I went fishing today and after getting skunked last time I decided to bring my ultralight pole with me to the park and it was the right choice. I ended up catching a ton of small fish including a new species for me, the smallmouth bass.
I had been hoping to catch a smallmouth all summer because in 38 years of life and fishing I have never caught one before. They are more of a river fish and I was always a lake fisherman and never had much luck going after them. I've probably caught hundreds of largemouths but this was a first for me. Oh, and that one up there? That was the 2nd one I caught. If you think that one is small, you should see the first...
As you can see, I wasn't catching big fish today. I have caught a few bigger fish this year, including a six pound channel cat and a six pound sheepshead (freshwater drum) but I don't mind the smaller fish either. And smallmouth bass have been a bucket list fish for me for so long that I was happy to catch them at any size. The larger one actually put up a decent fight on ultralight tackle and 4 lbs test.
So far this year I have caught four new species of fish.
-Smallmouth bass
-White bass
-White perch
-Round goby
The gobies are kind of out of control on Lake Michigan. From what I understand they have helped our walleye and smallmouth populations and they eat zebra and quagga mussels, but they are still really annoying. I caught around a dozen of these invasive fish today and it was annoying every time.
Speaking of walleyes, they have so far eluded me this year, along with bigger catfish. I have been going for both but not had much luck. I have caught several catfish this year, more than I have ever caught before, but only that one six pounder was of any decent size. I'm going to keep trying though!
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