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Did a little fishing in Michigan and Illinois


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#1 rhymobot

rhymobot

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Posted 30 September 2014 - 08:26 PM

Like I did in NY and NJ in May, I went on a sports roadie and brough my inflatable with me. This time it was 6 games in Lansing, Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison. 
 
Now as for the fishing, this trip was more limited to lakes much closer to where I was staying so they weren't the best spots but I still managed to bag a few. Perhaps you will find this summary interesting.
 
 
 
First lake. Within 5 minutes I had a hammer handle hit my small gold spoon while trolling. Lost it right at the side of the boat. Eventually caught this largie in the 
 
weeds. And then while trolling back to the launch at sundown, another little water wolf was on on the same kind of spoon, but this one was silver. And this time it didn't get away.
 
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Then I tried the Grand River. It is apparently a good river but just not in my location. And the surroundings weren't very nice at this particular spot. But it was so close I gave it a try anyway. This river boat restaurant is just that. A restaurant and not a functioning boat. And notice the rims on that trailer. Better than the truck itself!
 
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Off to Illinois, which of course, is not really known for it's outdoors and wilderness, unlike Michigan and Wisconsin. Well maybe some parts are good but nowhere near Chicago. My expectations weren't very high so I wasn't too disappointed. All three lakes had brown water and clarity was a few inches at best.
 
First place was a series of former industrial pits. I wanted to try the big lake which supposedly has nice bass. However, upon arrival, there was a sign saying gas motors only. Yet on the website for this place, it didn't mention that. And there was almost no wind that day. So I went to plan B, which was one of those smaller lakes, which apparently contains gar along with bass. Well the hand launch was a good 60 yards away from the parking lot. So I then had to randomly pick another, which I circled. It was terrible.
 
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This next place was tough but I found one weed patch. And they were the mushy kind of weeds. But I did manage to pull out this two pounder or so.
 
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And then it was on to some lagoons. There must have been a hundred downed trees in the water but there was zero action this day. I didn't even see a blue gill. If I was a local I'd definitely give it another try but nothing was happening for me that day.
 
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#2 rhymobot

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Posted 30 September 2014 - 08:27 PM

Just discovered that the site capped me on the number of pics I could embed. So I've attached the rest.
 
 
 
Back in Michigan I tried a couple of small lakes. Both have tonnes of lily pads and one was super clear. Like see straight down to the bottom in 6 FOW clear. Hooked into several bass and here were the 4 biggest.
 
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And an interesing note. On the way to one of the Michigan lakes, I stopped at Subway for a sub. The guy asked me where I was from. I said Toronto area. He asked if I know Rice Lake (this is before I told him I was going fishing). I said ya, but never fished it. I have fished 3 other lakes nearby. He said he drove the 8 hours to rent a cottage 3 years in a row with his family. He said it was fantastic fishing. 
 
Four hours later, after coming off the water, an elderly couple talked to me about fishing and asked where I was from. Upon answering, they said they used to rent a cottage on Rice Lake years ago and fish it. I asked them if they were related to the guy working at the Subway 10 minutes away. Nope. What a coincidence!
 

Thanks for reading.
 

 


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