[PECo]

NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) and I decided to check out Bantam Lake. We launched from the new State Boat Launch & Marina (formerly known as Beverly's on Bantam Lake):



This is a fishing report, so I'll write a separate report about the new boat launch, but it's pretty nice. We launched at 9:15 am in Bob's boat, which is a light aluminum-hulled outboard. The water was clear with visibility down several feet. The sky was clear with scattered clouds, the air temperature was in the upper 50s and there was a steady north-northwest wind. Since the ramp is in the northwest corner of South Bay, we were alee of Deer Island. Here's a map of the lake:



The areas along the west, northwest and north shore of South Bay that are covered with beds of lilies during the Summer were still totally clear of surface vegetation. We decided to head around the shore of Deer Island. I started throwing a Perch Rapala Shallow Shad Rap SSR-7 and a white four inch curlytail grub on a 1/8 ounce shakeyhead jig head, but got nothing in the shallows. Well, nothing but slimy green algae. I tried a small white buzzbait, but didn't get any hits. We drifted along for a while, before Bob decided to launch one of his setups into the lake with the other. He made the luckiest catch of the day when the flying setup remained hooked and he was able to retrieve it from the water:



Good job, Bob! As we got to the southeast shore of Deer Island, we could sse whitecaps rolling down in the main body of the lake and breaking on the east shore. In the shelter of the island, we saw some schools of yellow perch in the water, holding on a submerged rock wall. Bob and I each tied on a tiny floating crankbait to just get a fish into the boat, which Bob finally did:



He got another yellow perch as we stayed alee of the wind. I tied on a big Mepps Aglia Dressed inline spinnerbait with a Rainbow Trout #5 Blade and a Brown Squirrel Bucktail, hoping to attract the attention of a smallmouth bass. But, of course, all that I got was an ambitious rock bass:



At that point, we tired of the panfish fiesta and headed for the north end of the lake. As we went, the northwest wind began to intensify, and clouds began to roll in more heavily and change from fluffy white to gray. What's up with that Bob (aka NWDarkcloud)?!?! We headed into the mouth of the west Bantam River and motored up toward the overpass where North Shore Road crosses the river. Along the way, the inline spinnerbait got me another rock bass:



But 10 minutes later, it also got me a chain pickerel:



And five minutes later, Bob followed it up with one of his own:



When we got near the overpass, I caught a yellow perch in the shallow river:



After we headed back out into the mouth of the river, I caught another yellow perch and a chain pickerel before it began to rain and the wind began to gust out of the west. But that didn't stop Bob from catching the lunker chain pickerel, which was a 25 incher with a nice broad head:



The weather cleared up a bit before Bob boated the only largemouth bass of the day, which weighed two pounds, 15 ounces:



Me, well, I caught just another rock bass :



It hit a Zoom Baby Brush Hog, so I did, however, get to set the 4/0 EWG Offset Shank Worm hook on it. After the weather turned ugly, again, we spent five minutes just watching a great gray heron slowly eat an eight inch largemouth bass that it had in its beak. it would drop and catch it over and over again, presumably until the fish stopped moving. Then the heron tossed the bass up and turned it around to swallow it head first. That was pretty cool to see. Bob got another chain pickerel before we left the shelter of Folly Point to check out the mouth of the east Bantam River. That was a mistake, because we weren't sheltered from the wind over there and green slime covered all of the submerged weeds in the shallows. There were a few sparse beds of lily pads, but the only fish we saw was a small chain pickerel that I pulled out of one of the beds. We headed back for the shelter of Folly Point for a while, where I got another, well, you know what, before Bob and I each got another chain pickerel. Then, Bob snag hooked a little 14 inch chain pickerel pretty badly in the belly. He released the tough little bugger to swim away and fight another day. However, it just wasn't his day, because a couple of minutes later, we heard a big thumping splash and saw the back and side of a huge northern pike as it swooped in to finish off the bleeding pickerel. Bob and I both quickly tied on big lures in hopes that the pike had stayed in the area, but both of us knew that the pickerel made a pretty good meal, even for a big pike. We headed around Folly Point to see whether we could get alee of the wind in the northwest corner of the lake, but the wind shifted to the west-southwest right after we got there. There was no hiding from it. Finally, we were both too cold to fight it, so we headed back to the shelter of the South Bay near the ramp:



We made a halfhearted attempt to fish the shoreline just to the south of the ramp, but I caught only a you know what:



We didn't get any more action before heading off of the water at 5:15 pm. We really didn't have a chance to check out much of the lake, but it's always nice to get out onto the water, even when Bob brings along the bad weather.
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[SAP284]

Nice report! I've been meaning to check out that new boat launch. By the way, in that 8th photo down of Bob's catch after your pickerel...that looks like a Pike? Am I wrong, or is the picture deceiving? Maybe a hybrid?
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Steve

[PECo]

You know, Steve, I kinda thought the same thing. That's why I took another photo of it:



I really wasn't sure whether it was a hybrid and I'm still not sure. But it was definitely a pretty fish.
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[DirtyDawg10]

Looks like a hybrid to me. Not 100% sure though.

[slim2043]

Looks like a fun day. That fish is nice too. Looks like it could be a hybrid.

BTW, you use 4/0 hooks w Baby brush hogs, Phil? I like to use 3/0 w the full size. I use 4/0 too but I prefer the 3/0.
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Never give up!

[PECo]

I like BIG hooks!

Oh, crap, that sounds like the beginning of a Sir Mix-A-Lot song.
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[pikePERSUADER1]

I would say that is a hybrid, pretty positive too nice rare catch!

[slim2043]

Throw BIG Baits w your BIG hooks
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[Michael]

Great fishing Phil and Bob! Nice pickerel Bob! Any weight to it?

[rxpxtx]

Doesn't appear to be run of the mill chain pickerel. I - LIKE - BIG - HOOKS...hook a fish all by my looks...toss an old rapala...and up they swalla...put my record in the books!! Yeah....I know. Old white fishing dudes shouldn't rap, but I didn't start it. My apologies. Oh...great report!
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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.

[PECo]

You might not have started it, but you certainly finished it, Dave.

We didn't weigh the lunker chain pickerel, Michael. I typically weigh only largemouth bass. I was halfway through filleting my keeper walleye the other night before I said to myself, "You should have weighed it!"

From what I've seen, there are at least two kinds of northern pike/chain pickerel hybrids. Perhaps there's an ichthyologist out there who could help us out here.
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[NWDarkcloud]

It wasnt all that heavy though it had a moveing minnow in its belly when I grabed it so it was feeding pretty active but if I had to guess I would say in the 2-3 lbs class. If I use the (Fishermans Memory Scale) it was at least 10lbs and 30in long thank god for pics

[slim2043]

Here's a post about hybrid pike/pickerel everyone who enjoyed this post should enjoy
http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/news/rare-hybrid-fish-caught-on-tape-235475.aspx
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[SAP284]

Those hybrids, when they are big, probably fight like crazy. I hooked a 23.5 inch pickerel today and that thing was going every direction it could except towards the boat! When they have size to them, I think its probably one of my favorite fights.
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Steve

[Bluegill Terminator]

Here's a full grown pickerel/pike I caught ice fishing at Bantam a few years back. They fight real hard to by the way.


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