Great Lakes Bass Fishing Forum

I've never been there to my knowledge but Derek had been there a few years ago. Someone said Big Fish Lake was named correctly so we went to try to prove whether or not the lake could earn its name.

We fished from mid-morning on August 9th until mid-afternoon on Big Fish Lake, looking for big fish. The short story? We couldn't prove the lake earns its name. Here's the rest of the story...

We started fishing lily pads and shallow weeds right by the boat ramp. Derek said he never got a strike in them when he fished them either, and about the time he said that I had a small bass smash my frog just out past the edge of the lily pads! I was looking at Derek and though I felt the bass I failed to hook it.

So where things looking up? We fished along the pads a little farther when a small keeper bass launched itself out of the pads and over my frog trying to hit it, but it missed. We could not get it to come back on anything.

We started fishing a nice weedline and edge along the shoreline. We fished that and a really nice weed point with topwater and pitching into the weeds without so much as a bluegill bite...

We fished all the way to the biggest point on the lake without a bump...

(http://glb.glwimg.com/images/kvd-25-small-big-fish-lake-largemouth-bass20160809_111838_HDR.jpg)
Finally, coming back around the side of the point for the 2nd time I hooked a 12-inch aggressive largemouth bass on a bream-colored Strike King KVD 2.5 reeled down the sloping edge of the weeds. That was our only bite though.

(http://glb.glwimg.com/images/dan-kimmel-small-jig-pig-keeper-bass20160809_122651_HDR.jpg)
We moved back down the shoreline again into the deep pocket when my first keeper - a long, skinny largemouth bass - ate my Kustom Kicker Dock Monkey black and blue jig and pig right under the boat as I jigged it up and down. Finally a keeper!

(http://glb.glwimg.com/images/dan-kimmel-swamp-frog-bass-big-fish-lake20160809_123924_HDR.jpg)
Things where looking up when we got in the back of the pocket an this dark black swamp bass inhaled my hollow weedless frog in a small hole in the lily pads. I cast near a piece of wood and the water humped up right away. The bass made 2 half-hearted grabs at the frog before I got to the hole and the bass flat out ate it then!! I hooked the bass with both hooks in the corner of the mouth! Not what I would call a 'big' bass but over 3 pounds!!

We had no more bites there but from some pads near the next small point I had another really nice bass blow up out of the pads but miss my frog. Again, we could not get a comeback strike though we made a bunch of casts over the same area...

We fished some great looking water along the shoreline without anymore keeper strikes.

(http://glb.glwimg.com/images/derek-big-fish-lake-frog-bass20160809_131006_HDR.jpg)
I cast over the edge of another patch of pads with my frog without a bite but Derek cast his frog (both white) over the same edge and this really nice 3 pounder ate his frog aggressively, putting up a hard toe-to-toe battle before succumbing. Still not what I would call a big bass but we were feeling a little better about the day.

The lake has an 11am high speed boating rule and by 11:30am things started humming. It's a small lake and people just go back and forth, or around and round so it started to get a little busy. We found a stretch of shoreline with mixed shallow and deep cover that looked good but another angler, who said he had caught 2 bass, was fishing the deep part so we went around him to the end of the lake back by the boat ramp, and then started working back up towards the area.

We didn't get any bites until we got to that same stretch of shoreline. The other angler had gone to shore to take a break apparently so we fished through.

(http://glb.glwimg.com/images/dan-kimmel-nice-jig-pig-bass20160809_135935_HDR.jpg)
I was actually casting the Dock Monkey jig with a #11 black and blue Uncle Josh pork frog trailer out into the deeper water along this steep drop when I got nailed after popping off a piece of weed in 15 to 17 fow. I set the hook and got my 3rd and final keeper - one about 2 1/4 pounds.

That was the end of my catching though we went back to the big point and Derek caught 2 dinks on Bullet Craws pitched into the edge of the weeds along the tip of the point - where we expected to get bit by better bass. We fished shallow to deep hard on this point without getting another keeper before calling it a day.

So... my feeling is I can't call Big Fish Lake 'big fish' lake. Maybe I would call it 'a few fish' lake? But it was a day of fishing and we caught a few anyway. I've heard mixed reviews on how people feel about the lake so I'm not sure how good we did or didn't do. I do know I won't be in a hurry to get back to the lake anytime soon.