Minnesota Fishing Report - 2019 2024
FryDog62 reply :
This show will air the first week of 2019 on the Sportsman Channel and World Fishing Network - if you want to tune in and dream of open water, 78 degree weather, and river smallmouth:
Lake Commandos
Season number: 6
Episode: 1
Air date starting January 1, 2019
Steve Pennaz and river smallmouth expert Chris Fryer square off on an unknown stretch of river targeting big smallmouth.
Sportsman Channel
Wed, 1/2
5 AM Central
Sportsman Channel
Fri, 1/4
3:30 AM Central
Sportsman Channel
Sat, 1/5
9 PM Central
Other times World Fishing Network
punch reply :
Will they put it online??
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/2/2019 at 11:55 AM, punch said:Will they put it online??
Might eventually YouTube..
rascalP reply :
Nice! I thought I recognized the face from somewhere. Very nice class of fish. I always like going to google earth and try to figure out where Steve is fishing. Looks like not too far from where we were last fall. I would've thought it to tight of water for a big boat, but apparently not. How much of the river were you able to cover, if you don't mind me asking? BTW, I was rooting for you. That one would have counted in my boat.
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/3/2019 at 12:15 PM, rascalP said:Nice! I thought I recognized the face from somewhere. Very nice class of fish. I always like going to google earth and try to figure out where Steve is fishing. Looks like not too far from where we were last fall. I would've thought it to tight of water for a big boat, but apparently not. How much of the river were you able to cover, if you don't mind me asking? BTW, I was rooting for you. That one would have counted in my boat.
There’s a number of spots on that stretch that support a larger boat (with some common sense) but the farther you go downstream, the safer to navigate. Most every stack of laydowns or boulders hold smallies and/or walleyes. We were challenged that day because the water was high and the strong current made it really tough to get into and stay in the strike zone. We were both really surprised the topwater wasn’t more explosive early in the day, but again I think the current had something to do with it.
We can discuss more location specifics at the MN-BR get together later this winter..
Dubtee reply :
Does anyone have a good shop around the metro for reel repair? I have a 3-4 yr old revo winch that I have not used much that will simply not cast very far anymore. I've tried cleaning/lubing everything I could and it still won't cast - used to be able to sling a 6XD a mile on this thing. I've been reading this may be common with these reels, but thought I'd get a shop's opinion before I dumped it. Thanks in advance.
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/4/2019 at 1:30 AM, Dubtee said:Does anyone have a good shop around the metro for reel repair? I have a 3-4 yr old revo winch that I have not used much that will simply not cast very far anymore. I've tried cleaning/lubing everything I could and it still won't cast - used to be able to sling a 6XD a mile on this thing. I've been reading this may be common with these reels, but thought I'd get a shop's opinion before I dumped it. Thanks in advance.
I take my reels to Tim at Wayzata Bait. Up North I think Thorne Bros might do reel work, I know they do rod repair..
punch reply :
On 1/4/2019 at 1:30 AM, Dubtee said:Does anyone have a good shop around the metro for reel repair? I have a 3-4 yr old revo winch that I have not used much that will simply not cast very far anymore. I've tried cleaning/lubing everything I could and it still won't cast - used to be able to sling a 6XD a mile on this thing. I've been reading this may be common with these reels, but thought I'd get a shop's opinion before I dumped it. Thanks in advance.
Have you tried Abu Garcia customer service directly? I've heard their reel customer service is quite good.
On 1/2/2019 at 12:15 PM, FryDog62 said:Might eventually YouTube..
Cool, I don't get sportsmens channel or world fishing network.
rascalP reply :
Fry,
When is that get together? Like to try to make it, though weekends are tough.
BTW, those were some real pretty fish in the pic. Outstanding colors.
MN Fisher reply :
On 1/3/2019 at 12:36 PM, FryDog62 said:We can discuss more location specifics at the MN-BR get together later this winter..
Depending on where and when that is, I might be able to make it. Let us know.
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/4/2019 at 4:24 AM, MN Fisher said:Depending on where and when that is, I might be able to make it. Let us know.
It’s been talked about but not formalized yet. It will be hard to schedule a date/location everyone can make, but below are best options.
Everyone please weigh in and let us know your preference, and feel free to invite others on this site that don’t maybe monitor this time of year. Maybe we’ll need to do a poll/vote, and whatever majority we get we’ll go with:
•Thurs Feb 7 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD
•Weds Feb 20 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD
•Thurs 3/21 late afternoon at a bar near Mpls Convention Center - then head into NW Sportshow
•Fri 3/22 late afternoon at a bar near Mpls Convention Center - then head into NW Sportshow
Whatever we pick, we should hit Glenn up for some Bassresource.com logo wear or customize our own as “MN-BR” 
MN Fisher reply :
I wouldn't be able to do a dinner or hit the NW Sportshow - my time constraints for various reasons prohibit it.
A couple hours of a meet-and-greet over drinks would be doable though.
Jmhalvo reply :
I’m game for any of these dates
Jmhalvo reply :
Anybody planning on wading in the river for winter smallies?
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/4/2019 at 10:21 AM, Jmhalvo said:Anybody planning on wading in the river for winter smallies?
I’ve never tried it but am interested. Do you need insulated waders? I just have some cheap hip waders for launching the boat..
Jmhalvo reply :
Full waders
ive seen it a lot on YouTube
Look up on YouTube: “Nattie Up North”...she was just there
gimruis reply :
Hey Frydog you started the MN 2019 Thread in 2018! Just couldn't wait until Jan 1 could ya
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/5/2019 at 7:06 AM, gimruis said:Hey Frydog you started the MN 2019 Thread in 2018! Just couldn't wait until Jan 1 could ya
C’mon Spring... get here!!
OperationEagle reply :
I was in Monticello a couple of times this winter. Insulated waders not necessary but you obviously will be warmer.
I wear my full waders.
There is a runnings near there that you can pick up live bait at. People fishing with live bait out fish non live about 5 to 1. I will bring live next time I go.
Jmhalvo reply :
On 1/5/2019 at 10:17 PM, OperationEagle said:I was in Monticello a couple of times this winter. Insulated waders not necessary but you obviously will be warmer.
I wear my full waders.
There is a runnings near there that you can pick up live bait at. People fishing with live bait out fish non live about 5 to 1. I will bring live next time I go.
Minnows under a float or use a jig?
NathanDLTH reply :
On 1/4/2019 at 5:56 AM, FryDog62 said:It’s been talked about but not formalized yet. It will be hard to schedule a date/location everyone can make, but below are best options.
Everyone please weigh in and let us know your preference, and feel free to invite others on this site that don’t maybe monitor this time of year. Maybe we’ll need to do a poll/vote, and whatever majority we get we’ll go with:
•Thurs Feb 7 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD
•Weds Feb 20 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD
•Thurs 3/21 late afternoon at a bar near Mpls Convention Center - then head into NW Sportshow
•Fri 3/22 late afternoon at a bar near Mpls Convention Center - then head into NW Sportshow
Whatever we pick, we should hit Glenn up for some Bassresource.com logo wear or customize our own as “MN-BR”
Works for me.
OperationEagle reply :
On 1/6/2019 at 6:49 AM, Jmhalvo said:Minnows under a float or use a jig?
Under a bobber.
rascalP reply :
On 1/4/2019 at 5:56 AM, FryDog62 said:It’s been talked about but not formalized yet. It will be hard to schedule a date/location everyone can make, but below are best options.
Everyone please weigh in and let us know your preference, and feel free to invite others on this site that don’t maybe monitor this time of year. Maybe we’ll need to do a poll/vote, and whatever majority we get we’ll go with:
•Thurs Feb 7 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD
•Weds Feb 20 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD
Whatever we pick, we should hit Glenn up for some Bassresource.com logo wear or customize our own as “MN-BR”
Any Thursday would work for me. Wednesday I usually fish, but then again, I would only be missing some ice fishing.
North metro tavern, as long as I'm throwing in my 2 cents...
gimruis reply :
On 1/5/2019 at 7:35 AM, FryDog62 said:C’mon Spring... get here!!
Are we sure its not already coming? It was almost 50 degrees out the past couple days. During the coldest time of year too.
punch reply :
If anyone is looking for a nice crankbait combo (duckett white ice 7'4 MM w/ 5.5 curado) OR a nice medium spinning combo (company that can't be named) HIT ME UP. Discounts for the folks in here.
Gotta thin the herd a little.
NathanDLTH reply :
I have lightly used GLX 893c JWR I might trade for something similar just a little shorter.
FryDog62 reply :
Winters Greetings from the Big-O
punch reply :
Lucky SOB.
NathanDLTH reply :
Nice Fry! Catch a 10lber! It’s what we all dream of or maybe just me? Lol!
rascalP reply :
On 1/10/2019 at 2:23 AM, FryDog62 said:Winters Greetings from the Big-O
Nice! Will this be part of another show? Self guided? Thinking about a pre Minnesota opener trip myself, but half as far. Missouri in March maybe? And I plan on making South Dakota happen this year for sure.
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/13/2019 at 12:41 PM, rascalP said:Nice! Will this be part of another show? Self guided? Thinking about a pre Minnesota opener trip myself, but half as far. Missouri in March maybe? And I plan on making South Dakota happen this year for sure.
No, I’m back to being the amateur that I am... just trying to find open water where I can. Are you thinking of Tablerock in March? My kids went to school in Missouri and I always wanted to get there but didn’t...
rascalP reply :
Not exactly, though I do have an open invite from a guy I worked with who just moved down there. I was just doing some poking around and saw an impoundment called Mozingo Lake just across the Iowa border. Looks like it has some potential, around 1000 acres, small enough to breakdown in a few days, with weeds and timber.
punch reply :
*sold*
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/14/2019 at 8:53 AM, rascalP said:Not exactly, though I do have an open invite from a guy I worked with who just moved down there. I was just doing some poking around and saw an impoundment called Mozingo Lake just across the Iowa border. Looks like it has some potential, around 1000 acres, small enough to breakdown in a few days, with weeds and timber.
Another early spring option to consider are the power plant lakes near Kansas City. They stay open all year (and so does their fishing season!) and you can catch some 60+ degree weather in March/April down there. 8 hour drive... just have to get there before the spring tornado season (i.e. see Wizard of Oz) Lol..
rascalP reply :
On 1/18/2019 at 2:27 AM, FryDog62 said:Another early spring option to consider are the power plant lakes near Kansas City. They stay open all year (and so does their fishing season!) and you can catch some 60+ degree weather in March/April down there. 8 hour drive... just have to get there before the spring tornado season (i.e. see Wizard of Oz) Lol..
Yeah, I looked at those too. My main focus will be on SoDak. I've been wanting to get out there for 5 or 6 years, since I first saw Al & company out there. The problem has been the window falls right around our annual trout trip and getting a few buddies to do both has been tough. I might have a couple committed this year though. I've done a fair amount of research on lakes and would probably base out of Roy. I would want to fish Clear for sure and maybe Enemy Swim, and a couple other unnamed lakes in as well. Looking at going the middle to the end of April.
I know you have been out there, and if you plan on going this year, maybe we can go at the same time and share info.
Shout out to Sully420 and Jmhalvo as well. I think they both have interest in S. Dakota as well.
This could be a good year ice-out wise, for making it happen.
Jmhalvo reply :
On 1/18/2019 at 10:20 AM, rascalP said:Yeah, I looked at those too. My main focus will be on SoDak. I've been wanting to get out there for 5 or 6 years, since I first saw Al & company out there. The problem has been the window falls right around our annual trout trip and getting a few buddies to do both has been tough. I might have a couple committed this year though. I've done a fair amount of research on lakes and would probably base out of Roy. I would want to fish Clear for sure and maybe Enemy Swim, and a couple other unnamed lakes in as well. Looking at going the middle to the end of April.
I know you have been out there, and if you plan on going this year, maybe we can go at the same time and share info.
Shout out to Sully420 and Jmhalvo as well. I think they both have interest in S. Dakota as well.
This could be a good year ice-out wise, for making it happen.
Yes I’m looking at it. I was there a few years ago...in fact, at the resort they said “Al and co” had just been there filming and did very well. Unfortunately for us, we hit bad weather. The issue in Dakota is wind- I feel it’s important to be flexible and just go on almost a moments notice when it’s finally nice weather. I hope to do that this year ( I also fished walleye on Waubay once and we caught about 200 14 inch fish- which gets old)
FryDog62 reply :
I’m honestly not a big fan of the resort owner on Roy. They bumped my dad and I out of a cabin once for a larger group and gave me an excuse that I’m pretty sure was made up. You don’t do that to an 82 year old guy and expect them to forget about it and come back next time.
I also agree with what jmhalvo says about Waubay. I’ve been there numerous times for the 14 inch walleye fest and it does get old.
But SoDak is a good Spring diversion and there is some good fishing there. And - yes the KEY is going when there isn’t wind.
rascalP reply :
On 1/18/2019 at 8:52 PM, Jmhalvo said:Yes I’m looking at it. I was there a few years ago...in fact, at the resort they said “Al and co” had just been there filming and did very well. Unfortunately for us, we hit bad weather. The issue in Dakota is wind- I feel it’s important to be flexible and just go on almost a moments notice when it’s finally nice weather. I hope to do that this year ( I also fished walleye on Waubay once and we caught about 200 14 inch fish- which gets old)
On 1/18/2019 at 9:09 PM, FryDog62 said:I’m honestly not a big fan of the resort owner on Roy. They bumped my dad and I out of a cabin once for a larger group and gave me an excuse that I’m pretty sure was made up. You don’t do that to an 82 year old guy and expect them to forget about it and come back next time.
I also agree with what jmhalvo says about Waubay. I’ve been there numerous times for the 14 inch walleye fest and it does get old.
But SoDak is a good Spring diversion and there is some good fishing there. And - yes the KEY is going when there isn’t wind.
Yeah I was figuring on playing the weather a bit. May just have to open up some time and if the wind blows, we go trout fishing. That's too bad about the resort. Don't like hearing that kind of stuff. Either of you have experience with other options, motels around Webster and such? I was actually looking at the camper cabins at the state park.
The nice thing about midweek fishing trips is you can kind of fly by the seat of your pants, lodging wise. Don't have to worry so much about reservations. Thanks for your input and insight.
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/20/2019 at 10:03 AM, rascalP said:
Yeah I was figuring on playing the weather a bit. May just have to open up some time and if the wind blows, we go trout fishing. That's too bad about the resort. Don't like hearing that kind of stuff. Either of you have experience with other options, motels around Webster and such? I was actually looking at the camper cabins at the state park.
The nice thing about midweek fishing trips is you can kind of fly by the seat of your pants, lodging wise. Don't have to worry so much about reservations. Thanks for your input and insight.
I had planned to stay at the state park at Roy a few years ago in late April...but when I got there the cabins were all taken by turkey hunters. Two more cabins weren’t being used but being refurbished so I wasn’t able to stay there unfortunately... so best to call way ahead of time to make sure they’re available (and not being remodeled).
FryDog62 reply :
*SOLD*
Anyone interested in a brand new (with tags) Dobyns Flipping Rod? $349 + tax new. I plan to list it in the classifieds for $260 but would sell to someone local for $240 cash if I don’t have to pay shipping. Details:
•Dobyns Champion Extreme HP
•DX 746C
•7’-4” Heavy Fast Flip Action
•1 piece, 15-30 lb, 3/8-2 oz.
punch reply :
On 1/21/2019 at 4:30 AM, FryDog62 said:Anyone interested in a brand new (with tags) Dobyns Flipping Rod? $340 + tax new. I plan to list it in the classifieds for $260 but would sell to someone local for $240 cash if I don’t have to pay shipping. Details:
•Dobyns Champion Extreme HP
•DX 746C
•7’-4” Heavy Fast Flip Action
•1 piece, 15-30 lb, 3/8-2 oz.
Thats a nice stick. Why you selling??
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/21/2019 at 4:47 AM, punch said:Thats a nice stick. Why you selling??
Long story but I received two of the same rod...
I ordered this one 6 months ago from Cabelas. But then Dobyns closed down their facilty about the same time last year and moved their entire operations from Calif to Texas. Everything got backordered so I cancelled the order by phone and found the same rod leftover at a different store and bought it.
Then out of the blue I get a call from Cabelas this week that my rod is in ?!? They forgot to cancel the order and charged it to an outstanding credit I had with them, so now I can only return it for a credit..
Since I already have that rod I’m going to buy something different but Cabelas doesn’t carry it. So I’m selling it myself.
(Nice customer service huh - after all the things I’ve bought from them over the years!)
punch reply :
That's wierd that they just won't give you cash for it on a return if you have a receipt.
FryDog62 reply :
On 1/21/2019 at 5:39 AM, punch said:That's wierd that they just won't give you cash for it on a return if you have a receipt.
Only if it was paid for in cash
punch reply :
**SOLD**
ThatOneBigKid reply :
I have been looking at the 2018 thread thinking "why is this thread so dead." Found my answer. Didn't realize there was a new 2019 thread.
Anyone from this thread fishing the St. Jude Bass Classic this May? I fished it with my cousin last year for the first time and it was a lot of fun even with the insanely high waters. Looking forward to this year. Plus, raising money for a great cause such as St. Jude through a sport that we are so passionate about is even better!
link to my fundraising page if anyone wants to donate:
http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/T...l&fr_id=100579
FryDog62 reply :
On 2/3/2019 at 8:58 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:I have been looking at the 2018 thread thinking "why is this thread so dead." Found my answer. Didn't realize there was a new 2019 thread.
Anyone from this thread fishing the St. Jude Bass Classic this May? I fished it with my cousin last year for the first time and it was a lot of fun even with the insanely high waters. Looking forward to this year. Plus, raising money for a great cause such as St. Jude through a sport that we are so passionate about is even better!
link to my fundraising page if anyone wants to donate:
http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/T...l&fr_id=100579
Looks like a fun time for a great cause... If I didn’t have a charity tournament coming up on June 1st myself I’d probably register as well.
JackKlassen reply :
What's the entry fee for St. Judes? Sounds like a good time and a good cause.
On 2/3/2019 at 8:58 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:I have been looking at the 2018 thread thinking "why is this thread so dead." Found my answer. Didn't realize there was a new 2019 thread.
Anyone from this thread fishing the St. Jude Bass Classic this May? I fished it with my cousin last year for the first time and it was a lot of fun even with the insanely high waters. Looking forward to this year. Plus, raising money for a great cause such as St. Jude through a sport that we are so passionate about is even better!
link to my fundraising page if anyone wants to donate:
http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/T...l&fr_id=100579
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 2/4/2019 at 5:58 AM, JackKlassen said:What's the entry fee for St. Judes? Sounds like a good time and a good cause.
Entry Fee is $350 per team by April 1st and $400 per team after that.
Also, each team must raise a minimum of $500 to be allowed to compete in the event.
punch reply :
I was ready to say "oh man I'm so bored with ice fishing, is it spring yet??".... then I won an ice fishing derby with my son this weekend. We won a new clam hub, which of course I'm going to sell and buy bass gear with! (I already have a good hub)
We won with 56 fish scored during the tournament period. 2nd place had 40, 3rd had 38. Now if I don't win any bass tournaments this season, I can still say I won a fishing tournament in 2019.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 2/11/2019 at 1:35 PM, punch said:I was ready to say "oh man I'm so bored with ice fishing, is it spring yet??".... then I won an ice fishing derby with my son this weekend. We won a new clam hub, which of course I'm going to sell and buy bass gear with! (I already have a good hub)
We won with 56 fish scored during the tournament period. 2nd place had 40, 3rd had 38. Now if I don't win any bass tournaments this season, I can still say I won a fishing tournament in 2019.
Nice work, man. I am sure your son was pumped! Great memories for the two of you.
But yes, is i spring yet?
Watching Rick Clunn take the win on Bass Live all weekend has me itching even more for warm weather and open water. Anyone else watch the Live coverage over the weekend. Saturday and Sunday were probably the two best days of BASS Live I have ever watched. The Classic from Conroe is second, but d**n if it wasn't awesome watching guys hauling in 6+ after 6+. Please mother nature be kind this spring!
MN Fisher reply :
On 2/12/2019 at 1:11 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Please mother nature be kind this spring!
Last year Lake Minnetonka was declared ice-free on May 5 - tied for the latest ice out ever.
Hopefully this year it'll clear off sooner - of course now I've just jinxed it...
gimruis reply :
On 2/12/2019 at 1:19 AM, MN Fisher said:Last year Lake Minnetonka was declared ice-free on May 5 - tied for the latest ice out ever.
I heard from a number of sources that May actually broke the record that was previously set on May 4 (a long time ago), but then I heard the same thing you mentioned - that it tied the record. Maybe it depends on the source.
A historic blizzard in April, a near record late ice out, and then its almost 100 degrees by Memorial Day. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for "spring."
punch reply :
I actually did some bass fishing in 2019! With the gamefish season now closed I went and hit the Mississippi river a few days in a row last week to get some action in. I hit one of my usual spots and the fish were really biting. In 3 sessions I probably caught 30+ smallies and 3 nice walleye. All pretty shallow and off sand bars. Swimbaits is really all you need there. I bring other stuff (ned rig) but in the end the keitchs get the most action. It's best to keep it simple.
River smallies + wader fishing is really a hoot. Only downside is combating the ice in your guides & your braid. I was using my 7' st croixs (LTB and a legend xtreme) with 10lb braid to a floro leader. My standard smallie setups.
Sunday morning I hooked into this 4lb tanker.
gimruis reply :
That’s pretty good punch. Definitely beats ice fishing.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Nice work @punch. Looks like a good time. I have been telling myself I need to get a pair of wadders for years now and still haven't pulled the trigger.
Jmhalvo reply :
This is me- I wish I could say I caught it. I’m in CA and the guy in the next boat got a 17 lb largemouth- nice guy, let me hold before release. Soon the rains came - I got little fishing in. Weather out here is as bad as anyone can remember
punch reply :
daaaaaaaaaaaaaang
FryDog62 reply :
On 3/6/2019 at 10:38 AM, Jmhalvo said:This is me- I wish I could say I caught it. I’m in CA and the guy in the next boat got a 17 lb largemouth- nice guy, let me hold before release. Soon the rains came - I got little fishing in. Weather out here is as bad as anyone can remember
Which Lake? Very cool even to hold something that big!
punch reply :
On 3/6/2019 at 12:44 PM, FryDog62 said:Which Lake? Very cool even to hold something that big!
JackKlassen reply :
On 3/6/2019 at 10:38 AM, Jmhalvo said:This is me- I wish I could say I caught it. I’m in CA and the guy in the next boat got a 17 lb largemouth- nice guy, let me hold before release. Soon the rains came - I got little fishing in. Weather out here is as bad as anyone can remember
That is insane. How was Cali? Been a dream of mine for a while to spend a week out there grinding for a pb
Jmhalvo reply :
On 3/6/2019 at 12:44 PM, FryDog62 said:Which Lake? Very cool even to hold something that big!
Dixon- handy because no need for CA license- I’m not on a fishing trip. Had a few hours but mostly got rained out. Yes, very cool...I’ve never seen a largemouth HALF that size!
OperationEagle reply :
Who else is checking temps for the week seemingly by the hour. Expected to touch 40 a couple of times this week. C’mon spring!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 3/11/2019 at 2:37 PM, OperationEagle said:Who else is checking temps for the week seemingly by the hour. Expected to touch 40 a couple of times this week. C’mon spring!
Yea I saw 40s in there one the 10-day outlook and my mouth started to water. Going to be an interesting Spring from a water level stand point with all this snow on the ground. Can't freaking wait.
MN Fisher reply :
On 3/12/2019 at 2:40 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Yea I saw 40s in there one the 10-day outlook and my mouth started to water. Going to be an interesting Spring from a water level stand point with all this snow on the ground. Can't freaking wait.
Last report had Minnetonka still at 16" of ice. With all the snow on top, it's well insulated. That snow has to go before the ice can start really melting. Even with the upper 30s and 40s forecast - I don't see any of my fishing spots opening before mid-April.
JackKlassen reply :
On 3/11/2019 at 2:37 PM, OperationEagle said:Who else is checking temps for the week seemingly by the hour. Expected to touch 40 a couple of times this week. C’mon spring!
Plus with all the rain expected within the next three days the snow should be taking a hit
MN Fisher reply :
On 3/12/2019 at 8:08 AM, JackKlassen said:Plus with all the rain expected within the next three days the snow should be taking a hit
Latest NWS forecast has less than 2" of rain between now and Friday...with some more snow Thursday night. That's not going to make too much of an impact on the current snow cover.
