Fat Smallmouth and Suckers; and Alewives by the Hundreds

I decided to have some real fun today. The tides looked right and the fish are in so I hit the tidal water looking for a multi species day, and that is what I got. Perch were spawning, and their accordion like egg masses were every where. Some suckers munched on the eggs and smallmouth hunted for crayfish and sculpins. And best of all, there were loads of alewives in. I spotted Steve Gephard snorkeling and went up to chat with him. He said that this is some of the best he has seen in a while. I have a small frame of reference, but I was thrilled by what I saw. There were schools of alewives scattered everywhere, and in the stretch I saw there must have been about a thousand.

Bird kill alewive

 I tried really hard to catch an alewive but I had left the shad flies at home. I'll have to go back tomorrow, hopefully they will still be there.

Under the bridge I hooked my first smallmouth of the year, a very nice fish that fought well and jumped beautifully. I can still remember the 7-8 pounder I lost at this spot this time last year....

I caught a few perch, which promptly milted all over the place... gross. You gotta get used to it though if you are going to fish during the spawn.

 The last fish of the day was a very nice white sucker that sucked up an Ausable Ugly. I don't care what you say, suckers are fun fish to catch.