Lake Leelanau
Published: Updated:
Species
Season
Lake Leelanau Overview
Top Techniques Reported for Smallmouth Bass + Spring
- Drop Shot1
- Hard Jerkbaits1
- Hard Topwater (Walking)1
- Soft Body Swimbaits (Small/Medium)1
- Tubes1
- Smallmouth Bass5 Reports
Top Products
Most Reported Baits for Smallmouth Bass + Spring
Create a Lake Leelanau Kit
Target Smallmouth Bass During Spring
Lake Leelanau Fishing Reports
6 Reports on Lake Leelanau
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Drop Shot
Structure
Ledges
Water Temperature
54°
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Topwater Walking
Structure
Ledges
Forage
Minnows
First time fishing Lake Leelanau. Fished seemed to be mostly post-spawn. Fished June 9th-11th, 2022. Did find one fish on a bed. Throughout all 3 days the bite window seemed to be extremely small. Morning bite seemed to hit from 5-6 a.m. Fishing top water we had success with a sexy dawg jr. We tried buzz baits and poppers as well and had little to zero bites. Fish really seemed to love that erractic action. Throughout the rest of the day until the evening we would try 5xd cranks, tubes on the bottom, and flukes high in the water column. We had some success with these baits. The evening bite seemed to turn on around 9p.m. until 10. We even had walleye hitting the sexy dawg jr, which I did not think was possible. Haha. Fish would hit the top water in 2ft to 10ft of water. It was really hard to figure out a pattern but this is what we had success on. Biggest bass of the trip was a 5.5 lb smallie caught on a sexy dawg jr on that morning bite. Most bass were in that 2 to 3.5 lb range. Good luck and tightlines!
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Spring (Pre-Spawn)
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
River Channels
Light winds with a water temp in the high 40's had fish starting to push up into 8-12 foot of water. They wouldn't fully commit to a swimbait but had no issues connecting with a jerk bait. They key was getting the jerk bait to touch and rip out of the tops of the grass that the fish were relating to.
Top Fishing Techniques
for Smallmouth Bass + SpringChoose from techniques based on Lake Leelanau fishing reports.