[tgrife]

Good evening all. I am from the south suburbs but would LOVE to hit Lake Michigan sometime for smallies. I have NO idea where to launch, where to fish, or even if my boat can handle it. I have a 17' Nitro with a 115HP on it. Would LOVE to get out with someone who knows the lake or has fished it before. Either my boat or yours. I can pay gas, whatever, no issues.
I usually fish cooling lakes here down south and hit Madison, WI a lot as well. Just looking for other solid areas to bass fish and tournament fish.

Let me know your thoughts. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS!!

[sea nile]

Click on the banner above for Capt. Ralph Steiger. He is the guy to go to for smallmouth. Watch the short video he has at the bottom of his advertisement. Might get some ideas . Don't think you have to venture too far out for the smallies. So your boat should be OK. Just be careful and watch the weather. I don't fish for them so I could not tell ya where they are. Probably along the breakwaters???

[macrackus]

I'd be happy to come along and help you figure it out but I wouldnt know where to start either. Never fished the big pond but I would think sea nile is right I would start along the rocks and try to figure it out from there. Im sure if you read through the old posts you will get alot of the info you are looking for.

[spindoctor]

try launching out of cal park and work the break walls with kalins 5" twister tails in crawfish patterns with 1/8 ounce jig or goby imitators. make sure you're boat is up to coed and you might need a Indiana license depending on where you wonder. or just launch out of burnahm and fish the break walls around downtown. good luck let us know how you do.

[J. Howard]

Does anyone know much about the artificial reef (I think people also call it "The Rockpile")? I'm no bass fisherman but I've been thinking about heading down there to see if I can find any perch...

http://www.lib.niu.edu/2000/oi000108.html

[DOUBLE D]

t why waste a lot of time get hold of capt. ralph and he will give you the world tour of south side smallies no one is better to learn from
dd

[FisherDan]

I would also suggest you go to Mik Muffin just across the border in Indiana. Ralph helps out there when he is not guiding and they carry all the lures he uses for Smallmouth. This time of the year the Smallmouth are on a Goby bite so the Poor Boy JR. on a 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig head fished right on the bottom it often the hot bait. Gobies have no air bladder so they seldom go more than a couple of inches above bottom so keep you jig just slow hopping, imitating the goby.

Your boat is more than good for this type of fishing. Just like almost all fishing look for something different in the break walls. Maybe a gap, change in rock sizes, et. These fish can be very tight to the rocks so expect to lose a lot of jigs. Also the lake is very, very clear so using a fluorocarbon leader can be a great help plus it is tougher than regular mono. These fish are often bunched up so keep moving until you find them. Remember CPR.

FisherDan