How many people are we going to have this weekend for Kent? I believe it's a Day on the Lake with McCarter right? Hopefully we have enough boats with it being a holiday.
-Kid
I should be there, but I may have to leave early. My wife and I decided to have a kid and he is arriving late Thursday night. (exchange student from Finland). I doubt he will want to come, but he might and I will offer. My wife has to work in Detroit all day so I don't know how late I can stay. I am heading over there tomorrow though.
As of now, I should be there.
Just spoke with Mr. McCarter... he will be there. We just need to figure out the time.
The park gates are open at 6. How about we meet up at 6:30 if that works for everyone. The East Launch as usual. K?
Who's coming?
QuoteHopefully we have enough boats with it being a holiday.
That was a concern when we scheduled this date. Hopefully we'll get a good turnout like last time. Kent should be fun this time of year.
I don't know how late I can stay but the fishing sure seemed to be back on tonight. Caught 7 keeper size in about 3.5 hours with this one as a "kicker":
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bender16v/BigBass1.jpg)(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v412/bender16v/BigBass2.jpg)
I don't know where I put my scale so I didn't weigh him, but he looks about 4.5 on the board.
I hope everybody turns up for this one, the fishing should be good. I even had one smallie on a topwater popper, it doesn't get much better than that.
I am trying to change some things around in my schedule so that I can fish it. Boater (with my wife as my non-boater possibly)
That just gave me an idea... one of these days we should do a husband/wife outing. Those who aren't married could just bring a friend. Something to think about for next year.
I'm thinking I'd like to attend and bring my boat. Is that OK? I've never fished Kent before but I've driven by it many times and always wanted to. :)
Slipkey -
We'd be glad to have you.
My wife no longer can make it, so it'll just be me (boater)
Sorry guys - I can't make this one.
Sure Jon, It would be great to have you along!
Too bad Brian, I was looking forward to meeting your Mrs.
Great! I'm looking forward to it! I assume this (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Kent+Lake,+MI&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.945679,66.708984&ie=UTF8&ll=42.524337,-83.643701&spn=0.007939,0.016286&t=h&z=16&om=1) the east side launch?
I'm in as a non...but I'll probably have to be off the water by 3. Hopefully we do better than last time!
-Kid
Yep, the East launch at 6:30am.
My favorite optimistic sporties - It looks like Im taking the family to Cedar Point Saturday and Sunday - Michaels birthday ! What a day for him huh !!
I will miss all of my long castin tight line fools - good luck
McCarter - Show em a few spots eh - but all of em !
Mike
I plan on being there.
I can be a boater, or not. It's one of the few lakes that we fish where we can use my boat.
Since some of us have smaller boats, or often fish as nonboaters.... is Kent a technique specific lake? What I mean is, if we can say only bring 4 rods, which ones should we bring?
If you want to narrow it down to 4 rods, here is what i would ( and will ) be bringing.
Crankbait rod: The crankbait bite should be on right now. Bandit 200s ( or anything similar in size and diving depth )work great out there. Hot colors are Rootbeer, Rootbeer/Chart, Chartreuse/Black back, Splatterback, Baby Bass, Matte Green. Also, you should be able to throw a spinnerbait and a trap on a crank rod, too. Spinnerbait would be a good choice for the morning and traps are a good alternative to cranks if we find the fish are higher in the water color or sitting up shallower. I dont know the weather for Saturday, but if its overcast we will find shallow fish.
Jig rod and/or Flippin Stick: I would never fish Kent without at least one rod rigged with a jig. Strike King Bitsy Bugs, Buckeye Mop jigs, and Exodus jigs all work great, but no doubt any jig will work. Bring 1/4 and 3/8 if you got em. Blacks work great ( blk/blue, blk/brn, blk/chart, straight blk, etc...) as do browns and greens. If its very hot and sunny, we might get to pitch some weeds for some piglets. And since i havent been out there in a while, and have no idea whats going on, i may have to resort to toading some pads and heavy weeds for giants. Flippin sticks makes goods toads rods.
Tube/shakey rods: Bring a nice medium action spinning rod. If its a tough bite, shaking a finesse worm or hopping a tube around usually works. Spider/Hula grubs are another option. I catch a lot of big smallies on a 5" yamamoto hula grub this time of year and theres nothing better than fighting a big smallie on a medium action spinning rod with 8 lb line.
Top water/Fluke rod: The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. It should be topwater time out there. But i have no idea what the water temps have been like so we wont know til we get there, but i would definatly bring your favorite rod for throwing topwater baits cuz if we find them eating off the surface, we should be into them really good.............all day long!!! ANd if they dont feel like commiting to topwaters all the way, we shall counter offer with soft jerkbaits. I can almost smell the smallmouth slime just thinking about it.
Looking foward to seeing you all Saturday.
McCarter himself :-\'
i will be at work a few miles away. maybe i will come over and do the wave from shore. what time are you eating lunch...
We'll probably come on shore for lunch around noon like usual.
I will not be able to make as we are having a church outing on the 1st. I will be fishing my favorite "little" lake, Crotche Lake, Saturday morning and cooking in the afternoon. Best of luck to you guys!
Slip Key that is the east launch that you have the sat picture of.
The exit off of I-94 is Kent Rd. and you go North from there. The launch is just after the "toll booths" on the left hand side.
For those that may not know, the Metro Park requires a sticker for both your vehicle and one for the boat. When there is no one in the booth, we are supposed to go to the office to get a sticker. I'm not sure it there would be anybody there at 6 AM. A friend of mine says that he just puts a note on his windshield that says he will pay on the way out. He claims it has worked for him in the past.
Earlier in the year, we talked about using radios to communicate what was working while we were on the lake.
I don't have a marine radio, but I do have the walkie talkies that we use deer hunting, or we could use cell phones.
