb test line and I’m like holy moly!! Something BIG is on this line so I opened the drag and let it run. I knew it would be difficult to break the hook off the 20lb but I had to make sure the stress on the barrel connected to the 6lb wasn’t too great so I carefully reeled and if he wanted to take off I let him. When it got close enough and decided it wanted to jump out of the water to try and shake off that hook, I could not believe the size of this fish. It was the largest smallmouth I’ve ever seen. I was like, I am NOT going to lose this fish. Now mind you I was the only person on this beautiful pier fishing (it had stopped raining by 10am and it was about 2pm now and it was mostly sunny.) But as I was wrangling with this fish a young man showed up and was fishing about 20 yards from me so I thought if I need help I will call him ( nothing against people helping me net a fish, but I lost several big ones because this past Spring because I let others try to net the fish for me. I may have lost those fish even if I had tried netting them myself but then I would know for sure it was my own fault.) But as I was working the smallmouth my rod to my left starts going and it wasn’t a perch. So I first tried to reel it in while also holding the rod with the bass on it. It wasn’t working out to well so I called the young man over. Had him reel in the line and it had a freshwater drum on it; not a huge one but I watched him use the net to get it in and he didn’t seem very experienced with a net. But since he was standing there I asked for help. By this time the bass had gone under the pier right under me. So I would bring him out and the guy would try to net him without success. So spent another 5 mins just trying to get him out from under the pier. At one point he went to the right side and was trying to go out from under the pier which would’ve caused my 6lb test to rub against the metal rebar holding the pier up. I was like NOOOOO! Luckily I was able to get him back under the pier under me. Then finally the guy was able to get it in the net!! SUCCESS!!! There he was, a personal best, 20”, 3.13 lb smallmouth!! The guy was in awe as well. It seems like all my trials and mishaps and failures culminated in catching this one fish. I’m still flying high today. At least until I lose the next fish lol. 

So stay tuned...there are many more fish tales to come 🎣


----------



## stickman1978

Great story and very nice fish.


----------



## Jeffish74

Thanks for the report! I very much enjoy reading them. Congratulations on the smallie! The 3 fish you mention all put up a great fight. Best of luck to ya on future expeditions!


----------



## retired dundo

Good to see you back.Love your reports.Ia 75 fish all my life and never knew any one that put more time in or fished harder than you.You never give up.Wish nothing but best for you


----------



## Jerry Lamb

Hell yeah!


----------



## 6Speed

Welcome back gal...great to read one of your stories again!


----------



## Waif

Hooray!

Congrats on your efforts paying off.

Great to read of your further accounts/adventures again.


----------



## Fishfighter

Great job. That fish looks delicious.


----------



## snortwheeze

FisherGal60 said:


