Lure Fishing Upper Michigan U.S.A Part 1

I have been home now just over a week.Myself and my girlfriend have been visiting her family and attending her son,s wedding.In between this i managed some bank fishing and some boat fishings,no guides ,just family trips out.

First thing on arrival was a walk over to wilderness sports in downtown ishpeming to obtain a rod licsense .How the price has changed since my last visit 3 years ago $27 dollars for a non resident,this time it was $79,big jump,but its got to be done ,time to set off to Deer Lake for a spot of bank fishing.

Deer lake is an 908 acre lake about 3 miles away from town,its an artifical lures only lake,no bait allowed,due to a mercury spillage years ago.we headed to a spot that has produced plenty of fish the last time i was there.

Not a great start,after about 30 mins i slipped on a rock and fell in the lake.

View on the other side of the road..............................................

The next time we went bank fishing we went to another area on a long walk along a trail till we found two spots just below in the above picture to fish..................................

First fish to me,a walleye,nailed on a lucky 13 close in......................................

Andrew with his first capture on a U.S.A Lure mark houghton made for me as a gift for andrew,un fortunately the lure caught the pikes eye.................................

A small pike on a lucky 13 was my next and only capture,enjoyable couple of hours.

Another small pike on a lucky 13,nailed it under my feet,lost loads this way,good fun

My kit i took,savagegear travel rod,fixed spool with 30 lb braid,pliers,snips and a selection of Mark Houghton custom wake baits and a selection of original big s lures and a few surface lures.

When they built the road as close to the lake as possible,this portion of water isnt accesible by a boat,due to no launch,but in part 2 of this blog i will show you how we got the boat on there.

Another quick evening on Deer Lake,walleye on a MH Wake bait,had a smaller one as well that evening.

Well i really enjoyed our quick bank sessions,caught quite a few pike from the bank,un hooked them at the water and released,couldnt see the point in taking pics of them all,Part 2 will be about getting Lucy the boat out,Till the next time bloggers............................................

Luvly Cubbly 22-6-14

Finally got out on the river last night.I was going to fish the opening day but something came in workwise so that had to come first.I decided to go fish a stretch ive only fished a few times,wish id chose my 2nd choice though,but hey thats fishing.Dont like the river when its low and clear,hopefuuly rain this week.

I arrived at the river just after 7pm and had 3 pegs in mind,they were all taken,damn.....I started to walk back and noticed a bit of flowing water so decided to drop in there,there was another angler above and below me,but we were a good distance apart.

I fished feeders with boilie hook baits.After having a lead around i found an area with a bit of deeper water,one rod in there,and i down streamed the other rod.At about 9pm i had a ferocious bite,fish on,fish off to a hook pull,gutted.

At about 10.30 my downstream rod tore off and fish in the net a lovely chub.........

No barbel but a nice chub on a boilie.............................................

A few knocks on the left hand rod but nothing came off it,packed up at 1 am,home for 2........

Tight Lines, till the next time

Friday 13th June 2014--B-B-B-B-BREAM

It never really occured to me it was friday the 13th,i was going fishing and that all that mattered.I was loading my barrow and realised id left my shelter pegs at home,Damn................................

I arrived in my swim set up the brolly by using two Philips  screwdrivers as pegs,i pushed my barrow round the back of the brolly and bungeed up the brolley to the barrow.Next step was putting sleeping bag on the bed and the bed collapsed on one side,the damn wheel you tighten had come off,i bungeed the bed.LOL

Omce id clipped up both rods and mixed up the bait,i went for a walk and fortunatly found the wheel,thank god,any way lets get fishing.One rod was fishing the method,with micro,s,dead mags and some live mags.
The other rod was fished solid bag with dead reds and live red and white maggots with micros,hook baits were boilie and fake maggots.The plan was to cast every 30 mins till dark,my last casts were at 10-20 pm then it was time to relax and get some rest.

I forgot to take any repellent on my last trip,not this time and glad to report no bites.I nodded off about 12pm with the alarm set for 4 am to re cast.

At 1.30am a single beep woke me to a few more and after a good fight i slipped the net over a lovely big bream.........................................................

10 lb and a new still water PB.........................................

