A MidWest Outdoor's Top Fishing Spot! 

By Captain Marty 

WALLEYE, NORTHERN PIKE AND SMALLMOUTH BASS
 
Little and Big Bay De Noc is a Fisherman's Fishing Trip Delight! 
Where should we go? What do we want to fish this year? Should it be a family trip? What about traveling distance and accommodations? Bottom line let's catch some fish! These are some of the questions being asked as many of us our planning this years fishing plans and whats so great about these questions is that it's really right in your backyard, that's right the MidWest offers some of the finest in fishing and the words are Little and Big Bay De Noc located in the upper peninsula of Michigan near the towns of Gladstone and Escanaba Michigan. 

Let's run down some of the fishing just hours away from your home town. The Opener! May 15 Signals the Michigan Fishing Season.  Primary Target: WALLEYE'S!!!!!!!! 

If it's walleye's your looking for then plan a opener through the end of June trip and here is why? Usually at this time of the year most all of the walleye's have finished spawning and an aggressive bite usually follows this time. Numbers of good eating size fish along with fish up to 4 and 5 pounds are fairly common, but the fun is catching the numbers of fish each day. 

Techniques for this Spring Bite: Simple fishing techniques apply at this time of year, basically using light jigs and crankbaits do the trick quite well. Using 1/8th and 1/16th ounce jigs in high visible colors of orange or chartreuse are good choices.  Northland Tackle has an adaptation that has improved our catches and that is it's new "BuckShot Rattle Jigs and Rings" that simply seem to attract more fish. Lipstick and Fire-Ball Jigs are hard to beat at this Spring time bite and tipping is generally done with minnows and crawlers. 

Crankbaits are another approach to this body of water and choices should definitely include Berkley's Frenzy cranks giving us extreme good luck during early and late hour fishing in the day. Colors and matching the baitfish present are a good rule of thumb.

Tackle selection and medium to medium light action rods like Berkley's Gary Roach
Edition in a 6 foot length matched with a Quantum's Energy Reel and don't forget line in a 6 pound test our choice XL. 

Location: Fish shallow water areas at this time of year starting out in spawning areas. The River areas of both the Escanaba and Rapid River are two good starts from hear working shallow reef areas where feeding areas for hungry walleye's should be looked for. Northern reefs with depths from 3 to 8 feet should be fished. 

New growth weedbeds are another hot pick for spring walleyes. Cabbage, coontail and other very oxygen giving weeds are starting their growth and hold large numbers of baitfish that draw hungry after spawn walleye's in like a magnet. Kipling Landing bay hosts some great weed fishing at this time of year. Run south and it's the Black Bottom's weeds and don't forget the Stonington area. Through June this activity usually
exists with a pretty consistent bite and action is the name of the game! 

June's Smallmouth Bass Excitement and Don't forget the Fall! 
The Opener-May 25 and plan on having a Smallmouth Explosion! The population of Smallmouth Bass has been increasing in the last years due to the amount of Catch and Release anglers and fishing can at many times be fast and furious. This early season bite goes on during and right after the spawning of the bass. 

Little Bay has good populations of bass and Big Bay is another exciting place to plan a bass fishing trip. Let's correlate a series of areas on both Bays where bass fishing can prove to be a fun trip. In addition to the spring bite the fall fishing for Smallmouth
Bass can be another prime time. 

Techniques for Early/Fall Smallmouth: Jigs, crankbaits and livebait rigs are three choices that should get good results. Fishing shallow in June is key to finding these active smallmouth's and spot fishing ranks first. Working shallow water spawning regions looking for beds where Smallmouth Bass are. Northland's Buck-Shot Rattle jig with a Berkley Power Grub works great. 

Noise, scent and high Vis color will help fish to zero in on your presentation. Sizes of jigs and an 1/8 ounce works well when approaching shallow waters of only several feet. Optional choices and small crankbaits like the Rattln' R and if you like twitching baits try any unlimited number of floating stick baits on the market. Explosive hits are the norm and full action jumps usually result. Work all spawning areas well and then back off of these areas into deeper waters to find all holding bass in the area. 

Tackle setups are easy, spinning rods in medium to medium light action in 6 foot lengths and light action reels and it's Abu Garcia hands down. Cranking reels and "The Morrum" model is hard to beat for throwing crankbaits with a medium action
Berkley Lightning Rod with it's pistol grip 5 1/2 to 6 foot and 10 pound Solar line for high visibility and we are ready! 

Location: Rocks, gravel and sand constitute the most common areas to finding Smallmouth Bass. Little Bay's Smallies' can be found throughout the bay starting at the north end rock, shale reefs. Noticeable beds can be seen and concentrate on the
numerous weed and reedbeds that line the entire shorelines of the north end of the bay. Many beds can be found in these reedbeds and using both jigs and cranks should bring active fish out. South and it's simple to fish the numerous reeds towards
the city of Escanaba. Stonington and Peninsula Points are other spots holding good fish.  Big Bay boosts good catches of fish through the year but spring can be lot's of fun. Run the islands and abundant rock structures out there and work the reedbeds.  