OperationEagle reply :
Ok with the water levels expected to be high this spring, let’s share how we will be changing our approach to opener. I will start.
I will be watching water temps closer if there is a late ice melt. Maybe try some jerkbaits?
FryDog62 reply :
Thought I’d get back around to that MN-BR happy hour planning again. I have a few hats to give away as well...
If people interested in going can say which dates work below (list as many as as you can) we’ll go with the majority and then pick a location:
•Fri 3/22 late afternoon near Mpls Convention Center/NW Sport Show
•Thurs 3/28
•Mon 4/1
•Weds 4/3
•Tues 4/9
•Weds 4/10
•Thurs 4/11
•Weds 4/17
bwjay reply :
I'd love to meet up and pick some brains! I'm good for 3/22, 3/28, 4/1, and 4/3.
Jmhalvo reply :
Pick a day - if I can I will def go.
MN Fisher reply :
Anything other than 3/22 - prefer west side of MPLS if possible. (The Local in St. Louis Park?)
bwjay reply :
+1 for preferring the west side of the river. I'll eat/drink almost anything so I'm cool with The Local or something else too.
punch reply :
I'm definitely going to the show on Friday, I want to catch John Cox's Shallow Water presentation which I think is at 6pm.
gimruis reply :
16 inches of ice on Tonka? That’s it? Heck with these warm temps, March sunshine, and constant rain, there could easily be open water by early April. Almost half the snow in my yard has disappeared this week.
Frydog, those hats are pretty cool.
OperationEagle reply :
I’ll make it if I can. But I am out March 19-24.
NathanDLTH reply :
On 1/8/2019 at 1:47 AM, NathanDLTH said:I have lightly used GLX 893c JWR I might trade for something similar just a little shorter.
For sale only now. Asking $300
FryDog62 reply :
MN-BR Happy Hour - Lets go with April 3rd. Guys that can make it then, what’s your preference for location? East Side, West Side, North or South - or Open? Will pick the best we can...
ThatOneBigKid reply :
If anyone needs batteries and has a Sams Club membership (or knows someone with one), they have great deals on Marie Batteries right now through the end of the month. Picked up 3 - Duracell Platinum AGM batteries for $159 each. Exact same battery at Batteries Plus is $244.99. Only thing different is the warranty length (18 months at Sam's, 30 months at BP).
punch reply :
On 3/18/2019 at 11:50 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:If anyone needs batteries and has a Sams Club membership (or knows someone with one), they have great deals on Marie Batteries right now through the end of the month. Picked up 3 - Duracell Platinum AGM batteries for $159 each. Exact same battery at Batteries Plus is $244.99. Only thing different is the warranty length (18 months at Sam's, 30 months at BP).
That is a good price.
FryDog62 reply :
MN-BR get together is now confirmed with a date, time and location:
•Weds, April 3 at 5:00
•”The Local” at West End (St. Louis Park near 394/100)
•Table reserved under “Fry”
A few free hats to be given away - hope to see you there to get the new season kicked off..
MN Fisher reply :
With a little luck, I'll be there.
bwjay reply :
I should be there at, or shortly after, 5pm. Looking forward to it!
punch reply :
On 3/20/2019 at 6:29 AM, FryDog62 said:MN-BR get together is now confirmed with a date, time and location:
•Weds, April 3 at 5:00
•”The Local” at West End (St. Louis Park near 394/100)
•Table reserved under “Fry”
A few free hats to be given away - hope to see you there to get the new season kicked off..
Added it to my calendar, I should be free.
Jmhalvo reply :
On 3/21/2019 at 12:42 AM, punch said:Added it to my calendar, I should be free.
Ditto
Jmhalvo reply :
So far the weather forecast for SDak lakes region is colder than for here - not always the case - I still hope to get there in April
punch reply :
Anyone hit the NW sports show? Do some damage?
I picked up an Expride 7'2 MH glass, which isn't an easy to stick to find these days. Keep hearing how it's one of the best chatterbait rods out there.
FryDog62 reply :
On 3/25/2019 at 4:36 AM, punch said:Anyone hit the NW sports show? Do some damage?
I picked up an Expride 7'2 MH glass, which isn't an easy to stick to find these days. Keep hearing how it's one of the best chatterbait rods out there.
Just left there, saw some seminars Fri and today. Picked up another Tatula SV is all, they were dropping prices at the end...
punch reply :
On 3/25/2019 at 5:29 AM, FryDog62 said:Just left there, saw some seminars Fri and today. Picked up another Tatula SV is all, they were dropping prices at the end...
What did you get it for?
FryDog62 reply :
On 3/25/2019 at 6:19 AM, punch said:What did you get it for?
30% off. I saw some other things like rod/reel combos (mid-priced stuff) for as much as 50% off.
rascalP reply :
On 3/24/2019 at 10:24 PM, Jmhalvo said:So far the weather forecast for SDak lakes region is colder than for here - not always the case - I still hope to get there in April
It's looking like S.Dakota won't happen for me this year. Just not enough weeks in April. The later the ice out, the more the window gets squeezed. Trout fishing trip is always around the 3rd week of April, and after that, Wisconsin bass opener is just around the corner, so... maybe next year??
NathanDLTH reply :
I picked up an older Steez 103 XS(mint condition) for 25% off on Friday afterwork. All I wanted really. There were lots of deals.
Jmhalvo reply :
On 3/27/2019 at 11:14 AM, rascalP said:It's looking like S.Dakota won't happen for me this year. Just not enough weeks in April. The later the ice out, the more the window gets squeezed. Trout fishing trip is always around the 3rd week of April, and after that, Wisconsin bass opener is just around the corner, so... maybe next year??
I’m not giving up on a gorgeous western sun baking a SDak glacial lake full of smallies in April to early May. However you do make a great point about WI...might do that, but I have no idea where to fish in WI. Ideas anyone?
punch reply :
Got another fishing related to-do project done this week. I finally installed some LED lights in my lockers on my Skeeter SX190. This was LONG overdue.. fumbling around in the dark at the boat ramp trying to find rod socks is DONE.
My front deck already has some LED's installed so I just got some marine LED strips and used some t-tap connectors into the existing wiring for the deck lights. It was so easy to install I kinda feel stupid for not doing this last year.
I also vacuumed and cleaned the carpet. She was grimy.
On 3/28/2019 at 7:03 PM, Jmhalvo said:I’m not giving up on a gorgeous western sun baking a SDak glacial lake full of smallies in April to early May. However you do make a great point about WI...might do that, but I have no idea where to fish in WI. Ideas anyone?
Paging @WI_Angler1989, he's a Wisconsin smallie hunter.
WI_Angler1989 reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 7:03 PM, Jmhalvo said:I’m not giving up on a gorgeous western sun baking a SDak glacial lake full of smallies in April to early May. However you do make a great point about WI...might do that, but I have no idea where to fish in WI. Ideas anyone?
There TONS of other guys on here who will have more/better advice than me, but it's hard to beat Wi Smallies! You're options are nearly endless: Lake Michigan Door County of you want big water. Long Lake in Chippewa Co is pretty decent size and has awesome fishing.
Most of the Rivers I fish are full of them too. The Flambeau (my fave), The Chippewa (my home h2o), Eagle River, The Mississippi... All game fish can be found there. Just research a stretch and find launches and go!
One of my fave things to do is head up north (Forest, Marrianette, Oneida counties) and fish lesser known, smaller, clear waters for smallies, pike, musky, walleye, everything! Its tough to beat the scenery and less pressured fishing.
We hit a small Forest County lake with little weedless tubes and I swear... those bass slammed them like they'd never seen a soft plastic before. It was insane!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Anyone have an idea of how thawed the backwaters of Pool 4 & 5 are? Or, does anyone now a good place to call down there to get a report?
2 hour drive for me down to there so I'd like to know it is thawed before I look to make a run down there.
Thanks guys!
FryDog62 reply :
On 3/30/2019 at 2:44 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Anyone have an idea of how thawed the backwaters of Pool 4 & 5 are? Or, does anyone now a good place to call down there to get a report?
2 hour drive for me down to there so I'd like to know it is thawed before I look to make a run down there.
Thanks guys!
Everts Resort/Pool 4 (715) 792-2333
rascalP reply :
On 3/28/2019 at 7:03 PM, Jmhalvo said:I’m not giving up on a gorgeous western sun baking a SDak glacial lake full of smallies in April to early May. However you do make a great point about WI...might do that, but I have no idea where to fish in WI. Ideas anyone?
I used to fish Wisconsin lakes a lot years ago, but kinda gave up on them cause the size structure seemed to head south. I lived north of Milltown for a few years quite a while ago, so I've spent some time on most lakes from Hudson to Grantsburg. I've heard rumors that some of these lakes are getting a little better. Round, by Luck would be worth a shot, as well as Turtle, Trade, and Long Trade. Clam used to kick out some real big bass every year and Wapo can be fun to fish. Shell will give you the smallie option. I will probably check out Butternut, Cedar and maybe a couple others this year
The last few years, with MN opening up to bass for C&R on the walleye opener, I've skipped WI and just waited a week, but this year I'll be back.
FryDog62 reply :
Just a reminder MN-BR get together this week:
•Weds, April 3 at 5:00
•”The Local” at West End (St. Louis Park near 394/100)
•Table reserved under “Fry”
Hope to see you then...
MN Fisher reply :
On 4/2/2019 at 1:57 AM, FryDog62 said:Just a reminder MN-BR get together this week:
•Weds, April 3 at 5:00
•”The Local” at West End (St. Louis Park near 394/100)
•Table reserved under “Fry”
Hope to see you then...
Things have been arranged - I'll see you there.
rascalP reply :
On 4/2/2019 at 1:57 AM, FryDog62 said:Just a reminder MN-BR get together this week:
•Weds, April 3 at 5:00
•”The Local” at West End (St. Louis Park near 394/100)
•Table reserved under “Fry”
Hope to see you then...
I'll be there in spirit. It's just a little to far from Lindstrom. Tough to miss an opportunity to talk fishing with fellow bassheads. Maybe a meet-up on the water on some north metro lake could be in the future. A mini weeknight BR derby perhaps. Enjoy the evening, all.
OperationEagle reply :
Looking at the weather, ice melt should accelerate here very soon. Open water here I come!
punch reply :
I'm not going to be able to make it tonight. I'm currently job hunting and a recruiter booked a call with me at 4pm. I need to take this call at home.. and I live way up in the north metro.
FryDog62 reply :
I have a couple leftover MN-BR hats from the get together. Free, if you PM me your address. Thx, -Fry
FryDog62 reply :
I have a couple of Huk shirts to give away too if anyone wants them. I bought a bunch Daiwa equipment recently and got the promo shirts... more than I can ever wear.
With my massive pipes I usually wear a size Large, but Huk fits big so these are Mediums that fit like a Large. Happy to drop off if I’m in your area or can mail for the cost of shipping.
PS - the green logo shirt looks rather fetching with the MN-BR hats if you want me to throw one of those in too
FryDog62 reply :
Huk shirts have been claimed.
A couple MN-BR hats are left, send me a PM if you want one. Those of you that have already claimed one, I will mail out in the next couple days..
gimruis reply :
Right when lakes are ready to go ice free...there’s a forecast of up to a foot or more of snow in the forecast. Is this a joke? This happened last April and it broke a record.
MN Fisher reply :
On 4/8/2019 at 6:40 AM, gimruis said:Right when lakes are ready to go ice free...there’s a forecast of up to a foot or more of snow in the forecast. Is this a joke? This happened last April and it broke a record.
Despite the snow forecast for Thursday, with the next two days being near or above 60 with sun, I think the winter-storm will have little to no effect on the ice-melt this year. Cruising around my part of Minnetonka, most of the ice is 'black' with numerous holes scattered throughout. I think the ice will be gone fairly soon here.
gimruis reply :
Is that right? Good to hear.
sully420 reply :
Ice is out on mpls lakes the impending storm shouldn't effect anything.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
The majority of the lakes I drive by on my way to work in the NE Metro are either ice off or have very small sections of ice remaining. Now I really need to get I disagree in gear and finish my boat projects!
MN Fisher reply :
On 4/11/2019 at 5:42 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:The majority of the lakes I drive by on my way to work in the NE Metro are either ice off or have very small sections of ice remaining. Now I really need to get I disagree in gear and finish my boat projects!
Nice to know someplace in the Metro is open.Smaller bodies of the Minnetonka chain like Black Lake and Tanager Lake are about 50% clear. The larger bays such as Spring Park, Lafayette, Smiths and Browns (the ones I passed today on an errand) are still about 90% ice-covered.
Tlauz reply :
A big thank you to FryDog. I will wear it proudly.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
The wind is opening minnetonka up more, quite a bit more open water this morning than yesterday afternoon. This weather is incredibly depressing
MN Fisher reply :
Just came back and the larger bays are still mostly ice-socked - Spring Park, Lafayette, Smiths and Browns are 75%-80% covered. However, if you want to wet a line, Black Lake is ice-free...though you'll have to stand in a few inches of heavy, wet snow to cast. Maybe some early season sunnies and crappies?
gimruis reply :
Give it another week and the ice around here will be gone.
punch reply :
I'm definitely going to get some things done on my boat this weekend. Maybe bring her home next week?
MN Fisher reply :
On 4/13/2019 at 9:00 AM, punch said:I'm definitely going to get some things done on my boat this weekend. Maybe bring her home next week?
I only got two major things left for the canoe. Rod rack and the trailer mod. Some minor things, but those two will be enough to get out with. If the weather cooperates, maybe by next weekend.
punch reply :
On 4/13/2019 at 12:08 PM, MN Fisher said:I only got two major things left for the canoe. Rod rack and the trailer mod. Some minor things, but those two will be enough to get out with. If the weather cooperates, maybe by next weekend.
The weather never cooperates around here.
MN Fisher reply :
On 4/13/2019 at 12:45 PM, punch said:The weather never cooperates around here.
Well, painting the new trailer tongue CAN wait...that's the only thing I need a warm, sunny day for.
punch reply :
I got some rigging done today. I found a crazy deal on a HDS7 carbon a while back so I installed it. I can't afford a fancy mount at the moment so I'm just going to run dual Ram's for the time being. What's cool is my HDS12 on the bow has two network ports so it's stupid easy to connect Lowrance units to share data. I'm going to run maps on one and sonar on the other.
I'm an offshore finesse kinda guy, so i'm excited not have to do split-screen maps/sonar anymore.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got my new Ultrex installed and new seals put in my hydraulic steering over the weekend. Just need to get one of my livewells to stop leaking and I should be good for the season.
I am still fundraising for the upcoming St. Jude Bass Classic if anyone is willing to donate to help a great cause. If I can get to $4500 of my $5000 goal I pledge to donate the last $500 to get us to our goal. Here is a link to donate.
https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?px=5046746&pg=personal&fr_id=100579
I truly appreciate anything anyone is willing to donate to this great cause!
punch reply :
On 4/15/2019 at 11:42 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:Got my new Ultrex installed and new seals put in my hydraulic steering over the weekend. Just need to get one of my livewells to stop leaking and I should be good for the season.
I am still fundraising for the upcoming St. Jude Bass Classic if anyone is willing to donate to help a great cause. If I can get to $4500 of my $5000 goal I pledge to donate the last $500 to get us to our goal. Here is a link to donate.
https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?px=5046746&pg=personal&fr_id=100579
I truly appreciate anything anyone is willing to donate to this great cause!
Where's the pics?!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 4/16/2019 at 11:10 AM, punch said:Where's the pics?!
Need to snap a couple and I'll put the up.
Heading to Wabasha this Saturday for a boat shake down and some fishing. Not expecting much on the fishing side, but who knows. Will have a full report to follow.
JackKlassen reply :
Heading down to Okoboji in Iowa Friday/Saturday. They were ice out a few weeks ago so hoping to get on something. Crazy how much difference 3 hrs makes in terms of climate. Will report on how we do.
gimruis reply :
The Hennepin county water patrol declared ice out on Tonka today.
MN Fisher reply :
I knew Cooks Bay was clear, but I hadn't passed by the others today...yesterday there was still some black, honeycomb ice on the others but I knew it wouldn't be long before that was gone.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Crystal Bay was the only bay I saw with ice this morning. Its not solid but just a moving mass of chunks. Should be gone today I would think.
FryDog62 reply :
Was a Good Friday on the ‘Sip
OperationEagle reply :
Was out on tonka Saturday. North arm parking was darn near full. Maxwell bay dock was not in and was half full.
Saw at some ice on the edges of Crystal Bay but outside of that it’s all clear.
Beautiful day to break in a new boat and motor. See you all on the water...Opener can’t come soon enough!
punch reply :
On 4/22/2019 at 11:45 AM, OperationEagle said:Was out on tonka Saturday. North arm parking was darn near full. Maxwell bay dock was not in and was half full.
Saw at some ice on the edges of Crystal Bay but outside of that it’s all clear.
Beautiful day to break in a new boat and motor. See you all on the water...Opener can’t come soon enough!
New boat & motor!? pics!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Did a full boat shakedown on Saturday. Everything repaired, added, and fixed all seems to be in working order. All ready to hit Pool 4 next Saturday.
Still have ice on a few lakes up here in the Isanti/Cambridge area, but very close to being ice off. Less than a week I would guess.
Shout out to @rascalP for donating to my St. Jude Bass Classic fundraiser. I appreciate it, brother! Going to miss fishing against you in the Greenhorn this year.
JackKlassen reply :
Fished Okoboji in Iowa Friday/Saturday. Temps were 44ish on the main lake to 50ish in the backs of cuts and marinas depending on how long the sun had been shining. Chatterbaits, neds and wacky rigs accounted for all of our largemouth. Good numbers but nothing over 3lbs. I think the bigs hadn't quite moved up yet. A friend of ours down there said the largemouth got fired up in the later part of the day so we fished smallmouth in the mornings. Jerkbaits over rock flats produced some but nothing huge. Overall an awesome trip for April bass fishing. Would recommend going down if you can swing a day or two trip.
OperationEagle reply :
Any Ranger RT 178 or 188 owners. I have a like new bass boat technologies dash mount for a helix 9 or 10.
let me know if anyone is interested.
geneoh reply :
On 4/23/2019 at 11:24 AM, JackKlassen said:Fished Okoboji in Iowa Friday/Saturday. Temps were 44ish on the main lake to 50ish in the backs of cuts and marinas depending on how long the sun had been shining. Chatterbaits, neds and wacky rigs accounted for all of our largemouth. Good numbers but nothing over 3lbs. I think the bigs hadn't quite moved up yet. A friend of ours down there said the largemouth got fired up in the later part of the day so we fished smallmouth in the mornings. Jerkbaits over rock flats produced some but nothing huge. Overall an awesome trip for April bass fishing. Would recommend going down if you can swing a day or two trip.
I love going to Okoboji. It might be because it’s the start of a new year and I’m hyped or something.
I always try to get out there once a year.
punch reply :
On 4/23/2019 at 1:54 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Did a full boat shakedown on Saturday. Everything repaired, added, and fixed all seems to be in working order. All ready to hit Pool 4 next Saturday.
Still have ice on a few lakes up here in the Isanti/Cambridge area, but very close to being ice off. Less than a week I would guess.
Shout out to @rascalP for donating to my St. Jude Bass Classic fundraiser. I appreciate it, brother! Going to miss fishing against you in the Greenhorn this year.
Tossed a donation in, very cool of you to raise money. Hope you do well in the derby!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 4/25/2019 at 10:57 AM, punch said:Tossed a donation in, very cool of you to raise money. Hope you do well in the derby!
Thanks man! I really appreciate it. Got bad news last night for the tourney. They are postponing the tourney from next weekend until June 7th and 8th (Friday and Saturday). Interesting choice in the rescheduled dates, but I know they have to work around scheduling for quite a few event locations from the rules meeting, to weigh ins, and the banquet hall. Still looking forward to the tourney, kind of bummed we don't get to chase spawners and fat pre-spawners down there for the tourney
FryDog62 reply :
On 4/26/2019 at 5:12 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Thanks man! I really appreciate it. Got bad news last night for the tourney. They are postponing the tourney from next weekend until June 7th and 8th (Friday and Saturday). Interesting choice in the rescheduled dates, but I know they have to work around scheduling for quite a few event locations from the rules meeting, to weigh ins, and the banquet hall. Still looking forward to the tourney, kind of bummed we don't get to chase spawners and fat pre-spawners down there for the tourney
I threw in a couple $ as well, I’m in the Minnesota Fishing Challenge in early June or I’d try to fish St. Jude’s as well... great cause and good luck!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 4/26/2019 at 10:03 AM, FryDog62 said:I threw in a couple $ as well, I’m in the Minnesota Fishing Challenge in early June or I’d try to fish St. Jude’s as well... great cause and good luck!
Can't say thanks enough for your guys' generosity! I really appreciate it.
I don't have much experience in that area in June, but looking forward to the challenge!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Wanting so badly to get out and throw a jerkbait around this weekend, but no where to do it. ????
FryDog62 reply :
Bass of all kinds are biting in SoDak... must be the hat
punch reply :
That looks fun! What are they eating? Details sir.
FryDog62 reply :
On 4/27/2019 at 10:20 AM, punch said:That looks fun! What are they eating? Details sir.
Usually this time of year a jerk bait, but the ice only went out 5 days ago and temps were 46. Couldn’t get a sniff on jerkbaits so went to slow rolling a Colorado blade spinnerbait.
For the Whities, I threw a small
squarebill... man they get big on Waubay!
rascalP reply :
On 4/23/2019 at 1:54 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:I appreciate it, brother! Going to miss fishing against you in the Greenhorn this year.
My Pleasure. I'll miss you guys as well. I was hoping to fish 1 or 2 advanced wednesday derby's, but they were on the same night as the greenhorn.
On 4/27/2019 at 5:31 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Wanting so badly to get out and throw a jerkbait around this weekend, but no where to do it. ????
Threw a jerkbait quite a bit this past week. Trout fishing Whitewater area. Been doing that trip for 35 some years. No biggies but a couple buddies had best ever for numbers and got to show one buddy how deep in we go. Great water. Now it's boat time. Wisconsin opener May 4th.
On 4/27/2019 at 6:37 AM, FryDog62 said:Bass of all kinds are biting in SoDak... must be the hat
Nice to see you got out there, Fry. I need a year with early ice out so I can get out there before our trout trip. Horseshoe is one of the lakes on my list, as well as Reetz and Clear. Maybe next year.
FryDog62 reply :
On 4/27/2019 at 11:25 PM, rascalP said:My Pleasure. I'll miss you guys as well. I was hoping to fish 1 or 2 advanced wednesday derby's, but they were on the same night as the greenhorn.
Threw a jerkbait quite a bit this past week. Trout fishing Whitewater area. Been doing that trip for 35 some years. No biggies but a couple buddies had best ever for numbers and got to show one buddy how deep in we go. Great water. Now it's boat time. Wisconsin opener May 4th.
Nice to see you got out there, Fry. I need a year with early ice out so I can get out there before our trout trip. Horseshoe is one of the lakes on my list, as well as Reetz and Clear. Maybe next year.
It’s a bear every year trying to time the weather in the spring in SD. Wind is 90% of the issue. Coming back to the ramp Thurs afternoon to pull out, had 40 mph gusts and 3 foot whitecaps coming up my back while trying to get on the trailer...
OperationEagle reply :
What’s up w our long term forecast? After Saturday, 10 straight days of showers? Well at least it will be a steady weather pattern around opener.
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/1/2019 at 7:10 AM, OperationEagle said:What’s up w our long term forecast? After Saturday, 10 straight days of showers? Well at least it will be a steady weather pattern around opener.
...And the days start getting
shorter in 7 weeks..
!!
punch reply :
Anyone running over to Wisconsin next week?
gimruis reply :
I’m going to try my luck on tonka for the crappie contest on Saturday. Fletchers is gonna be a zoo if the forecast holds true at 70 and sunny.
MN Fisher reply :
I'm hoping to also get out for a bit on Saturday...but I'm avoiding 'Tonka like the plague.
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/1/2019 at 11:26 PM, punch said:Anyone running over to Wisconsin next week?
Not out of the question... any good Wisconsin bass lakes within an hour or so of the Twin Cities?
punch reply :
On 5/2/2019 at 8:26 AM, FryDog62 said:Not out of the question... any good Wisconsin bass lakes within an hour or so of the Twin Cities?
Within an hour? Not really.. a lot of people run to Balsam which is just over an hour. Some of the 'good' lakes are about 1:45-2 hours.
I'm gonna try and get over there twice next week before my new job starts.
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/2/2019 at 8:38 AM, punch said:Within an hour? Not really.. a lot of people run to Balsam which is just over an hour. Some of the 'good' lakes are about 1:45-2 hours.