> OMG!! So sorry to worry you all. I’m glad 6speed was able to quell the angst of uncertainty. I do post on fishbrain as it is usually just a matter of taking a pic and posting it. My handle there is fishergal58.
> 
> Where to start...I’m guessing the present is as good as any place. Working full time and fishing in ALL my spare time (and when I say ALL, I mean day and all night when possible) certainly doesn’t leave me any time to write, but I’m gonna try to get back into it.
> 
> Wednesday, June 29, 2021 - Thursday, June 30, 2021: So I decided to go to the Selfridge boat launch on Lake St. Clair after work. Online it says it’s open til 11pm which makes it worth the trip out there. So the corner spot leading into the channel was open (my favorite spot anyhow). There were a bunch of bluegill swimming in the corner so I toss out my 1/32 micro jig (I’ve been experimenting with those and caught my first bluegill on one a couple weeks ago and a crappie). This jig is called a ‘Lil Nipper’ by Lindy and it had chartreuse and lime feathers. So I toss it out and got a hard bite; it was a freakin crappie! I’ve never caught a crappie on Lake St Clair before. It was about 10”. So I kept tossing it and didn’t get anymore bites. I still don’t get that; how can there only be one fish, in this case one crappie, in the area?
> 
> Anyhow, the bait shop was out of minnows but I had leeches I had gotten over the weekend and crawlers. Then when a guy was leaving he gave me his crayfish even though they were dead. So it was a pretty slow night and at about 10:30pm some guys show up to fish and I’m like, if this closes at 11pm why are they coming now? As time went on I realized no one was coming to lock it up so I’m guessing in the summer they leave it open all night (not necessarily a good thing for me lol). I kept telling myself that I had to leave so I could get up in the morning for work, but I didn’t listen to myself and kept fishing. Had some hits on a leech but couldn’t hook anything. So at about 2am used a crayfish on a sinker and as I got close to the pier I thought I felt a hit but there was also some sort of structure that my weight was getting stuck on. So then I cast short several times and ran the line over this structure. And BAM, got the bite, a 20” bowfin. I love how strong these fish are.
> 
> So somehow I withstood the fish/mayflies throughout the night and at about 4:30am went to Speedway to get a coffee and something to eat. Went back to the boat launch and it was now drizzling but kept fishing with my rain gear on and caught a nice sized bluegill (oh, and called off from work.) But if I was going to fish in the rain, I wanted minnows so I called another bait shop up the road and he has them. So as long as it was just drizzling I figured I’d give Brandenburg Pier a shot. I only fished there once before last year some time. After a few casts with a minnow landed a nice sized perch. Caught a couple more perch until about noon, then it kind of died. I was using a slip bobber going about 4 feet down for the perch. Another rod with a sinker and a minnow I just had dangling from the pier straight down (caught a perch on that as well). So that left my light 6lb test rod that I rigged with an 18” 20lb test flourocarbon P-line, one split shot and a small bobber I pilfered off the side of the pier and it was maybe 3 feet down. So I cast the slip bobber to my left and the other bobber line in front of me. And BAAAMMM!! Down goes the bobber on the 6lb test line and I’m like holy moly!! Something BIG is on this line so I opened the drag and let it run. I knew it would be difficult to break the hook off the 20lb but I had to make sure the stress on the barrel connected to the 6lb wasn’t too great so I carefully reeled and if he wanted to take off I let him. When it got close enough and decided it wanted to jump out of the water to try and shake off that hook, I could not believe the size of this fish. It was the largest smallmouth I’ve ever seen. I was like, I am NOT going to lose this fish. Now mind you I was the only person on this beautiful pier fishing (it had stopped raining by 10am and it was about 2pm now and it was mostly sunny.) But as I was wrangling with this fish a young man showed up and was fishing about 20 yards from me so I thought if I need help I will call him ( nothing against people helping me net a fish, but I lost several big ones because this past Spring because I let others try to net the fish for me. I may have lost those fish even if I had tried netting them myself but then I would know for sure it was my own fault.) But as I was working the smallmouth my rod to my left starts going and it wasn’t a perch. So I first tried to reel it in while also holding the rod with the bass on it. It wasn’t working out to well so I called the young man over. Had him reel in the line and it had a freshwater drum on it; not a huge one but I watched him use the net to get it in and he didn’t seem very experienced with a net. But since he was standing there I asked for help. By this time the bass had gone under the pier right under me. So I would bring him out and the guy would try to net him without success. So spent another 5 mins just trying to get him out from under the pier. At one point he went to the right side and was trying to go out from under the pier which would’ve caused my 6lb test to rub against the metal rebar holding the pier up. I was like NOOOOO! Luckily I was able to get him back under the pier under me. Then finally the guy was able to get it in the net!! SUCCESS!!! There he was, a personal best, 20”, 3.13 lb smallmouth!! The guy was in awe as well. It seems like all my trials and mishaps and failures culminated in catching this one fish. I’m still flying high today. At least until I lose the next fish lol.
> 
> So stay tuned...there are many more fish tales to come 🎣
> View attachment 774621
> View attachment 774622
> View attachment 774623
> View attachment 774625
> View attachment 774626
> View attachment 774621
> View attachment 774622
> View attachment 774623
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> View attachment 774626
> View attachment 774622



That's a long night into day !! You young lady are a die hard !! Good job


----------



## FisherGal60

Friday, May 21, 2021: Don’t know if I mentioned in an earlier post but I now have Fridays off. It was Emmy’s dad who suggested it because he knows how much I like to fish lol. So I started taking Fridays off on March 19. Anyhow, this day was the creme de le creme of fishing days. I arrived at the Lake Erie Metropark Marina deck at about 7am. Caught a decent sized perch at about 8am. At about 8:30am caught a good sized silver bass. Then I had a few hits but couldn’t hook whatever it was and at this point I was using a double hook rig which is just sold as a crappie rig on which I have never caught a crappie lol. It’s a sturdy piece and it comes in various hook sizes on a pre-made snell. I was using “1 hook sized snells. It was about 11:30am and I think I was the only person there now. It was like that a lot this Spring where I was the only person fishing unlike last year during the COVID19 shutdown when so many people were out there fishing.

