Fantastic Bass Fishing

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Went out yesterday to a nearby lake that I'd been meaning to hit all summer. My expectations were low - I thought I might find a few Bluegills at best, so I just rigged my 5 wt. and took some small poppers. Ended up having a better evening of Largemouth fishing than I previously knew it was possible to have with a fly rod in Michigan. 

My camera setup on the kayak never lets me do the fish justice size-wise, so you'll have to take a fisherman's word 😉 that these range from 13-18+". All on a #6 yellow Booglebug. Just an absolute blast.

[MuskyFlyGuy 0]

Byron

Congratulations on the great day!  It’s hard to beat a Boogle. 

[niveker 0]

Nice fish!

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

With a lighter rod as well - great day.. I keep a 5wt onboard for those days when our local exotic panfish are outdoing everything else... and it turns a so-so day into something special since our small exotics pull like a smallmouth... 

[Steeldrifter 0]

Fun day for sure. Don't get a lot of largemouths on the river where I fish, so it's always a nice surprise to get one. Looks like you found a lake that has a nice supply of them.

[RickZieger 0]

Nice photos and fish.

 

[Bryon Anderson 0]

6 hours ago, Steeldrifter said:

Fun day for sure. Don't get a lot of largemouths on the river where I fish, so it's always a nice surprise to get one. Looks like you found a lake that has a nice supply of them.

Every once in a great while I'll find a Largemouth in the Grand or Muskegon - but yeah, they are mostly in lakes over here too. I would love to find a lake with Smallmouth in it that I can fish in my kayak. Only ones I've found that have Smallies are big ones like Pere Marquette Lake or Muskegon Lake, and those have lots of "big-boy boat" traffic. Props and big wakes make me nervous...

[DFoster 0]

Fat beauties, it’s always great to find a new spot!  

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Went back to the same spot tonight and got right back into them. The first two both broke my 2x tippet. The first one was kind enough to shake loose my Booglebug, so I tied it back on and, a few casts later, had the exact same thing happen! This one kept my bug, though. 😕 (It's barbless, so I'm sure he'll be free of it quickly.)

Now I'm off to order more Booglebugs 😊

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Down here in south Florida - the lightest tippet we use (for both largemouth and peacocks in the 2 to 5lb range) is straight 15lb fluoro.  Your waters are probably a lot clearer, making light tippets a necessity - but you might get away with a bit stronger tippet for round three...   Great report as always... 

[Bryon Anderson 0]

On 9/10/2024 at 6:16 AM, Capt Bob LeMay said:

Down here in south Florida - the lightest tippet we use (for both largemouth and peacocks in the 2 to 5lb range) is straight 15lb fluoro.  Your waters are probably a lot clearer, making light tippets a necessity - but you might get away with a bit stronger tippet for round three...   Great report as always... 

I think you're right Capt. Bob -- I'm thinking of going back to tying my own bass leaders, which I make 6' long, consisting of 2' each of 30lb/20lb/15lb.  If the 15' tippet proves too visible, I can always add on a foot of 12 or 10 lb.