Michigan Sportsmen’s Web

I’ve been fishing in the Pond out back all summer long. As everyone well knows, we have had a dry hot summer and it has taken it’s toll on many lakes, streams, rivers and ponds. All summer long I have been out back chasing down largemouth bass. I’ve seen some really big ones, but as the summer went on they sought deeper waters. This pond is a natural spring pond with it’s deepest point at about 15-20 ft. I’ve been catching 12-14 inch largemouth bass all summer long on spinners, rubber worm rigs, and topwater baits, but no really big fish to speak of. Continue Reading »

After unloading our boat my son and I headed town the Sacramento River for a day of fishing. Earlier that week Roger and I had found a nice fishing spot located in Potato Slough, just off the San Jaquine River. It was quiet, out of the wind and the currents were perfect for catching striped bass. It was
important to me that I teach my son exactly what catch and release meant. That a sport could be very enjoyable without having to kill anything. Continue Reading »

It was a nice day as I drove through South Carolina.

Being hungry, I stopped at a McDonalds and ordered a breakfast meal. Because I had driven almost thirty hours, I decided to stay over for a few days and rest. After I ate, I checked into a local motel, bathed, went to bed and slept for almost twenty-four hours.

The next morning I walked across the street and asked the bait shop owner where the nearest fishing hole was located. After getting a detailed map, I purchased a three day fishing license, bait and headed to the lake.

Opening my trunk, I carefully took out my fishing gear, ice-chest, chair and tackle box. I put them on the lake’s edge, baited up and began to fish. Within an hour the sun became rather hot and the air humid. I took a rag, dipped it in the water and placed it over my head to try and cool down.

“Good morning,” said someone, walking up from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw a Game Warden with a clip-board. Continue Reading »

Dear Gentlemen and Sister Fisherwomen,

My Adventure began on a 2 week retreat with my husband for our 2nd year wedding anniversary trip to the Western part of the Upper Peninsula. We have a pop-up camper and stay in the state park of Crystal Falls. We had planned on fishing the entire 2 weeks of our vacation but before we went out to fish on the morning of October 12, 2005 we had decided to go home early, due to poor fishing conditions we had experienced the whole trip. As usual we went to my favorite spot on the lake and we set anchors. My husband as he always does, in the fall, throw out a 17 LB test with a walleye sucker minnow on it, along with his usual beavertail hook. We hadn’t been there about 10 mins when he thought he would change the spot where he threw out his minnow because the day before we were catching pike on the back end of the boat and he turned around to see his bobber gone. He then turned to me and said his bobber was gone and he wanted me to bring in the fish. We both could see the line was feeding pretty good, so I picked up the pole and began to wind in the line until it began to feel taught and set the hook. My Husband made a comment as I set the hook that it wasn’t a very good set because the line didn’t move very much, but I informed him that it was heavy, whatever it was. Continue Reading »

The Picture says it all!!

I have a picture of my sons fishing trip that is close to being a big record.

The fish is a bluegill and measure about 11″ My son is 6 and was fishing for the first time with his new rod and reel.

The fish took everything he could to land it. The second fish was a bass that ate the bluegill he was reeling in. Although the bluegill the bass ate was smaller he had the same fight.

David Richard

Leslie, MI

I had the pleasure of spending some time fishing with my son and one of his friends at the Couch camping resort near Lake City. After getting a moderately late start at 8:00am, we headed to our favorite bed of lilies. After only a few short minutes of fishing, my son says he thinks he might have a fish, after evaluating the situation, my rookie fishing knowledge lead me to believe he was merely snagged in the lilies, he continued to claim there was a fish on his hook. He was so stuck that instead of breaking his pole I started pulling on his line by hand. After it felt like the line broke free, I asked Andrew to reel his line in and please stay out of the lilies. I no sooner said the words and a large fish jumped out of the water, at that point we knew he wasn’t imagining this. He continued to reel and pulled up what he named Rico the bass. Rico weighed in at 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 23 inches long, which would be the biggest bass listed on the DNR sight for catch and release master anglers for 2007. We dragged him across the lake to share with our friends, they were amazed at the lunker. Luckily we had some knowledgeable fisherman in the group who knew what we had caught. We weighed and measured him and were in awe. Most of all my son and I were able to enjoy each other while catching Rico ! Thanks Rico, hopefully well meet next year and break the state record !

Michael Kruk