Hamilton Reef
11-06-2005, 10:55 AM
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1130884803283300.xml&coll=1
Sunday, November 6, 2005 By Bob Gwizdz
As sportsmen gear up for the upcoming firearms deer opener, fishing tackle -- especially gear designed for warm-water species -- is beginning to gather dust. And that's a shame as autumn offers terrific bass fishing opportunity.
"It's probably the best time of year to fish," said Kevin VanDam, the Kalamazoo angler who is among the top professionals in the world. "It's amazing how well they bite."
VanDam isn't alone in that assessment.
"There's a good month or five weeks of fishing left,' said Gerry Gostenik, a professional fisherman who guides bass anglers on the Great Lakes and inland waters across the state.
"From here on out, the colder it gets, the tighter the schools are going to get," he said. "And they're feeding like crazy. They're gorging themselves for the winter."
Although bass become less popular with many anglers than other species -- that includes steelhead, which are beginning to show up in the rivers in colder weather -- veteran bass fishermen know that the last bite of the year often produces the biggest fish.
"(On a recent outing) we only had 13 keepers,'' said Gostenik, who was out on Lake Erie, "but the best five went 23 pounds."
And cold-weather bass fishing can also be a numbers game -- if you find a bass, you often find a bunch of them.
"They're really just starting getting grouped up," Gostenik said. "If you know the wintering holes, you can have 100-fish days, easy. I have places in Lake Erie when in mid to late November you can slaughter them."
On warm sunny days, anglers can often find fish relatively shallow, even into December. Fish will often gather on the first structure element -- the edge of a weed line or a rock pile -- off shore and they can be taken on all manner of motion lures such as crankbaits or spinnerbaits. Vibrating, rattling baits (such as Rat-L-Traps) are often their most productive when water temperatures are falling.
"I've been catching them on buzzbaits," VanDam said. "It's amazing how long they'll stay shallow. They'll be on the inside edge of the weedlines until late November at least and then they'll get on the turns on the outside edge."
But as the water cools, the fish generally head toward deeper water and bottom-bumping baits -- jigs tipped with pork frogs, tubes or grubs, blades and spoons -- are in order. Generally, fishing becomes more vertical than horizontal -- more jigging and dragging, less casting -- as anglers follow the bottom contour with their baits.
"As long as you're lifting and dropping it, they'll pound it," Gostenik said.
Perhaps the biggest trick to cold-water bass fishing is getting on the water on days with favorable conditions. As autumn winds rile up the water, finding clear water can be a challenge. And for that matter, staying on the fish in deeper water can be a challenge as anglers have to fight the wind.
But there are places where the fishing can be easier.
Reservoirs, for instance, often have areas associated with the main river channel or one off the creek channels where deeper-water drop-offs are fairly close to shore and protected from the elements. Often, anglers can tuck into places where high banks protect them from the prevailing winds and work bottom structure without having to fight a norther.
Sunday, November 6, 2005 By Bob Gwizdz
As sportsmen gear up for the upcoming firearms deer opener, fishing tackle -- especially gear designed for warm-water species -- is beginning to gather dust. And that's a shame as autumn offers terrific bass fishing opportunity.
"It's probably the best time of year to fish," said Kevin VanDam, the Kalamazoo angler who is among the top professionals in the world. "It's amazing how well they bite."
VanDam isn't alone in that assessment.
"There's a good month or five weeks of fishing left,' said Gerry Gostenik, a professional fisherman who guides bass anglers on the Great Lakes and inland waters across the state.
"From here on out, the colder it gets, the tighter the schools are going to get," he said. "And they're feeding like crazy. They're gorging themselves for the winter."
Although bass become less popular with many anglers than other species -- that includes steelhead, which are beginning to show up in the rivers in colder weather -- veteran bass fishermen know that the last bite of the year often produces the biggest fish.
"(On a recent outing) we only had 13 keepers,'' said Gostenik, who was out on Lake Erie, "but the best five went 23 pounds."
And cold-weather bass fishing can also be a numbers game -- if you find a bass, you often find a bunch of them.
"They're really just starting getting grouped up," Gostenik said. "If you know the wintering holes, you can have 100-fish days, easy. I have places in Lake Erie when in mid to late November you can slaughter them."
On warm sunny days, anglers can often find fish relatively shallow, even into December. Fish will often gather on the first structure element -- the edge of a weed line or a rock pile -- off shore and they can be taken on all manner of motion lures such as crankbaits or spinnerbaits. Vibrating, rattling baits (such as Rat-L-Traps) are often their most productive when water temperatures are falling.
"I've been catching them on buzzbaits," VanDam said. "It's amazing how long they'll stay shallow. They'll be on the inside edge of the weedlines until late November at least and then they'll get on the turns on the outside edge."
But as the water cools, the fish generally head toward deeper water and bottom-bumping baits -- jigs tipped with pork frogs, tubes or grubs, blades and spoons -- are in order. Generally, fishing becomes more vertical than horizontal -- more jigging and dragging, less casting -- as anglers follow the bottom contour with their baits.
"As long as you're lifting and dropping it, they'll pound it," Gostenik said.
Perhaps the biggest trick to cold-water bass fishing is getting on the water on days with favorable conditions. As autumn winds rile up the water, finding clear water can be a challenge. And for that matter, staying on the fish in deeper water can be a challenge as anglers have to fight the wind.
But there are places where the fishing can be easier.
Reservoirs, for instance, often have areas associated with the main river channel or one off the creek channels where deeper-water drop-offs are fairly close to shore and protected from the elements. Often, anglers can tuck into places where high banks protect them from the prevailing winds and work bottom structure without having to fight a norther.