So I get the bite and I’m reeling the double rig in and I see one longnose gar coming in and there was another one either chasing the minnow on the other hook or it was on and got off. Either way, I had one hooked. I lowered the net to get him and boy was that a chore. I got his snout in the net and part of his body and at least one third of his body was still out of the net but I was able to get him in and boy was I ever pleased that I did! This freakin fish was 42” long!! Weighed 5.6 lbs. Not the largest fish in weight per say, but absolutely the longest fish I’ve ever caught. There just happened to be a lady riding her bike up to the deck when I caught it so I asked her to take a pic. I thought about getting the fish taxidermied but when I looked it up later online it said that most of the time you just take pics of the fish and have the taxidermist make a replica as using the real fish sometimes leads to having oil from the fish skin seep out. There is no cost difference between real or replica, but it would be a hefty price either way as they go by inch, between $10 to $16 per inch. So I took a lot of pics just in case I decide to do it in the future. 

So you think after I caught something like that I would be satisfied to call it a day...NOT!! I couldn’t help but think when will a fish be big enough for me that I would consider not fishing so hard anymore and just fish for play. No answer for that yet. 

After that I decided to try a Ned rig I had bought. And at about 2:30pm I caught a largemouth bass on the Ned rig. I haven’t been using many artificial lures this Spring so I was stoked to catch something on one.

Stay tuned...more fish tales to come!


----------



## retired dundo

FisherGal60 said:


> Friday, May 21, 2021: Don’t know if I mentioned in an earlier post but I now have Fridays off. It was Emmy’s dad who suggested it because he knows how much I like to fish lol. So I started taking Fridays off on March 19. Anyhow, this day was the creme de le creme of fishing days. I arrived at the Lake Erie Metropark Marina deck at about 7am. Caught a decent sized perch at about 8am. At about 8:30am caught a good sized silver bass. Then I had a few hits but couldn’t hook whatever it was and at this point I was using a double hook rig which is just sold as a crappie rig on which I have never caught a crappie lol. It’s a sturdy piece and it comes in various hook sizes on a pre-made snell. I was using “1 hook sized snells. It was about 11:30am and I think I was the only person there now. It was like that a lot this Spring where I was the only person fishing unlike last year during the COVID19 shutdown when so many people were out there fishing.
> 
> So I get the bite and I’m reeling the double rig in and I see one longnose gar coming in and there was another one either chasing the minnow on the other hook or it was on and got off. Either way, I had one hooked. I lowered the net to get him and boy was that a chore. I got his snout in the net and part of his body and at least one third of his body was still out of the net but I was able to get him in and boy was I ever pleased that I did! This freakin fish was 42” long!! Weighed 5.6 lbs. Not the largest fish in weight per say, but absolutely the longest fish I’ve ever caught. There just happened to be a lady riding her bike up to the deck when I caught it so I asked her to take a pic. I thought about getting the fish taxidermied but when I looked it up later online it said that most of the time you just take pics of the fish and have the taxidermist make a replica as using the real fish sometimes leads to having oil from the fish skin seep out. There is no cost difference between real or replica, but it would be a hefty price either way as they go by inch, between $10 to $16 per inch. So I took a lot of pics just in case I decide to do it in the future.
> 
> So you think after I caught something like that I would be satisfied to call it a day...NOT!! I couldn’t help but think when will a fish be big enough for me that I would consider not fishing so hard anymore and just fish for play. No answer for that yet.
> 
> After that I decided to try a Ned rig I had bought. And at about 2:30pm I caught a largemouth bass on the Ned rig. I haven’t been using many artificial lures this Spring so I was stoked to catch something on one.
> 
> Stay tuned...more fish tales to come!
> View attachment 775819
> View attachment 775820
> View attachment 775821
> View attachment 775822
> View attachment 775823


Nice report


----------



## Waif

[ when will a fish be big enough for me that I would consider not fishing so hard anymore and just fish for play. No answer for that yet.]
You most absolutely certainly definitely are a fisher with such contemplation distracting you from fishing....

