Largemouth Bass stalks a Rapala
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2009 LAKES GALLERY >>

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2009 Fish Picture Gallery

The ones that didn't get away...but we did release them

Click on any image...

Early season fishing for Perch, freestyle jigging a Bass Pro Shops Tail Spin, we came across and quickly released this lean largemouth.
This second largemouth on a Bass Pro Shops Tail Spin in less than 1/2 hour, forced us to move to a new location. The perch stopped biting and bass should be left alone this early in the year.
A beautiful Spring day, the weekend before the Catch-and-Release Bass opener, and I was sitting on a school of papermouths.
After toying with the school of slabs for the past half hour or so, this lean Largemouth came cruising. Sorry, buddy! You're one week too early.
Whoa baby! This craggly old hog, despite the fact he was blind in the left eye, was still able to key in on our Wind Rider spoon. This largemouth, once he fattens up a bit, might push 6 lbs. in July!
Another early season bass cruising the rocks along the shoreline, this one tipped the scales at just over 3 lbs.
The water was grey, the sky was rainy, and the wind was blowing. Beautiful conditions, considering this late April Largemouth hit on our very first cast - a small, XRAP jerkbait in the Glass Ghost color.
This Largemouth was lurking in water less than a foot deep. On the lean end of 2 pounds, this youngster had one unusually large kicker of a tail! I hope to see him again in a year or two.
Fishing for big Bass and Pike in water literally boiling with activity, we landed this small Crappie which was holding tight to the underwater vegetation. Was he hungry or just trying to get out of there?
A miserable day for the weather. It went from sunny and 70 to rainy, windy and down to the low 50s in the span of an hour. Despite all that, this 3+ pounder was sitting in 18 inches of water just off the shore grass seen in the background.
Just about a half hour later and 100 feet away from the fish in the previous picture, we landed this 3+ pounder in nearly the same fashion. Firetiger was definitely the color of choice for the miserable weather conditions.
Out at Lake St. Clair for a work event, you can barely see Canada a few miles across the lake to the South! I had a chance to toss a spoon into the wind waiting for the traffic to leave the event. Luckily, I was just able to reach a school of young Largemouth.
Throwing the BPS Wind Rider spoon, there was a 10-14" largemouth nearly every 4th or 5th cast.
Although the bass were plentiful, all were at or under 14". This one showed evidence of an amazing scar across the entire mid-section from a fully healed injury taken as a youngster. Released safely, makes you wonder...was it a boat prop or more likely a close call with a trophy Northern Pike?
After a nightmare of a streak (lost last 7 of 9 fish on with several snapped lines), finally landed a small one. Perhaps my luck was turning. Shortly after this youngster, I landed a beauty of a 4+ pounder which of course I never got a picture of because I proceeded to drop my beloved camera into the lake as I fumbled with the hook.
My first catch with the new camera! The vegetation is dying early (we've had temps in the 40s some nights) and the bass are sitting in the ruts. This nice borderline 3 pounder landed on a Booyah spinner in Sexy Shad colors while I dodged thunderstorms.
Sexy shad was slamming while I threw between thundestorms - this was 2 of 3 on my two hour tour. I may have had to jump back into the truck every 10-15 mins while the storms passed, but when I was out - they were definitely keying in on the Booyah Bassinator.
Number 3 of 3. I would have stayed longer, had a lightning bolt not got my attention about a mile to the west. This was my first time using the Booyah Bassinator spinner and my success was so good in the Sexy Shad color (I also had several hits with no fish) <a href='booyah-bassinator.htm'>I HAD to write a review</a>.
Another average 2 pounder on the Booyah Bassinator spinbait. The weeds are dying here in Michigan and with recent heavy rains there is a good 14-24 inches of clear water between the grass and the surface - perfect for spinbaits.
Yet another average 2 pounder on the Booyah Bassinator spinbait. Sounds like a broken record, huh? Late summer with retreating weed beds have made conditions perfect for spinnerbaits the past 3 weeks or so.
Another youngster on the Booyah Bassinator spinnerbait. My last 6 fish landed have been on this spinnerbait alone.
A nice, chunky 2+ pounder, this would be my last Largemouth on the Booyah Bassinator as the line snapped on a cast not much longer after this, sending my beloved Booyah 40 yards into the drink.
Just an average 2 pounder. Nevermind the poor exposure, it was my first cast of the day and I wasn't going to risk stress to the fish while I set the camera. What's important here is that a group of guys had been fishing all day long up and down this cove with no luck. Just 30 yards away when I reeled this one it, they let me know it...I referred them to the web site.<br /><br />(To John, T, Jaeger, and Rob: the review of the lure is <a href='booyah-blade-spinnerbait.htm'>here</a>.)
A lovely slab of a Largemouth on the fat end of 3 pounds, I had to throw nearly 40 yards using a Hopkins Shorty to get this one to bite. Kent Lake is an extremely pressured lake, which is why I fish it. If you can catch fish here, you can catch them anywhere. No matter where you fish, however, if you can cast a spoon where you fish without grabbing a bunch of weeds and grass - do it! The extra flash coupled with retreating vegetation allow for unsurpassed water coverage.
A nice deuce on a Kevin Vandam spinnerbait. Unfortunately my running streak of a fish on my first cast was broken at 3 trips - this fish was landed on the 3rd cast of the day.
A few minutes later, still on the Kevin Vandam spinnerbait this chunky 2 pounder hit in heavy vegetation.
Just 5 minutes after the last fish, the KVD spinner landed another.
I was having a great day with the KVD spinnerbait, until I landed this fish. The trailer hook on the bait barely clipped the edge of one of this poor guy's gills causing quite a bit of blood (you can see some on the tail). After contemplating taking the fish, I released this fellow based on his energy and my gut feeling. I remained in the area for more than an hour to make sure he didn't go belly up. He seems to have made it. After this incident, I've since removed all trailer hooks from my gear. I'll never use trailers again.
After losing two more spinnerbaits to sub-par line and broken knots (<a href='berkley-vanish-fluorocarbon.htm'>my review of that product</a>), I tried a new Booyah tandem spinnerbait, the Counter Strike, with lovely results.
After a summer filled with work, including several weekends at the office, I haven't been able to hit the lake as much as I'd like. It was Labor Day and I wasn't going to let it slip by! Out at dawn in the dark and with a cool rain falling, this fat 4 pounder (the picture makes him look small) hit on our 3rd cast of the Booyah Moon Talker.

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A note about our pictures: We value the life of all the fish we catch and when we intend to catch and release, we always evalute the hook-set before we decide to take any pictures. It is important that all fish, if not intended to be kept, be safely released as soon as possible. We only take pictures of the fish where we know the hook can be removed quickly and cleanly with minimal stress to the fish.

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