I'm gonna try and get over there twice next week before my new job starts.
Good idea, get every day in you can...
My family had a cabin near Hayward for 27 years and I know the lakes over there... but not knowledgeable about anything closer than that.
If any lakes other than Balsam come to mind within 1 maybe 2 hours I’m open to suggestions or PM. Thx
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Bassmasters on Lake Fork with Live coverage. Zero work getting done today and tomorrow. ????
FryDog62 reply :
Thx rascaIP for recommending a Lake to me today on the “Sconny” side...
MN Fisher reply :
First chance I had to go out. Just popped down to a shore spot on Emerald Lake as I didn't have the time to launch/land the canoe. Didn't get skunked, but nothing but little ones. Mepps Comet #0 in Shad for the first hour, worms the second. 5 Pumpkinseeds, 6 Bluegill and 4 LMBs...nothing over 7"
BUT I DIDN'T GET SKUNKED!
First catch of the year.
gimruis reply :
I fished in the crappie contest yesterday. My old man and I boated 40-50 of them. Biggest was 11 inches. The lake and the access were a zoo. Amateur hour at the access trying to leave. Biggest crappie weighed at fletchers was 1.83 pounds, almost 17 inches. Where the heck do they catch those monster slabs out there?
rascalP reply :
On 5/1/2019 at 11:26 PM, punch said:Anyone running over to Wisconsin next week?
Went to Loveless by Centuria. Foggy start. My buddy got one right away on a crank, then I went through about 6 rods before getting a couple on a lipless crank. By 1:00 we had it kind of dialed in to slowly working, sometimes jigging, a lipless crank and twitching a Pink x-rap (a personal fav). By 4:30 we had 15 - 20 fish, including 1/2 dozen very respectable northerns. We decided to fish one last section we hadn't hit yet, and my buddy went on a tear with the lipless crank. For the next 45 minutes, he boated maybe 15 fish, all 15-17" with another going 18". I got a few and got cut off twice, but I just enjoyed watching him go to town. We finally moved on, and got a few more on the jerkbait, but that 50 yard stretch was a mother lode.
Even though we didn't get any donkey's, the size range was real nice, almost all 14 - 17". Water temp started at 50 and made it up to 57 by late afternoon. I thought the fish would be shallow, but all were deeper than 6 or 7 fow and except for the last flurry they were 8 - 12 fow. Color didn't seem to matter at first. I was using red/black. Max was using silver/black. For his run, I think he had the right bait AND the groove going. Fun day no doubt.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got out to Pool 4 Saturday and had a good day with my Uncle. Caught probably 15 or so smallies on jerk baits, 10 or so Largies on Squarebills and a couple on a Tokyo rig flippin' tight to flooded trees. Also had somewhere around 15 toothy slimers mixed in. Great day overall. beautiful weather all day. Water was anywhere between 52-55 degrees. Bass aren't quite into the back backwaters, but they are heading that direction. A number of our catches were on key stopping points on their way back.
Best of the trip - 3.5lbs. Caught 3 this size all off the same spot.
Looking forward to getting out to Tonka on Saturday for opener and a family fish fry. Such a fun family tradition.
punch reply :
Nice job Clay!
I ran over to Wood Lake in WI for the day today. I hit a few rocky points and tossed a paddle tail swimbait and BAM.. got a bite right away. Then the rest of the day I couldn't get a single bite on moving bait. Weird huh?
I got a little frustrated and pulled into a bay with a bank that had some tree shadows and dead reeds. The wind was blowing into this bank so I pulled out the jig and worked it slow through the reeds. I got a ton of bites so I ran that pattern the rest of the day around the lake and got a lot of action. It was a jig kinda day.. the females seemed to be holding onto the hard bottom of the dead reeds. Still pre-spawn. Water temps was like 56ish.
I worked 2 jigs, a custom 1/2oz green pumpkin with a biospawn vile bug trailer and a 3/8oz outkast Stealth Fider jig with a rage menace trailer. Of course the 1/2oz got my two 3lbers with the bigger profile but the 3/8th got the most number of bites.
I tossed the 3/8oz on a St Croix Legend X 7'1MH with 15lb fluoro. That rod is simply incredible. I can feel every little twig that the jig comes across. It's like having underwater sonar... even with fluoro.
I tossed the 1/2oz on a megabass destroyer FMJ 7'1 heavy with straight 40lb braid, no leader.
I really like jig days.
Not_Here reply :
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Dubtee reply :
On 5/8/2019 at 10:42 AM, punch said:Nice job Clay!
I ran over to Wood Lake in WI for the day today. I hit a few rocky points and tossed a paddle tail swimbait and BAM.. got a bite right away. Then the rest of the day I couldn't get a single bite on moving bait. Weird huh?
I got a little frustrated and pulled into a bay with a bank that had some tree shadows and dead reeds. The wind was blowing into this bank so I pulled out the jig and worked it slow through the reeds. I got a ton of bites so I ran that pattern the rest of the day around the lake and got a lot of action. It was a jig kinda day.. the females seemed to be holding onto the hard bottom of the dead reeds. Still pre-spawn. Water temps was like 56ish.
I worked 2 jigs, a custom 1/2oz green pumpkin with a biospawn vile bug trailer and a 3/8oz outkast Stealth Fider jig with a rage menace trailer. Of course the 1/2oz got my two 3lbers with the bigger profile but the 3/8th got the most number of bites.
I tossed the 3/8oz on a St Croix Legend X 7'1MH with 15lb fluoro. That rod is simply incredible. I can feel every little twig that the jig comes across. It's like having underwater sonar... even with fluoro.
I tossed the 1/2oz on a megabass destroyer FMJ 7'1 heavy with straight 40lb braid, no leader.
I really like jig days.
Hard to beat a good jig day, nice work. IS IT SATURDAY YET?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time.
JackKlassen reply :
On 5/10/2019 at 12:36 AM, SmallBlockMuscle said:Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time.
Fish around here normally flood the bank when water gets into the 50s. A chatterbait is my go to searchbait and a jig is hard to beat if you know where they're holding. Look for back bays and pockets where the bottom is soft and can soak up the sun, water is usually warmer there. By far the best time of the year to slay fish on moving baits.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Nice work @punch and @Frog Turds!
Turds, your aren't joking, i must have no idea what I am doing then in those backwaters. Might be the really high water throwing me off. I couldn't get a dang bite in the backs, but started getting bit the closer i got to main river. Might just be the specific backwater I was focused on too? Who knows.
punch reply :
On 5/10/2019 at 2:57 AM, JackKlassen said:Fish around here normally flood the bank when water gets into the 50s. A chatterbait is my go to searchbait and a jig is hard to beat if you know where they're holding. Look for back bays and pockets where the bottom is soft and can soak up the sun, water is usually warmer there. By far the best time of the year to slay fish on moving baits.
When I went out fishing Tuesday (in eastern WI) the fish wouldn't touch a moving bait and were hanging out on hard bottom area's with dead vegetation. Totally opposite of what you just said haha. The bucks don't seem to have pulled up and started making beds yet, the waters still in the mid 50's. I found the fatty females up shallow but they seemed to be grouping up in hard bottom spots. Don't be afraid to fish slow and drag a jig/texas rig around this weekend.
On 5/10/2019 at 12:36 AM, SmallBlockMuscle said:Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time.
When it gets to 59 degrees start hunting for beds. Until then.. good luck! haha
FryDog62 reply :
“When it gets to 59 degrees start hunting for beds. Until then.. good luck! haha“
Probably pretty close... usually the first full moon after mid-50’s water temp is when the spawn really kicks in. This year that would be May 18...
Not_Here reply :
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rascalP reply :
On 5/10/2019 at 12:36 AM, SmallBlockMuscle said:Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time.
Sluggo. aka - fluke, jerk shad, soft stickbait - fished weightless. That said, it didn't even get a sniff last week in wisconsin, but I know a couple lakes it will work on next week. Always on a rod in May.
Not_Here reply :
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SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Thanks for the replies. I will work in the advice, hoping the wind isnt too bad.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Beautiful smallie @Frog Turds. Thanks for the info too. That cane/reed stuff is all over in the area we were at, but like you said, we drove right past it to another place we had done very well at in previous years. They could have been sitting right there. Certainly will pay more attention to that stuff in the future.
Is it Saturday yet!!!!
OperationEagle reply :
My clock say 12:09. Season starts boys. See you on the water. Stay safe.
FryDog62 reply :
Jerkbaits working today - 3 species liked it
bwjay reply :
Had a chance to fish a family friend's bay on Minnetonka today. It was pretty slow all day, couldn't get a reaction bite so I switched over to a brown/purple football jig (Papa Mur) with a Bandito Bug trailer (natural color). Pitched it over to the neighbor's dock and on the second cast, lifting the rod felt heavier than normal, so I flicked the wrist and started feeling a fish fighting back. The drag was reeling and I thought I had it set too loose, but nope, it just turned out to be a bigger fish than I was expecting!! I got this girl close to the surface and gasped. I'd never caught a largemouth before so this was not only a new experience but a great one. I just remember telling myself to keep pressure on my line as she jumped a few times so she wouldn't come off, while I waited for my fishing partner to come over and take a picture. Little did I know, there was no way this fish was coming off on its own. Look how she ate that jig.
Came out to 20 inches, and I estimate between 3 and 4 pounds. Not only did she break the skunk streak but she was a beautiful fish.
Couldn't get another bite on the jig so I switched to a white/chartreuse spinnerbait and managed a small, maybe 1lb largie. Kept throwing the spinnerbait and couldn't get another bite. I switched to a red squarebill and kept snagging weeds - it was pretty shallow in this bay. What got me though was that as I was reeling in this big strand of weeds, I pulled the bait out of the water and saw a big pike, maybe 30 inches, in about 2 feet of water near shore. I got the weeds off and tried to cast out in front of it, but got more weeds. I put a spinnerbait back on but couldn't manage to entice the pike. I was bummed but that big largie from earlier had me satisfied.
Even though things were slow I had a good time. How did everyone else do?
MN Fisher reply :
On 5/12/2019 at 7:16 AM, bwjay said:Even though things were slow I had a good time. How did everyone else do?
Nice fish...was that Phelps Bay by any chance?
Due to scheduling with the wife, I won't get out until Wednesday...hopefully they're biting then.
bwjay reply :
On 5/12/2019 at 7:31 AM, MN Fisher said:Nice fish...was that Phelps Bay by any chance?
Due to scheduling with the wife, I won't get out until Wednesday...hopefully they're biting then.
No clue where it actually is on the lake. It was a pretty small bay so I doubt it has its own name... but I'll be going back tomorrow with another friend, rain or shine. Hoping to have a few more photos to share!
geneoh reply :
Had a fun opener. My bud and I caught probably 30 total all on reaction baits. Swim jig, chatterbait, squarebill, s-waver. Up shallow to start, then we moved to clumps of weeds at 8-12 fow. They were scattered as the day went on. The bank bite stopped and just picked of randoms in the weeds. They were active for us, wt 55. Best 5 was 17lbs.
MN Fisher reply :
On 5/12/2019 at 7:34 AM, bwjay said:No clue where it actually is on the lake. It was a pretty small bay so I doubt it has its own name... but I'll be going back tomorrow with another friend, rain or shine. Hoping to have a few more photos to share!
Quick questions. Does the bay run east-west, were there islands on the east side and a bridge over a channel on the west?
FryDog62 reply :
Wasn’t expecting walleyes on jerkbaits, but yeah..
bwjay reply :
On 5/12/2019 at 8:45 AM, FryDog62 said:Wasn’t expecting walleyes on jerkbaits, but yeah..
Holy crap Fry!!! Save any for dinner? What a beauty...
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/12/2019 at 9:07 AM, bwjay said:Holy crap Fry!!! Save any for dinner? What a beauty...
Tastes like Chicken
OperationEagle reply :
Slow start but found them where there were weeds instead of open shallow shoreline.
A few on senkos but most came on faster moving baits. Mainly squarebill for me.
Largest was 20”. She was fat. 5.65lbs. Turned out to be a great day on the water.
Plenty of pike but didn’t lose any baits which is good.
FryDog62 reply :
Mother’s Day, my wife’s birthday and fishing opener all fall on the same weekend - what better gift?
MN Fisher reply :
On 5/13/2019 at 11:02 AM, FryDog62 said:Mother’s Day, my wife’s birthday and fishing opener all fall on the same weekend - what better gift?
You gonna wear it next time we have a meet-up? (snicker)
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Started out with jerk baits and got a few between 1.5-2.5. Switched to a red/white lipless and a green square bill and slammed them from about 8am-2:30pm. I was expecting a slow day and slow presentations and they were smackin the square bill extremely hard. Ended up with 20 with 4 being 4-5#. Couldn't get a bite on a senko which I figured I would need to work most of the day. Most of the catches were 1-4 fow with a few being out closer to 7-8 fow. We only had a few northern so I actually didnt lose any lures to them which is a nice change!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Went out to Tonka on Saturday and between my Uncle, Bro-in-Law, and I we caught around 50 largies, Two biggest below. We were hoping for a few pike for a fish fry, but didn't get a single one. The pattern turned out to be 4'-6' flats with vegetation. One flat was most productive with both big girls on that one flat, but bounced around following the depth shading on the Humminbird and picked off a few here and there on similar looking flats. Got bit on squarebills and 5" swimbaits, but a 3/8oz HNNNG Tackle Co. "CEO" bladed jig in Bright Gill pattern was the ticket. Paired it with a 4" SK Rage Menace trailer in Bluegill color. Bladed jig accounted for at least 70% for the fish. Great day over all.
4lbs 6oz
4lbs 9oz
Dubtee reply :
Nice report fellas. Pretty much the same for me on the opener, went to small west side metro lake. Water was colder than I expected, warmest I found was 53. Wasn't a numbers day, but most all I caught were good ones. Best 5 went 20 lbs on the nose. 6-8 FOW, weed flats, lipless crank and chatter did the damage.
I did get out yesterday as well and could not get bit in that 6-8 fow zone. I started seeing 60-63 degree water in the very back bays where some scattered lilys are starting to grow. Once I moved shallow, I started catching them on the chatter, but mostly males. I'd have to think those females are going to be right behind them here soon.
Dubtee reply :
I ended up getting out yesterday afternoon as well and destroyed them. Caught some real good females in very shallow water (warmest I found was 65). Biggest female was 4.85.
Main lake was like 55 and I happened to stop at a point leading into a large bay and caught so many 1.5-2 lb males it wasn't even funny. Actually got tired of catching them, there must of been a giant group of them down there. Shallow fish were caught on a 3/8 chatter (but I think they would of ate anything), point fish were caught on a red eye shad and jerk bait in 6-10 fow, scattered grass.
sully420 reply :
So I was out today at Lake Calhoun installing Beach ropes at the beaches and as any good fisherman I spent a good amount of time looking for fish. I saw a lot of thick females on inside weed edges sitting around beds looking for males. But I didn't actually see any males on beds yet. It look like try dogs May 18th spawning prediction it's going to be correct. Looks like there may be an opportunity to catch some big females if you can Brave the rainy weather this weekend.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Nice reports guys. With the full moon this weekend Saturday and Sunday should be a jack fest if you don't mind the wind and the rain. Good luck finding those bigguns, guys.
MN Fisher reply :
Well, first bass trip out on Phelps Bay and I didn't get skunked. But nothing really of note.
2-9", 1-10" and 1-11" along with a mess of panfish. Next scheduled trip out is the 26th...maybe try Dutch then
First bass of the year - 10" dink
gimruis reply :
The quantity of fish caught by you guys since opener is pretty ridiculous. I hadn't checked this thread for a week and there's like 10 new posts of some great trips and catches. Insane. It highlights what a great resource of bass we have here. And the best part is that I know all of them were released fully alive too. Well done, keep up the good work.
MN Fisher reply :
On 5/16/2019 at 7:38 AM, gimruis said:And the best part is that I know all of them were released fully alive too.
Well, keeper season doesn't start until the 25th. Hopefully my outing on the 26th has some keeping size. 
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 5/16/2019 at 7:38 AM, gimruis said:T It highlights what a great resource of bass we have here.
I couldn't agree more. I would love to have a shot at 8+ pounders on the regular like in TX or FL, but dang it, having so many different lakes here in just the Metro area is spoiling.
gimruis reply :
On 5/17/2019 at 3:01 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:I couldn't agree more. I would love to have a shot at 8+ pounders on the regular like in TX or FL, but dang it, having so many different lakes here in just the Metro area is spoiling.
And just think, there are literally hundreds of smaller lakes in the northern half of the state that go virtually untouched by bass anglers all season. Tlauz can verify this, I think he's from the Bemidji area.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 5/17/2019 at 3:21 AM, gimruis said:And just think, there are literally hundreds of smaller lakes in the northern half of the state that go virtually untouched by bass anglers all season. Tlauz can verify this, I think he's from the Bemidji area.
Oh man I hear you! There was a small lake my grandma had a cabin on north of Park Rapids that we fished as a kid. I caught my first 5lb bass there when I had no clue what I was doing. Can't imagine the pigs that could have been caught out of that lake with half the fish knowledge I have now.
Tlauz reply :
I got out for 3 hours on Sunday of the opening weekend after opening up the camper. Cold and windy. Water temps were 49-51. Caught 3 smaller largemouths shallow in reeds on a swim jig. Then went out to where I find smallmouth in the summer and fished the dropoff next to it. Caught 4 smallmouths. Largest went 4 lbs. I saw 2 other boats and both were walleye fishing. It is nice fishing in the Bemidji area for bass. Most places do not receive much pressure. My only complaint is that there are very few lakes (2 really) that have fishable smallmouth populations within 45 miles. I enjoy fishing smaller lakes and have always enjoyed the lack of company. I probably should fish more lakes in the area, but it is hard to do when I can tie up to a dock at night and get up and go in the morning
. 
JackKlassen reply :
Busted the magdraft out on Tonka today. Water has hit 60 and I'm starting to see fish on beds. Even saw two getting it on today. Been trying to get out after school as much as I can.
punch reply :
I'm jealous! I was hoping to get out this weekend but the weather's looking pretty bad.
OperationEagle reply :
Got numbers not size on the north side of tonka today. Lost count after 25. 80% were 15-17 inches. Couldn’t find the females.
All were up pretty shallow anywhere from 2-4 fow.
A few on a weighted brushhog but majority hit a shallow crankbait.
Beautiful day today ahead of the monsoon that’s coming our way. If you are headed out be careful out there.
Tight lines boys.
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/18/2019 at 8:52 AM, OperationEagle said:Got numbers not size on the north side of tonka today. Lost count after 25. 80% were 15-17 inches. Couldn’t find the females.
All were up pretty shallow anywhere from 2-4 fow.
A few on a weighted brushhog but majority hit a shallow crankbait.
Beautiful day today ahead of the monsoon that’s coming our way. If you are headed out be careful out there.
Tight lines boys.
I was out Friday as well and caught a season’s worth of buck bass that topped out at 16”. Could find a few of the big girls a week ago in mid-depths but they are tough to find now..
punch reply :
Are you metro guys seeing spawning action yet up shallow?
sully420 reply :
On 5/17/2019 at 11:30 AM, punch said:I'm jealous! I was hoping to get out this weekend but the weather's looking pretty bad.
Yeah I was working on Calhoun last Thursday and females were on beds with bucks all over the lake.
gimruis reply :
The water temp was still in the 40’s on Tonka on opener. I doubt it came up 15 degrees in one week even with a couple of warm days.
MN Fisher reply :
On 5/19/2019 at 8:35 AM, gimruis said:The water temp was still in the 40’s on Tonka on opener. I doubt it came up 15 degrees in one week even with a couple of warm days.
It hasn't...I got a 'refrigerator thermometer' on a line with a weight so I can measure temps at depth. Wednesday, the surface got to 50...but a foot down it was at 45. Now we got a cold front so I think the temps will still be low for a while.
JackKlassen reply :
On 5/19/2019 at 8:35 AM, gimruis said:The water temp was still in the 40’s on Tonka on opener. I doubt it came up 15 degrees in one week even with a couple of warm days.
I marked 60 on Thursday when it was 80 out. Fish on beds + spawning makes me believe it.
Dubtee reply :
I had a couple hours to kill on Saturday so I went out from about 2-4 pm and braved the wind. Water on the little lake was back down to 58-60. I caught a few decent ones shallow including my Minnesota PB, the good ones were on the reed line somewhat protected from the wind, but almost in it if that makes sense - like right on the seam. Once I got out in 6-8 fow in the teeth of the wind, the only thing I could effectively cast was a red eye shad. I did pick up a few bucks out there on it. The leeward side of the lake was calm and clear and I did see fish on beds - nothing giant. I could not get them to bite anything but I didn't spend much time on them either.
I'd be really interested to know what the water temps are back down to after Sunday's cold monsoon.
FishingMN reply :
I have a question for everyone....
When surface water temps hit around 65 to 68, in the past, I will see plenty of bass up shallow in 1 to 4 fow. They may or may not be on beds. Most will look like they are just cruising. I might see 30 bass in a day, and cast for hours, so I am sure my bait passed double that number.. but with no bites. Maybe 1 or 2 max.. and those are real little ones. Are they just thinking about spawning so much that they won't bite? Is there anyway to coax them in to biting? What method would be best? Or is this the normal, impossible behavior at this water temp?
gimruis reply :
The science book says largies spawn when the water temp is 55-65 degrees. Not all portions of the lake warm up uniformly, especially if it’s a bigger lake.
My experience targeting bedded bass is limited. I think the idea is to get them to bite because they are defense mode, not because they’re hungry. I never give it much time. A few casts and then move along Betty...
Maybe someone else will chime in about it that has more experience with bedded fish.
Tlauz reply :
Fished today 12:00 - 4:30. Water temps were 53-58. Had a frost advisory this morning. Caught 5 bass, 1 pike. First pike of the year. I REALLY struggled. Hit everywhere I could think of. Used jerk bait, crankbait, spinnerbait, swim jig, swimbait, wacky worm. Caught #5.2 on wacky worm, and a #3.7 smallmouth on swimbait. At the end of the day saw a few smallmouth where I usually see them when they spawn, but they are not there yet in numbers.
FishingMN reply :
On 5/21/2019 at 9:25 AM, gimruis said:The science book says largies spawn when the water temp is 55-65 degrees. Not all portions of the lake warm up uniformly, especially if it’s a bigger lake.
My experience targeting bedded bass is limited. I think the idea is to get them to bite because they are defense mode, not because they’re hungry. I never give it much time. A few casts and then move along Betty...
Maybe someone else will chime in about it that has more experience with bedded fish.
Thanks. But what's curious to me is these bass aren't really pinned to a bed. They seem to be roaming in the general area of where beds are, but not on a bed.
Dubtee reply :
On 5/22/2019 at 1:38 AM, FishingMN said:Thanks. But what's curious to me is these bass aren't really pinned to a bed. They seem to be roaming in the general area of where beds are, but not on a bed.
I refer to these bass as cruisers, whether they are looking for a spot to make a bed, get on a bed, etc. doesn't matter to me. I feel like I can catch them as long as they don't see me or I spook them first. Depending on the conditions, I try to cast way ahead of me in the high percentage spots and hope I land it near one. I also think some of those cruisers are looking for the first bluegill spawners as well. Even if I can't get the super shallow fish to bite, I feel there are always good fish on that first piece of cover away from the spawning areas or that first line of grass - whether they are coming or going, not sure, but I believe I can entice them into biting.
I'm with Gim and don't spend much time on a bedded fish, too slow for me.
JackKlassen reply :
On 5/22/2019 at 3:22 AM, Dubtee said:I refer to these bass as cruisers, whether they are looking for a spot to make a bed, get on a bed, etc. doesn't matter to me. I feel like I can catch them as long as they don't see me or I spook them first. Depending on the conditions, I try to cast way ahead of me in the high percentage spots and hope I land it near one. I also think some of those cruisers are looking for the first bluegill spawners as well. Even if I can't get the super shallow fish to bite, I feel there are always good fish on that first piece of cover away from the spawning areas or that first line of grass - whether they are coming or going, not sure, but I believe I can entice them into biting.
I'm with Gim and don't spend much time on a bedded fish, too slow for me.
in my experience, a 4 inch wacky senko is the best way to catch these shallow fish. Like he said, make sure you don't spook them.
sully420 reply :
@FishingMN
Ok so here's my thoughts on this time of year. I totally ignore cruising bass and bass on beds, in not intrested is catching buck bass or wasting time on bedding fish. I believe its better to look for lost spawn females or late spawners.
