Labor Day Weekend, Crystal Lake (Montcalm) and Big Whitefish

[32eml24]

Fished a little bit east from where I live this weekend and tried two new lakes.  The first lake was Crystal Lake.  The lake got really busy in the afternoons and putting the boat back on the trailer was a long wait.  The fishing was a lot of fun and I caught a lot of numbers of fish.  The morning bite seemed to be the best and I found them shallower than I was expecting to.  I caught some good largemouth under docks along the north shore when the sun was out.  When it was cloudy, I found them fishing the zone between that first color change and the deeper drop off.  Almost all of my fish were caught off jigs.  I caught a few fatties and put them in the livewell to see if they'd give away what they were eating and a bit later I checked and sure enough... crayfish claws.  So that gave me a little confidence boost and I did end up finding some very nice smallies as well.  I caught them on that "ridge" that extends into deeper water- it comes off the south shore, on the west end of the lake.  Also caught the biggest rock bass of my life!  I also decided to try Big Whitefish Lake since it was reasonably close and I have heard good things about it.  Looking at it on google earth I was expecting to go have some fun with a frog but the weeds weren't really topped out when I got there.  After some dinking around with tackle, etc. I launched and decided to try the island that sits all by itself in the middle of the lake since it was the morning and if they were feeding they ought to be there, no where else for them to go.  Caught some nice ones there- and around all the other points, drops, and "tongue" areas on the breakline around the lake.  My biggest was a 4-14 with the average fish being 2-2.5.  Those fish were caught on jigs as well.  It seemed like they really wanted it on the bottom and a heavier jig worked better for me.  Most of them were in the 12-15 ft. range just outside the weed edge.  All in all it was a fun and relaxing weekend and it's always fun to try some new water.  I would definitely revisit either lake in the future.

[ub2m4]

What color jig and what trailer worked the best?

[32eml24]

Green pumpkin jig with a green pumpkin/orange swirl colored trailer