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Good fish–bad pics.  Trying to refine a new finesse method on non-aggressive fish, I came up with this one.  More details later.

Making their first visit to NW Michigan, Kelly and Wyatt had a banner day on the big water near Traverse City.  Big numbers on Monday (over 70) were caught using finesse methods.

On the second day we switched to inland waters and soon found wolfpacks chasing small baitfish.  The midday bite was excellent as our numbers totaled 50 or so with several between 4 and 5 lbs.

Great fun with husband and wife who are very good fishermen.

He goes hunting for more smallmouth spots.  Yesterday was a fruitful day as I found suspended fish in an area that I usually only get to a few times in the fall.

With high winds early from the south changing to very breezy from the northwest then going calm, the fish were mostly suspended.  Thank goodness for the finesse rig and a very sensitive rod as 80% of the fish were caught on the fall.  Too heavy a set up got no strikes probably because if fell too fast.  But when the right combo was used, nice fish were caught.

My old days of deep crappie fishing served me well as the finesse bites are very light.  My medium light rod with the extra fast tip is by far the most sensitive and helps to avoid deep hooking fish.  I have a very expensive medium light that has a parabolic action and it is not nearly as effective.

The Knight’s came a long way to vacation in the area.  We knew we had one day before the storms from the south arrived.  We were not disappointed on day one with 80 or so smallies in less than 6 hours of fishing.

I’ve been fortunate to have had five father/son clients this season.  Most usually involve teenaged sons and older.  This weekend’s group was unique as boys were 4 and 5.  They could really fish.

I don’t know the correct answer but a four year-old and a five year-old made it look easy.  This is the time to bring them when big numbers are available.  No chance for boredom with these anglers.

A busy week has given us the opportunity to boat many smallmouth.  The shallow fish seem to be randomly schooled–bigs and littles in the the same area.  The deep fish, however, appear to be schooled by size.

We don’t guarantee 100 fish a day but it will probably happen if the weather allows us to fish our finesse baits.