The weather lately here in the Upper Peninsula has been pretty tough,with several Thunderstorms moving through the area with rain squalls and cold fronts. I hadn’t been on the water for over a week and reports from other fishermen were poor at best. I had two trips to reschedule and was anxious to get out. My good friend Rich Henrion had a rare day off and although a 40% chance of rain was predicted i said “lets give it a try.”
Rich loves to fish topwater for Smallies and I was doubtful we would find the fish that aggressive. We put in above the Dam and motored up the flowage. I noticed immediately that the water was rising, as green grass tops were submerged along the shoreline and the past high water lines on the rocks were no longer visible. These are good clues to watch for as far as water level changes.
We started fishing under gray threatening skies along rocky current breaks below the substantial upper dam outflow. I suggested Rich tie on a watermelon chubby tube while I worked a Zara Puppy tight to the rocky shoreline. Rich reared back on his rod before I was even in the water. A chunky 15″ Bronzeback somersaulted out of the water and we were off to a fast start! A while later I managed to drift my Spook near a downed tree when a huge Brownie engulfed it and bored deep for the tree. I snubbed her as hard as I could with my 6’6″ St Croix Avid baitcasting rod and 10# mono, but she managed to hang me up and break free. Things slowed down for a while after that as the wind switched around to the north and the air temp cooled down.
Feeling we were dealing with a pattern of finding structure near or on deeper water points and breaks I headed for a mid-lake rock bar near deep water. Rich threw a #8 Blk/Silver ShadRap and was into a toothy, hard pulling 30″ pike, the first of several small to medium pike we would catch the rest of the evening. We saw the action fade as the temperature demanded jackets be put on. I made a “last cast” to a perfect lair of a big pine stump next to the rocky darkening shoreline and a fat 17″ bass obliged me with a boiling take and two terrific jumps. I gently released her back to the water and thought; What could be a better end of a great afternoon on the water.