Lake Leelanau Big Stack
While making the drive from the peninsula I had major worries of a fog delay. Until a few miles from Lake Leelanau it was pea soup fog the entire drive. I got there early and got my boat just so all the logistics were taken care of and I could focus on fishing. We had to use multiple ramps for the event and while that’s a pain it does allow us to go to different fisheries which is great!
My plan was simple get to my biggest fish first, catch it, make 10-15 casts in the weed bed they were slurping mayflies, then hit 3 more good ones which were close by. I had no problems getting to my fish first and since it was windy and low light I drifted over the bed first to see where it was and look for the fish. The flogger confirmed he was there and I got my boat in position. As I was getting my boat in position he slurped a mayfly and I made one pitch in there and got him. People were still running from blast off and I already had one I needed! One thing I’d never seen before was bed fish actively eating. I’d seen several come off the bed and eat mayflies during practice. I made a short run to the weedbed next hoping for a hero moment. If I could get 2 good ones here my day would be much easier.
I wasn’t seeing any activity so I opted to wind a hair jig vs throw a topwater. About the 10th cast one loaded up on and I thought the gamble paid off. Well until it revealed itself as a pike. I made a couple more casts and wasn’t feeling it anymore. Onto the next fish which was a 3.65. However another boat pulled in on him about 45 seconds before I got there. The gamble really hosed me here as I really needed that fish!
I continued north to the next one and confirmed he was there. I had to drop a buoy and get way away to catch this one. It took more time than I’d have liked but I got him. The next fish was just a short run away and that fish was the same story. I had 3 fish I really wanted and knew I needed to check out that 3.65 before I left the area. There were multiple beds in that area so there was always the chance that boat was there for a different fish. Despite a couple checks throughout the day that didn’t seem to be the case. I did catch a random 2 1/4 pounder on a vixen while looking for the bed to at least give me 4 fish. However that fish would screw me over because on my way to the next 3.6 another boat beat my by 45 seconds. That was crushing! If I don’t stop on those mayfly fish, I likely get both those 3.6s but one of them for sure.
I went to check on another couple over 3 in the area, one was gone and the other would just swim big circles. I got to see the one I wanted get caught so at least I didn’t have to check it later. It didn’t matter how far away I got that fish would not sit and I could not get it to bite doing anything else. There was one little patch of weeds that sometimes it would act interested if a bait was in there while it was doing circles but it would never commit. I finally had to say that if someone comes in here and gets this one they’ve earned it. I hoped he would stay weird all morning but then start guarding later in the day. I would be back!
From there I had a couple fish to check that were in the area but were super weird the day before. I never caught them so I don’t know what they weighed but they looked like fish that were over 3. I was at the point of just catching fish over 3 pounds now. However most checks revealed gone, gone, and gone! I did have one sort of sneaky one that was just at 3 pounds but I would take him if he was there. Fortunately he was and despite losing him twice I finally got him. That fish really hated a tube in his bed more than anything else. He had a new friend nearby and I picked that one too. So now I had 3 good ones and a 2.62/2.93 that both needed to go. I found more fish that were just gone, swimming in others livewells. I did find one that really looked like it would be over 3 but after catching it didn’t help by much.
I needed the one I couldn’t catch earlier in a bad way. It would give me over half a pound if I could get it. I raced over there and got in position way far away. It looked like there was maybe something dark in the bed but I was so far away I really couldn’t see what was going on. After a few minutes I did see him out of the bed roaming but it was at least a good confirmation he was still there. I was just going to fish for awhile from way far back before I even attempted to get close enough to see a little of what was going on. I had done almost all my bed fishing for the week with baitcasting tackle and decided to switch it up and throw a ned rig for the very first time. A few casts in and he bit! I never hooked up but it gave me the confidence I would get him. It was either the next cast or the one after and he bit again. He was a long way from the boat and in shallow water, I really needed to not lose a fish that had been acting that weird. Major relief when he got into the net!
I figured at this point there was a small but unlikely chance I’d get paid. But if I could get rid of that 2.93 for one more fish over 3 my chances would improve greatly. The problem was I didn’t have anything else to check that was still there. I hadn’t spent anytime fishing there during practice but if it got to this point, my plan was to lock a big bait in my hand and cover water. I had quite a bit of time left and it was time to get after it. There was almost a moment of greatness as a 3.5 pounder came up on my choppo twice on the same cast. I kept rotating between the choppo and a vixen but that would be the only activity I would have.
Just as I suspected I was going to fall just short. The weights were tight and I fell on the wrong end of them with 16.96. Either one of those 3.6s would have made such a huge difference for me or that fish that came up on my choppo. While it was frustrating to be so close, I also felt like I fished pretty well. I didn’t find enough in practice and I made one gamble that didn’t pay off. I can live with that but I also know I’ll need more practice days for a bed fishing tournament against this crew in the future. I was really impressed with just how many bags over 15 pounds came in. I’ll be feeling the pressure but looking forward to the Muskegon tournament in August.