CapriFleet Charter Services
Smallmouth Bass
This is Capt. Phil's kid, Will (William T. Martin, vintage 1967). He will be the next captain in this clan with a Great Lakes and Rivers Master's license, probably next year. He thinks he prefers Walleye, but check out the big grin.
Smallmouth Bass Live Bait Hints:
- Softshell Crawfish are only available from May until they go under in the first half of October. This is OK, since the bass seem to forget about them and eat minnows and such after that.
- Don't waste your money on hard shelled craws or frozen ones, unless you're desperate.
- During warm weather, sometimes sheepshead can be a real problem (until about the end of September) if you are using softshells. Sheepshead can wipe them out in a hurry, and Gobies are a growing problem too. Leeches work well at times, and they are tough enough to drastically cut your losses. If you're after big bass, they are starting to eat gobies. It may pay off to put some of the gobies who mess up when stealing your bait back on the hook, and feed them to the bass.
- It may be a good idea to have both Soft Craws and Leeches in warm weather.
- In cooler water 3-4" Golden or Emerald Shiner Minnows are fine. Golden are much more durable, especially if the water isn't cold.
- During the transition period (about mid-Sept to mid-Oct) The bass will be switching back and forth between hitting Minnows or Soft Craws, or both, from day to day (or even hour-to-hour). Have both, and maybe leeches too.
- If you are confident in artificials (tube jigs, etc) you can use those. As a side note: I would just LOVE it if someone can SHOW me that, anchored or free drifting, a pure artificial can consistently produce even half of the fish which the appropriate live bait produces.
It would sure save a bunch of time and money. I hear all the babble, but so far, when I have taken atificial bait advocates out, they have ended up bumming my craws or minnows! - Capt Phil
Smallmouth Bass Live Bait Policies:
Please feel free to bring your own bass bait if you have a good source. We can usually get it for you if you wish (See Booking form), however, we reserve the right to substitute if we can't find what you order thru us.
Prices and availability of these baits vary.
If you order them thru us, you will be charged the price which is current at time of your trip. Since these critters are perishable, the total cost of the bait you order from us must be ADDED TO YOUR BASIC DEPOSIT. These deposits for bait will be fully refunded if you cancel more than 5 days before your trip, else no refund.
Some smaller ones, taken in August. The smallest bass in the middle is about 14". The legal minimum keeper was 12, but we seldom kept anything smaller than 14. In the late fall, we have been known to throw back everything under 16". By the way, the size limit is now 14".
Sorry about the lousy photos, but we seldom bothered taking pictures - we'll get some better ones for you next year, since we have this site up.
Left to right Phil (the Spook), Will, Lesa, and a crew member.
Yep,
they sure are 3 layers thick. This is really hard to do, without them sliding off onto the ground! Nope, That is NOT a small picnic table, and no bare spots. 64 decent ones, taken by 8 people in October 1995, in the Bass Islands area. By the way, that's me (Capt. Phil) on the left. In the 2nd picture, I'm cackling at a not-too-bad runt.
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