What I do is look for shallow cover like reeds, cattails, pads, laydowns right on the bank, I think big females will get into the cover before and after spawning and bite pretty good. I generally target these fish with a jig, chatterbait and a Keitech swing impact fat the bigger the better imo. You wanna get the bait into the cover as much as you can and cover water, with this pattern you wanna be right on the bank.
The next place I look is weed beds in 5' to10' of water depending on water clarity. You want to look for edges or areas where the weed beds are clumped and have clean space between, lily pads are also very good if they have at least 3' of water underneath. I fish these areas with the same baits, it is also important to always have a hollow body frog at the ready and seed if they will eat it. I've caught some of the biggest bass of my like fishing a frog this time of year, you fish it in the same areas I talked about.
I generally fish this pattern until late June, the higher the water level or dirtier the water the longer this pattern will last. After this pattern slows I'll start targeting deeper mats, main lake points and hard bottom locations.
Hope this helps
Sully
OperationEagle reply :
Was out north of the metro. Caught about a dozen. All on a rat-l-trap. 3-5 fow.
Nothing of size. Tough bite today. I wonder if the rain cooled things down and pushed them close to cover.
Water temp was 53.
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/26/2019 at 6:13 AM, OperationEagle said:Was out north of the metro. Caught about a dozen. All on a rat-l-trap. 3-5 fow.
Nothing of size. Tough bite today. I wonder if the rain cooled things down and pushed them close to cover.
Water temp was 53.
Water temps def went backwards... got to SoDak last night and it was 49. Today 51. Bite went backwards too, but Chatterbaits work for besides bass..
MN Fisher reply :
On 5/26/2019 at 7:42 AM, FryDog62 said:Water temps def went backwards... got to SoDak last night and it was 49. Today 51. Bite went backwards too, but Chatterbaits work for besides bass..
That one going home to the freezer?
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/26/2019 at 7:50 AM, MN Fisher said:That one going home to the freezer?
This one a tad too big, luckily a couple other smaller ones will make the cooler on the way home ????
bwjay reply :
Spent some time fishing a friend's bay on Minnetonka again and was excited when I got there and saw probably 50 little sunnies and small bass just stacked up in the 2ft shallows, soaking up the sun. I did my best to be quiet on the dock.
I got a new reel the other day and have been struggling with backlashes recently, but got better, and wanted to give it a proper run through for a long day today, so I threw a River2Sea Bling spinner (White/Chartreuse) on that guy, and decided to try my hand at a Texas rigged creaturebait, namely the Googan Bandito Bug (in Alabama Craw and Natural) on my other rod.
By the time I started fishing it was probably close to noon I'm guessing. Sun high and bright! Visibility in the water was decent for sure. I chucked the spinnerbait and landed probably a 1lb largemouth. I have been fishing little ponds for the past week and a half and caught absolutely nothing so this was a good feeling. I kept throwing the Bling out there and saw a pontoon boat pull up near the entrance to the bay, probably 100-200yds out. Some guys were fishing. I was hoping they wouldn't spoil it for me. Well, I suppose they didn't, because within my next couple casts I hooked into something good, and pulled out what I am guessing was about a 2 pounder. I was pretty stoked and probably did a few fist pumps.
Didn't catch another on the spinnerbait within 20-30 mins, so I switched over to the good ol' Bandito Bug and gave it a shot with a 1/4oz tungsten bullet weight, not pegged. I learned to hop the little thing through weeds and got a couple curious dinks with it. The biggest I managed with it was probably 1lb. I saw some bigger ones swimming around but I just could not get them to bite. I saw a few watch it as I hopped it along, but none took a shot at it. I walked it practically across their nose a few times, and nothing. They weren't on beds, they were just cruising around the bay, among the sunnies, among the smaller largemouth occasionally. I saw maybe 3 or 4 decent 1.5-2lb'ers swimming around but again I just couldn't entice them.
Threw a red/green watermelon 5" Senko towards the end of my session and caught 3 dinks on it within 15 minutes. I thought DANG! Is that what y'all wanted this whole time!? So I kept throwing it for 20 more minutes and could not get anything other than very hungry sunnies to go for it. I packed up around 4:30pm with very sunburned feet (wearing sandals) but otherwise in a great mood. I was gonna go fishing tomorrow (Memorial Day) but the weather looks rainy and windy - no thanks! Glad I got it done today.
Oh, and I'm going to the Boundary Waters on Fri night/Sat morning for 8 days to hopefully catch a ton of bass and eat a ton of walleye, and possibly hook into a donkey of a lake trout around 40 inches (Lac La Croix). We will see. They are in there! I will share a few photos when I'm back. Go get 'em guys!
MN Fisher reply :
(sighs) Went to Dutch - and it was already full...4 supposed parking slots for trailers and there were 6 there. So toddled up to Little Long and went out.
Tried everything, Spinner, Chatter, Buzz, variety of cranks and jerks, T-Rigs, Wacky, drop-shot
NOTHING - I got skunked big time.
Next trip? Dunno when - it's up in the air right now.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Went out Saturday from 6am to noon. I caught a couple right away on a square bill in the 2 pound range and then that bite stopped. Switched to a chatterbait and worked that mainly the rest of the day and caught 8 on it with the largest being 3.33#. I was working it like a jig and not a constant retrieve. My buddy used a t rig bandito bug and caught 8 mainly in the 2.5# range. The bites were pretty lazy compared to a couple weeks ago. Everything was caught in 1-4 feet, water temps started at 56 and rose to 60 by noon in the shallows.
punch reply :
Me and my pops went to Mille Lacs on Sunday and had a good time. I got my new PB Smallmouth at 6.04lbs on a TRD and a Outkast "Perfect ned head". We got pretty consistent bites on the east side reef's on Ned rigs & keitechs. You had to fish VERY slowly on the bottom.
FryDog62 reply :
On 5/29/2019 at 10:05 PM, punch said:Me and my pops went to Mille Lacs on Sunday and had a good time. I got my new PB Smallmouth at 6.04lbs on a TRD and a Outkast "Perfect ned head". We got pretty consistent bites on the east side reef's on Ned rigs & keitechs. You had to fish VERY slowly on the bottom.
Nice PB!! What were water temps?
punch reply :
On 5/29/2019 at 10:59 PM, FryDog62 said:Nice PB!! What were water temps?
Low 50's
gimruis reply :
Good report punch I intend to head out there soon.
FryDog62 reply :
Anyone know where the largemouth spawn cycle is at right now in Northern Minn (Brainerd area) pre, during, post-spawn..?
punch reply :
Has anyone fished Little Sand up by Park Rapids/Nevis? Hitting it Friday. Heard big brown bass lurk there.
gimruis reply :
I went to Mille Lacs on Thursday with my Father. We boated 11 pre-spawn brownies, including 5 over 17 inches. I caught my new PB for that lake too, a 21 incher. I saw quite a few beds but very few fish on or around them. Water temp was about 60 degrees. I think the spawn cycle will occur very soon. I even saw two large muskies in a synchronized spawn that swam almost right under the boat in 5 feet of water. The female was absolutely enormous. We caught all of the bass on 2 lures: a perch colored jerk bait and a small green senko fished very slow on the bottom.
Tlauz reply :
Fished Saturday and Sunday on a small shallow lake connected to larger deeper one north of Bemidji. Saturday was windy. Tried the big lake first and struggled to find fish. Finally found a patch of emerging reeds and caught 6 small largemouths on a jig. Tried to run the same pattern elsewhere with no luck. The larger lake has smallmouth. Didn't catch any. Went back to the small lake and threw spinnerbaits in shallow reeds and in emergent weeds. Caught between 10-15 largemouth. Went to the bigger lake to start today and it was sunny and calm. The smallmouth were on beds. Had a great couple of hours. Caught 10 smallmouths in 2 hours, biggest was 20 inches. Tried jig, weighted and weightless wacky worm, tube, and swimbait. Caught every fish on weightless worm. The wind picked up and bite stopped. Water temps were 63 degrees.
FryDog62 reply :
On 6/3/2019 at 10:24 AM, Tlauz said:
Fished Saturday and Sunday on a small shallow lake connected to larger deeper one north of Bemidji. Saturday was windy. Tried the big lake first and struggled to find fish. Finally found a patch of emerging reeds and caught 6 small largemouths on a jig. Tried to run the same pattern elsewhere with no luck. The larger lake has smallmouth. Didn't catch any. Went back to the small lake and threw spinnerbaits in shallow reeds and in emergent weeds. Caught between 10-15 largemouth. Went to the bigger lake to start today and it was sunny and calm. The smallmouth were on beds. Had a great couple of hours. Caught 10 smallmouths in 2 hours, biggest was 20 inches. Tried jig, weighted and weightless wacky worm, tube, and swimbait. Caught every fish on weightless worm. The wind picked up and bite stopped. Water temps were 63 degrees.
A 20 inch Smallmouth is good anywhere... especially a girthy one like that. Nice hat by the way..!
wisconsin heat reply :
Haven't been able to make it out too much recently, but managed a couple hours this weekend. First fish with the new hat! Glad to be repping BR thanks @FryDog62
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Had quite the oops on Saturday Morning and to top it off we didn't get bit on the lake I did this on:
Ended up picking up and going to another lake real close to the first and then proceeded to catch approx. 50 largies, biggest being 3.5lbs. Fun end to the day after a tough start.
Dropped the boat at Frankies this morning. They're hoping for a 3 week turn around. Everywhere else I talked to couldn't even look at it until July. preparing myself for the damage estimate, but thank God for insurance. Honestly just hoping for a completely new lower unit and prop. The prop shaft is bent for sure. Not sure what else inside might be broken. Would give me some more piece of mind compared to a rebuilt case. We'll see....
OperationEagle reply :
@ThatOneBigKid
ouch. Hope you get back on the water sooner than 3 weeks. Interested to hear what they find etc.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 6/5/2019 at 5:15 AM, OperationEagle said:@ThatOneBigKid
ouch. Hope you get back on the water sooner than 3 weeks. Interested to hear what they find etc.
I'll certainly update and provide a review of the experience working with Frankies as well as making a boat insurance claim through Allstate as this is my first one with them (in terms of boat insurance).Allstate has been fantastic to me in the past with Auto related claims(wife was involved in a significant accident in November) so I am hopeful they'll be good to me on this one as well.
gimruis reply :
What did you hit? A boulder?
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 6/5/2019 at 9:15 AM, gimruis said:What did you hit? A boulder?
Yea I am guessing a large rock(s). Couldn't see it in the water afterwards. Hit it just as I was trying jump up on plane.
J Francho reply :
Mark Croxton can probably fix the prop to better than new. Then you'd have a back up. I'd be wishing for a new LU as well. Good luck getting her back!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 6/6/2019 at 2:26 AM, J Francho said:Mark Croxton can probably fix the prop to better than new. Then you'd have a back up. I'd be wishing for a new LU as well. Good luck getting her back!
I have wanted to send my prop to Mark for a couple years now, but this is now the perfect excuse. Have also been wanting a 4 blade too, so I might start looking at those too. Talked to PropMD about one so I'll probably work through them.
First derby of the year tonight on N/S Center for the Greenhorn Advanced league. Should be a good time. It is nice as hell out side right now.
Dubtee reply :
Dang Kid, that's tough, hoping your fix is easy and works out.
Quick report: I went to Waconia this morning with an old friend who was in town on business. Had to cater to his limited abilities a little but definitely the first day for me that the bite seemed tougher. There are bluegills and crappie everywhere in the shallows and inside weedlines - the bass we caught were all dinks. Bluebird, post front with not a lot of wind out there, so I'm sure that didn't help. Also, tons of giant carp in the shallows spawning and carrying on dirtying up all the water in areas. i don't tend to find many bass around them when they are doing that, curious of other's experience? I would have just flipped the grassline if I was by myself, not sure if that would have been more productive or not.
OperationEagle reply :
Anybody been out? Looking to figure out what the bass will be doing this weekend.
With this instant summer/dramatic rise in water temps will they be tight to cover?
MN Fisher reply :
I was out Wednesday for several hours. Couldn't find any of decent size either in cover or deeper. When I was launching, I talked to someone who'd just come back in...he hadn't found any either.
This was on Minnetonka; Phelps, Cook and Spring Park bays.
FryDog62 reply :
On 6/5/2019 at 1:53 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Had quite the oops on Saturday Morning and to top it off we didn't get bit on the lake I did this on:
Ended up picking up and going to another lake real close to the first and then proceeded to catch approx. 50 largies, biggest being 3.5lbs. Fun end to the day after a tough start.
Dropped the boat at Frankies this morning. They're hoping for a 3 week turn around. Everywhere else I talked to couldn't even look at it until July. preparing myself for the damage estimate, but thank God for insurance. Honestly just hoping for a completely new lower unit and prop. The prop shaft is bent for sure. Not sure what else inside might be broken. Would give me some more piece of mind compared to a rebuilt case. We'll see....
My gas motor is fine but trolling motor blown up. Obliterated on the inside - snapped cable, entire assembly needs replacement. Not as expensive as BigKid’s, but has put me on the DL for 2 weeks. I miss fishing!
BassThumb reply :
Been an odd season thus far. Warmed up super quick over the last week. I haven't been LMB fishing a whole lot so I'm not dialed into the spawn at all.
Almost all my good trips have been to Mille Lacs. The SMB bite is hit and miss, but the size is there. Jerkbaits and turds in under 10 FOW, sometimes as shallow as 2. A couple nice ones have been caught midday scooting heavy tubes around in 17-20 off the breaks.
More than half the time on ML I'm fishing walleyes on artificials. 1/4 - 3/8oz VMC Mooneyes with 4" Keitech swimbaits glued on or 1/4oz turds. 12-17 FOW. First break rocks, north and west end. Gigantic mayfly hatch occurred on Tues/Weds and screwed it all up on the northwest end. The fish will be pounding mayfly nymphs instead of our baits for a few days.
OperationEagle reply :
On 6/7/2019 at 11:17 AM, FryDog62 said:My gas motor is fine but trolling motor blown up. Obliterated on the inside - snapped cable, entire assembly needs replacement. Not as expensive as BigKid’s, but has put me on the DL for 2 weeks. I miss fishing!
uggghhh...what did you hit w the TM? So you will repair and not replace? Does this mean warranty will cover it?
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Update on Lower Unit situation: Both the full lower unit and prop are being replaced with brand new replacements. Allstate couldn't have been easier to work with. Dropped the boat off at Frankies Tuesday morning and as of this afternoon Allstate had it all processed and payment on it's way to Frankies. Couldn't be happier with the experience so far from both Frankies and Allstate. Should be back on the water in 2 weeks.
In other news, My bro-in-law and I placed 2nd in the Greenhorn Advanced Wednesday series this a couple nights ago on N/S Center. I also caught big fish of the night at 4lb 13 oz. Wa a very fun night.
OperationEagle reply :
On 6/8/2019 at 4:37 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Update on Lower Unit situation: Both the full lower unit and prop are being replaced with brand new replacements. Allstate couldn't have been easier to work with. Dropped the boat off at Frankies Tuesday morning and as of this afternoon Allstate had it all processed and payment on it's way to Frankies. Couldn't be happier with the experience so far from both Frankies and Allstate. Should be back on the water in 2 weeks.
In other news, My bro-in-law and I placed 2nd in the Greenhorn Advanced Wednesday series this a couple nights ago on N/S Center. I also caught big fish of the night at 4lb 13 oz. Wa a very fun night.
What kind of coverage w Allstate that covers damage like that?
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 6/8/2019 at 4:55 AM, OperationEagle said:What kind of coverage w Allstate that covers damage like that?
Not sure of the name of the policy through Allstate, but I work all my insurance through Monticello Agencies and my guy Aaron Siemenson recommended this policy to me for my boat and motor when I bought it based off their value at the time I bought them.
I'd recommend Aaron and Monticello Agencies to anyone looking for Insurance or a change of policies. I have been with them for at least 10 years and have had no issues at all.
OperationEagle reply :
Yeah I’m pretty sure my progressive insurance will cover if I hit an object like that. Think it’s considered an underwater collision or submerged object. Thanks for the info though.
FryDog62 reply :
On 6/8/2019 at 3:25 AM, OperationEagle said:uggghhh...what did you hit w the TM? So you will repair and not replace? Does this mean warranty will cover it?
I got caught on a lake on a trip to SoDak when the winds were 15-20 but then kicked up to 45 mph in about 2 minutes. Hid behind an island for an hour and it only got worse. Eventually got to the ramp and loaded the boat solo (somehow) with 3 footers at my back. Almost put the bow of the boat through the back of my Jeep.
End result was a snapped TM cable and a new 4 foot Duckett worm rod
Everything else was fine (except my nerves)!
OperationEagle reply :
On 6/8/2019 at 6:29 AM, FryDog62 said:I got caught on a lake on a trip to SoDak when the winds were 15-20 but then kicked up to 45 mph in about 2 minutes. Hid behind an island for an hour and it only got worse. Eventually got to the ramp and loaded the boat solo (somehow) with 3 footers at my back. Almost put the bow of the boat through the back of my Jeep.
End result was a snapped TM cable and a new 4 foot Duckett worm rod
Everything else was fine (except my nerves)!
Wow things can change in a hurry. Glad you are ok.
gimruis reply :
I went to Mille lacs again yesterday. Was able to only catch 2 of them because around 9:30 the wind really started picking up. So we went to a bay and fished largies instead for a couple hours. I think the spawn is over up there and the fish are transitioning to deeper water now. Water temp was 66, so it went up 6 degrees in about a week with this period of warmer sunny weather.
OperationEagle reply :
Water temp today was 74. Had a pretty good day. All were up very shallow. Landed a 20, 17, a couple 16+’s amongst the 15+ fish today.
Chatter bait early in the morning then they wanted a senko in the afternoon. All of them were tight to the shoreline except a few that were roaming.
They will be transitioning soon to their summer pattern.
NathanDLTH reply :
Caught this guy on a dark sleeper. Drifting it through the current and twitching it. Weighed 3.32lbs, second one of that size. Hope to find something bigger.
Tlauz reply :
Fished Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, mornings and late afternoons and a little bit Saturday. Water temps around 73 every day. Smallmouth still on or near beds. Saw the same fish on the same spots I saw last Sunday. Fishing wasn't great, but not bad. I had to work hard for them. I caught quite a few nice smallmouth between 15-19 inches. Majority of the fish came in 4 feet of water or less by rocks or reeds. Fished wacky worm when I could, the wind made it hard at times. Switched to a pink worm and the fish bit that much better. I also went down sandy shorelines and hit any cover or logs I could. Caught nothing but small largemouth bass. Found a few nice largemouths in reeds, but I have struggled to find them consistently. The wind really blew a few of the days, and I threw a spinnerbait when it became to tough to throw the worm. Saturday the wind was 20 mph +. I struggled to get bites on spinnerbait and tried slowing down with a swim jig. This worked much better, and I wish I would have done more of it on previous days. I fished a small flat with reeds that was out of the wind on Saturday with kids and had really good luck with worms again.
rascalP reply :
On 6/8/2019 at 4:37 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:
In other news, My bro-in-law and I placed 2nd in the Greenhorn Advanced Wednesday series this a couple nights ago on N/S Center. I also caught big fish of the night at 4lb 13 oz. Wa a very fun night.
Well done, guys. Looks like the the former Greenhorn teams are representing themselves very well at the advanced level. Hope to see you on the water one of these nights.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Went out Saturday 6-11am, caught 12 with the biggest three being right at 3.5#. They had all spawned out so they were good body size but light. Texas rig craw and weightless senko were the ticket. Caught a couple out at 7 feet but most were still in 2-3 feet. The vegetation is growing very fast and already seems to be further out than last year just not as thick yet.
BassThumb reply :
Found some ML smallies yesterday in 6-9 FOW on tubes. They appear pre-spawn still.
FryDog62 reply :
Trolling motor is fixed...
bwjay reply :
Those are some gorgeous smallies, Fry! Jealous.....
OperationEagle reply :
Fry those are awesome. How big were they? And what did they hit? Nicely done!
FryDog62 reply :
On 6/13/2019 at 12:51 AM, OperationEagle said:Fry those are awesome. How big were they? And what did they hit? Nicely done!
A 15, two 18’s and a 20 1/4 in about 3 hours. Missed a couple too. Shoulda retied my line-to-leader knot from last year! Wacky Worm near shore... 65 degree water temps..
Got this ugly scud missile too... I think he’s won/lost a few battles along the way (like me
gimruis reply :
Haha. You are what you catch. An ugly beat up skud missile! 
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 6/12/2019 at 10:02 AM, FryDog62 said:Trolling motor is fixed...
I would love to get out ther with you and learn how you break down these river smallies. I got a taste last season, but they are still a massive mystery to me. Nice work!
Skud missile comments are killing me over here.
OperationEagle reply :
Slow report on largie’s. Anyone been out? When there are no reports it might mean people are either not fishing or they’re hard to find?
MN Fisher reply :
On 6/14/2019 at 8:38 AM, OperationEagle said:Slow report on largie’s. Anyone been out? When there are no reports it might mean people are either not fishing or they’re hard to find?
I've been out three times so far and all I've found is dinks.
OperationEagle reply :
On 6/14/2019 at 8:45 AM, MN Fisher said:I've been out three times so far and all I've found is dinks.
Post spawn transition I wonder. Males don’t seem to be on the beds. Big females are nowhere to be found it seems. I hear similar things from others.
NathanDLTH reply :
I’ve had a few largies close to shore, but lost them. That’s been a problem lately, two night in a row with lost fish. One a dark sleeper the other on a frog. Time to beef up my hooksets? I don’t know.
OperationEagle reply :
Got into them today. They were shallow near weeds. Wanted a dark senko, dead sticked. 8-10 all around 16-18.5. A nice day until the wind took over. Became tough to fish.
All were in 2-4 fow. Water temp around 68-70.
FryDog62 reply :
I think we experienced 3 seasons in 5 hours this morning... water temp 69, most fish were in 4-7 fow... outside the weedline and not very near shore or under the docks. Plastics, Chatterbaits..
OperationEagle reply :
In to them again. Caught 14-15 today. All came on a dark senko. All were caught under or around docks. Largest was 18. Couple 17s and 16s. All were in 4-6 fow.
Water temp was 68-69.
Krazyfish101 reply :
I didn't go fishing so you guys did better than I did
punch reply :
I spent the weekend up north 8th & 9th Crow Wing near Nevis. The lakes up there are all behind a bit. The pads are just starting to grow in and the water temps are in the mid 60's. The emerging pads really made fishing easy, since the bass were loaded up in them. I wacked fish all weekend flipping the pad stems on a texas rigged beavers & craws.
Yesterday morning it was pretty calm and I got a really good frog bite going in the backs of bays. I really have to say I'm LOVING the Terminator Junior frog. My hookup ratio has really gone up.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Went Saturday AM. A buddy and I got 6 each, most were small with the largest being 16". 10 were on senko or bandito bug and 2 were on a spinnerbait. The wind was relentless so it made it tough in a small aluminum boat. I'm not sure if it's my imagination but the weeds and milfoil seem way worse already than last year. In the past two weeks its gotten so thick with milfoil that nothing gets through and casts are wasted in the first foot.
Tlauz reply :
I fished parts of Wednesday - Sunday on 3 different lakes north of Bemidji. Water was 10 degrees colder than it was last time I was out. Ranged from 63-65. The days I fished for smallmouth, they seemed to have moved to the first deeper water near where they spawned (still less than 10 feet on this lake). I never tried really deep because I don't like to fish deep and I am not very good at it. I still saw some fish roaming really shallow but none locked on beds. Wind really blew a couple of the days and that made it difficult. Fished for largemouth and they seemed to be in the developing weeds and not as much in the reeds unless there were weeds right by the reeds. The weeds are starting to fill in and I caught the best fish in 5-10 feet paralleling the weed edge with a crank bait.. Best bait for smallmouth was still weightless wacky worm. Also caught some on spinnerbait. Have had no luck with topwater yet. Largemouth were caught on swim jig, texas rigged worm and KVD 2.5 crank bait. Had some great periods and some slow periods. Weather was warm Wed-Friday then turned cold. Best smallmouth were 19 and 19.5. Best largemouth were 18 and 19. Tried a new lake for largemouth that has large thick cabbage beds. All the bass I caught were built really well, but lake also has an abundance of 12-16 inch pike that hit everything. Think I will return and try throwing a frog later in the summer. Forecast for this week looks cool and rainy up here.
FryDog62 reply :
Neko Rig worked well this morning. 8 inch worm, VMC skirt, 9-14 fow on outside weedline.
