Headed out fishing in Leelanau County over Memorial Day weekend? Excluding effects of weather — sunny or cloudy, east or west wind — the timing seems to be teeing up for a good day on the water.
As evidence, consider results of the Lake Leelanau Narrows Resort Walleye Tournament held Saturday. Twelve of 14 boats registered walleyes, and the top seven placers checked in with at least five walleyes.
One team abandoned walleye tactics altogether. They anchored over a pod of jumbo perch and filled up.
“We went to my favorite spots, and we caught one nice twopound walleye and hung around, then never had another bite,” said Ed Martin, a riparian on south Lake Leelanau. “Then we went to another place and caught a walleye, then a couple jumbo perch. We didn’t catch another walleye but we were happy because we caught 15 big perch.”
Martin tossed out a marker to remember the place and returned Sunday to catch another batch, mostly in the 10-11 inch rage.
“I think the weeds are just starting to get thick there and the fish are cruising by to catch minnows,” Martin surmised.
Spring so far has been kind to fishermen in Leelanau County. The season started early after a relatively iceless winter, and by last weekend surface temperatures of Lake Leelanau and Glen Lake had warmed to late-June levels.
Consequently, bass have been on beds for a week or more. Some have already finished their reproductive chores and are hanging out at drop-offs, trying to put back weight.
Micah Deegan, who enjoys fooling big smallies this time of year on Glen Lake, urges anglers to protect a fragile resource when releasing bass that are spawning.
“The biggest ones are females, and if you get a 19-inch smallmouth it can be 14-, 16-yearsold. They don’t grow like largemouth because they’re in cold water. But remember that they’re the future of our fishery. In my youth I use to keep a few bass but not any more,” Deegan said.
He spoke out because of increased bass fishing pressure on Glen Lake, whose ability to provide a trophy bass fishery went unknown until outdoor shows started filming. With iconic Sleeping Bear Dunes in the background and the easy-tospot Carl Oleson, Jr., bridge as a waypoint, more and more bass boats have been converging on Glen Lake this time of year.
Finding bass beds is easy in the clear water of Glen Lake. They usually hang around structure if they can find it, carving out a plate-like indent in sand to reach gravel.
“What happens is everybody and their brother flocks to the lake, and the lake can’t handle that pressure. With little Glen there isn’t that much structure. It’s natural to want to catch them — they’re fun to watch, they pull and they jump. You have a hard time not having a grin on your face when you have one on your line,” Deegan said.
Through the years perch have been stars of the Glen Lake fishery, and they show no signs of slowing this spring as numerous reports of strong catches emerge. One regular on the lake who found success early but eventually shied away was Mike Shimek. He discovered that the flesh of even fresh-caught perch was soft, likely due to spawning stress.
That was in March and into early April.
“The fish were stacked on the drop off. One bad thing was that they’re in 50 feet of water, so if you caught little fish and threw them back they were probably going to die. That’s a shame because they’re better eating than the big ones, anyway,” Shimek said.
Should you miss the smallmouth bite on Glen Lake, have patience. One of the top bass fishermen in the United States says they’re still a couple weeks from making beds in West Grand Traverse Bay.
Like smallies in Glen Lake, West Bay was once uncharted territory for bass fishermen whose big-money tournaments centered around largemouths in southern USA impoundments. Tony DeFliippo, who grew up fishing Glen Lake with his father, was once a part of that bass tournament circuit.
“I loved it. But I wanted to be around my family — it was too much travel. Now I just do a couple tournaments a year. I have a great clientele and I don’t have to travel anymore,” DeFliippo said,.
West Bay bass should be spawning soon.
“They will probably be on after the full moon time frame, in June. A lot depends on the weather. But the pre-spawn always has big fish, and that hasn’t started,” DeFlippio said.
He searches northwest Michigan looking for ideal conditions, even following the smallmouth spawn north.
“If you want to do the same thing in a month, you head out to Harbor Springs,” he said.
