by Kevin VanDam
Late September means one thing to me: Michigan Smallmouth!
As any Michiana bass fisherman will tell you, there is no better time for smallmouth fishing and no better place to consistently catch numbers of big ones than in northern Michigan from now until the middle of October.
By Kevin VanDam
The nation is in a severe drought and its affecting the lakes around southern Michigan.
Weve been dealing with falling lake levels and a lack of sufficient rainfall for several weeks now. Farmers are still irrigating heavily and the bottom is falling out of the water table which also affects our lakes. The water table at my house fell 1½ feet over the past week!
In the meantime our fish are losing valuable shallow water habitat. You can still catch some fish shallow, but the bigger fish are still deeper.
Everything is getting stressed and the fish are starting to show it.
By Kevin VanDam
I dont have to tell Michiana anglers the importance of spinning tackle fishing for bass and panfish in our lakes and rivers.
Youll probably find more spinning reels on the decks of area anglers boats than you will baitcasters. Thats not to say baitcast reels arent vital, but many of the techniques and line sizes used here match up better with spinning gear.