Wondering when topwater bite will kick in ?!?
punch reply :
On 6/23/2019 at 2:36 AM, FryDog62 said:Neko Rig worked well this morning. 8 inch worm, VMC skirt, 9-14 fow on outside weedline.
Wondering when topwater bite will kick in ?!?
What worm do you like for Neko?
I was able to get a popper and frog bite going last evening. It's starting up!
FryDog62 reply :
On 6/23/2019 at 12:15 PM, punch said:What worm do you like for Neko?
I was able to get a popper and frog bite going last evening. It's starting up!
8 inch Big Bite Finesse Worm, 1/8 oz VMC skirt. The smaller Ned rigs were getting pecked to death by small bluegills but they didn’t go after the big profile worm.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
I pulled 4 on a frog on my first 10 casts on Saturday at 7:30am. 5 minutes later the topwater bite was off. Did ok the next few hours on a senko with 3 more but it wasnt outstanding. They still seemed shallow but maybe I should venture out a little deeper
BassThumb reply :
On 6/23/2019 at 9:43 PM, FryDog62 said:8 inch Big Bite Finesse Worm, 1/8 oz VMC skirt. The smaller Ned rigs were getting pecked to death by small bluegills but they didn’t go after the big profile worm.
Do you think that skirt helps get bites? I haven't tried one yet.
OperationEagle reply :
Straight into the high 80s and low 90s this weekend will empty out the shallows.
MN Fisher reply :
On 6/25/2019 at 3:39 AM, OperationEagle said:Straight into the high 80s and low 90s this weekend will empty out the shallows.
Good thing my next planned trip is tomorrow - high of 80
FryDog62 reply :
On 6/25/2019 at 12:49 AM, BassThumb said:Do you think that skirt helps get bites? I haven't tried one yet.
I dunno for sure... my goal was a big worm, with the skirt to create a large enough profile so the little bluegills would leave it alone and hopefully the bigger bass would still like. Funny, my first cast a 20 incher nailed it half way to the bottom in 12 feet of water... so maybe the skirt helped slow the fall..?
The skirts are nice, the down side is they are obviously more expensive than just a nail weight - and second, makes it tougher to skip... not that I’m skipping 8 inch worms very often, but even on a 4-5 inch worm it will make it a little harder. Will be fun to try this around docks.
I guess like anything else skirts are a plus in the right situation... (if you know what I mean
OperationEagle reply :
On 6/25/2019 at 5:22 AM, FryDog62 said:I guess like anything else skirts are a plus in the right situation... (if you know what I mean
OK Not sure EXACTLY what you meant but that made me laugh nonetheless. ????
MN Fisher reply :
On 6/25/2019 at 5:22 AM, FryDog62 said:I guess like anything else skirts are a plus in the right situation... (if you know what I mean
Depending on that situation...the shorter the better.
That applies to fishing as well.
punch reply :
Thinking about making a Mille Lacs run on Sunday. The wind report is looking choice.
MN Fisher reply :
On 6/25/2019 at 3:45 AM, MN Fisher said:Good thing my next planned trip is tomorrow - high of 80
Aaaand...due to scheduling issues, tomorrow isn't happening after all. Maybe next week.
gimruis reply :
Holy crap it looks hot this weekend. The heat index is projected to balloon past 100 on Saturday and Sunday. I knew this was coming at some point. The recreational traffic will be out in full force.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Who's going out this weekend? Anyone care to share their strategy with this heat wave?
sully420 reply :
@SmallBlockMuscleI'll be skipping docks looking for mats or grass to flip and maby a 6" swimbait on deep structures
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 6/28/2019 at 12:20 AM, sully420 said:@SmallBlockMuscleI'll be skipping docks looking for mats or grass to flip and maby a 6" swimbait on deep structures
What he said minus the swimbait, plus flipping deep milfoil lines with a heavy jig.
Might also go to Mille Lacs in which case I'll be working the the swimbait on reefs and quite possibly the Ned Rig too
FryDog62 reply :
Anyone ever fish a Chicken-Rig? Kind of a Texas-rigged Neko set up...
OperationEagle reply :
Was out this morning on a lake on the far west side of metro.
Nearly skunked. Very uncooperative today. Water temp this morn 71.6.
sully420 reply :
It seems like some lakes are really muddy and are fishing pretty tough lately. Looking for lakes with cleaner water could be the ticket.
FryDog62 reply :
5 1/2 inches of rain down by Rochester… There are cows floating away in the river right now. Glad I didn’t bring the boat!
punch reply :
I'm excited to hit Mille Lacs tomorrow to test out the new toy. I can't wait to play around with the new high res side imaging. Upgrading from a HDS12 gen 3 total scan.
We're going out of Liberty and hitting the east side all day.
OperationEagle reply :
Hoping to get some decent fishing in this week w the holiday and all.
Anyone w any tips on patterns that have been working? Its been awfully quiet on the board. Bass have been in transition, I believe, making it tough to find them.
FryDog62 reply :
On 7/1/2019 at 11:53 PM, OperationEagle said:Hoping to get some decent fishing in this week w the holiday and all.
Anyone w any tips on patterns that have been working? Its been awfully quiet on the board. Bass have been in transition, I believe, making it tough to find them.
Agreed. I was out yesterday and either with the heat or storms, they were scattered. Best luck was still outside weedline on a Chicken Rig 8-12 fow.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Got 13 Saturday AM but they were all small and couldnt find any pattern. They all seemed to be in random spots and all different lures. I need to get better at deeper water fishing
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got out Friday after leaving work early. Had a decent night. Number of smaller fish and co-worker got a nice 4.34lber.
Went out Saturday for a few hours and only managed a couple short fish.
Jumped into a Sunday derby last minute on Rush Lake. Didn't get a chance to pre-fish, but still managed 12th out of 25 teams. I was fishing solo. The weather moving through Sunday really messed with the historical stuff I was hoping to run, but it was still fun to jump into a last minute tourney. Ultrex steering sensor crapped out on me with 2 hours left. Talk about frustrating! Shout out to Actions in Anoka, though. Dropped it off today, will have it ready to pick up after work tomorrow.
punch reply :
I had an eventful week fishing last week. Me and my partner won our Wednesday Night league on White Bear Lake, with a 12lb bag. We won on WBL last year so it was kinda fun to win back-to-back derbys on the same body of water. I really do like that lake as it sets up well for my strength, which is offshore finesse. We got all our big bites drop shotting offshore coontail with a Keitech easy shaker in morning dawn. Fishing straight vertically under the boat.
Then on Saturday we hit the east side of Mille Lacs all day. The bite wasn't bad, we boated 19 smallies and probably as many walleyes. Our best 5 went for 18lbs with a 4.89lb kicker that came on a 3" chigger craw and a shakey head. The fish were really shallow on reefs.. we got a lot of bites in 10' or less all day. The best bait was a 3.8" fat keitch followed closely by a ned rig. Each smallie we caught was typically trailed by 3-4 more fish. It was kinda fun.
Tlauz reply :
Fished Bemidji area last week and got out a few hours in the Alexandria area Sunday/Monday. Caught fish on weed edges. Last week I was out and found nothing but small fish. Better mix this week. Still caught a lot of small fish, but did manage some really nice fish too. Popper/ Choppo started to work as did a shallow running crankbait. Wacky weighted and non-weighted still produced the most fish. Took kids out on small lake in Alex area and had them throw wacky worms to weed edges. Caught 15-20 bass in less than 2 hours. Almost all in the 15 inch range.
I caught this little guy on a Choppo and didn't realize he wasn't even hooked. When he bit, I set the hook and he flew 15 feet and was basically lassoed.
wisconsin heat reply :
Was out on West Bush Lake for a short kayak excursion after work. Started shallow with a frog and pitching a texas rigged pit boss around holes in the weeds, but nothing was going on in the shallows (aside from 10 bajillion tiny bluegills). After starting off shallow and not even seeing a bass cruising around I thought maybe they are post spawn and I remembered some recent posts on this thread saying they've been out a little deeper. I paddled out towards the middle of the lake looking for a defined edge to the weeds (didn't find one haha). So I pitched around blindly in relatively deeper water (10-12 feet maybe). I made a longer pitch and set my rod down to paddle a few strokes towards the bait while it sank, when I picked the rod back up and reeled in the slack, thats when I felt her on there. I set the hook and after a quick, hard fought fight, she was in the boat! I took a quick picture, and remembered I had a tape measure with. I rarely measure the fish I catch, even the big ones, but this one was nice, probably the biggest I've caught yet this year I thought. I thought right! She measured 19 inches!
FryDog62 reply :
On 7/3/2019 at 10:54 AM, wisconsin heat said:Was out on West Bush Lake for a short kayak excursion after work. Started shallow with a frog and pitching a texas rigged pit boss around holes in the weeds, but nothing was going on in the shallows (aside from 10 bajillion tiny bluegills). After starting off shallow and not even seeing a bass cruising around I thought maybe they are post spawn and I remembered some recent posts on this thread saying they've been out a little deeper. I paddled out towards the middle of the lake looking for a defined edge to the weeds (didn't find one haha). So I pitched around blindly in relatively deeper water (10-12 feet maybe). I made a longer pitch and set my rod down to paddle a few strokes towards the bait while it sank, when I picked the rod back up and reeled in the slack, thats when I felt her on there. I set the hook and after a quick, hard fought fight, she was in the boat! I took a quick picture, and remembered I had a tape measure with. I rarely measure the fish I catch, even the big ones, but this one was nice, probably the biggest I've caught yet this year I thought. I thought right! She measured 19 inches!
You know, that’s kind of been the pattern for me several times this Spring/Summer. I keep starting shallow and don’t find them, and eventually toss something into 9-14 fow and there they are... nice fish!
OperationEagle reply :
Caught 12-15 tonight w some size on all. Most were 16-17.5 inches. A good night, finally.
Found them by the weed line in 7-10 fow. Weighted senko was the ticket tonight.
OperationEagle reply :
On 7/4/2019 at 12:25 PM, OperationEagle said:Caught 12-15 tonight w some size on all. Most were 16-17.5 inches. A good night, finally.
Found them by the weed line in 7-10 fow. Weighted senko was the ticket tonight.
Just back from a good morning. Rinse and repeat so quoting myself lol. Pattern is intact. Found some in the pads as well. Caught a 20 incher today. Hope you all can get out this weekend while the fishing remains decent.
meisterluv reply :
Fished Zumbra today and got wrecked. Broad leaf pond weed everywhere. Threw the sink at them today and only managed a few off of whatever weed edge we could find. weedless senkos, swim baits, t-rigs, etc. couldn't find a pattern. if anyone has advice on how to fish this lake or lakes with similar pond weed lmk. i seem to struggle with this stuff. thanks!
FryDog62 reply :
On 7/7/2019 at 1:06 PM, meisterluv said:Fished Zumbra today and got wrecked. Broad leaf pond weed everywhere. Threw the sink at them today and only managed a few off of whatever weed edge we could find. weedless senkos, swim baits, t-rigs, etc. couldn't find a pattern. if anyone has advice on how to fish this lake or lakes with similar pond weed lmk. i seem to struggle with this stuff. thanks!
I’ve only fished Zumbra a couple times and found fish, but size was small. Lots of 12-14 inchers... a lot of lakes in the area that seem to produce better size - yes, using the types of techniques you listed above, so haven’t been back..
OperationEagle reply :
Yep fished zumbra as well with only moderate results. There is the bay that gets choked w weeds to your left as you leave the dock. Have pulled a few out of the slop there.
sully420 reply :
Went you Saturday morning and had a pretty good day. Found nice bass under pads and milfoil mats also found some on deep grass lines. Jigs and Texas rigged creature baits were getting it done. I'm sure any kind of worm or finesse technique would have also worked on the deep fish. Haven't got a good deep crankbait bite yet but I plan on trying to get it going on Tuesday. I'll let you guys know what I find out.
FryDog62 reply :
Went fishing with Ned tonight. 8-12 fow outside weed edge. On a lake about an hour West of the metro with both greenies and brownies...
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Went out Saturday AM. Only managed 4 with one being 2.5# and the rest being much smaller. Got those 4 by docks on a spinnerbait and could not get them to bite anything else. The docks where I caught these never have fish, this is the first time i've caught anything on that end of the lake and got skunked everywhere else. The visibility was much lower this weekend. The lake I go to doesn't have much bottom definition, it's a long flat transition into deeper water and very soft bottom. I don't remember the last time I was out there and caught less than 10.
wisconsin heat reply :
Got the kayak out on a small lake east of the border yesterday, and had quite an eventful trip for the 2/3 hours I spent on it. I've only fished this lake once from shore before, so I didn't have too much to go off of. I got to the landing and the lake looked a little gross, a lot of floating dead weeds and pretty green water. I paddled to the other side of the lake where I had had success before, and the water quality looked a little better. As I dropped my (brand new) kayak anchor over board, some rope came undone and down she went! Oops.
I'm
Well, I paddled up into a creek that flows into the lake. One side of the creek is a flatter mud bottomed and has weeds, the other side was a tall bluff wall with some overhanging trees, and a little bit deeper water that had a few boulders and was littered with juicy laydowns. It really was a very cool place to fish.
I threw a spinnerbait for a while as it looked like a good tool for the water clarity and depth/cover I was fishing but only managed one nibble on that. I switched to a top water walking bait after seeing a couple bass bust on top next to some rocks and the wall-got swiped at a couple times but didn't connect.
I switched to a Texas rigged beaver bait with a punch skirt and that's the bait that did the damage- I caught the two fish that swiped at my top water bait, then proceeded to catch a biggun pictured below, no tape measure or scale with but she was a solid 3 pounder in the 18+ " range. 20 minutes later I pitched a really nice looking laydown and set the hook on another big fish! She wrapped around a limb and pulled so hard I lost my balance standing in the kayak and *almost* fell into the lake haha. It did bring down to my knees and the kayak tipped enough to fill with water, in addition to that my other rod rigged with the topwater bait now has treble hooks in my pants leg. All the while I have a 3 pounder on the end of the line, as I regained my stability and composure I had to set my rod down and gave the fish enough slack to get off 
.
After draining the boat and catching another couple on the topwater and Texas rigged I had to call it a day as it was already getting late and I still had to drive back to the cities. I didn't get up the creek as far as I'd like or get to fish much else of the lake at all.
All in all, it was a pretty successful trip despite a few mishaps, and a lake I will definitely be visiting again to explore further.
FryDog62 reply :
On 7/8/2019 at 10:52 PM, wisconsin heat said:Got the kayak out on a small lake east of the border yesterday, and had quite an eventful trip for the 2/3 hours I spent on it. I've only fished this lake once from shore before, so I didn't have too much to go off of. I got to the landing and the lake looked a little gross, a lot of floating dead weeds and pretty green water. I paddled to the other side of the lake where I had had success before, and the water quality looked a little better. As I dropped my (brand new) kayak anchor over board, some rope came undone and down she went! Oops.
I'm
Well, I paddled up into a creek that flows into the lake. One side of the creek is a flatter mud bottomed and has weeds, the other side was a tall bluff wall with some overhanging trees, and a little bit deeper water that had a few boulders and was littered with juicy laydowns. It really was a very cool place to fish.
I threw a spinnerbait for a while as it looked like a good tool for the water clarity and depth/cover I was fishing but only managed one nibble on that. I switched to a top water walking bait after seeing a couple bass bust on top next to some rocks and the wall-got swiped at a couple times but didn't connect.
I switched to a Texas rigged beaver bait with a punch skirt and that's the bait that did the damage- I caught the two fish that swiped at my top water bait, then proceeded to catch a biggun pictured below, no tape measure or scale with but she was a solid 3 pounder in the 18+ " range. 20 minutes later I pitched a really nice looking laydown and set the hook on another big fish! She wrapped around a limb and pulled so hard I lost my balance standing in the kayak and *almost* fell into the lake haha. It did bring down to my knees and the kayak tipped enough to fill with water, in addition to that my other rod rigged with the topwater bait now has treble hooks in my pants leg. All the while I have a 3 pounder on the end of the line, as I regained my stability and composure I had to set my rod down and gave the fish enough slack to get off
After draining the boat and catching another couple on the topwater and Texas rigged I had to call it a day as it was already getting late and I still had to drive back to the cities. I didn't get up the creek as far as I'd like or get to fish much else of the lake at all.
All in all, it was a pretty successful trip despite a few mishaps, and a lake I will definitely be visiting again to explore further.
Nice fish, sounds like you earned it. Every once in awhile I think of getting a kayak - then I realize I need to be coordinated. Might be entertaining at least!
gimruis reply :
Lol you dropped in the brand new anchor and the rope came undone?! Didn’t they cut the line for the anchor in grumpy old men? ????
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Fished Big Marine Wednesday night for the Greenhorn Advanced league and placed 4th with 13.05lbs with a 4.19lb kicker. Was a fun night but had to work for them. 17.95lbs won it. 16lbs for 2nd, and 13.85 for 3rd.
On to the Mississippi for the next event. Excited to get into some brown fish. Should be a good event.
MN Fisher reply :
Well, I can now say I've caught a 'weighable' bass. Out this morning on Phelps Bay from around 8:30 to 11. First fish was a 1.5# Northern on a white spinnerbait (Willow/Colorado blades). No more bites after that so changed to a Chartreuse spinner and got this 'little one' - 1.25#
After that it died again and tried everything else I could think of - T-Rig, Swim jig with trailer, DT-4 (finder was showing them at 3'-5' deep), Shallow Shad rap and spent the last half-hour trying to entice them with a Powerbait on a drop-shot. Very slow day on Phelps.
FryDog62 reply :
Had fun today fishing around some clumps of partially submerged grass. Watched for a couple blades to jiggle when the bigger fish went in there to ambush some food. Track their location and cast to them with lighter jigs and weedless Plastics... sight fishing above water!
OperationEagle reply :
Out this morning and algae was in full bloom. Dropped the visibility down to near zilch. Made it for a hard day fishin’!
MN Fisher reply :
On 7/14/2019 at 9:21 AM, OperationEagle said:Out this morning and algae was in full bloom. Dropped the visibility down to near zilch. Made it for a hard day fishin’!
Ya, that was one of my issues yesterday on Phelps. The visibility wasn't down to zero, but I was picking algae off my lures and/or knots 4 casts out of 5.
gimruis reply :
Looks like the heat is on!
wisconsin heat reply :
On 7/14/2019 at 6:32 AM, FryDog62 said:Had fun today fishing around some clumps of partially submerged grass. Watched for a couple blades to jiggle when the bigger fish went in there to ambush some food. Track their location and cast to them with lighter jigs and weedless Plastics... sight fishing above water!
That looks like a really fun way to fish! Always cool when you get to have those "call your shot" moments, I bet it's even better when that's the pattern!
J Francho reply :
On 7/14/2019 at 6:32 AM, FryDog62 said:Had fun today fishing around some clumps of partially submerged grass. Watched for a couple blades to jiggle when the bigger fish went in there to ambush some food. Track their location and cast to them with lighter jigs and weedless Plastics... sight fishing above water!
That stuff is called water willow, and it's all over Oneida Lake, and it's pretty fun way to fish. We use frogs and blind cast into there, and hope to feel the weight of the fish when we hear the strike. The other way is a heavy pegged bullet and something slender like a fluke or Pit Boss, and pitch at the moving stalks.
Not_Here reply :
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J Francho reply :
Could be water reed. I'd fish it the same. We have that around here too.
FryDog62 reply :
On 7/16/2019 at 7:53 PM, J Francho said:That stuff is called water willow, and it's all over Oneida Lake, and it's pretty fun way to fish. We use frogs and blind cast into there, and hope to feel the weight of the fish when we hear the strike. The other way is a heavy pegged bullet and something slender like a fluke or Pit Boss, and pitch at the moving stalks.
The water underneath the grass line was actually a little deeper than it appears (2-3 feet, altho it looks like 2-3 inches). I did the high trajectory underhand flip similar to a punch rig, and threw a 3/8 oz All-Terrain “Grassmaster” Jig (based here in good ol’ Savage, MN so it could get down in the water without getting too snagged in the roots... if there were fish there they’d hit it on the reaction. If not, sit back and sip some coffee and wait for the next “jiggle.”
J Francho reply :
That's about the same depth here. We sometimes use a push pole to get into the bigger fields.
punch reply :
I'm heading to Vermillion Thurs-Sunday to chase smallies (and walleye). Can't wait! I love me some rocky, tanic lakes.
gimruis reply :
The river bite is on! My Father and I caught 18 smallies in about 3.5 hours this morning, all on topwaters or wake baits. In about a 10 minute span, I caught a pair of 19's.
FryDog62 reply :
On 7/25/2019 at 8:09 AM, gimruis said:The river bite is on! My Father and I caught 18 smallies in about 3.5 hours this morning, all on topwaters or wake baits. In about a 10 minute span, I caught a pair of 19's.
That is awesome! Hard to beat the river... the first half of the season has been 2 hard years in a row. Had to settle into a pattern sooner or later. Glad you got them dialed in... which topwaters worked best?
gimruis reply :
The small whopper plopper and the discontinued storm subwart caught all the fish. Bright colors because the water clarity is still a little murkier than usual.
MN Fisher reply :
Wasn't skunked today, only got one...but what a one.
3.92 lbs - best of the year
gimruis reply :
I went back to the river yesterday and my friend and I caught 24 smallmouth, 2 pike, and 2 walleyes in about 4.5 hours. We caught most of the smallmouth on a new lure I found to replace the discontinued storm subwart - an XPS shallow crank in hot craw. My two biggest were 19 3/4 and 20 inches.
FryDog62 reply :
On 8/4/2019 at 1:32 AM, gimruis said:I went back to the river yesterday and my friend and I caught 24 smallmouth, 2 pike, and 2 walleyes in about 4.5 hours. We caught most of the smallmouth on a new lure I found to replace the discontinued storm subwart - an XPS shallow crank in hot craw. My two biggest were 19 3/4 and 20 inches.
Udda Man gimruis... rivers are starting to get better despite high/chocolatey water. Got out on the Miss myself... plastics were the ticket for me..
OperationEagle reply :
On a west metro lake today. Got a late start but still had a pretty good day...also despite the warm temps.
12-14 largies. Largest was around 17 in. They were on the weed edge in 6-8 fow. Senko did the trick again for me.
You guys are pushing me to the rivers soon though!
MN Fisher reply :
I gotta up my deeper game.
Out at 8am again, one 14" LMB at about 8:40 in the shallows, a bluegill and a pumpkinseed followed that, then nothing.
Went to deeper water where the sonar showed them. Tried T-Rigs, wacky Senko and swim-jigs there, but nothing wanted any of it.
punch reply :
On 8/9/2019 at 12:55 AM, MN Fisher said:I gotta up my deeper game.
Out at 8am again, one 14" LMB at about 8:40 in the shallows, a bluegill and a pumpkinseed followed that, then nothing.
Went to deeper water where the sonar showed them. Tried T-Rigs, wacky Senko and swim-jigs there, but nothing wanted any of it.
Dropshot comes in handy in these situations, and if it's hard bottom.. the football jig.
MN Fisher reply :
On 8/9/2019 at 3:31 AM, punch said:Dropshot comes in handy in these situations, and if it's hard bottom.. the football jig.
Tried drop-shot last week and it was a zero...which is why I didn't try it this week.
The bottom of North Arm (where I was the past two weeks) is muck - had to rinse the anchor every time I pulled it up.
gimruis reply :
Your not the only one that struggles with a drop shot, MN Fisher. I do too.
sully420 reply :
@MN Fisher Aggressive presentations like deep crankbaits, Jigs and 8 to 10" worms have been outperforming finesse presentations for me lately. Don't be afraid to try bigger baits, sometimes you need to trigger bigger bass with a worthwhile meal.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 8/9/2019 at 10:21 PM, sully420 said:@MN Fisher Aggressive presentations like deep crankbaits, Jigs and 8 to 10" worms have been outperforming finesse presentations for me lately. Don't be afraid to try bigger baits, sometimes you need to trigger bigger bass with a worthwhile meal.
[Pic]
[Pic]
Dang man, I have been waiting for you to start dropping photos of giants like late summer/fall of last year. Is that a double on the same crank in the first pic?
Got up to Knife Lake last Sunday for a pick up derby. ended up 7th of 25, but did get Big Bass at 5.01lbs. Caught on a Spro Popping Bronzeye frog in all black. Like someone dropped a bowling ball on my bait. Best topwater bite of the year so far.
sully420 reply :
@ThatOneBigKid yeah 2 on the same crankbaits left fish was 4.9lb right was 4.5 second pic was 5.5lb. Late summer is definitely my jam. I have tons of pics just hate posting picks on here cuz it's a pain. I post pics on fishbrain rsullivan6186
FryDog62 reply :
Went an hour North of the metro to miss the rain this morning. Better fish were on plastics skipped under docks... a couple on Neds in 8-10 fow..
gimruis reply :
Hey Fry how do you hold all those fish up without lipping them? Everyone else holds their fish by the mouth and yours look like they’re on a peg.