It just seems like it would be cool to know what is working for people as the day goes on. I bow to experience here though as I've never done anything like this before. Whatever has worked for you guys in past years is fine with me.
I will not be able to make this event on Saturday guys.
If you don't pay, they will just put a ticket on your windshield which you can pay on the way out or mail it in. It's just an envelope with the park fee written in. I have often gone to the office only to have to wait just to be told the person isn't in who gives the stickers. So I just pay on the way out.
Here's who's coming so far:
Boaters:
Rick
Tom
Luke
Brian Lang
Chris
Jack
Jon
Nonboaters:
Luke
Brian McCarter
Obviously we need some nonboaters or people to volunteer to go as nonboaters. Anyone want to switch to the nonboater side? If at least two boaters switch that would give us 5 and 4. Maybe if Mark Hill comes as a nonboater, that'll give us 5 and 5.
I can go as a non-boater if that helps even things up. Let me know.
I'll go as a non boater.
I invited Kent Lake shallow water expert Jeffrey Sigfreid Cheetam to join us. He will be non boating. But if there is one person who can always catch them in 6" of water on Kent, its Jeffrey Sigfreid Cheetam. So each boat, or group of boats, however you guys are planning on doing it, will get half a day learning shallow water tactics for Kent lake trophys with Jeffrey Sigfreid Cheetam and half a day fishing the deeper stuff with me. Should be able to cover all the bases.
So we will have to change the name of the event to:
A day on the lake with McCarter and Jeffrey Sigfreid Cheetam.
McCarter himself :-\'
If I am Sigfreid, does that make you Roy? Just so we are on the same page, I will be wearing my white jumpsuit with sequins...
I will be wearing shorts, my GLBass.com Tshirt, and my new pair of lucky underwear that i picked up at my neighbors garage sale last weekend.
McCarter himself :-\'
Quote from: McCarter on August 31, 2007, 10:47:40 AM
...and my new pair of lucky underwear that i picked up at my neighbors garage sale last weekend.
McCarter himself :-\'
Did she give you a good deal on them? :D
About as good of a deal as a 70 year old lady is going to give on a pair of used under britches :o By the way, i picked up a lucky pair for you as well.
I dont think the EBA are ready for us! Good thing we will be on seperate boats. But the after party promises to be pure madness. Hooters anyone?
McCarter himself :-\'
Sigfried and Roy... I'm scared. :o
If we do it this way, it'll be even numbers. If we fish 8hrs, each boat can have both Jeff and Brian (aka Sigfried and Roy.. still scared BTW) for an hour each. Or if 8hrs is too long, we can go in 45 minute shifts for a 6 hour day.
Am I right that these partners haven't paired up before? I'm not sure. This is just a suggestion, not an official pairing. As always, fish with who you want to.
Boaters: Partners (nonboaters):
Tom Jon
Brian L. Steve L.
Chris Luke
Jack Rick
Guides:
Brian McCarter
Jeff Cheetam
My "son" will be joining me in the morning I think. He has only been in the U.S. for less than 24 hours so hopefully he is adjusted enough to get up. I don't know if we will fish all day or not, I spent 9 ours on Kent today and I'm totally wiped out. We got into some good fish, but the sun really got to me at the end.
Well, today the lake won. >:( or more like the weed killer........
But the post fishing meeting made up for it, especially the twins that were dragged in.
Edit: Rick, you said you have the most trouble out there but Mark and you had three big fish! Those fish looked like triplet pigs.
Yeah, the lake won for sure. Props to Mark and Rick for finding the one honey hole left alive in the entire lake. Great job. Don't you love it when the planets align in your favor like that? Nice.
I still had a lot of fun. Jon was a super nice guy to hang out with. Lots of great conversation. I'm done with the lucky Slim Jim's though, they really let me down. ;D
How about we do one more event on a lake that isn't getting weed sprayed the day before. Just a thought. Anyone want to go to Erie in a couple of weeks?
Thanks for letting me hang out with you guys for the day! Despite the "fishlessness" I had a great time.
Sorry I couldn't stay for the post-fishing meeting ;). It's my daughter's 4th b-day tomorrow and I had a top secret mission to run at the Disney Store ::).
If you all have another event this year, and I can make it, I'll be there for sure.
-Jon
As usual, I too enjoyed myself. It's always nice to hang out with guys that are as addicted to fishing as I am.
Kent Lake has always been a hard lake for me to fish. Saturday, Mark and I were lucky enough to find most of our fish in a little hole about the size of 3 boats. Go figure. We lucked out for sure. But, we were using the infamous twind tailed grub in either green or black/blue, just like our guide recommended.
A big thanks to McCarter for giving us the "guided tour."
What a disaster. The fishing was about as tough as it can get on Kent Lake thanks to a recent weed spraying that killed a large part of the weeds; leaving the water brown with surface debris that stretched from one end to the other.
Still, it was better than cutting the grass. A few of us managed to scratch out a fish or two. But Mark and Rick definatly stole the show with 3 largies over 3 lbs.
We tried them deep and shallow but couldnt put a pattern together. My two both came on a jig. One from the west end, and one from the east end near the Buno Bridge. Both healthy smallmouth. While it was nice to bang out a couple nice fish, it was disappointing to be met with such tough conditions. A weed kill always turns the lake sour for a couple days.
Hope everyone had fun despite the poor fishing. Maybe next year we will have better luck. This is defiantly the time of year for numbers on Kent. Especially smallies. A week earier or later and we would have been on them.
Thanks for having me once again. I didnt think it could be any worse than last year, and it was. Oh well. At least I found a consistant pattern at Hooters. It went: beer, wing, wing, wing, insult a waitress, beer, beer, repeat. Good times.
McCarter himself :-\'