Water temperature 74 degrees west basin, 68 degrees Lk. Mich. channel
Water clarity around 1.5 feet west basin, 6 feet channel
Weed growth- some milfoil, curly-leaved pondweed in 3 to 4 feet
Fished 9:30AM- 1:00PM
The usual zero at Mac, but I wanted to show you the depth-temp profile in the west basin:
surface 74 degrees
5' 74
10' 73
15' 72
20' 72
25' 71
30' 69
In other words, there is no thermocline in Mac. I knew there was a lot of current, but I was anticipating some cooler deep water than I found, especially for June.
Thanks for the great information. Question, does the lake still have Shad from top to bottom everywhere? Michelle and I had a two fish day once there and never caught another after that. We got both near the channel going out on the west end trolling around the moored sailboats and tug docks. My assesment of the lake at that time was very low density of Muskies and very high forage content. That makes for tough conditions even on days where you get a Major and minor combined with low light and every other possible plus condition. That lake could stand another 20 thousand muskies. Mike
Based on your Lake Mac experience with the high shad and forage base do you think this will be the same challenge for the other drown-river mouth lakes when the program is expanded? Did anyone hear the final results of the ID (GLS or Northern strain) on the stray muskie caught at Muskegon last year? The Lake Mac launch is 51 miles from Montague, but I think time would be better spent 50 miles north learning Hamlin Lake.
"Hamilton Reef" said:
The Lake Mac launch is 51 miles from Montague, but I think time would be better spent 50 miles north learning Hamlin Lake.
I would agree completely. Macatawa is unique with the water color and the incredible number of shad. Other lakes don't have the same water color and will be significantly easier to fish.
I've heard there were four fish ID'd over a two year span caught in drowned rivermouth lakes that were Green Bay fish.
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