MN Fisher reply :
On 8/13/2019 at 6:00 AM, gimruis said:Hey Fry how do you hold all those fish up without lipping them? Everyone else holds their fish by the mouth and yours look like they’re on a peg.
I'm thinking finger(s) under the gill-plate.
FryDog62 reply :
On 8/13/2019 at 6:00 AM, gimruis said:Hey Fry how do you hold all those fish up without lipping them? Everyone else holds their fish by the mouth and yours look like they’re on a peg.
MNFisher is right... nice and smooth in the gill plate (against the cheek not the gill) and less chance of jaw ligament injury to the fish. I got a bad case of bass thumb from lip gripping a couple years ago, that after this photo was taken developed into a nasty infection. But if I do lip them now I’m wearing Fish Monkey gloves
FryDog62 reply :
Anyone fishing “The Boat Center” Smallmouth tournament on the Mississippi in Anoka this weekend?
NathanDLTH reply :
Bantam MGL XG RH 8:1 For sale if you're interested.
OperationEagle reply :
Was out early this morning on a west metro lake. Spent 2 hours searching for fish. Landed one dink so technically did not get skunked. A beautiful morning but fish were nowhere to be found.
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Went Saturday 6am-noon. Could not get one bite on top water, senko, jig, or crankbait. Switched to a ned rig (which i've never fished before) and started hammering them. Best 5 went for 17 and caught one after another between 2.5 and 4.25#. I was surprised at the sizes from the small bait and it was a lot of fun working it. Most were 8-12 feet of water but the 4.25 was up closer to 6. I used a lifted jig offset ned 1/8oz and just a scrap piece of green pumpkin senko that I had saved from a chewed up full worm.
punch reply :
I wish I had a good metro area fishing report.. I just havn't been out on my local lakes that much. I dipped up to Mille Lacs last weekend for a morning session and found a killer topwater bite over Myr Mar reef while it was slick calm. That was fun. Bone white popper got a lot of action.
I do have a trip planned to Little Boy/Woman lake over Labor Day weekend. I'm excited to fish that area for smallies. I've never been there before.
gimruis reply :
I have still been river fishing with good success. I went on Monday for about 4.5 hours and caught 19 smallmouth and 1 pike. I didn’t catch any real big ones this time, however. They weren’t quite as aggressive as they have been either. I had to use a tube to catch some this time instead of topwater and shallow cranks. The water level has dropped off significantly and it’s also cleared up a lot the past 10 days. I intend to probably go one more time before September.
OperationEagle reply :
Hope this long, clear and stable weather pattern will improve fish activity. Several nights in the low-mid 50's might stimulate feeding? Crazy how dead this thread has been lately.
Was on Tonka Sunday morning and landed a few but it was slow going. I know there are so many bodies to choose from other than Tonka but for some reason, I want to be able to learn it enough to fish it consistently w better results.
Despite the recreational traffic its still considered one of the best bass lakes in the region if not the US. So many lakes crammed into one.
FryDog62 reply :
On 8/28/2019 at 5:08 AM, OperationEagle said:Despite the recreational traffic its still considered one of the best bass lakes in the region if not the US. So many lakes crammed into one.
I hear ya and know how Tonka is so highly touted. But honestly I think you can catch a lot of small-medium sized fish there, just not a lot of quality/large bass IMO. I fish a lot of smaller lakes in the area and seem to catch bigger fish. The allure for me in learning Tonka more would be to fish tournaments... but not something I’m really planning. So I get there occasionally but find myself wanting to go somewhere else next time...
MN Fisher reply :
On 8/28/2019 at 6:00 AM, FryDog62 said:But honestly I think you can catch a lot of small-medium sized fish there
Okay - where are they then? My past 2 outings have been like a desert. While I'd like to catch a new PB, just getting some that are eating size (2-3lbs) would be wonderful.
FryDog62 reply :
On 8/28/2019 at 6:06 AM, MN Fisher said:Okay - where are they then? My past 2 outings have been like a desert. While I'd like to catch a new PB, just getting some that are eating size (2-3lbs) would be wonderful.
If you can skip a weightless wacky worm under docks... I think you could run down a shoreline of 20 docks and catch a good handful of 2-3 pounders...
MN Fisher reply :
On 8/28/2019 at 9:52 AM, FryDog62 said:If you can skip a weightless wacky worm under docks... I think you could run down a shoreline of 20 docks and catch a good handful of 2-3 pounders...
Thank you Mr. Fry - I'll have to try that my next outing...which will probably be next week.
thatbasschigger187 reply :
On 8/28/2019 at 5:08 AM, OperationEagle said:Hope this long, clear and stable weather pattern will improve fish activity. Several nights in the low-mid 50's might stimulate feeding? Crazy how dead this thread has been lately.
Was on Tonka Sunday morning and landed a few but it was slow going. I know there are so many bodies to choose from other than Tonka but for some reason, I want to be able to learn it enough to fish it consistently w better results.
Despite the recreational traffic its still considered one of the best bass lakes in the region if not the US. So many lakes crammed into one.
You have to dedicate yourself to Tonka if you want to catch 4's and 5's there. I fish multiple tournaments on there every year and do rather well. Tonka is a spot oriented lake. You literally have to have 50 to 100 spots on the lake to be consistent. The great thing about Tonka though is that you can fish whatever style you want to and still catch a good bag. So stick to your strengths.
As for the recreational boaters and etc. Yeah they're annoying. And it can get frustrating at times like having having powerboats cut in front of you while fishing a deep point or having jetskiers spook a shallow area you're flipping. But don't look at the negatives cause you'll hate Tonka if that's what you focus on. Instead think "well those power boats generate alot of current on dog days", or the "jetskiers eliminate that area during these times."
Don't over look the fishing pressure either and use that as an approach to how to cover an area. Some bays are more popular than others depending on the time of year.
I could talk about Tonka all day. It is my favorite lake in Minnesota. I fish it almost every weekend, besides the occasional drive north the big ol' smallie fish factory. But I'll tell you this, once you feel like you can start catching good bags on Tonka, learning every other lake in MN will feel like a walk in the park.
gimruis reply :
The other issue on Tonka in the summer are at boat accesses. Seems like just about every time I go there is a line of 8 boats deep at the access and it’s amateur hour.
I know this is a bass forum, but the crappie fishing is phenomenal out there in the spring time. It’s way better than any other lake around here for size and numbers. Plus the muskie fishing isn’t bad either.
MN Fisher reply :
On 8/29/2019 at 9:24 AM, gimruis said:The other issue on Tonka in the summer are at boat accesses. Seems like just about every time I go there is a line of 8 boats deep at the access and it’s amateur hour.
Go in the mornings on weekdays. I usually hit the ramp about 7:45-8:00 and at most there's one in front of me.
FryDog62 reply :
Meanwhile... some sundown smallmouth on a new stretch of river...
thatbasschigger187 reply :
On 8/29/2019 at 9:24 AM, gimruis said:The other issue on Tonka in the summer are at boat accesses. Seems like just about every time I go there is a line of 8 boats deep at the access and it’s amateur hour.
I know this is a bass forum, but the crappie fishing is phenomenal out there in the spring time. It’s way better than any other lake around here for size and numbers. Plus the muskie fishing isn’t bad either.
Yeah you gotta be there early. I always get there by first light. One of the most annoying things is getting line caught in your outboard by those people shore fishing. They literally wait for the last second to reel up.
OperationEagle reply :
On 8/28/2019 at 10:01 PM, thatbasschigger187 said:You have to dedicate yourself to Tonka if you want to catch 4's and 5's there. I fish multiple tournaments on there every year and do rather well. Tonka is a spot oriented lake. You literally have to have 50 to 100 spots on the lake to be consistent. The great thing about Tonka though is that you can fish whatever style you want to and still catch a good bag. So stick to your strengths.
The more people I speak to, the more I learn that this is in fact the case...and I am learning to appreciate the uniqueness of Tonka ...that its such a huge canvas that 50-100 spots is possible.
Takes time (and obsessiveness) to develop this knowledge. I just also need to figure out the balance between putting in this time and catching fish on all the other lakes.
Great comments by all.
gimruis reply :
So I noticed the water temp in the north metro to be 68 degrees this morning. Are we looking at a shortened season again when it’s frigid cold by mid October?
FryDog62 reply :
On 9/3/2019 at 4:34 AM, gimruis said:So I noticed the water temp in the north metro to be 68 degrees this morning. Are we looking at a shortened season again when it’s frigid cold by mid October?
It started to slide off the edge in late Sept last year and Oct was largely
miserable.
I heard on the radio today that Aug 19 may have been our last 80 degree day of 2019 and if next spring is like this year we won’t see our next 80 degree day until May 19... a mere 9 months in between 80 degree days!
Say it it isn’t so...
OperationEagle reply :
Lol. Come on guys...how about some positivity...maybe this could mean an extended fall?
the water was 68-69 pretty much all weekend here in the metro.
In in the next 10 days only one night will it be at 60...all others will dip below that. Lakes could turn over earlier this year?
august seems to be my least productive fishing month of the season as the fish are either deep or tight as heck to cover. I’ve got to learn more techniques to at least neutralize this annual downswing.
FryDog62 reply :
On 9/3/2019 at 10:18 AM, OperationEagle said:Lol. Come on guys...how about some positivity...maybe this could mean an extended fall?
the water was 68-69 pretty much all weekend here in the metro.
In in the next 10 days only one night will it be at 60...all others will dip below that. Lakes could turn over earlier this year?
august seems to be my least productive fishing month of the season as the fish are either deep or tight as heck to cover. I’ve got to learn more techniques to at least neutralize this annual downswing.
I agree a tougher time of year to find/catch fish. One thing that worked for me the other day was to upsize my Chatterbait. I went up to a 3/4 oz weedless Project Z. It stays down better and can bust it through the tighter cover, thicker weeds, etc. with more authority and without going really any faster. It wasn’t big numbers but really improved and covered a lot of water more efficiently...
sully420 reply :
Cold water = rocks, timber, healthy grass
NathanDLTH reply :
Caught one last night, was fishing Coon Rapids Park. Water seemed cooler than last week for sure. Swimbait did the work last night.
J Fitz reply :
Spent some time on the city lakes this weekend. My summer patterns are definitely starting to break down and the fish seem to be spreading out. Caught some fish way up shallow, a few grinding a 6xd out deep and some n between. Unfortunately no +4 pound fish to show. Looking forward to things stabilizing a bit.
bwjay reply :
I haven't posted in a while because I haven't caught much worth sharing. Bank fishing got worse through the summer as vegetation thickened, and some of my spots got completely choked so I had to stop fishing there. I caught the most fish this summer on a 5" watermelon red flake Senko. Big ones and little ones were eating them with little to no reservation. I caught a few on frogs as well but nothing huge. Sadly I think I am pretty much done fishing since I can't get to where fish are when I'm stuck on shore. I almost bought a pedal kayak but decided to wait until next year since I could get a good deal between now and April/May next year, and even if I bought the yak in early August, I would have gotten maybe a month and a half out of it. Hopefully next year I can slay 'em and post more in this thread. 
I am going up north for a few days however, for one final canoe trip, and I am hoping for my trip partner to hook into a big laker, but I'll be going for lakers and smallies as well. Hopefully my fishing for the year isn't completely over yet. I'd love to cap it off with a toad!
SmallBlockMuscle reply :
Caught 8 between first light and about 8:30 am Saturday. All on a whopper plopper 130 right outside the pad line. The rest of the morning was a tougher bite for sure, caught a couple on a little john md and a few more on ned rigs. Nothing was very repetitive after those morning top water fish. I had only caught a couple pike all year and now all of a sudden they are back and hitting everything, thankfully I didnt lose any gear but they do get quite annoying. Big bass of the day went 4lb 3oz which was my second fish of the morning on the plopper.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got out yesterday with my Uncle and leaned on em a bit. Kind of nice that tourney season is over so we can hammer on schools when we find them now.
Left to right: 5.04lbs, 4.15lbs, 3.35lbs
Best 5 went 18.5lbs for the day.
OperationEagle reply :
@ThatOneBigKid nice catches...where did you find them and what did they hit?
On 9/3/2019 at 11:01 AM, FryDog62 said:I agree a tougher time of year to find/catch fish. One thing that worked for me the other day was to upsize my Chatterbait. I went up to a 3/4 oz weedless Project Z. It stays down better and can bust it through the tighter cover, thicker weeds, etc. with more authority and without going really any faster. It wasn’t big numbers but really improved and covered a lot of water more efficiently...
Fry, I see only 1/2 and 3/8 oz available...I have been wanting to try a heavier version but always worried about it getting in the weeds. Didnt know these were weedless which is awesome. I think my regular chatterbaits are 3/8 oz. I will try a 1/2 unless there in fact is a 3/4 oz version. Let me know if you have a favorite color as most of my success has come off of a chartreuse and white.
FryDog62 reply :
Mel, you can find the 3/4 oz Project Z on TW: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Z-Man_Project_Z_Chatterbait/descpage-ZMPROZC.html
They used to have the 3/4 oz with a weedguard too earlier in the season, but now appears to only be 1/2 oz.
https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Z-Man_Project_Z_Weedless_Chatterbait/descpage-ZMWC.html
I have both, honestly I would opt for the 3/4 oz without the weedguard even though it might work to have a few 1/2 oz too and see what you prefer.
Breaking Wind is my preferred color... er... I mean Bream... with an Ultra Vibe Speed Craw Trailer in either Bull Frog or Green Pumpkin Orange Claws:
https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Zoom_Ultra_Vibe_Speed_Craw_35_12pk/descpage-ZSDC.html
Let us know how it goes!
punch reply :
I'm going to crowdsource this question.. has anyone fished Pelican Lake in Orr? I know it's the Linders home lake haha.
I'm going to hit it this fall and I'm hoping to gather some information. Smallie hunting of course.
MN_FishNut reply :
Been on Lake Steiger (Victoria, MN) lately as I love that lake but really no action. I fish out of a kayak. Been trying every lure and trick in my bag. Even got a Garmin Striken 4 fish finder which showed plenty of fish but no action ... I live in St. Paul (Highland Park) and very close to Hidden Falls Park. Tried the river (every location possible) and again no luck ???? But I persist and never give up. I caught a few over on Hyland Lake (nice little lake) and also a smaller lake down in Eagan called Blackhawk Lake. Blackhawk has been almost impossible to fish because of thick vegetation, except a few places around the lake. I was there one eve back in July and caught 7 HUGE (4-5 lbs) bass with the last one breaking my line and taking the hook and the bait with him. All from the same spot. I also tried the Bass Ponds over in Bloomington and again no luck. I am beginning to think that I'm just plainly unlucky ???? I would love to hook up with some local Twin Cities guys and go fishing. Learn from the pros. Been living in MN for the past 13 years and this year I got totally HOOKED on bass fishing. Just like that ...
rascalP reply :
On 9/4/2019 at 12:51 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Got out yesterday with my Uncle and leaned on em a bit. Kind of nice that tourney season is over so we can hammer on schools when we find them now.
Left to right: 5.04lbs, 4.15lbs, 3.35lbs
Best 5 went 18.5lbs for the day.
Nice. I agree about post-tourny season. I've only gotten out twice in the last couple weeks and both days, wind was howlin'. Time to catch up on "homework". One day we got them super tight to brush cover, and a few offshore, but the wind made that bite tough.
I was on Big Marine on Thursday and that south wind made all my offshore spots tougher than heck to fish. Kept telling myself we gotta deal with these conditions in a tournament, so better learn to deal with them now. Got a few fish on t-rigs. Surprisingly, nothing on a deep crank. Wind died after I was beaten down and got into a bunch of small fish on a ned. Too late to go looking for bigger fish.
BTW, Big kid, Nice job on 3rd place. You guys have really been fishing well the past few years and have been giving those advanced teams something to look at.
Also, shout out to Brian and Josh for doing a great job as TD's.
umdivx reply :
On 9/7/2019 at 10:39 AM, rascalP said:Also, shout out to Brian and Josh for doing a great job as TD's.
No problem. Our group is so laid back and drama free so makes it really easy.
Hawkeye21 reply :
I'm heading up to the Alexandria are for a fishing trip Next week, how's the bass fishing going? Sounds like it's been pretty tough in the south and it's been tough here in Iowa. Hoping they are transitioned over to the fall bite now.
NathanDLTH reply :
gimruis reply :
I had one of the better days of the season on Saturday morning. I caught over a dozen largies and another "accidental" tiger muskie. Unfortunately I only had the dog with me and she can't take photos so this was the best I could do.
sully420 reply :
Spinnerbait has been producing well for me lately. Double willow leaf gold and silver. It's been effective on multiple lakes with various water clarity and vegetation conditions. I've been using a 3/4oz and a 1/2 oz and covering water.
punch reply :
On 9/10/2019 at 11:11 PM, Hawkeye21 said:I'm heading up to the Alexandria are for a fishing trip Next week, how's the bass fishing going? Sounds like it's been pretty tough in the south and it's been tough here in Iowa. Hoping they are transitioned over to the fall bite now.
Where are you fishing in Alex? Love that area.
Hawkeye21 reply :
On 9/11/2019 at 11:01 PM, punch said:Where are you fishing in Alex? Love that area.
Will be staying on Osakis but we will fish about a dozen different lakes in the area. Lobster, Irene, Mary, Carlos, Brophy, Crooked and Oscar are a few I can think of that I've all fished.
Didn't go there last year but two years ago the fishing was fantastic. Hoping it will be great again this year.
punch reply :
On 9/11/2019 at 11:09 PM, Hawkeye21 said:Will be staying on Osakis but we will fish about a dozen different lakes in the area. Lobster, Irene, Mary, Carlos, Brophy, Crooked and Oscar are a few I can think of that I've all fished.
Didn't go there last year but two years ago the fishing was fantastic. Hoping it will be great again this year.
Nice, are there any good smallmouth lakes in that area besides finding some in the LHD chain? Just curious.
I stay at Lake Carlos State Park every year and just stick to the LHD chain.
Hawkeye21 reply :
On 9/11/2019 at 11:12 PM, punch said:Nice, are there any good smallmouth lakes in that area besides finding some in the LHD chain? Just curious.
I stay at Lake Carlos State Park every year and just stick to the LHD chain.
Never really caught many smallmouth up there over the years but we never focused on them. Lots of largemouth and northerns.
punch reply :
On 9/11/2019 at 11:15 PM, Hawkeye21 said:Never really caught many smallmouth up there over the years but we never focused on them. Lots of largemouth and northerns.
There are some smallies in the chain, but they are tricky to target because they only hold to a few key area's and types of structure. I've caught some 3lbers.
Tlauz reply :
Fishing has been good when the wind blows. Both smallmouth and largemouth have been relating to thickest weeds and weed edges. Rocks have been a bust. Water temps 60-62 last Saturday and Sunday. Caught this one Sunday on white spinnerbait. Hit at the boat with about 2 feet of line out.
punch reply :
On 9/12/2019 at 10:27 AM, Tlauz said:Fishing has been good when the wind blows. Both smallmouth and largemouth have been relating to thickest weeds and weed edges. Rocks have been a bust. Water temps 60-62 last Saturday and Sunday. Caught this one Sunday on white spinnerbait. Hit at the boat with about 2 feet of line out.
Wow that's a nice fish! mid 40's?
How have you been fishing the grass lines?
JackKlassen reply :
On 9/12/2019 at 12:10 AM, punch said:There are some smallies in the chain, but they are tricky to target because they only hold to a few key area's and types of structure. I've caught some 3lbers.
Carlos has decent smallies. Finished well in a high school tourney with a few brown kickers.
Tlauz reply :
On 9/12/2019 at 12:57 PM, punch said:Wow that's a nice fish! mid 40's?
How have you been fishing the grass lines?
45-46. Had to mark it on side of boat then measure so not an exact measurement. A couple weeks ago I was catching a lot of fish on a BX brat over weeds. Lately spinnerbait and swim-jig have been the best producers. Spinnerbait I have been running over the top of large cabbage beds. On my lake in the fall, find cabbage and find fish. Largemouth have been in the middle of weed beds. I have caught some good smallmouth on edges. Smallmouth seem to be cruising along weed edges where it drops off. Swim-jig I parallel weed edge one pass then throw in deeper into weeds on next pass. I fish two connected lakes. Small shallow lake seems to get better when water gets colder. . Water tends to cool off faster up north. It seems like everything happens a couple weeks earlier here when compared to most reports I read on here.
Tlauz reply :
Caught this little guy last weekend. Looks like he was lucky to get away.
sully420 reply :
On 9/13/2019 at 5:18 AM, Tlauz said:Spinnerbait I have been running over the top of large cabbage beds. On my lake in the fall, find cabbage and find fish. Largemouth have been in the middle of weed beds. I have caught some good smallmouth on edges. Smallmouth seem to be cruising along weed edges where it drops off. Swim-jig I parallel weed edge one pass then throw in deeper into weeds on next pass. I fish two connected lakes. Small shallow lake seems to get better when water gets colder. . Water tends to cool off faster up north. It seems like everything happens a couple weeks earlier here when compared to most reports I read on here
This has been the deal for me as well, cabbage has been the best grass lately. Basically find areas with the spinnerbait and slow down and work them over with a jig.
Sword Lord reply :
I generally take a few trips up to Minnesota every year. We hit the Mississippi river a lot but this years rain kept us on lakes. A few weeks after opener, despite blue bird skies for a few days, we hooked in to several nice LMs in the 4.5 to 5 lb range.
gimruis reply :
Is the bite completely dead out there or have people just not been out much? Guess summer isn’t quite over.
MN Fisher reply :
Haven't been out the past couple weeks. Have to schedule my trips in advance, and the weather my past couple scheduled dates hasn't cooperated...high wind and/or rain with a canoe is not a good thing.
Was scheduled for tomorrow...but again there's T-Storms in the forecast - sighs.
FryDog62 reply :
On 9/20/2019 at 3:21 AM, gimruis said:Is the bite completely dead out there or have people just not been out much? Guess summer isn’t quite over.
Last time I was out I got a call my wife was taking an ambulance ride to the local hospital... haven’t been out since, but keep the reports coming so I have a clue when I do get back on the water????
MN Fisher reply :
On 9/20/2019 at 6:18 AM, FryDog62 said:Last time I was out I got a call my wife was taking an ambulance ride to the local hospital... haven’t been out since, but keep the reports coming so I have a clue when I do get back on the water????
Hope she's doing better. Good thoughts on the way.
OperationEagle reply :
On 9/20/2019 at 6:18 AM, FryDog62 said:Last time I was out I got a call my wife was taking an ambulance ride to the local hospital... haven’t been out since, but keep the reports coming so I have a clue when I do get back on the water????
Hey Fry hope all is ok. Thinking about ya!
OperationEagle reply :
Possible time on the water tomorrow. Has the fall action started yet? Or are we still at the tail end of summer. Wondering especially given the recent warms temps. What’s been working guys?
sully420 reply :
On 9/21/2019 at 11:21 PM, OperationEagle said:Possible time on the water tomorrow. Has the fall action started yet? Or are we still at the tail end of summer. Wondering especially given the recent warms temps. What’s been working guys?
I was out yesterday, I found bass in millfoil. Basically I found areas of healthy milfoil that were spread out in clumps in 3' to 7' of water with a jig. I dont think there is a prevailing pattern right now. I think its gust spots and conditions. If the sun is out docks have been very productive, pads have also been very productive as long as they have at least 3' of water underneath. In overcast conditions I've just been breaking down grass flats and edges. The kind of grass hasn't really mattered it just has to be healthy, not a solid wall and orientated near the main lake. I've just been searching with a reaction bait than working the area slowly with a jig or t-rig.
So basically when the sun is up I fish docks or mats/pads and when its overcast I fish grass.
I have a question for everybody on here. Lately when fishing lakes with a thermalcline I've been marking schools of bait and above the thermalcline and bigger fish beneath the bait using the thermalcline like it's the bottom of the lake or an edge. The most interesting spots have been where the lake bottom drops abruptly and meets the tcline. Have anyone noticed this of fished theses spots?
