For Week Ending Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017

This post ushers in a new format for the Fishing Report. From this point forward, individual inputs largely will be handled as part of a once-a-week condensed compilation to be published every Sunday. An exception might occur when someone has a banner day and/or more-than-the-usual amount of text is available to provide in-depth details for a featurette. The item that immediately follows is an example that demonstrates the preceding point; I picked up the tip for what you see here from Bob's Fishin' Hole website.

Lunker Magic, or Lunker Magnet?

Whatever mojo Kevin Mills has coursing through his body, one thing is certain: He's had it for a good while, and there are no signs of it slipping away from his firm grasp.

Kevin is no stranger to catching big bass, and he has demonstrated his prowess yet again. His latest crowning achievement came Wednesday, Feb. 22, while on a Northwest River trip out of Bob's Fishin' Hole. This monster fish, pictured at right, tipped the scales at 9.35 lbs.

As solid proof that Kevin is by no means a "flash in the pan," consider a couple other hawgs he has caught over the years. He claimed an 8-14 (left in this combined photo) from Lake Smith on March 8, 2007. The 9.14-lb. largemouth (right in this combined photo) was part of a five-fish, 27.64-lb. sack he caught on Lake Burnt Mills (don't have the date).

It turns out that Kevin wasn't the only angler to snare a big fish from the Northwest this past Wednesday. Josh Clark (right) also caught a braggin'-size beauty, as evidenced by this photo. He estimated the fish at more than 7 lbs., saying, "I have an old set of digital scales that weighed it at 7.09 lbs., and these scales always have weighed light."

I have to admit that James, who runs the store at Bob's, pretty well nailed it with his comment about the events of Feb. 22. He said, "The river is (turned) ON!"

And if you've been following all the other Guestbook entries and Braggin' Rights page additions about nice lunkers being caught out of Bob's this fall and winter, you'll quickly agree with what James said.

Congratulations to all those anglers who seemingly have found the secret to catching big Northwest largemouths.

Wednesday, Feb. 22...After a long trip home from "playing in the snow," Ron A. managed to wet a line for a few fish at Tecumseh. The bass at left fell for the XTS Minnow, and the panfish hit the Beetlespins. He lost an XTS to, in his words, "what I suspect was a chain pickerel." He also caught one little white perch, four dink bass, and three crappie for the skillet. "'Twas nice to get home from the mountains and be back on the water," he said.

Wednesday, Feb. 22...Lenny H. fished both Pocaty and the cut-through into Albright's. He said he caught four bass in the former area and one in the latter, four of which were keepers.

Thursday, Feb. 23...It was a good outing on Milldam this evening for Ron A. and a buddy. The buddy scored with a good deal of panfish, as well as a nice 3-lb. bass. Meanwhile, Ron caught a variety but no bass. Included was a 12-inch white perch on the Whopper Plopper, a crappie on the Beetlespin, and a chain pickerel, as well as a yellow perch, on the XTS. The stringer of panfish was a combined effort, with Ron contributing only a couple.

Thursday, Feb. 23...Yours truly launched the first of two consecutive days of fishing. I stayed in West Neck Creek today and managed to catch three bass, plus four white perch, all on a Strike King shallow-running crankbait. The bass weighed in at 0-15, 1-1 and 2-11 (latter two pictured here). Talked to Ray S., who went to Albright's today and caught a small bass, as well as a couple of bluegill. Swapped emails this evening with Rob P. and Don C., who also fished today and told me they had a real tough outing, catching only one white perch and one crappie.

Friday, Feb. 24...Ron A. went to West Landing Marina today, with plans to fish Cow Creek, but he learned that West Landing is closed (due to sale of the property). He then opted for his backup plan: to launch at Indian River Road and fish upper West Neck Creek. Fishing from 4:15 'till dark, he caught a 3-8 bowfin and an aggressive little bream, both on the XTS Minnow. For the second straight day, though, he couldn't find a bass. Ron mentioned that, right at dark, a bat started attacking his line as he was reeling in the XTS. "Never saw that before," he said. "Luckily, he didn't get tangled." He went on to say there was a lot of surface action and a whole bunch of schools of some very small fish--feeding on bugs, maybe.

Friday, Feb. 24...If yours truly had caught one fish for every turtle I saw coming out to sun themselves today, I easily would have had a hundred fish at day's end. As it was, though, my totals fell far short of that number. I had a grand total of three dink bass (pictured here) and one small white perch, plus a big, ornery chain pickerel and an even bigger, ornerier grindle. The pickerel probably would have gone about 4 lbs., and  the grindle was closer to 5 lbs. As luck would have it, both took my crankbait down to about their belly buttons, which made for some "delicate" hook removals. Was greatly annoyed to have had the pickerel snap one of my medium-light crankbait rods in half with his aggressive antics. Guess I should be happy, though, that I still had my new crankbait--albeit now seriously battle-scarred--when I quit this afternoon. All but one of today's fish came out of Pocaty (my first trip there in a long while), with only my first bass coming out of Albright's. Incidentally, my day wouldn't have been complete if I hadn't been able to watch a lackadaisical couple turn their johnboat into a "stump jumper" before my very eyes while in Pocaty. Both simultaneously looked over their shoulder but must not have been too concerned because they just kept motorin' along. I wonder how many times over the years I've witnessed similar, and in some cases destructive, exploits in Pocaty. Talked to Lenny H. and learned that, besides about a 3-lb. bass I saw him catch in Pocaty, he also picked up another one that would have measured about 12.5 inches, plus four perch and a crappie. Because he's been seeing some topwater action (I've been seeing it, too), Lenny indicated he probably will begin throwing topwater baits more often now.

Saturday, Feb. 25..."Milldam Creek provides no protection from the wind and didn't deliver any decent bass today, either," said Ron A. in the opening line of his email. He caught one 13-inch bass, a few crappie, a white perch, and one sunfish in what turned out to be a "long, windy and sunny day," to borrow his words. Before throwing in the towel, Ron ventured into the southern end of snake creek, where he saw his first snake of the year. Said Ron, "He was far away, so not sure what kind it was. Is it really February?" With cooler temps on tap for Sunday, Ron left the door open to go find out how that might affect the bite.

Sunday, Feb. 26...The day started with a good bite but then tapered of till dark. Before the slowdown, however, Ron managed to catch five yellow perch (biggest about 10 inches), one white perch, three chain pickerel (to 22.5 inches), one crappie (at 12 inches), and 11 bass, including eight dinks, plus a 1-6, a 2-3, and a 2-8 (right). Everything fell for a trolled XTS Minnow. Said Ron, "I replaced yesterday's try-to-stay-cool clothing with today's try-to-stay-warm duds. The wind was a bear until about 4 o'clock, when it finally died off, which seemed to match the bite."