No more newbie. And seemingly slightly , o.k. quite ; hardcore about this catching fish business..L.o.l.. You are doing it quite/very well too.

Congrats on yet another first! Among other firsts.

Sure nice reading your posts again. Thanks for taking us along.


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## 6Speed

Bump...


----------



## 6Speed

?


----------



## Fishfighter

Hopefully she just has the salmon fever.


----------



## fisheater

I was glad to see her posting again. I just saw her thread in the women’s forum, and was very pleased to see she posted again. With the time she puts in we may not get a report until the bait bounces off the water and doesn’t sink!
I will be checking the women’s forum more frequently again.


----------



## Wyandotte

Fishfighter said:


> Hopefully she just has the salmon fever.


My dad said he seen her ice fishing yesterday. Not sure where they were at.
Edit: It was at the Lake Erie Metropark Marina.


----------



## FisherGal60

*Sunday - January 23, 2022: (Part One*)
Hello everyone! Boy how time flies. I didn’t realize how long it has been since I posted here until I looked at my last post. Hope everyone is staying well to start the new year amidst the COVID onslaught. It’s crazy to say















the least. Hard to believe that even if you are fully vaccinated (all 3 shots) that you can still get this virus. A good number of my coworkers have gotten it and are fully VAXXED. Anyhow, I hope everyone stays well and on to a lighter topic, fishing! 

*BEGIN PART ONE**

I will just start with today and hopefully can do some kind of recap or highlights from last year at some point. So I decided in November that I was going to do the full ice fishing experience this year and started purchasing the necessary gear, such as an ice chisel, small rods, an ice shanty, a heater, etc. I took a chance and purchased a 30” rod and separate reel from Amazon. I cannot tell you how absolutely pleased I am with both purchases. The reel is called a KastKing and it has been working so well in the cold I am considering purchasing more to use during the regular months of the year. And the rod, which is actually a medium weight rod, has definitely proven itself (can’t remember the brand name right now; will post it later.) And I totally love Suffix ice fishing line (using neon orange 6lb test; the bright color helps to see if a fish is starting to pull on your line.)

So today I was at Whitmore Lake which is in between Brighton and Ann Arbor. I was also there on Friday; had seen several posts from the other app I use and the fish seemed to be biting pretty good out here, namely pike. When I decided to go all out for ice fishing, my main goal was to catch a pike through the ice. I was not disappointed at Whitmore Lake lol. I actually caught my first pike out here this past Friday; not a big one, just legal size, 24”. Had many more bites but didn’t hook anymore on Friday. 

Back to today. Ice fishing is way more taxing physically than through the rest of the year. The elements can be so fierce. Regardless of the snow this morning, I went out, driving on a 2 lane partially cleared I96 and US23 just to go fishing lol. Someone on Friday told me the local bait shop had reopened after being closed for about a year and I was sure hoping he was open today; luckily he was and he had a wide variety of minnows to boot (Rick’s Bait, 100 Barker Ave, Whitmore Lake, MI). So I get to the DNR public access point, load up my sled and get onto the ice and because of the snowfall, I can’t see where any previous holes are; ya see, I did not get an auger. My plan is to use the ice chisel to open preexisting holes. It took a while, but I found a few. It was still an arduous task trying to chisel through 2 or 3 inches of ice, so luckily a man offered to drill a few holes for me with his motorized auger. Thanks again kind sir. 