Tlauz reply :
Got out today for 4 hours. Water was 4-5 degrees warmer than it was last Sunday (66 today). It was cloudy and breezy. I only threw two baits all day. 1/2 oz. War Eagle spinnerbait and DT 3. Today was probably the best bite I have had all year. I burned spinnerbait over weeds in less than 10 feet of water and bass were crushing it. Only negative was that I lost the two biggest fish I had on (one smallmouth and one largemouth). If I would have gotten them in the boat, the day would have been fantastic.
punch reply :
Did a morning on Mille Lacs yesterday in the NW corner around MyrMar. The big fish are biting! We caught 4 fish over 4lbs and several 3's. Some nice walleyes mixed in as well. The fall paddle tail swimbaite bite seems to be going. I tried ned rigs and dragging craws, but the big smallies only hit our white/silver paddle tails. Our best 5 went 21.7lbs.
The kicker was this 4.7 that I got on a 3.25" silver/pearl biospawn exo swim.
punch reply :
Side note, if anyone is looking for a good deal on a mint Gloomis GLX 852S spinning rod, shoot me a message.
MN Fisher reply :
Okay - got out for a bit and despite the wind trying to blow my canoe across the bay even with the anchor managed to hook one. No pic because my net was tangled and by the time I got it free, the bass shook the hook. I estimate it was around 2lbs though. Would have been nice to put in the cooler
Shad-Rap 07 in Perch was the lure.
In other news, I'm looking at used boats.
gimruis reply :
Hey fellas do me a favor and when you post updates until the season is over, please indicate water temp. That will be a very important determining factor from here on out. Thanks
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Made it our last Sunday after church for a few hours and ran into another stud plus about 20 other fish to go with her.
5.26lbs
Dragging a 1oz football jig very slow on some offshore gravel/hard bottom spots.
Edit: water temp was 69degrees
Tlauz reply :
Fished Saturday for about 5 hours. Everything that worked last weekend didn't this trip. Water temp was 61. Had frost the night before. Tried crank bait and spinnerbait but they didn't seem to want to chase. Ended up catching most of my fish on a 3/8 oz. white swim jig with a white grub trailer. Had to throw it in reeds. Not thick reeds but clumps of reeds with spots of open water in between. I would cast past reeds and slowly bring it through thickest part. Most bites happened when it got to thick part of reeds. Not all reeds were good. The best ones had thicker cabbage out in front of reeds. Ended up catching around 20 bass and a few pike. Nothing big.
NathanDLTH reply :
All my bites were on a Texas-rig tube w/ 3/8 oz shallow, water temp low to mid 60s. I was fishing in Shoreview and Roseville Saturday.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got out close to home Saturday and struggled to get bit. Caught a few, but nothing to write home about.
Went out to a different lake on Sunday afternoon with a buddy and had a hell of a day. Best day to date this year. Best 5 went 21.55lbs. Buddy also lost one at the boat that was well bigger than the 5.89 pictured below.
4.5lbs
4.21lbs
3.89lbs
5.89lbs
Same Fish
Also had a bonus 23.5" Walleye to go with it.
Such a fun day for only 5 hours of fishing.
gimruis reply :
I went out on Saturday morning for about 4 hours with a friend of mine. We caught 11 bass, 4 pike, and a muskie. Got all of the fish in the first 60 minutes except one. The bite completely died by 9am. I think there would have been a more extended bite had it been cloudy instead of sunny. My friend Tim caught his first muskie in over a decade. Water temp 66 degrees
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Seth Fieder is making it awful hard to stay at work this morning and not go fishing while watching bass live. Loved his quote this morning right away, "We are going to burn this school to the ground and then move to my good spot and start culling 4s with 5sw
shimmy reply :
Love the reports. That 5.89 bass looks AND is huge. Awesome catch and great bag. You guys have been consistently landing nice fish and seem to be killing it in tournaments. Always fun to read the reports. Will be out in MN this Friday for my fall trip. Hope you all do great and hope to get very lucky myself.
Troy
Sword Lord reply :
On 10/2/2019 at 12:04 PM, shimmy said:Love the reports. That 5.89 bass looks AND is huge. Awesome catch and great bag. You guys have been consistently landing nice fish and seem to be killing it in tournaments. Always fun to read the reports. Will be out in MN this Friday for my fall trip. Hope you all do great and hope to get very lucky myself.
Troy
Nice! I'll be in MN starting this Friday as well. Hoping the bite is on!
FryDog62 reply :
Friend of mine reported today: 58 degree water temp, Largemouth in 5-9 fow around grass. Lipless crankbait “on fire.”
MN Fisher reply :
On 10/5/2019 at 4:30 AM, FryDog62 said:Friend of mine reported today: 58 degree water temp, Largemouth in 5-9 fow around grass. Lipless crankbait “on fire.”
I just hope the predicted winds on Tuesday calm down, otherwise I'm not getting out for what could be my final trip of the year.
OperationEagle reply :
On 10/5/2019 at 4:34 AM, MN Fisher said:I just hope the predicted winds on Tuesday calm down, otherwise I'm not getting out for what could be my final trip of the year.
Ok. Not gonna lie...that made we wince a bit. I hope there are still a number of days to fish! Come on Indian summer where are you?
Thanks Fry...will have limited time this weekend to hit the water. Will give that lipless a try. It is that time of year.
Was on the water thrs and yes upper 50’s is water temp.
MN Fisher reply :
On 10/5/2019 at 10:11 AM, OperationEagle said:Ok. Not gonna lie...that made we wince a bit. I hope there are still a number of days to fish! Come on Indian summer where are you?
Well, with the water temp dropping and needing to get my feet wet to launch/land the canoe...that's my limiting factor.
OperationEagle reply :
On 10/5/2019 at 10:44 AM, MN Fisher said:Well, with the water temp dropping and needing to get my feet wet to launch/land the canoe...that's my limiting factor.
Gotcha. I have a bass boat and also get my feet wet when putting the boat back on the trailer. I grabbed a $10 pair of rubber boots that help me stay dry in this colder water.
Used to have a kayak and I feel your pain. As the water got colder I launched and docked using the boat dock. Fished deep into October and sometimes into November.
Hoping to to stay out there through November this year. We will see.
Just make sure to wear that pfd. That cold water can be unforgiving.
MN Fisher reply :
On 10/5/2019 at 1:27 PM, OperationEagle said:Just make sure to wear that pfd. That cold water can be unforgiving.
If I'm on the water, the PFD is on...without fail.
gimruis reply :
I’m seeing almost 70 this week and then another cold front by Friday. Hope that isn’t the “beginning” of winter.
Tlauz reply :
I fished for 4 hours today. Water temp was 50-52. The wind was blowing 15 mph with 25 mph gusts. Rained off and on throughout the day. Caught 8 bass and one nice pike. I caught a few on a swim jig but I had a hard time keeping bow out of line with the wind. Threw a 1/2 oz spinnerbait most of the day and caught most of my fish on it. Did catch 2 nice smallmouth. If the year wasn't ending soon, I wouldn't have gone out in this weather. I am going next weekend (forecast looks terrible. Wind, rain, snow, highs in 30's). After that I am going on the 18th and then dropping the boat off for winter storage. The last two falls have been terrible weather, I really miss nice falls.
FryDog62 reply :
OperationEagle and I got out and fought off the post cold front conditions and 20 mph winds to find a few fish on a West metro lake. 57 degree water temp. Fun day!
In hindsight, we probably spent too much time casting the flats and mid-depths (where the fish were located in the days before the rain/cold front). But that’s where you start...
Towards the end of the night we marked fish out as far as 17-26 feet. Drop-shot got one of the better fish at 18 fow. That’s probably where the majority of the better fish were, but maybe they will come back in a little shallower if the sun/warmth kick back in ??
PS - everyone should go fishing with Mel... he packs the best snacks!!
browne762 reply :
I missed out on the last few weeks so I made sure to get out yesterday for a few hours. Water temp was 58 and only got two small northerns. Better then nothing, but was hopping for more. Both were in 8-10 feet of water. One on a chatterbait and the other on a fluke.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got out during the Tsunami on Saturday. The bite was for sure slower than than reports I heard on Friday and Sunday, but our best 5 still went 16.5lbs. Best was this 4.05. Water temps were 57 degrees. Tried slowing down, but only thing I could get bit on were DT14s and a 6th Sense Cloud 9 C15 crank.
gimruis reply :
Ok so I have a question. I usually hang it up when the water temp drops below 50 which may happen within a week or so. For those that continue to fish when the temp drops into the 40’s, where and how do you guys fish? I’m mostly referring to largemouth in lakes to be specific.
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/8/2019 at 7:40 AM, gimruis said:Ok so I have a question. I usually hang it up when the water temp drops below 50 which may happen within a week or so. For those that continue to fish when the temp drops into the 40’s, where and how do you guys fish? I’m mostly referring to largemouth in lakes to be specific.
I get as surgical as I can when fishing for largemouth late in the year. Number one thing is to spend the time driving around the weed edge looking for any remaining green weeds - before you start to fish. There will be very few green weeds left but that is where any remaining feeding fish will be.
I then throw jigs... I start with big ones and move a little lighter/smaller if I need to. Love throwing a 3/4 oz Mop Jig with a big floppy Megadaddy trailer. Worked phenomenally last Fall. Next size down would be a 1/2 or 3/4 oz AT Grassmaster jig with Chigger Craw. Or if I need to, move down to a 3/8 - 1/2 oz Grassmaster with a compact, do-nothing Berkley Creature Hawg.
I‘ve done this the last couple years down to about 42 degree surface temps and still caught some fish. You’ll catch less fish, but I’m really only targeting the big girls this time of year and use the mentality of go big - or go winterize your boat...
And speaking of that - this is also the only time of year I think about having an E-Tec... that I can winterize, but take out again if you get a nice stretch of weather late in the year.. and then re-winterize with a push of a button..
Tlauz reply :
FryDog62 reply :
If the rain doesn’t kick in Thursday... might be the day to get out just before the front...
sully420 reply :
On 10/8/2019 at 8:35 AM, FryDog62 said:On 10/8/2019 at 7:40 AM, gimruis said:
I get as surgical as I can when fishing for largemouth late in the year. Number one thing is to spend the time driving around the weed edge looking for any remaining green weeds - before you start to fish. There will be very few green weeds left but that is where any remaining feeding fish will be.
I then throw jigs... I start with big ones and move a little lighter/smaller if I need to. Love throwing a 3/4 oz Mop Jig with a big floppy Megadaddy trailer. Worked phenomenally last Fall. Next size down would be a 1/2 or 3/4 oz AT Grassmaster jig with Chigger Craw. Or if I need to, move down to a 3/8 - 1/2 oz Grassmaster with a compact, do-nothing Berkley Creature Hawg
This is pretty much my strategy as well, and for some reason the Berkeley chigger craw seem to really work well. I will also choose lakes with with laydows or hard bottom areas and fish those.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 10/8/2019 at 8:35 AM, FryDog62 said:I get as surgical as I can when fishing for largemouth late in the year. Number one thing is to spend the time driving around the weed edge looking for any remaining green weeds - before you start to fish. There will be very few green weeds left but that is where any remaining feeding fish will be.
I then throw jigs... I start with big ones and move a little lighter/smaller if I need to. Love throwing a 3/4 oz Mop Jig with a big floppy Megadaddy trailer. Worked phenomenally last Fall. Next size down would be a 1/2 or 3/4 oz AT Grassmaster jig with Chigger Craw. Or if I need to, move down to a 3/8 - 1/2 oz Grassmaster with a compact, do-nothing Berkley Creature Hawg.
I‘ve done this the last couple years down to about 42 degree surface temps and still caught some fish. You’ll catch less fish, but I’m really only targeting the big girls this time of year and use the mentality of go big - or go winterize your boat...
And speaking of that - this is also the only time of year I think about having an E-Tec... that I can winterize, but take out again if you get a nice stretch of weather late in the year.. and then re-winterize with a push of a button..
Fantastic tips as always Fry. I have also had good luck rolling a chatterbait or lipless crank around this same remaining green weeds. Making slight contact with the weeds and then ripping off them to get the reaction strike.
Also, slowing down with a Ned Rig last fall really produced for me as well. Working it very slow around hard bottom and lay downs. It was painful at times, but I was still getting bit.
I also love having my E-Tec this time of year I think I "winterized" 3 or 4 times last year before finally calling it quits.
gimruis reply :
What about jerk baits? I do pretty good with them in the spring when the water is cold, so why wouldn’t they work in the cold water of fall?
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/10/2019 at 8:34 AM, gimruis said:What about jerk baits? I do pretty good with them in the spring when the water is cold, so why wouldn’t they work in the cold water of fall?
I think yes, but as the water dips well below 50 a lot of the fish are heading to wintering holes. The remaining “feeders” are usually by green vegetation. But you may jerk some nearby that are either cruising between weed clumps or getting ready to go deep.
punch reply :
I've not been fishing for largies in several weeks, BUT we just did return from a "trip up north" to fish smallmouth last weekend. We hit a pretty big glacial lake about 3.5 hours north of the cities. It was a blast even though the weather on Saturday was garbage. We caught a ton of smallmouth, some walleyes, and some largies.
The top techniques were:
- 3/8 oz football jig w/ a X-zone muscle back finesse craw
- 3/8 oz mustad football head open hook w/ a Z-Man Turbo CrawZ (AWESOME dragging bait)
- Biospawn Exoswim 3.25" swimbait (feider shad color) on a 1/4oz goldeneye swimbait head
- Various ned rigs
I'll be honest.. after sept 1st I'm usually 100% smallmouth mode. Why fish for largies when smallies put on the feed bag in 40-50 degree water temps?
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/10/2019 at 11:32 PM, punch said:I've not been fishing for largies in several weeks, BUT we just did return from a "trip up north" to fish smallmouth last weekend. We hit a pretty big glacial lake about 3.5 hours north of the cities. It was a blast even though the weather on Saturday was garbage. We caught a ton of smallmouth, some walleyes, and some largies.
The top techniques were:
- 3/8 oz football jig w/ a X-zone muscle back finesse craw
- 3/8 oz mustad football head open hook w/ a Z-Man Turbo CrawZ (AWESOME dragging bait)
- Biospawn Exoswim 3.25" swimbait (feider shad color) on a 1/4oz goldeneye swimbait head
- Various ned rigs
I'll be honest.. after sept 1st I'm usually 100% smallmouth mode. Why fish for largies when smallies put on the feed bag in 40-50 degree water temps?
Great report Punch. Curious what depths and any size to the smallmouth??
thatbasschigger187 reply :
whoa! It's been awhile since I've posted on here. But how's the fishing everyone? Now's the time to be fishing especially since there's no crowd. Tonka has been fantastic, same as all the metro lakes. The top water bite died within a week... crazy MN weather. But the fish are still super aggressive right now. Finally my Ganterels and GanCrafts got to play! The wiggle wart (pre rapala warts*)has been doing work too. Honestly I swear they'll eat anything right now, other than a top water. So get out there and smash em!
Tuesday on Tonka
Fishing was amazing! The fish were super aggressive today. Inside grass lines and shallow tops of points were key. Weather was fantastic. Water temps were in the 50's. I started out in Maxwell Bay. I caught a few there flipping the healthiest grass I could find. Nothing big. Went out to Crystal and fished all the super obvious spots. Nothing. Fished Arcola. Fish were filtering through there. All dinks though. I figured they were in there moving/feeding pattern. Started moving towards all the major points on main lake and stayed there the rest of the day. Fish were stacked the tops of points. I started off with a cranks and I never really got off that. Why fish something slow when fast works just as well right? The key though was the grass. Had to be healthy enough to rip grass without pulling the whole thing out. The same applied for the inside weedline. Grass had to be good. I pretty much caught at least 6 to 7 fish per spot. Ended up taking out my dobyns/calcutta set up to throw my swimbaits/glidebaits around. They were smashing it! But alot of misses. Those baits are just to big for the majority of MN bass. Last stop I made was in Black. More of the same, but fish were significantly smaller. Honestly was a fantastic day of fishing. 50+ fish in roughly 4 to 5ish hours. Nothing big but it was fun.
Setups
Squarebill - Shimano Curado 70XG Dobyns Champion 703 MH 12# Tatsu FL
Wart - Shimano Curado 70XG Dobyns Champion 703 MH 10# Tatsu FL
Swim/Glide - Shimano Calcutta 300D Dobyns Fury 8' 20# Berkley BigGame Mono
punch reply :
On 10/11/2019 at 12:15 AM, FryDog62 said:Great report Punch. Curious what depths and any size to the smallmouth??
TONS of 2 to 3.5 lb fish, with the occasional 4+ showing up. Depths were all over the map. They were on top of the rocks, to the sides of the rocks. They definitely were up on the reefs & rock points.
gimruis reply :
On 10/10/2019 at 11:32 PM, punch said:Why fish for largies when smallies put on the feed bag in 40-50 degree water temps?
Well the issue is that there are very few options for smallmouth in the immediate area and the rivers are crazy high right now.
OperationEagle reply :
Love these reports super detailed...and encouraging...now if I could just replicate them!
Id like to head back north to nab some SMB. Wonder what water temp will cause them to start to slow down? And how far are we from that given the forecast?
Sodaksam reply :
The Mississippi above the dam in Brainerd is good for smallies down to about 48-50 degrees. Some of my best days have been 40 degree air temp chucking crankbaits and drop shot rigs. Hope it doesn’t cool off too quick. One year I only saw one boat. It was Al Lindner. Kinda cool. .
punch reply :
On 10/11/2019 at 2:32 AM, gimruis said:Well the issue is that there are very few options for smallmouth in the immediate area and the rivers are crazy high right now.
True.. but it's worth the drive! Haha
On 10/11/2019 at 2:42 AM, OperationEagle said:Love these reports super detailed...and encouraging...now if I could just replicate them!
Id like to head back north to nab some SMB. Wonder what water temp will cause them to start to slow down? And how far are we from that given the forecast?
You can smash smallies RIGHT until ice up north. Heck some guys bust the ice out if the ramps to go out.
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/11/2019 at 10:15 AM, Sodaksam said:The Mississippi above the dam in Brainerd is good for smallies down to about 48-50 degrees. Some of my best days have been 40 degree air temp chucking crankbaits and drop shot rigs. Hope it doesn’t cool off too quick. One year I only saw one boat. It was Al Lindner. Kinda cool. .
Was he filming, or just out having fun alone?
umdivx reply :
On 10/11/2019 at 12:15 AM, FryDog62 said:Great report Punch. Curious what depths and any size to the smallmouth??
We had 3 boats, in my boat (my brother and I) our biggest largie was 4.3 and caught in 4' or less of water. All the smallies were off boulder reefs, most of the bigger ones were in 10+ feet hanging off bigger isolated rocks.
Our boat we mainly focused on ned rigs (not very confident in jigs), bombing them out, and slooooowly dragging them back, and popping them off the rocks. Pulled in several 4+ lbers doing this.
Saturday our best 5 went for 19.48lbs, also pulled in several 20"+ eyes.
Photos
Sodaksam reply :
Kind of off topic. My son and I went out on our lake in 34 degree temps and snow accumulating in boat and caught 5 walleyes before our hands about froze off. Mom was happy to have us out of the house. Water was 52 degrees. I hope the water does not cool a whole lot more. The forecast isn’t great the next 4-5 days.
gimruis reply :
Sodaksam, thanks for reporting. We’re you fishing near Pequot lakes?
shimmy reply :
Fished this week in the Ottertail County area. This may have been the worst weather I have ever fished in a week. 20-30 mph winds the whole week with the exception of one day. There was another day where it was 15 mph, but gusts of 30-40. I had planned on staying Friday and Saturday, then leaving Sunday, but then had a blizzard Thursday night. I actually don't mind fishing in the snow, but was nervous about the launch ramps and drive home. Too many extraneous variables, so I decided to play it safe and left Friday morning. Fishing was tough most days. My favorite lake had a kill off this winter. I honestly feel like I lost a best friend with it. It is so sad and the lake was becoming an incredible fishery. Too many big bass and not deep enough to sustain the oxygen needed. Serious bummer. Had over a 28 lb bag out of it last year and now it is never going to be the same. Went to some of the other next best lakes. They are very unlikely to produce a 28+ lb bag, but was able to get two 25 lb bag days during the two days in the 60 degrees this week. Went back to one of the lakes 2 days later and did terrible. The bite just shut down. If I could go out in a couple weeks I would since I am sure it would pick back up, but the bite was so rough. The only pattern I found out there was find a different lake. Some lakes would be shut down while other adjacent lakes were ready to play. No pattern. Fish were scattered, never clumped up like I can usually find late fall. Type of grass didn't matter. Some clumps of grass had a school of bass, but all were small. Big fish were lone rangers for me this week. I had one 5+ lb bass (that i didn't know at the time), that bit my brush hog maybe 20 times on at least 10 casts until he was finally on and I just set the hook. I found that a lot of missed jig bites wouldn't follow up on the jig, but would take the brush hog on follow up casts. Maybe the traditional senko follow-up would have worked, but I needed something with weight given the ridiculous wind so the brush hog did the trick for me. All big bass were in 6-8 feet of water range. Didn't catch a big one deeper or shallower than that. But again, there may have been some that followed it from the shallows and committed once in that depth. Don't know. Tough week with a few good days. It will get better out there, but I won't be there to experience it. I almost feel like this first real cold front got them skiddish, but the next one will let them think of feeding. Fished by myself so I was not able to find some patterns out in a good time on most days. Best lures of the week were #1 -jig, #2 - brush hog, and #3 -chatterbait worked as a jig in murkier water. Caught some on rapalas, spinnerbaits, frogs, and swimbait, but nothing over 5 pounds.
Few highlights of the trip, I bought the bass pro shops goretex parka and bibs on sale and they handled all of the ridiculous weather. Not only did I stay completely dry, but they stopped the wind. Best purchase for me in years. Bought some conventional "rain proof" gloves which failed miserably after holding one fish. I need to find a legitimate pair of rain gloves that are actually rain proof. Any suggestions? Other interesting things, had a northern jump at the boat so high that as I moved my face, it bit my hand and I then bled all over. Then the stupid thing jumped again at me and headbutted the boat. Never seen that before. Other bad northern highlight, went back to a good lake i previously did well on and within 3 casts, had both of my chatterbaits snipped off. Ouch. Hope you guys get in to them.
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/13/2019 at 9:08 AM, shimmy said:Fished this week in the Ottertail County area. This may have been the worst weather I have ever fished in a week. 20-30 mph winds the whole week with the exception of one day. There was another day where it was 15 mph, but gusts of 30-40. I had planned on staying Friday and Saturday, then leaving Sunday, but then had a blizzard Thursday night. I actually don't mind fishing in the snow, but was nervous about the launch ramps and drive home. Too many extraneous variables, so I decided to play it safe and left Friday morning. Fishing was tough most days. My favorite lake had a kill off this winter. I honestly feel like I lost a best friend with it. It is so sad and the lake was becoming an incredible fishery. Too many big bass and not deep enough to sustain the oxygen needed. Serious bummer. Had over a 28 lb bag out of it last year and now it is never going to be the same. Went to some of the other next best lakes. They are very unlikely to produce a 28+ lb bag, but was able to get two 25 lb bag days during the two days in the 60 degrees this week. Went back to one of the lakes 2 days later and did terrible. The bite just shut down. If I could go out in a couple weeks I would since I am sure it would pick back up, but the bite was so rough. The only pattern I found out there was find a different lake. Some lakes would be shut down while other adjacent lakes were ready to play. No pattern. Fish were scattered, never clumped up like I can usually find late fall. Type of grass didn't matter. Some clumps of grass had a school of bass, but all were small. Big fish were lone rangers for me this week. I had one 5+ lb bass (that i didn't know at the time), that bit my brush hog maybe 20 times on at least 10 casts until he was finally on and I just set the hook. I found that a lot of missed jig bites wouldn't follow up on the jig, but would take the brush hog on follow up casts. Maybe the traditional senko follow-up would have worked, but I needed something with weight given the ridiculous wind so the brush hog did the trick for me. All big bass were in 6-8 feet of water range. Didn't catch a big one deeper or shallower than that. But again, there may have been some that followed it from the shallows and committed once in that depth. Don't know. Tough week with a few good days. It will get better out there, but I won't be there to experience it. I almost feel like this first real cold front got them skiddish, but the next one will let them think of feeding. Fished by myself so I was not able to find some patterns out in a good time on most days. Best lures of the week were #1 -jig, #2 - brush hog, and #3 -chatterbait worked as a jig in murkier water. Caught some on rapalas, spinnerbaits, frogs, and swimbait, but nothing over 5 pounds.