The "Fall Fishery" sees good catches of fish on Big Bay and Smallmouth Bass become aggressively hungry and using live-bait rigs tipped with Redtail Chubs or Suckers bring rod thumping action as well as taking walleye's during the same fishing
expedition. 

Summer Fishing Smorgasbord! 
Yes Walleye's, Smallmouth Bass and "Toothy" Northern Pike! 
July and August needn't be the slow months and here's why? Northern Pike can fill-in-the-blanks at this time. Are they big pike? Client's from the Chicago area thought so after trying Northern Pike fishing last year. Average pike between 26 and 32 inches are fairly common and the large "GATOR" type pike roam these waters with consistency.

Techniques for "Toothy Critter's": Spinnerbaits, and using Northland's Bionic Bucktail knocks them dead! Vary your colors and don't forget to sharpen the hooks! Crankbaits and Berkley's Frenzy series choice will get results. 

If your a Musky fisherman bring your musky tackle along as this ex-musky guide will tell you they not fussy biter's. Wire leaders are important as sharp teeth can clip right through lines. Casting approaches are the most sought after methods we use on board but trolling tactics are a good method for locating active pike. Lines and Whiplash the new "Braid" with their non-stretch filaments work great in getting good hook sets. Rods and reels and choices like Abu Garcia's C-3 along with a heavy action rod in the 7 foot lengths should get the job done. 

Location patterns: The weedbeds and reedbeds are a good start and Little Bay's abundance of weeds makes searching them out quite easy. Remember the greenest, healthiest hold the most food and consequently hold good numbers of pike. Cast and
retreive these baits with an almost steady retreive. Mobility generally nets the most action so keep your boat moving. Keeping on the move and using the Minn Kota Maxxum series of bowmount electric motors does the job. Dependability, quietness and lot's of POWER! 

The north end reefs hold numbers of aggressive pike through the summer months as well. Big Bay has northern pike that I don't think have seen a bait yet! Big pike this last year exceeded 20 pounds and we've seen many bigger ones out of this Charter Captain's Boat. Ogontz Bay, Garden and the Fish Dam River regions are several locations for finding big northern pike. These pike relate to the emergent weeds throughout the Big Bay's large acreage. Approach these fish again with stealth and mobility. Always be working several bait presentations for best results. 

Late Summer, Fall and Trophy Time! 
Is There a Best Time To Fish The Bay's De Noc? 
Any time you can go fishing is the "best time!" August sees some very good fishing combining all species. In August we start doing some trolling for walleyes still combining jigging and crankbait presentations. Live bait rigging advances into view at this time. Proceeding into early fall and northern pike and smallmouth bass will become quite active. Trophy Time is always talked about in October and November but don't let this keep you from doing and catching some excellent fish in the months of
August and September. FALL TIME IS SMORGASBORD TIME! 

Techniques for a Smorgasbord: Northland's Rock Runner Bottom Bouncers, Float'n Spin spinners and crawlers fished in deeper waters produce well for August through September walleye's. Presenting several lines is easy using Off-Shore's Planer Boards and getting lines from the boat increases catches and spooks less fish. Jig fishing still gets good catches of walleye's and tipped with live bait completes the success. 

Crankbaiting both Bays at this time proves good results, if there's a bait with a good success ratio it's the Frenzy Lures. Colors and perch, shad along with my favorite, Fire Tiger. Northern Pike are again active at this time providing action from know until freeze up. Bionic Bucktails, giant deep diving cranks and the door is wide open.

"Trophy-Time", yes late October and November are the times when some of the biggest fish of both Bay's really go.  Trolling sequences work well for large walleye's using Berkley Frenzy Minnows and other crankbait models combining the knowledge of a book no one should be without, Precision Trolling. This book puts you in touch with the right bait and right depth. Weighted with Off-Shore's Snap Weight System and covering these suspended fish is easy. 

Vertical jigging deep water at this cold time also produces well using jigs and large minnows. Keep an eye to the bottom with Zercom's Clearwater and you'll actually catch the fish you see. Big northern pike and this is when the northern pike start to work on a large menu, 20 pound plus pike are more common than you think! 

Locations: Working the same water regions mentioned will put you in class water to finding these fish. Remember versatility and mobility are two things generally to key in on catching more fish. 

The Fishing Trip Delight! 
Try Little and Big Bay De Noc this year for a fishing change and find out what a great fishery Northern Lake Michigan has. 

Our Suggestion is a Chartered Fishing Trip and we can show you the fishing that exists here. Call us at: Little Bay de Noc Fishing Charter's at: 800-708-2347 or write us at: P.O. Box 421, Rapid River, Michigan 49878.