Hamilton Reef
06-05-2005, 09:59 PM
Soft-plastic baits in shallows bring in Kent Lake bass
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/111757920014900.xml
Sunday, June 05, 2005, By Bob Gwizdz
MILFORD -- We spent two hours frustrated, throwing soft-plastic baits in water as clear as the 10 Commandments and we didn't have much to show for it. We could see bass -- both smallmouths and largemouths -- cruising in the weedy shallows. But it seemed like they could see us, too.
So Gerry Gostenik pointed his 21-foot Triton toward the south end of Kent Lake and idled us down the reservoir.
"It's a north wind," the 36-year-old bass pro/fishing guide said matter-of-factly. "We need to find some dirty water."
The far end of the lake was a different story. With the wind blowing against the muddy shores, there was less than 18 inches of visibility. And though the bass weren't obvious, they were there.
Over the course of the day, we put 17 of them -- a mixture of largemouths and smallies -- and a very fine pike in the boat.
It was a couple of days before the opener -- Kent Lake is one of the six bodies of water where bassers can legally catch and release their favorite quarry before the season starts -- and the fish were in pre-spawn, spawning and post-spawn modes.
Our attack was simple. We threw soft-plastic baits (Senkos, Flukes and tubes) into the shallows and worked them back. The Flukes did most of the damage.
"In weedy-type lakes where you're fishing shallow, it's a terrific bait." Gostenik said. "It's real life-like and it seems to work better than a hard jerk bait."
We fished the bait like a Texas-rigged worm, except we pushed the point all the way through the body of the bait, then pressed the point portion back up against the bait. Gostenik recommends 14-pound test line and about a foot of leader below a small barrel swivel.
"The swivel helps it sink a little bit, but the most important thing is it eliminates line twist, especially if you're fishing with a spinning rod." he said. "Fish that thing on a spinning rod and you'll be tangled up within an hour."
We gave it just a moderate, jerky retrieve and the bright pearl-colored baits were fairly visible in the murky water. Occasionally, it would simply disappear. That's when you set the hook.
Gostenik said he uses soft-plastic jerk baits once the water temperature warms into the high 50s.
"It's a great bait all summer long, any time you've got heavy weed growth," he said.
Bright colors are a key, he said. On the Great Lakes, he uses bubble gum-colored Flukes.
"Great Lakes smallmouths love that thing," he said. "It's the closest thing I've got to a secret bait -- I think they'll hit that pink one four to one (times) over a white one."
We did most of our damage along rocky banks. (Remember, the fish were somewhere close to spawning.)
"Gravel is the ticket," Gostenik said. "In a week or two, it should be prime time for topwater. A lot of times you'll catch a fish on a topwater bait and then if you go over and look where you caught them, you'll see there'll be a ball of fry in the water. That's what they're doing -- protecting those fry."
At times, when the fishing slowed, Gostenik switched from a Fluke to a Senko, a sort of fat plastic worm with no discernible tail. The Senko (generically, a stick worm) has a slow, shivering fall that tantalizes bass.
"We're picking off the more active ones with the Fluke," he said. "A Senko's slow bait to fish if you're just searching for them."
The pattern -- soft plastics in the weedy shallows -- will work just about anywhere, Gostenik said.
"You can do this on just about any of our lakes," he said. "In Michigan, fishing inland lakes is fairly easy. There are two different types of lake, real clear-water and dark-water lakes. Once you learn how to fish them, you can duplicate the pattern on any of them."
Although Gostenik does most of his guiding on Lake St. Clair (it doesn't open for bass fishing until mid June), he fishes inland lakes early in the season or whenever a client wants to go somewhere else. He says Kent is "a darn good lake" though, which proves to him that pre-spawn bass fishing doesn't hurt a lake.
"Look at the quality of fishing in that lake after we've been fishing it in April all these years," he said.
To contact Gostenik, call (313) 319-0100 or check his web site at www.greatlakesbassfishing.com.
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/111757920014900.xml
Sunday, June 05, 2005, By Bob Gwizdz
MILFORD -- We spent two hours frustrated, throwing soft-plastic baits in water as clear as the 10 Commandments and we didn't have much to show for it. We could see bass -- both smallmouths and largemouths -- cruising in the weedy shallows. But it seemed like they could see us, too.
So Gerry Gostenik pointed his 21-foot Triton toward the south end of Kent Lake and idled us down the reservoir.
"It's a north wind," the 36-year-old bass pro/fishing guide said matter-of-factly. "We need to find some dirty water."
The far end of the lake was a different story. With the wind blowing against the muddy shores, there was less than 18 inches of visibility. And though the bass weren't obvious, they were there.
Over the course of the day, we put 17 of them -- a mixture of largemouths and smallies -- and a very fine pike in the boat.
It was a couple of days before the opener -- Kent Lake is one of the six bodies of water where bassers can legally catch and release their favorite quarry before the season starts -- and the fish were in pre-spawn, spawning and post-spawn modes.
Our attack was simple. We threw soft-plastic baits (Senkos, Flukes and tubes) into the shallows and worked them back. The Flukes did most of the damage.
"In weedy-type lakes where you're fishing shallow, it's a terrific bait." Gostenik said. "It's real life-like and it seems to work better than a hard jerk bait."
We fished the bait like a Texas-rigged worm, except we pushed the point all the way through the body of the bait, then pressed the point portion back up against the bait. Gostenik recommends 14-pound test line and about a foot of leader below a small barrel swivel.
"The swivel helps it sink a little bit, but the most important thing is it eliminates line twist, especially if you're fishing with a spinning rod." he said. "Fish that thing on a spinning rod and you'll be tangled up within an hour."
We gave it just a moderate, jerky retrieve and the bright pearl-colored baits were fairly visible in the murky water. Occasionally, it would simply disappear. That's when you set the hook.
Gostenik said he uses soft-plastic jerk baits once the water temperature warms into the high 50s.
"It's a great bait all summer long, any time you've got heavy weed growth," he said.
Bright colors are a key, he said. On the Great Lakes, he uses bubble gum-colored Flukes.
"Great Lakes smallmouths love that thing," he said. "It's the closest thing I've got to a secret bait -- I think they'll hit that pink one four to one (times) over a white one."
We did most of our damage along rocky banks. (Remember, the fish were somewhere close to spawning.)
"Gravel is the ticket," Gostenik said. "In a week or two, it should be prime time for topwater. A lot of times you'll catch a fish on a topwater bait and then if you go over and look where you caught them, you'll see there'll be a ball of fry in the water. That's what they're doing -- protecting those fry."
At times, when the fishing slowed, Gostenik switched from a Fluke to a Senko, a sort of fat plastic worm with no discernible tail. The Senko (generically, a stick worm) has a slow, shivering fall that tantalizes bass.
"We're picking off the more active ones with the Fluke," he said. "A Senko's slow bait to fish if you're just searching for them."
The pattern -- soft plastics in the weedy shallows -- will work just about anywhere, Gostenik said.
"You can do this on just about any of our lakes," he said. "In Michigan, fishing inland lakes is fairly easy. There are two different types of lake, real clear-water and dark-water lakes. Once you learn how to fish them, you can duplicate the pattern on any of them."
Although Gostenik does most of his guiding on Lake St. Clair (it doesn't open for bass fishing until mid June), he fishes inland lakes early in the season or whenever a client wants to go somewhere else. He says Kent is "a darn good lake" though, which proves to him that pre-spawn bass fishing doesn't hurt a lake.
"Look at the quality of fishing in that lake after we've been fishing it in April all these years," he said.
To contact Gostenik, call (313) 319-0100 or check his web site at www.greatlakesbassfishing.com.