I re baited and cast out back to the spot,cleaned my self up,climbed back in bed and awaited the 4 am alarm call.when they say things happen in 3,s..my landing net broke at the thread,Damn not good and didnt have another net,just the net and spreader,no to worry,back to bed..........................

I woke at 4 am and there was a slight mist on the water,i could see nothing moving so decided to have a snooze,at just before 5 am the same rod was off and after a good fight another big bream graced my broken net,weighed and picture took,9.8.

A great session for what is a huge expanse of water and pleased with the results from my time fishing the venue.Im tempted to go back as i dont think the tench have spawned,but as i write the rivers open in just over an hour and my mind is wandering there.........................................

Till the next time,tight lines bloggers and if your waiting to cast in on the river,Good Luck............

New river season

Well it's not long now till the rivers open.Ive spooled my reels with new line,tied hook lengths ,just need to pack my bag.

This season I'm not goin to just rely on using one type of pellet ,I've got some Dave mason lamprey pellets to use along with my elepticals ,also got some others on order.Ive soaked my locations in two different flavours,hoping I can score on boilies this year.

I will be concentrating on two stretches with hopefully a few trips to other rivers.
One more tench trip to go,then it's goodbye weekends hello to evenings in the week.
Tight lines bloggers

Red Letter Day 7-6-14

Friday tea time saw me meet up with Kieth,Mike and Bri.There was a good chop on the water with the wind blowing down our side of the lake.It was a warm evening,im full of bites,lol.I chose to fish a method feeder and pva bag,no catapult,no spomb,just casting every 25 mins to top up the area.At about 9pm i changed over to method ball feeders,hoping the extra bait would bring the fish in,apart from liners i didnt catch...................
 Any way this isnt about me its about Kieth,what a session he had,while we were eating supper he had an eel,took care of the slippery ewwww,dont like em lol.Then about 11pm his rod roared off and after a great fight,slipped the net under the biggest tench ive witnessed,i dont know who was more excited,me or kieth lol.

9.12 Im still buzzing.........................................

In total 10 fish,biggest bream 10.10.Then about an hour ago another 9.5 Tench,what a session.
Mike also has managed a 9.1 bream ,made up for him,a new PB,by 4 lb................................

Really enjoyed it and the chilli was spot on thanks chef (Kieth ) Great fishing with you lads and really enjoyed it,over the moon for you,Till the next time,only 9 days till the rivers open...............................

Bank Holiday Bonanza Tench & Bream 26-5-14

After the shocking return of the rain again on saturday & sunday,Monday looked the best day to get outr a bream & tench session.

I finally managed to drag Lee out,the man,s gone river mad,ha ha.We decided to fish a local day tkt water ive fished a few times,and as lee as only walked the venue,it was a first trip for him.

Tactics today for me were esp flat bed method feeder on both rods,rotating pellet and boilie hook baits.
Lee,s chosen method was a 2oz lead ,pva bag and a method ball feeder,various hookbaits.

After loosing what felt like a good tench and a bream,this fish was my fourth bream of the session.

Lee took first blood with the tench,a fine 6.2 and a venue PB.lee experienced lots of liners during the session
and not long after lost a good fish.................................................

Next it was my turn,5 on the dot.............................................

My biggest bream and my 7th of the session.........................................

Another 5 on the dot ,my second tench.A really enjoyable session,good company.Nice to get out with Lee,soon be barbel time,thanks mate.....................................
Tight Lines Bloggers

Canal Sessions Part 1 & 2 ......17-18 may 2014

This weekends Tench & Bream session was interupted by work this last week,so i decided to start my canal campaign for carp..............................

I had been pre-baiting for just over 3 weeks in two areas.I arrived on saturday evening and fished one rod to my feature directly in front,and the other rod 40 yards further down to the tree i had baited up.At about 7-30 pm my tree rod roared off,and it wasnt a carp................................

It was a tench........................................

I stayed on until dark with no more bites........................................

Sunday saw me arrive a little later than saturday,i quickly set up and cast to the same areas,except the tree swim,i dropped it short.It took about an hour before my left hand rod roared off,and you guessed it,wasnt a carp either............................................

Yet another tench,not complaining.............................................

I fished well into dark and the session finished the same as saturday.About an hour before i left,i baited two other area,s.....................................

Till the next time bloggers,Tight Lines...........................................