9-30-2007:  My father and I decided to head back to Skegemog Lake this morning because the fishing was so great yesturday.  We fished for two hours on Skegemog and one hour on Elk.  We started the morning casting topwater baits around the wood we caught our bass on yesturday but there were no takers.  We switched back to tubes/speed craws and started catching them again.  We caught five small 3 pounders on Skegemog but nothing huge.  I decided to check a spot on Elk Lake that I had caught a couple good ones on last year.  We pulled up to the spot and I caught a 4 pound football on my first cast.  We fished for an hour longer on Elk Lake without a bite.   We ended up with five smallies that weighed 16 pounds.   

 

9-29-2007:  After a quick lunch with my parents and niece, my father and I fished Skegemog Lake.  Skegemog was on fire to say the least.  The water temperature was 65 degrees and the smallies were hanging around piles of wood in 2-5 ft of water.  We would simply cast tubes, and speed craws to any wood we saw and catch a smallmouth.  It was easy fishing!!  We caught 25 smallies between the two of us and our best five weighed just under 22 pounds.  My dad's biggest smallmouth was 4.1 pounds and my biggest smallmouth was 5 pounds 14 ounces.  

 

9-29-2007:  Kelly and I started fishing Lake Leelanau at 7:10 am this morning.  It was really foggy so we decided to fish straight out from the ramp on the Southeast side of the lake.  I was throwing a top water plug when a huge smallie destroyed it, but it broke my line after one hard pull.  Kelly had a big smallmouth swat at her top water bait a couple times but she never did hook it.  Once the fog lifted we started looking around deep points and reed beds.  There were a bunch of crusing bass but they just weren't eating.  I only managed to catch one short smallie and a three pound Walleye.    

9-28-2007:  This morning Kelly and I headed north to Traverse City for three days of world class smallmouth fishing.  I love every second I get to fish the crystal clear lakes around Traverse City.  My plan was to fish Glen Lake Friday afternoon, Leelanau Saturday morning, Skegemog Saturday afternoon, and the lake that was on fire Sunday morning.  

We arrived at Glen Lake around 4:00 pm and launched my Stratos after the lake association power washed the bottom of my boat and trailer.  They also flushed my motor in effort to keep invasive species out of Glen Lake.  Glen Lake is absolutely the most beautiful lake I've ever fished.  It's water is crystal clear and Sleeping Bear Dunes are looming over the lake.  We fished for a couple hours and it was awesome.  I couldn't get a bite on any fast moving baits but the Zoom Speed Craw was on fire.  I caught a 2.5 pound smallie and a giant 4.5 pound smallmouth on back to back casts.  To bad I didn't have more time to fish Glen Lake but we had to check into our hotel room.  

  

          

9-20-2007:  Three boats came to fish the BH stretch of the Joe tonight for a couple hours in a small tournament.  The fishing was pretty tough most the evening but I managed to luck onto a school of 1.5 lb fish with and hour left in the tournament.  I caught all of my smallies with a homemade blade bait in 3-5 ft of water.  Once I found the school the action was fast.  I landed 13 keeper smallies in a hurry.  I also cagutht a 12 pound King that just about broke my rod.  My best five fish weighed 8.4 pounds and were good enough for first place.

9-16-2007:  The NBAA Division 8 Classic was today on the Benton Harbor Stretch of the Joe.  We launched at 7:15 am and it was very cold, around 40 degrees.  Fog was rolling off of the river because of the temperature difference.  The river was still 63 degrees.  Kelly and I fished sand bars most of the day but could only manage one small keeper.  We caught a bunch of small fish to keep the day interesting though.  I wanted to fish the big lake but it was to wavy and there was a lot of traffic around the mouth of the river. 

There were a few teams that did very well today.  The directors Jack Lloyd and Jon Grademeyer came in thrid place with one smallmouth bass that weighed 3.9 pounds.   Jim Weaver and John Gipson Jr. came in second place with 11 pounds, including a huge 4.8 pound smallie.  The Classic Champs were Lieberg and Ohst with a beautiful sack of smallies that weighed 15.75 pounds.  GREAT JOB GUYS!!!

9-13-2007:  Five boats fought it on the St. Joe River tonight in a small three-hour tournament.  The fishing was awesome for me.   I caught a two-man limit off my first spot but not anything big.  The smallies were inhaling top water baits.  Throughout the rest of the evening I caught 10 more small keepers on jerkbaits, rattle traps, and top water.  I lost a couple big fish that I thought would cost me but they didn't.  I ended up winning first place with five bass that weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces.  Herman Barry and Tim Cook came in second place with 2 bass that weighed 4 pounds 5 ounces.  They also won big bass with a 2 pound 14 ounce chunk.

9-11-2007:  The Benton Harbor stretch of the St. Joe River is about to light up any day now.  Because of the passing cold fonts and falling water temps this week the bait fish are moving in.  Today after school Kelly and I fished for a couple hours.  I was killing 2 pounders with a top water bait.  We at least caught 10 keepers and a couple were 3 pounds or better.  There weren't any lake fish in the river yet but they should make their way soon.  The smallies I caught were long, skinny, river fish.  They were still a blast.

9-9-2007:  Kelly and I fished Paw Paw Lake for a couple hours today.  The water temp was still around 80 degrees so I started fishing docks.  I caught a couple keepers with a jig and 4 shorts fish.  I fished docks for an hour then went looking for deep fish.  I caught 5 more keepers off of sandy drop-offs with a drop shot Robo Worm.   The bait fish are really starting to ball up and the bigger bass are chasing them around the lake.  If I would have had more time I would have cranked around the bait fish.  The bait was schooled about 20 ft down in 45 ft of water.

9-8-2007:  I had a fun time fishing with Ron and Randy Nelson on the Joe this morning for about five hours.  We started the morning fishing the big lake but could only manage one bite.  Randy caught a 2.5 pound chunk off a rock pile in 27 ft of water with a tube jig.  After a couple hours passed we went into the river and fished top water baits.  We caught at least 30 bass between the three of us but only 5 keepers.  The big lake fish haven't moved into the river yet.

9-6-2007:  I put on a small tournament at the BH stretch of the St. Joe River tonight.  Six boats came to fish and try their hand at catching smallies.  It was very hot and windy on top of an 8 mph current.  It was tough to control my boat, let alone fish.  I caught 20 or so shorts smallies and 2 keepers on the night.  I lost a couple giant smallies that came flying out of the water and threw the hook.   I lost two other big smallies while I was trying to net them in the current.  It was almost impossible by myself.  I caught all of my fish with a jig and top water bait.  Ron and Randy Nelson won the tournament with five bass that weighed 10 pounds.

9-4-2007:  The perch are still biting in Lake Michigan!!!  My dad took Kelly and I out for a couple hours tonight and we fished north of the Cook Nuc Plant.  We fished in 38 ft of water and the water temp was 76 degrees.  There was a strong current going north.  I've never seen a current like it in my life.  It was very swift!!  We didn't catch to mant but the ones we caught were good ones.  We caught ten that measured between 12 and 14 inches.  The biggest perch was a 14 1/4 inch fatty.  It was the biggest perch I've seen in quite some time.