Lake Orion

[Bass Ninja]

Thinking of hitting lake orion after work sometime soon.  Was wondering if anyone can give me any ideas what I should look for in the fall to catch some bass in that lake.  Depths and baits would be great.

Thanks,
Bass Ninja

[djkimmel]

Didn't see this before you went. How did you do? I've only been on the lake a couple times with a youth fishing event but I saw lots of quality bass and got to catch a couple ~ September. Always seen good weights come out of there even in evening tournaments. Busy lake. Real busy. Maybe not so busy in mid-October?

[Bass Ninja]

I have not gone yet.  I am still trying to get out as I am really busy with a new born.  At this point now I am thinking I might be better off taking the one or two times I get to go this fall chasing smallies up north.  I always do well the first or second week of Nov.  Last year I went when the water temps were 37 degrees and crushed the five lb smallies.  Thanks for the reply though.

Bass Ninja

[djkimmel]

Orion is a pretty good back up plan when you can't make it North from the number and size of bass I've seen there during the youth events. It probably cycles like other inland lakes with lots of houses on them, but tournament results over the last 10 years or so have been very impressive for any inland lake.

[t-bone]

There are big fish in Orion - the main problem is boat traffic and a busy ramp. Weekends are crazy and if your fun fishing try to go during the weekday and avoid the cluster at the ramp. Single ramp and it gets busy...

[djkimmel]

Yeah, the ramp is definitely something that would make me hesitate a little before pulling the trigger. We had quite a bit of fun just running those couple youth events I was at there. Looks like the fish population is worth it, especially if you can use some creativity as you say.

It's a long drive for me and there are so many good lakes, I haven't made it back yet for a real bass fishing trip yet. It's on my list. Just not right at the top.

[Bloomer]

That lake is awesome, lived on it for 10 years. Awful lot of weeknight events take 15+ to as much as 19 to win, same said for the weekend. But I have never had good luck out there much after labor day. Pretty much dies for me after that. But the boat traffic also dies right out after labor day too. By the middle of September it is usually pretty deserted out there, just like most inland lakes, and some days can be really good, just usually not for me. The only thing I catch a lot of out there in Sept and Oct are nothing but pike.

[djkimmel]

I should take that as a challenge to move it up on my 'fall' bass fishing lake list and see what is going on... to help you out...

I have 2 theories why that could be, and what to do about it... theories must be tested!!

PS: Do you have any castable umbrella rigs (Alabama rigs)??

[fiker]

So ..... what are the theories?

Expound oh Obie Wan.

[32eml24]

Alewife population if I'm not mistaken?  I'd be throwing that big ole jerkbait!!  I've never fished the lake, but I watched the "Busting Sticks" show and they said it had a population of alewives...

[djkimmel]

That is one of the theories - hence the fall potential of the castable umbrella rig. I would expect deeper and suspended bass later in the fall once alewife pull back out of the shallows. It is only a guess that there are enough alewife left in the lake, and that they behave somewhat like alewife in the Great Lakes??

I have heard mixed reports of how many alewife are actually still in the lake. (I also can't recall if it was an experiment or illegal 'private' stocking - I seem to recall hearing it was a private stocking?)

I have also been told by one of the best anglers I know that there are lots of big bass deeper in that lake than most people generally fish for them. I don't know if that is because of the alewife? Or something that was the norm even before alewife? I'm not crazy about fishing real deep personally but clear lakes, with good water quality, deep, green weeds and forage out there generally have underfished deep bass.

That has actually kept the lake lower on my lake todo list only because I prefer to fish shallow in the fall as late as I can, so I am more likely to choose lakes that allow that. Not the best practice for being a rounded angler, but I'm only human

I have been branching out the past 5 or 6 season though, trying to do more things I don't normally prefer. It helps when I can go fishing with someone who is way better at it than me! It's a good way to learn new things.

[Manxfishing]

Dan,

There is a self sustaining alewife population in the lake
You can mark the bait balls, or at times see them on the surface (40 sq ft) feeding
One of the reasons a white jig works along with big goby's on a DS works

[21XDC]

The last time I fished Orion, I saw a bait ball bigger than my boat and 4 ft deep/thick. This was actually right near the launch. This was last labor day ish. We had a little BBC mini rally there and I got lucky and won big bass and most weight.    Fishing the Jika Rig and Boxing Craw.

[dartag]

Hey Mike how can you fish Orion with your Bullet.   The cops are out there with radar guns every time I fish there.   They don't like bass boats but Sea Doos and jet boats can go as fast as they want to. 



(3) On the waters of Lake Orion and the canals and channels connected thereto, sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, T4N, R10E, village of Lake Orion and Orion township, Oakland county, it is unlawful at any time to operate a vessel at a speed in excess of 40 miles per hour (64 kilometers per hour).

[21XDC]

The boat traffic was bad and they had the dragon races going on with part of the lake sectioned off... The water was so rough, I was only able to run over 80 mph a few times...    I never had a chance to trim the motor out. 

[dartag]

My Ranger will go 80  ( attached to my truck ).   

[djkimmel]

Lake Orion is not a lake designed for speed. Definitely not during the summer. I've only been there the 2 times with the kids fishing event but I did see the sheriff enforcing the counter-clockwise 'rule' on a few boats. Kind of hard to run counter-clockwise lakes with that many twists and turns.

We had low speed rules for the kids fishing events anyways which I was fine with.

Flashy fiberglass does seem to draw attention...

[djkimmel]

I was thinking the last time I was looking at my 'use more / experiment more' todo list about lakes that should be real good for a Jika rig and Orion definitely came to mind.

I bet it is a challenging fall lake with the oddity of alewife bait. But you crack that code and you'll be big man (or woman) on campus...