By now, the sun was breaking through the clouds so I decided to try fishing without the shanty which I’ve done several times already; as long as there is no wind and the air temp gets up into the 20s you’d be surprised how warm it feels. Well it wasn’t warming up from the 16 degrees when I arrived and there was about a 7 to 8mph wind (teeth chattering.) so I went back to the car for the shanty(I need to get a bigger sled lol). Well, I only had to put the shanty up one other time, January 15, and I invited someone along to help with that venture lol. But today I was going solo since I had been through it once at least. Even bought a cordless drill so I could predrill holes for the ice stakes. When it’s windy, you need to put a couple stakes in before you pop it up so I did that, but I cannot for the life of me pop out the dang sides. So after a while 3 young men come over to help otherwise I would have had to call it a day. Next Friday I’m going out with a young lady I met in the Spring of 2020 while on COVID19 furlough so hopefully between the 2 of us we can get the shanty up lol. 

Okay, so we’re almost ready to fish now lol. Get the heater going first and then bring everything else in. Now according to my other fishing app there is supposed to be crappie biting for a good 5 hours and that’s what I was shooting for. So I used a minnow in one hole and a waxie in the other. Nothing much was going on so I decided to change the hook on the minnow line to a teardrop. And within seconds, BAM, fish on! And boy was he pulling. Already had the drag open. Love seeing the fish down through the hole as you’re reeling in. Was definitely excited to see another pike. Didn’t want to be a one hit wonder for catching pike on the ice lol. This one was bigger than the one I caught Friday and the teardrop was wedged at the furthest end of his mouth heading back to the gill. Amazing!! (The pike being measured by my foot is this one.)

So having the convenience of looking back at the time stamp of the pike photos, the one I caught above was at 2:30pm. Mind you I’m in the shanty alone, and I was getting bites; sometimes I would almost hook it and/or the minnow would be gone lol. So since one bit my line off last Friday, I decided to use a hook with a long shank so it would keep a pike at least a little bit further from the line. And sure enough, I get one! Not as big as the last one. That was at 5:10.

So as long as I was getting bites, I was gonna keep on fishin. Not sure what time it was (still daylight I think), get a really good bite and it’s fighting, I’m letting him run a bit on the 6lb test I’m using. Get him close to the hole and it’s yet another pike! I get up to the opening and he’s thrashing a lot. I try to get a hold of him with one hand while still working on pulling in the rod with the other hand…poof…he successfully shook himself off. He was probably about the same size as the one I caught at 2:30.

So I keep fishing as I was still getting bites. Then I get a strange bite; a nice hefty tug, then nothing. I reeled in a bit and still didn’t feel anything. Okay, so I’m thinking there’s something down there that’s interested in the minnow. Waited just a few more minutes and started reeling in. Got it to the top and sure enough, it was a freakin bullhead. So that’s at 7:30PM. Then I knew it was time to quit if the bullhead were biting.

END OF PART ONE


----------



## Steve

FisherGal60 said:


