MichBass08

any time after the water hits 55 degress is prime topwater fishing (one of the articles on this site suggest its the first bait you should throw). basically, once the water hits 55-60 deg, bass start spawning and obviously get very protective over their nests. a lot of people over look top water presentations during the spawn. when the fish are spawning (especially shallow), top water baits like frogs, buzzbaits, and spooks make too much commotion for the bass to stand and they end up destroying it. bass not only have to worry about horizontal attacks from nest robbers but vertically too. i've seen a lot of bass give the cold shoulder to lizards and rodents but once they see a spook walk over head, they turn their nose up, prime their tail and explode skyward. pretty fun to watch.

i love swim jigs, i caught a few on one the other day. i use them throughout the year, but usually im not throwing them all that much until the grass beds have had time to grow considerably (late spring/early summer and then on). they're most effective when burning them, just touching the tops of the grass.

haha very true. i wouldnt lie anyway, just digs your self a deeper hole. and youre right, 9 times out of 10 you probably are gonna get written up. but the CO who approached me knew what i was fishing for. he was real cool about it (luckily). any way, catch and release is a little less than 3 weeks out so none of us will have to worry past then.

4.8's a great catch. where at?. I've been so busy lately i haven't gotten out in about week. after all this warming and rain, i cant wait to get back out.

yeah i definitely dont agree with the law and the ticket would never hold up in court because they cant prove it, but it still says you cant fish catch and immediate release on greens and browns until the last saturday in april i believe. still, ive never met a dnr officer that upholds it so i think were all safe. as for the MASS situation, i feel you're pain, i went through that until about a month ago. this warm weather moving in is gonna kick things in gear tho, so im pretty pumped, the bite should really turn on if it holds. spawn might actually come earlier this year than i thought.

easy, technically you're right. but im not keeping the fish and ive already been approached by a DNR officer who had no problem with me or the other 10 guys fishing the river, as long as we had licenses and weren't keeping the fish. poaching is a strong accusation cause it more so applies to those who keep the fish (but like i said you're still right.)

Hey guys, just bored and figured id start a thread for michigan. With the weather starting to turn up, ive been starting to fish more and more and i gotta say, its 100 times better than i thought it would be. Ive been pulling 2.5-4lb class smallies out of the chippewa and tittabawassee river. Let me know where you're fishing and how its going, and if you're catching them, what on?

haha i had some major cabin fever until i decided to give the rivers a try again. Ive been out fishing the Chippewa and Titabawassee rivers a lot over the past few days and its been producing big time. I caught 7 smallies, all 2.5-4lb class. I made sure to fish the murkiest water with a moderate current that i could find, they really seemed more active in those areas. I caught them all in 6ft or less of water, if the water levels are higher, it draws them tight towards the shore. The only thing they really seemed to crush (at least for me) is a single blade (silver colorado) black and blue spinnerbait, or a dark swim jig. I was really surprised at how hard they hit for the water temp being in the low 40's. They were even coming up to the surface and swirling shad. Dont be afraid to speed up your retrieve slightly and kill it every few feet or so for a second or two. any way, i just saw the thread and figured id let you guys know that giving some near by rivers a try might not be a bad idea.