By: Andrew Ragas

The alarm clock obnoxiously rang at 5:30am and as it always happens to me while still dark outside, I did not feel like waking up out of bed early to go fishing. I’ll admit that I am by far the worst person at waking up early to catch fish. But for the fact that I was committed and scheduled to go on a guided trip on Lake Michigan with two fishing buddies for the noble Smallmouth Bass, I had no other choices but to go.

For the entire day’s adventure, I was accompanied by my friends, Dan Cahill, and Jaypee Hey. The three “Bass Assassins” we are, teamed up to fight forces with Captain Ralph Steiger. Captain Ralph is a younger angler whom is well-known in the Chicagoland area and Southern Lake Michigan region for his Smallmouth Bass and multi-species fishing exploits. After hearing the rave reviews about him and his quality of fishing outings from friends and fellow angling colleagues, I had to give Captain Ralph a try, and join my friends on this chilly day.

We arrived at the launch site located in Indiana angling territory at 7:30am, and we were greeted with 30-degree air temperatures and frigid northwest winds at 10 to 20 miles-per-hour. The forecast called for eventual warmer 50-degree air temperatures, and we hoped they would eventually come by day’s end. That, however, was not the case, as it stayed cold to the bone for the duration of the day.

Our plan for the day was to entirely focus on catching Smallies. Neither of us came in with the highest of expectations because the water was cold, and air temperatures were no better. Captain Ralph gave us warnings prior to today that the fishing might not be the best due to inconsistencies and the unpredictability of fish locations. Whatever we might catch would have to be hard-earned, and fishing several different spots would be the plan. Despite the forewarnings, and the difficulty of recent Bass outings expressed by Captain Ralph, our morale as a unit was still positive as we all expected for some fish to be caught in one way or another.

Today, we fished in both Indiana, and in Illinois, where we focused on a wide variety of typical Lake Michigan fish-holding areas ranging from piers, breakwalls, trenches, reefs, drop-offs, transition areas, warm-water discharges, rock points, and harbor mouths. We began our morning fishing in Indiana, then progressing into Illinois as we motored several miles northwest to downtown Chicago city limits, and then concluding in Indiana again where we fished during the afternoon hours until it was game over.

On average, Lake Michigan water temperatures at this time are at around 51-degrees. According to Captain Ralph, this number is really good for fall fishing on the Great Lakes if Bass are the desired species, as they can be found heavily concentrated in groups, and relating to specific points of underwater cover and structure. During end-of-season periods like this, Captain Ralph claims, “These fish tend to get stupid because they will eat anything that falls in front of them.” Periods like this often produce good numbers of big fish for Captain Ralph and his clients.

Our presentations consisted of fishing slowly with hopes of catching very lethargic fish. Captain Ralph’s provided Smallmouth gear consists of 7ft, 2in Shimano Cumara spinning rods (medium heavy, extra fast action) paired with an assortment of size 2500 and 3000 Shimano Stradic and Sustain spinning reels. Each rod and reel is spooled with 10lb Trilene XT as main line which includes a four foot section of fluorocarbon leader which negates the possibility of fraying easily on lazer-sharp zebra mussels found on almost every underwater rock and solid. Our baits of choice were Poor Boys Erie Darters fished on 1/4oz D’s Jigs. Rather than let our reels do the work for us, we forced ourselves to let the lake currents and wind factor control the action of our baits.

As it was expected, the fishing today was very slow. No matter how slow we had to fish, or how slow the fish were responding, a slow day would be our default result no matter what trick, scheme, or ploy would be attempted.

A grand total of two fish were boated, one coming from downtown Chicago, and the other coming from one of the many discharge areas in Indiana. Jaypee caught a 15-inch fish during the morning, and I caught an 18-inch fish during the afternoon. We each had a handful of other short hits and misses. The lack of fish caught ultimately proves how inactive things really were out there for us today. However, the four of us in Captain Ralph’s 21-foot Crestliner were 100% positive and confident that we were fishing all of the right spots, and placing our baits right in front of the fish that were sadly not eating during the entire time.

Outside of these two fish we caught, they just did not want to eat! Everything had lockjaw it seemed.

Despite not catching a whole lot today, which would have been nice for everyone involved, a lot of positive things resulted from this trip. First and foremost, Captain Ralph’s knowledge for Bass fishing on Lake Michigan is second to none. He flat-out knows his spots and has the understanding for what to do at almost any given situation. I will be sure to apply the new facts and gained information from today into my future clear-water Bass fishing pursuits whether it be on the Great Lakes, similar areas of Lake Michigan, and the cold, deep, clear inland lakes I love to fish up north in Wisconsin. Poor Boys plastics and the D’s jigs we fished them with are current headlines on my future off-season shopping list.

Besides learning many new things such as new skinny-water applications, seasonal movements, feeding patterns and so-forth, I got to spend the day with two of my better Bass fishing buddies. Last but not least, I had a hell of a good time fishing and being able to openly discuss many different fishing-related topics and interests with a knowledgeable, entertaining, understanding, committed, and professional fishing guide. While the catching was virtually non-existent, there was never a dull moment in the boat for any of us. Captain Ralph is committed to giving his clients an enjoyable time while out on the water. If catching fish isn’t a guarantee, then enjoying yourself might be just the thing that will happen.

To book your reservations with Captain Ralph Steiger, you may visit him online at http://www.captainsteiger.com/, or reach him by telephone at 219-688-3593. If Lake Michigan Smallmouth Bass are your thing, then Captain Ralph is the guide to ask for. No matter what species of fish may be your quarry, I am positive that your trip will not be a disappointment.