> *Sunday - January 23, 2022: (Part One*)
> Hello everyone! Boy how time flies. I didn’t realize how long it has been since I posted here until I looked at my last post. Hope everyone is staying well to start the new year amidst the COVID onslaught. It’s crazy to say
> View attachment 815417
> View attachment 815417
> 
> the least. Hard to believe that even if you are fully vaccinated (all 3 shots) that you can still get this virus. A good number of my coworkers have gotten it and are fully VAXXED. Anyhow, I hope everyone stays well and on to a lighter topic, fishing!
> 
> *BEGIN PART ONE**
> 
> I will just start with today and hopefully can do some kind of recap or highlights from last year at some point. So I decided in November that I was going to do the full ice fishing experience this year and started purchasing the necessary gear, such as an ice chisel, small rods, an ice shanty, a heater, etc. I took a chance and purchased a 30” rod and separate reel from Amazon. I cannot tell you how absolutely pleased I am with both purchases. The reel is called a KastKing and it has been working so well in the cold I am considering purchasing more to use during the regular months of the year. And the rod, which is actually a medium weight rod, has definitely proven itself (can’t remember the brand name right now; will post it later.) And I totally love Suffix ice fishing line (using neon orange 6lb test; the bright color helps to see if a fish is starting to pull on your line.)
> 
> So today I was at Whitmore Lake which is in between Brighton and Ann Arbor. I was also there on Friday; had seen several posts from the other app I use and the fish seemed to be biting pretty good out here, namely pike. When I decided to go all out for ice fishing, my main goal was to catch a pike through the ice. I was not disappointed at Whitmore Lake lol. I actually caught my first pike out here this past Friday; not a big one, just legal size, 24”. Had many more bites but didn’t hook anymore on Friday.
> 
> Back to today. Ice fishing is way more taxing physically than through the rest of the year. The elements can be so fierce. Regardless of the snow this morning, I went out, driving on a 2 lane partially cleared I96 and US23 just to go fishing lol. Someone on Friday told me the local bait shop had reopened after being closed for about a year and I was sure hoping he was open today; luckily he was and he had a wide variety of minnows to boot (Rick’s Bait, 100 Barker Ave, Whitmore Lake, MI). So I get to the DNR public access point, load up my sled and get onto the ice and because of the snowfall, I can’t see where any previous holes are; ya see, I did not get an auger. My plan is to use the ice chisel to open preexisting holes. It took a while, but I found a few. It was still an arduous task trying to chisel through 2 or 3 inches of ice, so luckily a man offered to drill a few holes for me with his motorized auger. Thanks again kind sir.
> 
> By now, the sun was breaking through the clouds so I decided to try fishing without the shanty which I’ve done several times already; as long as there is no wind and the air temp gets up into the 20s you’d be surprised how warm it feels. Well it wasn’t warming up from the 16 degrees when I arrived and there was about a 7 to 8mph wind (teeth chattering.) so I went back to the car for the shanty(I need to get a bigger sled lol). Well, I only had to put the shanty up one other time, January 15, and I invited someone along to help with that venture lol. But today I was going solo since I had been through it once at least. Even bought a cordless drill so I could predrill holes for the ice stakes. When it’s windy, you need to put a couple stakes in before you pop it up so I did that, but I cannot for the life of me pop out the dang sides. So after a while 3 young men come over to help otherwise I would have had to call it a day. Next Friday I’m going out with a young lady I met in the Spring of 2020 while on COVID19 furlough so hopefully between the 2 of us we can get the shanty up lol.
> 
> Okay, so we’re almost ready to fish now lol. Get the heater going first and then bring everything else in. Now according to my other fishing app there is supposed to be crappie biting for a good 5 hours and that’s what I was shooting for. So I used a minnow in one hole and a waxie in the other. Nothing much was going on so I decided to change the hook on the minnow line to a teardrop. And within seconds, BAM, fish on! And boy was he pulling. Already had the drag open. Love seeing the fish down through the hole as you’re reeling in. Was definitely excited to see another pike. Didn’t want to be a one hit wonder for catching pike on the ice lol. This one was bigger than the one I caught Friday and the teardrop was wedged at the furthest end of his mouth heading back to the gill. Amazing!! (The pike being measured by my foot is this one.)
> 
> So having the convenience of looking back at the time stamp of the pike photos, the one I caught above was at 2:30pm. Mind you I’m in the shanty alone, and I was getting bites; sometimes I would almost hook it and/or the minnow would be gone lol. So since one bit my line off last Friday, I decided to use a hook with a long shank so it would keep a pike at least a little bit further from the line. And sure enough, I get one! Not as big as the last one. That was at 5:10.
> 
> So as long as I was getting bites, I was gonna keep on fishin. Not sure what time it was (still daylight I think), get a really good bite and it’s fighting, I’m letting him run a bit on the 6lb test I’m using. Get him close to the hole and it’s yet another pike! I get up to the opening and he’s thrashing a lot. I try to get a hold of him with one hand while still working on pulling in the rod with the other hand…poof…he successfully shook himself off. He was probably about the same size as the one I caught at 2:30.
> 
> So I keep fishing as I was still getting bites. Then I get a strange bite; a nice hefty tug, then nothing. I reeled in a bit and still didn’t feel anything. Okay, so I’m thinking there’s something down there that’s interested in the minnow. Waited just a few more minutes and started reeling in. Got it to the top and sure enough, it was a freakin bullhead. So that’s at 7:30PM. Then I knew it was time to quit if the bullhead were biting.
> 
> END OF PART ONE
> View attachment 815419
> View attachment 815419


Great stuff. Looking forward to part two.


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## Waif

Whoo hoo!

Excellent!

And great to see you posting.


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## 6Speed

Welcome back Gal. Missed your stories...


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## retired dundo

Great post glad your back really enjoy your postd


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