[OzoneMaker]

To all those early season Bass Fishing diehards. Was out on Pontiac Lake on Sunday 4/13/03. Water in the back bays was cloudy due to the wind the day before. Our boat caught about 30 small males with 7 keepers in amongst them. Largest fish was 16 Inches then 3 that went 15 inches and 3 at 14 Inches. The rest were smaller. Only caught fish in the back of Gale's bay in the cloudy water. Was great to stretch a line. Fished from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon.

 

[madman24]

now thats a great day of fishing. do you fish pontiac often? if so, ever seen a smallmouth pulled out of the lake. i fished tournaments there for a year and the guy who ran the thursday night touneys ( john ) said a guy pulled one over 6lbs out a few years back and he hasnt heard of anyone catching one since. just wondering if you have seen one.

madman himself

 

[Mac]

There use to be smallies in Pontiac a few years ago,..(I saw a few weighed in during a tournament) but they weren't native......I heard at that time that they were put in there by another club that went to 'Clair for a day and they all kept their "legal limit" and then brought them back to Pontiac and released them.....that's totally illegal to do, and unfortunately they didn't survive for any length of time. That lake isn't really conducive to smallmouth habitat anyway....they like current and rocks and gravel etc.....Pontiac doesn't have much of either.

It's deffinetely a "largemouth" lake though...lots of weeds and stumps!! It was really in it's heyday about 10yrs ago, when it regularly took a 25+lb limit (10 fish) to win a tournament out there,......now a team is lucky to even get a limit and most of the time a team can win now with 10lbs!! (and that's with 5-7 fish!!

) It's tough!!! But, based on your report, it sounds like they're making a comeback..that's very cool!! I hope it does come back around....it was a riot to fish there when it was in it's prime....I'll go fish there as soon as my new boat arrives!! 2 weeks hopefully!! Thanks for the updates Ozone!!! Good luck this year!!
Mac

 

[OzoneMaker]

I have fished this lake a great deal in the past and your both right in what your saying. Last year I caught a 4 lb Small Mouth off the beach with a spinnerbait. As far as the club that released their fish from St. Clair, I also heard this as well and your right it is illegal for anyone to transport fish and release them into another lake without a permit or authorization. Your also right about how great it was 10 years ago. My partner and I fished in a tournament there and we weighed in 36 lb and 04 oz. We thought that was a great weight that day in any tournament (10 fish Limit), to our surprise the team that came in second place had 32 lbs of fish. Our club now uses this lake as an early catch and release tournament and later in the summer as a night tournament. Our winning weight on our night tournament for 5 fish has been averaging around 14 to 15 lbs.

 

[djkimmel]

Pontiac Lake has a long history of winter fish kills during severe winters. The bass population has fluctuated from real low after a major winter fish kill to awesome after the populations rebounds in a few years as long as I've heard about the lake.

A minor problem that also impacts the bass, Pontiac Lake residents seem to like to pull stumps and destroy other great bass cover, often without approval.

 

[OzoneMaker]

Dan:
Your right about the winter kill. I saw 3 Bass lying dead on the bottom and two more floating on the surface. Your also right about the amount of times this lake is hit by weed kill. Although, I have been fishing this lake now for over 20 years I have never left the lake without catching fish. Just a good little lake that allows you to flip wood and stumps as well as deep cranking with a POE's deep diver and the top water action in the fall in Gales Bay is outstanding. This is all you can ask for in a lake this size. Plus where can you sit down with one of the nicest gentleman in Michigan (John Selling) and talk about his favorite topic - Pontiac Lake.

 

[madman24]

yeah, john is a great guy!

madman himself