Now that the Budd lake tournament outing has come and gone its time to start getting ready for the next MMA outing. Hamlin lake Saturday June 13.
For those that may not know Hamlin lake is a 5000 acre impoundment on the Sable River just north of Ludington. It has been stocked several times since 2005 and some very heavy 48" fish have been caught in the last year. It is a super productive fishery that is more like 2 lakes, upper Hamlin is shallower, darker water, and tons of nice weedbeds while the lower lake is much deeper, clearer, with sand bars, cabbage beds and deep contours. The largemouth fishing is phenomenal and there are some big smallmouths in the lower lake. Lots of pike and wallye, and some huge bluegills and crappie. So even if the muskies aren't happening if you bring other gear your likely going to have some fun with some other species.
My plan for the outing is to launch early in the morning at Wilson hill launch on the upper lake. The other launch on the upper lake is located at victory park farther up the upper lake. I thought we could all meet up and have lunch around 1 pm at Barnharts marina. You can tie your boats at the docks there and walk right to the lakeside restaurant. At the end of the evening I'd definitely entertain hitting up Ludington for some pizza and beer as well!
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Anyways if people are interested or have questions or suggestions leave them here. This is a huge lake that doesn't cough up her muskies easily. Plenty of water to spread out on. It would be great to get a lot of members out there to see what we could turn up.
I live in Ludington and fish Hamlin on a regular basis. I can definitely vouch for the fact that Hamlin is a tough fishery for Muskie and that it is pretty much like fishing 2 different lakes. I would suggest launching at the Wilson Hill launch as the weeds may choke off the launch at Victory Park by mid June. I will be there for this outing and would love to see some members of the MMA prove that they can be caught on Hamlin if you put in the time.
"Mayhem" said:
Looks like I will have Brian Lomanoco in my boat. Anyone else interested? JP Vano? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
Haha, I'd love to, but I am starting my week of fun and adventure on the upper chain that day, so will unfortunately have to pass… Going to try to get there soon tho to give an update before the outing.
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Like it's been said before. The upper lake is shallow with lots of cabbage so one could spend all day in there chucking cowgirls and topwater and probably get action (from Pike at least). The lower part is deeper so probably best to concentrate on the deep points/edges with bucktails, bulldawgs, Medussas, DDD, depthraiders, etc
I will prolly launch around 6 am. If you don't see me at the launch just come find me, we can tie our boats together and become one giant raft of muskie doom. I can then also provide a detailed demonstration on how not to catch Hamlin lake muskies. Depending on weather and water conditions I may spend the majority of the day in the lower lake, as I have reasons to believe a fair amount of adult fish summer down there, only to return to the upper lake in late winter and get speared lol. [smilie=bangtard.gif].
I have Rush tickets for Sunday so I'm probably only in for a half day on Saturday. Getting down to Detroit area to hang with buddies. I second the cabbage idea as the only fish I've moved have been in cabbage. Windblown banks seem to be huge in my last several outings. Moved fish, hooked fish, have not landed a fish. I tend to focus on lower Hamlin as Upper can get a little full on the weekends.
There is also a two-lane launch at the State Park, my preferred launch because the campers aren't using it at 6 a.m. Pulling out at noonish can get a little hairy, but that's at any launch.
I'm in a Red Lund with a full windshield. I'll likely be throwing Phantoms or FlatSticks in 10-13 FOW. I'll look for muskie guys and try to be social.
Caleb and I are going to be back on LSC Saturday, so we won't be on Hamlin. That said, if you choose to fish Upper, I've seen several "accidental" catches coming inside the weed line, in bays with creeks flowing into them. The cabbage is endless, so targeting that seems like a tall order. I know the creeks provide cool water, and there are TONS of suckers using those shallow, cool bays. Just a thought…… Good luck guys!
I fished from 6:15 to 10 a.m., closest I got to a muskie was a flash behind a copper/red Buchertail near the narrows. Caught 2 pike, one bass. Closest I got to another muskie angler was three guys throwing stickbaits for pike on upper. They said they got 5 last year up to 41 inches just pike fishing.
I did take a spin around the upper lake looking for other muskie anglers, but I didn't hit every cove or go way up into the marsh/river area.
Weather was strong east winds and it started raining pretty good at 11 a.m., hence my short trip.
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