Lake Mac SMALLIES!

[32eml24]

 

[Mike S.]

Caught today?  By you?  Wouldn't that mean one was in the well during catch and release only?   Nonetheless, nice fish.

[32eml24]

I released both of them, absolutely.  I am now aware that you're supposed to release them IMMEDIATELY, but I didn't know that and I'm a bit embarassed to have posted this.  I caught one and my camera was out of batteries so I called my friend and he came to take a picture at the dock.  After I had hung up the phone with him, I put the first one in the livewell.  Before I left I had to find out if this was a fluke thing or not since I've never found smallies here before so I made one more cast and caught the second one.  I left, got a pic with both of them and drove them back to their exact location and released them in seemingly healthy condition.  Sorry if I offended anyone, I should have known the rules better... But anyway yeah they were nice fish and I just thought I would share.

[Waterfoul]

Caught some of those about 20 miles up the Lake Michigan shore from you today.    Fun aren't they?   

Oh, and I didn't put any in my livewell.   

[Mike S.]

I wasn't trying to bust your butt on that one, or start a fight.  That was just the first thought I had when I saw the pic with 2 fish.  Like I said, nice fish man.

Life is about learning.  Good to learn something new every day.  Happy fishing bud!

[32eml24]

Understood.  And yes what a riot!  Grand River or Muskegon?

[djkimmel]

Those are really nice smallies for Lake Macatoilet! Glad you caught them and learned some more about the rules and stuff. That's kind of what we're here for. You'd be surprised about how many anglers in Michigan still say things like, 'bass season? There's a bass season in Michigan? Huh, I never knew that.' Let alone what the actual regulations are. I try to get some of the information on here so everyone learns something.

Did you catch anymore of them on Lake Mac? I've heard rumors of them for years but not much firsthand for me since I've only be on Mac twice I think. Or maybe 3 times. I caught one big smallie, but that was out at the pier head.

[djkimmel]

You could have just said they both hit the same lure at the same time! It does happen

[32eml24]

Funny thing, I caught them in an area I have fished numerous times, but I expanded on it... there was rock deeper off to the side that I never knew about.  I had always fished shallow and tight to cover because of the water clarity... I revisited this past sunday and caught 3 on 10 casts.  No scale but I would guess all between 4 and 5 pounds.  I also fished around the pierheads a bit because I've been bit by the smallie bug already this year, but couldn't find a bite.  The rocks on the sides are a bit bigger than what I've been patterning them on in the lake.  Another thing I took into consideration is that those pierheads see a lot of pressure from all different types of anglers; i can't even imagine how many 6 pound smallies have been taken home for dinner.  I am still trying to understand what causes the smallies to move back and forth between the lake and the piers, not just at Mac but also at Muskegon, White, etc.  I have never had real success out in Lake Michigan but I would love to devote an entire calm, sunny day to just idling around and getting a picture in my head of what's down there.  That might help me think things through. 

[djkimmel]

That's pretty good for Lake Macatawa. I don't think many anglers have figured out anything about smallies outside the various pier heads of those lakes.