Secord Lake 8-29-2013

[Big dreams]

Blue bird skies with water temps in the low 80's.  Water clarity is pretty good at about 6'.  I thought it was going to be a tough day out on the lake but ended up picking up fish every place I stopped.  This held true for main lake walls, breaks, weeds, stumps, by the darn, and also back in the cuts fishing laydowns and docks.  It was one of the best days on the lake.  With the water clarity so good, I was able to make long casts and pick up fish all day.  I was using jigs, craws, square bills, DS, and worms in green, black/blue, I even threw a red craw and picked up fish on that.

I did notice the baitfish are EXTREMELY active right now.  They could be found all over the lake in large groups.  Something to keep in mind if you head out that way.

Secord has become my favorite lake in the recent past.  It truly has the "Full" package compared to many lakes in Mid Michigan. 

[Big dreams]

I fished Secord Lake again on Saturday.  The water temp went down over 10 degrees in the past week to high 60's low 70's.  I started fishing a weedy flat with deep water on both sides with no luck.  Fish were breaking surface early in the morning but they weren't hitting anything I threw.  I left there and went to a point.  I had a couple fish on and landed a few.  All were short fish.  Left there and hit a weed edge.  Landed 5 or so small fish.  It started to rain on and off so I ran up North into some cuts.  I landed one keeper on another point and had another 2 or 3 short fish.  I started fishing docks with nice drops.  I had a couple vicious strikes but they wouldn't commit.  I changed colors, baits, weights, poles, line, direction, even waited 30 minutes and came back...no luck.  I went back to my starting position with one hour left and landed one more keeper along with 3 more short fish.  It was a rough day on the lake for me.  After about 5 short fish, I get frustrated and begin losing my focus.

[32eml24]

That looks like an awesome lake looked it up on google earth does it have a shad population? Looks like a really fun tournament venue!

[Big dreams]

I don't think it has shad.  I know it has some shiners but I think most of the forage is perch, bluegill, and crawfish.  It is a great lake to fish.  A couple tournaments coming up as well.

The problem with the lake during summer months is the boat traffic.  It doesn't take much and the waves on the main lake are unmanageable.  That and throw in multiple ski boats trying to fit in a river system that is less than a football field wide.  That is why the tournament season is early on or later in the year.  I have been out there a few times in the summer.  Before 9 a.m., you are golden.  After that, it is best to get off the water or go back in cuts.  I don't want to be a statistic or a news headline...

[t-bone]

I fished a club tournament at Secord and it fishes really good. Came in second and missed the last three fish that would have easily put us in 1st. There are some big largemouth in that lake. The biggest issue with that lake is it is nuts with boat traffic on the weekend. Because it is narrow and basically a river system, couple that with very little no wake zones, you are constantly getting buzzed by boats and watercraft. Lots of people have had some near misses and there boats getting swamped while fishing there. Maybe a weekday tournament is the way to go because the weekends are crazy.

[Big dreams]

You are spot on.  It is very narrow with big ski boats.  The waves seem to keep getting bigger as they bounce off the steel sea walls. 

[Big dreams]

Last update of the year for this lake.  I fished it with a few people from this site over the weekend.  I was able to pull 3 fish for 9 lbs from the backs of creeks just off the weeds.  Two came on shallow square bills in the Bone color fished outside of the weed line.  I had to rip them off the weeds to get bit.  The two I caught were over 4 lbs each this way.  The other was caught fishing slop on the other side of the cut with a drop shot using a Yum Wooly Bug in the Smoke w/ red flake color.  The bite was light and the DS bite was on the drop.  Thank goodness for sharp hooks.
Seemed the rest of the people caught them on the main lake on drops and weed edges. 
The lake is just warming up for Fall.  If you want some good fishing action, head to Secord. 

[brg_bassmaster]

Ya me and jeremiah took 4th with 15lbs fishing a main lake flat with bluegills busting all over in the morning. Layed waste with poppers. Probably caught 30+ fish. Then we upgraded 2 fish with jigs. Only pattern we were on was the 4ft grass flat early in the morning they were all over the bluegill. The jig wish were just lucky pick ups. Lost one giant that woulda put us in 3rd and maybe 2nd. Had a couple giants blow up on the poppers to but wouldnt commit. All in all a good way to spend my leave. Getting ready for the wixom freeze out.

[djkimmel]

Still a lot of big pike in the lake?

[Big dreams]

I have heard there are but I haven't caught any.  The last three outings I only caught one pike around 20 inches.  I did have a toothy critter snap my line like it wasn't even there.  Might have been a musky.

[djkimmel]

I used to get bit off there like crazy but it has been awhile.