Northern Michigan Smallmouth Bass

Northern Michigan Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth bass fishing season in Northern Michigan is in full swing, making it the perfect time to hunt for some of the biggest smallmouth bass of the year. The pre-spawn bite is on, with migratory smallmouth bass on the Big Manistee River and most Northern Michigan inland lakes in the 50-degree range. The smallmouth bass are pushing shallow, most inland lakes have started the spawning process and Grand Traverse bay after an extremely tough week last week is starting to finally take shape.

Match the Hatch

For those looking to target smallmouth bass during the pre-spawn, now is the time to match the hatch. Big streamer patterns produced early but now is the time to down size.

Most inland lakes are starting to showcase some sort of bug life, as dragonflies and Mayflies start to hatch.  I have noticed Brown Drakes hatching right on schedule on inland lakes.  Fishing a black or brown Hair Jig is a great way to match the size of these insects.

Crayfish Patterns and Tubes

This past week we had heavy north winds, and this caused some choppy conditions keeping us off Grand Traverse Bay and fishing the inland lakes as our backup plan.  Even with the security of the shoreline of the inland lakes it was extremely choppy.  While fishing Hair Jigs was most productive when we found isolated calm conditions.  Fishing a Tube or Crayfish pattern near the bottom and slow moving it was really affective.  Best colors were Green Pumpkin and Crazy Craw.

Booking a Smallmouth Trip

Interested in booking a Smallmouth Bass Trip or going for Lake Trout on light tackle, drop us a message via email, or text/call us directly 231-631-5701.  We are have open dates for June if your looking for an opportunity and a Big Northern Michigan Smallmouth.  Don’t overlook the post spawn bite as well, with Late June and most of July offering a great opportunity.

Jon Ray