Few highlights of the trip, I bought the bass pro shops goretex parka and bibs on sale and they handled all of the ridiculous weather. Not only did I stay completely dry, but they stopped the wind. Best purchase for me in years. Bought some conventional "rain proof" gloves which failed miserably after holding one fish. I need to find a legitimate pair of rain gloves that are actually rain proof. Any suggestions? Other interesting things, had a northern jump at the boat so high that as I moved my face, it bit my hand and I then bled all over. Then the stupid thing jumped again at me and headbutted the boat. Never seen that before. Other bad northern highlight, went back to a good lake i previously did well on and within 3 casts, had both of my chatterbaits snipped off. Ouch. Hope you guys get in to them.
Fish Monkey makes some good waterproof insulated gloves..
OperationEagle reply :
Shimmy, serious bummer about your favorite lake. That happened to me this past year. Not sure when or how long it will take to return to what it was like....maybe 7-10 years assuming not another kill happens.
Also so glad you are safe as fishing alone in nasty conditions can be less than ideal.
Nice write up despite poor results. You will be on em next time.
Btw, fry and I were out together recently and we found the fish to be scattered as well. We were waiting/hoping to find them bunched up and never did.
We are owed a long extended fall....one of these years. Tight lines shimmy good to hear from you.
gimruis reply :
I went out for a couple hours this afternoon and had my best day targeting largies of the season. I looked for the thickest weeds I could find and the fish smoked my slow rolling spinnerbaits and my slow vibrating chatterbaits. I caught 10 bass and 6 of them were over 18 inches. Water temp 53.5 degrees.
The advice to look for and find any remaining weeds proved to be effective. Thanks
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/14/2019 at 8:35 AM, gimruis said:I went out for a couple hours this afternoon and had my best day targeting largies of the season. I looked for the thickest weeds I could find and the fish smoked my slow rolling spinnerbaits and my slow vibrating chatterbaits. I caught 10 bass and 6 of them were over 18 inches. Water temp 53.5 degrees.
The advice to look for and find any remaining weeds proved to be effective. Thanks
I saw someone out casting from a boat on Parker’s Lake by my house today... had to be upper 30’s, 15 mph winds and a few drops/flakes. And readily admitted there’s someone definitely more manly than me lol. But good for you Grant if you can get out in weather like this with ideal water temps, you deserve to catch a bunch of nice largies!!
gimruis reply :
On 10/14/2019 at 9:23 AM, FryDog62 said:I saw someone out casting from a boat on Parker’s Lake by my house today... had to be upper 30’s, 15 mph winds and a few drops/flakes. And readily admitted there’s someone definitely more manly than me lol. But good for you Grant if you can get out in weather like this with ideal water temps, you deserve to catch a bunch of nice largies!!
The sun actually came out for a little bit too! Definitely cold out there in the wind tho.
Sodaksam reply :
Yes, kicker I was fishing close to home. FryDog, Al wasn’t filming unless he pulled out his iPhone when I was trying to get my dt-10 out of a tree. The water temp was 54 on Friday in the snow. I imagine it has plummeted.
thatbasschigger187 reply :
Man was the weather amazing yesterday! Cold but sunny. Not as windy as I thought it would be. I was out on the Mississippi. My buddy and I knocked them out. Nothing too big though, biggest running around 3. Pretty dangerous though not gonna lie. Water is super high and it's fast. The ultrex was at max to keep up. And there's tons and tons of brush in the water right now. So be careful if you guys plan to go out there. But we caught alot in the the 6 hours we had to fish. Easily over 50+ fish. Water temp was cold, low 50's and water was pretty muddy. Not the ideal conditions for smallies but the time of the year plus the sun finally being out definitely helped.
My buddy and I started with cranking. We were throwing squarebills. I was chucking a KVD 1.5 and he was throwing a Luckcraft LC 1.5. We caught a few but the fish seemed to be missing the lure. All our bites were outside the mouth. I switched to a Storm Arashi 03 with rattles and they got on it. Everything in the mouth. We did this for about 2 hours and it got a bit warmer. The crank bite died down. The fish seemed to get tucked in more to the brush and trees on flooded shoreline. We also noticed alot of baitfish swimming around in the calmer, clearer water. No idea on what type it was but there were small pods of them everywhere. We decided to start flipping to fish the brush more effectively. My buddy went with a tried and true jig but I wanted to try something different. I went with the Megabass Dark Sleeper. And boy was it FIRE!!!!!! We ended up flipping the rest of the day with some occasional drop shot mixed in. Majority of the fish were caught in typical fashion. Find a form of current break with brush mixed in with rocks. The darksleeper was awesome. Not too weedless though. I lost 4 of em compared of the one lost jig of my buddy's. All in all fun day of fishing. Again if you guys go out there be careful!
Setups
Squarebill - Shimano Curado 70XG Dobyns Champion 703 MH 12# Tatsu FL
KVD 1.5 in Chartreuse Shad / Arashi 03 in Wakasagi
Flipping - Shimano Excence DC Dobyns Champion 734 H 25# AbrazX FL
Megabass Dark Sleeper 3/8oz 2.4 inch in Hanahaze
Dropshot - Shimano Stradic 3000 Dobyns Champion 701 L 8# InvizX FL
Berkley Gulp Alive Minnow 3 inch
punch reply :
I really do need to work the dark sleeper into my river fishing next year, great idea.
thatbasschigger187 reply :
On 10/16/2019 at 6:46 AM, punch said:I really do need to work the dark sleeper into my river fishing next year, great idea.
It's a super versatile bait. It won me some money this year too when the deep crank just wasn't getting bit anymore but they wanted that baitfish.
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/16/2019 at 8:47 PM, thatbasschigger187 said:It's a super versatile bait. It won me some money this year too when the deep crank just wasn't getting bit anymore but they wanted that baitfish.
It’s been a lights out lure for me (both bass and walleyes) the last couple years... however, I moved up to the 1/2 and 3/4 oz - same compact size as the 3/8 oz but doesn’t float up as much on retrieve. I guess it depends on the depth you are targeting and whether you jig it or just straight retrieve but at a minimum you may want to buy a couple different weights and experiment..
thatbasschigger187 reply :
On 10/16/2019 at 10:24 PM, FryDog62 said:It’s been a lights out lure for me (both bass and walleyes) the last couple years... however, I moved up to the 1/2 and 3/4 oz - same compact size as the 3/8 oz but doesn’t float up as much on retrieve. I guess it depends on the depth you are targeting and whether you jig it or just straight retrieve but at a minimum you may want to buy a couple different weights and experiment..
Yeah I got a huge discount on these so I bought at least 5 to 10 of each size/length. That day was all about the smaller baitfish but the current was running hard hence why I went with the 3/8 oz in the 2.4 inch size and not the the 3.0 inch in 3/8,1/2,3/4 oz. I use the bigger ones in other situations. I like that they offer them in 3 different lengths and 7 different weights. I don't use these as straight retrieve lures. I have better options for that. These are specific for jig situations with a baitfish bite. MN tourney guys are too good to be relative to a technique as opposed to being specific and my mind is always thinking "tournament" "tournament" "tournament" even when I'm fun fishing LMAO!
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Got out last Friday afterwork and was still able to get a couple good ones cranking deeper (12' - 15') on hard bottom humps and points. Throwing a Spro DD Little John and a 6th Sense Cloud 9 C15. Water was 52 degrees and it was windy and snowing.
Fat 3.75lbs
Real fat 4.8lbs
Taking tomorrow off to get back out there. Possibly Saturday too. Hoping the crank bite is still going cause I haven't had enough yet, but have the finesse stuff rigged as well. Not looking forward to the wind report.
gimruis reply :
As my previous post indicated, Sunday afternoon was one of the better days of the season. So I went right back on Monday morning and almost got completely skunked. Same exact area, same depth, same lures...no fish. I couldn’t figure it out. Maybe I just happened to catch a feeding window on Sunday, I don’t know. But it was a riddle I couldn’t figure out only half a day later.
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/18/2019 at 7:42 AM, gimruis said:As my previous post indicated, Sunday afternoon was one of the better days of the season. So I went right back on Monday morning and almost got completely skunked. Same exact area, same depth, same lures...no fish. I couldn’t figure it out. Maybe I just happened to catch a feeding window on Sunday, I don’t know. But it was a riddle I couldn’t figure out only half a day later.
I had a guide tell me once that bass go on the fall feedbag in 4-5 spots per day for approx 30 minutes Each location then move on to the next spot. I’ve had days I time it right and other days it seems like they just left. It’s the home run or swing and a miss time of year...
Tlauz reply :
Fished last Sunday, Thursday and Friday. The first pic is my deck on Saturday the day before I went fishing. Snow was less the farther east I drove. Temp was 35 with 14 mph winds. Except for a Rainy River spring trip I once took, it was the coldest I have ever been fishing. I fished for 4 hours and caught 8 small largemouth. This Thursday I had pretty good weather. Wind was still blowing 12-15 and water temp was 47. My plan was to slow down and fish deeper, but I hate doing that when it is windy. I went to the best weed beds and slow rolled a War Eagle Spinnerbait with Berkley Powerbait 5 inch paddle tail over the top and also along a rock bar. Most of the time I was fishing in less than 10 feet of water. Didn't catch many, but caught some nice ones. Biggest four were 19.5, 19, 18 and 17. I caught 10 fish in 6.5 hours. I got one really nice pike and 2 small largemouth and the rest were smallmouth. Friday went and tried to do the same thing. Wind was 20mph steady. I fished for 2 hours without a bite and was getting blown all over. Went to the smaller lake that is connected hoping to be able to get out of wind but the wind direction made it hard. Found one small stretch where I could throw white swim jig with paddle tail trailer in shallow weeds and caught two nice largemouth. Biggest 19. I tried to replicate in other areas, but the wind made it almost impossible. After I went and dropped off boat to be winterized and stored. Good luck to those who are still going strong
.
Sodaksam reply :
Kicker, I understand the ‘they were here yesterday’ deal. I caught 4 or 5 in a spot yesterday on Tx rigged chigger craw. Today, not a sniff. Shallow weeds seem better. Of course last year deep diving cranks paid off. Keep plugging away I guess. Water temp is 48-49 here. Good luck
FryDog62 reply :
What water temps are you guys seeing fall turnover happening so far this year?
ThatOneBigKid reply :
Fished on Friday and had 49.5 degree water. The water was pretty clear compared to the week previous so I am assuming the turnover may have happen during the week. The bite was also much slower than it had been the week before.
Hoping the bite next Saturday is better. Fingers crossed. Did manage one good 4lber on Friday
Pogues2300 reply :
Fishing out of a kayak with no electronics so not sure of the water temp. Was able to catch some decent bass cracking a tube in depths ranging from 12 to 20 feet near the healthier looking weeds. First time fishing a tube, seems like a decent way to cover water while still being finessey.
gimruis reply :
Looks like the bottom is gonna drop out next week. I see highs in the 30's and a hard freeze for several nights. This weekend could be the end of the line...
I got my boat winterized and its heading to storage soon. Good luck to those that are still brave enough to fight the wind, rain, snow, and cold.
FryDog62 reply :
On 10/23/2019 at 2:25 AM, gimruis said:Looks like the bottom is gonna drop out next week. I see highs in the 30's and a hard freeze for several nights. This weekend could be the end of the line...
I got my boat winterized and its heading to storage soon. Good luck to those that are still brave enough to fight the wind, rain, snow, and cold.
If my in-laws are here to monitor my wife’s health for a few days, I plan to get out - hopefully with my son. Maybe muskies Friday and largemouth Saturday... and you’re right, after that it looks grim.
Pogues2300 reply :
Not sure where in Minnesota you guys are but the metro extended forecast actually calls for low 50s first week of November with only 1 freezing low that week. Might have a few weeks. I'm not ready for a 6 month shut down yet, guess we will see.
MN Fisher reply :
On 10/23/2019 at 6:07 AM, Pogues2300 said:Not sure where in Minnesota you guys are but the metro extended forecast actually calls for low 50s first week of November with only 1 freezing low that week. Might have a few weeks. I'm not ready for a 6 month shut down yet, guess we will see.
What forecast you looking at?
From Weather.com for my town which is in the Lake Minnetonka area
Pogues2300 reply :
I looked at a few, accuweather has it looking decent from November 5th on for a bit. Maybe the one that had mostly 50s was a little optimistic lol. I'm probably overly optimistic myself. We are about to find out i guess.
OperationEagle reply :
Who is still out there casting? Shoot us a report.
sully420 reply :
On 10/28/2019 at 9:58 PM, OperationEagle said:Who is still out there casting? Shoot us a report.
I'll be out this week and until the ice in on the lake so I'll report. I'll be throwing a blade bait, hair jig and a football jig th 30' of water from now on mabe a under spin as well.
OperationEagle reply :
On 10/28/2019 at 10:51 PM, sully420 said:I'll be out this week and until the ice in on the lake so I'll report. I'll be throwing a blade bait, hair jig and a football jig th 30' of water from now on mabe a under spin as well.
Are blade baits effective for largies? or you targeting SMB.
sully420 reply :
On 10/29/2019 at 1:17 AM, OperationEagle said:Are blade baits effective for largies? or you targeting SMB.
I'll be targeting largemouth, I haven't tried them yet but I think they should work.
thatbasschigger187 reply :
I'm still on that grind guys. No quitting until the lakes freeze up. I was out on Minnetonka this past weekend. And it was tough. But I did find them. Water temps were in the 40's so I wasn't really confident. The wind wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I struggled for the first few hours I was out there. Didn't get a single bite. Not even a pike. I was throwing a swim jig, jig and an assortment of cranks. Barely any "healthy" grass left. You were lucky to even find some let alone fish on them. So I abandoned the grass and stuck to harder cover. I tried docks first. Was getting bit good but all stretchers. They were super particular too. Your bait had to come from the far side under the docks. And dragged slowly out. Your skipping game had to be on point. After a 45 min flurry, that bite died down and I went to a few of my rock piles I have marked. All my deeper stuff was a no go. Idled around for awhile and I saw a rock pile I marked 2 years ago that I have never fish cause it's relatively shallow. I'd say 4 to 6 ft'ish. They were stacked on there. I have no idea why because that spot just seems dead to me for most of the year. Caught a nice bunch of chunky ones. I caught my first 2 off a jig. Then they stopped on that. Threw a drop shot caught a few more. Then they stopped on that too. I went to a technique I don't use much but when I do I usually catch them. A lipless crank! Trust me I hate this technique. But for some odd reason it works for me when my go-to stuff dies. I lost like 6 lipless on that rockpile. They wanted it fast and loud and on the bottom. I know you're thinking to yourself, why not just use a lipped crank? Trust me I tried that after I lost my 2nd LV500. As well as a football jig and other bottom contact baits. The lipless was the ticket in that moment. I had fun for the next 2 hours then boom bite died out and I went home. Just goes to show that lipless do work in the north country.
Setups
Lipless - Shimano SLX 150XG Powell Diesel 705CB 15# Trilene Mono
LV500 in TD Gill / Pearl Shad
JackKlassen reply :
Been in Colorado since August due to college but my buddies back home have been slamming brown fish and walleyes on the Big Pond this past week. Worth a shot for all you guys who are still grinding. I remember last year around this time we killed them slow rolling keitechs in low 40s water.
umdivx reply :
Went out for my last trip of the season, well last with my boat, getting some work done on the boat (fiberglass/gel-coat work) so figured i'd get out before I drop it off.
Kept and eye out for the wind reports and yesterday was absolutely fantastic out on Mille Lacs, the lake was super calm, been a long time since i've seen it that calm.
Started out SUPER cold and was getting iced up on all my rods with braid so stuck to my straight floro rods to help prevent the icing. Later in the day it warmed up into the 30's and sun came out and was just a super nice day to be out on the water and not working.
Only caught 6 fish all day but man were they chunky, the batteries in my scale was dead so couldn't weight in anything.
punch reply :
Time to dig out the ice gear...
FryDog62 reply :
On 11/13/2019 at 11:54 PM, punch said:Time to dig out the ice gear...
Or wait till today's snow clears off the pavement, then pull the boat down 35w until you either take a right to Tenkiller, or a left to Table Rock...
gimruis reply :
Looking forward to next spring.
punch reply :
On 11/17/2019 at 7:52 AM, gimruis said:Looking forward to next spring.
No kiddin! However, there's still lots of good fishing to be had this winter. I'll be hitting the riverbank in Monticello for smallies & poppin holes all over the north metro chasing crappies & LMB.
I'm actually getting excited to hit the ice. It's looking like an early season this year.
gimruis reply :
Boy, some lakes started locking up with that cold snap last week and now today I saw them ice free again. Now they’re talking 40’s until Thanksgiving and some rain tomorrow. Maybe I put my fishing gear away too early...
Sodaksam reply :
We have 5 inches on our lake in Pequot. Was out today, and a curious fox was within 10 yards of me. He wasn’t nervous at all. Pretty cool.
punch reply :
Anyone hit the river yet?
FryDog62 reply :
On 11/26/2019 at 12:48 AM, punch said:Anyone hit the river yet?
Was on Miss/CR dam Saturday. Water temps 32 degrees. Not much going except live bait.
ThatOneBigKid reply :
So what kind of damage has everyone done in terms of new gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
I picked up two of the Humminbird Helix 10 Mega Imaging units from Cabelas on BF. Replacing my 1198 unit on my console. I intend to pick up a Mega 360 unit for the trolling motor that I'll run off the second unit.
Also picked up some jigs from Outkast and some cranks from 6th Sense.
MN Fisher reply :
On 12/4/2019 at 3:48 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:So what kind of damage has everyone done in terms of new gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
I picked up two of the Humminbird Helix 10 Mega Imaging units from Cabelas on BF. Replacing my 1198 unit on my console. I intend to pick up a Mega 360 unit for the trolling motor that I'll run off the second unit.
Also picked up some jigs from Outkast and some cranks from 6th Sense.
TW: Some more jigs, a couple Choppos, a 4th Z-Man original chatter to round out the color selection and a bunch of plastics - mainly one and two colors to fill in where I had one and two of a style already - and the big purchase? (du-du-DUUUU) A Dobyns Fury crank rod (7' MH/M) to go with the 6.3:1 Fuego I got as a B-Day gift.
Cabelas: A pack of XPS Squarebills.
Still gotta put in my Rapala order from FishUSA - round out my jerkbait collection.
FryDog62 reply :
On 12/4/2019 at 3:48 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:So what kind of damage has everyone done in terms of new gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
I picked up two of the Humminbird Helix 10 Mega Imaging units from Cabelas on BF. Replacing my 1198 unit on my console. I intend to pick up a Mega 360 unit for the trolling motor that I'll run off the second unit.
Also picked up some jigs from Outkast and some cranks from 6th Sense.
Will be looking forward to your review on the new 360. I contemplated that before I bought LiveScope. Both are good, fun to compare...
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 12/4/2019 at 12:08 PM, FryDog62 said:Will be looking forward to your review on the new 360. I contemplated that before I bought LiveScope. Both are good, fun to compare...
Correct me if I am wrong, but the live scope doesn't show the "radar" like top down view of the structure around the transducer like the 360, correct? It is basically Lowrance's version of Panoptix. Otherwise I missed something looking at the Livescope.
Going with 360 so there is no questioning how close I am to the structure or weedline I am targeting. Should just make me that more efficient and it should help me understand even more what is going on down there. Looking forward to it. Will for sure post a review.
FryDog62 reply :
On 12/5/2019 at 1:14 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:Correct me if I am wrong, but the live scope doesn't show the "radar" like top down view of the structure around the transducer like the 360, correct? It is basically Lowrance's version of Panoptix. Otherwise I missed something looking at the Livescope.
Going with 360 so there is no questioning how close I am to the structure or weedline I am targeting. Should just make me that more efficient and it should help me understand even more what is going on down there. Looking forward to it. Will for sure post a review.
There are two views on Livescope - straight down and one that shoots out in front of the boat (or whatever direction the trolling motor faces).
Straight down is a cone so not as wide a circle as 360 Imaging, but wider than the typical transducer. It is real time, no waiting for the screen to refresh, very accurate in identifying structure and fish, which way they are moving, etc. Absolutely great for drop-shotting, Ned/Neko, etc.
Switching the view forward can go out as far as you want (I'm typically 70 feet or whatever casting distance is). Here Livescope helps you see/follow the weed edge, structure, etc. and see "some" fish movement. I say some fish because the big ones or baitfish clouds are more obvious, but less so smaller fish that are farther out or those really tight to the bottom.
I think both Livescope and 360 are great to get a better idea of what's going on down below, maybe to identify structure to cast too more so than actual fish, but both to a degree. No idea which is better, just probably a little different in perspective. If we ever get out on the water together we should jump in each other's boats and compare the same area sometime. ????
ThatOneBigKid reply :
On 12/5/2019 at 3:49 AM, FryDog62 said:There are two views on Livescope - straight down and one that shoots out in front of the boat (or whatever direction the trolling motor faces).
Straight down is a cone so not as wide a circle as 360 Imaging, but wider than the typical transducer. It is real time, no waiting for the screen to refresh, very accurate in identifying structure and fish, which way they are moving, etc. Absolutely great for drop-shotting, Ned/Neko, etc.
Switching the view forward can go out as far as you want (I'm typically 70 feet or whatever casting distance is). Here Livescope helps you see/follow the weed edge, structure, etc. and see "some" fish movement. I say some fish because the big ones or baitfish clouds are more obvious, but less so smaller fish that are farther out or those really tight to the bottom.
I think both Livescope and 360 are great to get a better idea of what's going on down below, maybe to identify structure to cast too more so than actual fish, but both to a degree. No idea which is better, just probably a little different in perspective. If we ever get out on the water together we should jump in each other's boats and compare the same area sometime. ????
I would be down for a comparison fishing trip. Would be sweet to see the differences between the two.
umdivx reply :
On 12/4/2019 at 3:48 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:So what kind of damage has everyone done in terms of new gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
So lets see.
American Legacy.... Dobyns Champion Extreme HP 7'-4" spinning rod and Champion XP 7'-3" casting rod to round out my already large Dobyns rod collection. Also picked up a new Tatulta SV TW casting reel.
Outkast Tackle.... re-stocked up on perfect ned heads, Golden eye swim bait heads, and a good amount of the money jigs.
X-Zone Lures.... loaded up on some more plastics and got a few hats.
Biospawn... loaded up on 3.25" Exoswim plastics
Rapala.... Finally picked up one of their tournament culling scales
All Terrain... loaded up on jigs, mainly 1/4oz, not a huge heavy jig person so the lighter the better for me.
think that is it so far. Can't keep track of everything I got.
FryDog62 reply :
On 12/5/2019 at 8:31 AM, umdivx said:So lets see.
American Legacy.... Dobyns Champion Extreme HP 7'-4" spinning rod and Champion XP 7'-3" casting rod to round out my already large Dobyns rod collection. Also picked up a new Tatulta SV TW casting reel.
Outkast Tackle.... re-stocked up on perfect ned heads, Golden eye swim bait heads, and a good amount of the money jigs.
X-Zone Lures.... loaded up on some more plastics and got a few hats.
Biospawn... loaded up on 3.25" Exoswim plastics
Rapala.... Finally picked up one of their tournament culling scales
All Terrain... loaded up on jigs, mainly 1/4oz, not a huge heavy jig person so the lighter the better for me.
think that is it so far. Can't keep track of everything I got.
Big fan of All-Terrain Grassmaster Jigs - I hope the new ownership doesn’t mess with the best “weed” jig on the market ( I have dozens of 1/2 & 3/4 oz GM jigs)
OperationEagle reply :
On 12/4/2019 at 3:48 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:So what kind of damage has everyone done in terms of new gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday?
I picked up two of the Humminbird Helix 10 Mega Imaging units from Cabelas on BF. Replacing my 1198 unit on my console. I intend to pick up a Mega 360 unit for the trolling motor that I'll run off the second unit.
Also picked up some jigs from Outkast and some cranks from 6th Sense.
Was able to grab one of those helix 10 mega si’s online from Cabela’s at the BF price. Will replace my gen 1 DI up front ...so now I will have one at bow and dash.
Arrives tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing which transducer it comes with. Read it’s not the standard mega but the g3n one. We will see.
umdivx reply :
On 12/5/2019 at 12:29 PM, FryDog62 said:Big fan of All-Terrain Grassmaster Jigs - I hope the new ownership doesn’t mess with the best “weed” jig on the market ( I have dozens of 1/2 & 3/4 oz GM jigs)
Less of new ownership and more of a partnership. AT just couldn't keep up with distribution. That is why they partnered up with Clam/BF so they can handle the distribution aspects.
OperationEagle reply :
Heads up that the gander outdoors in lakeville has a 50% off sale on almost everything in the store. Includes non ice fishing baits, rods and reels.
I walked out out of there today w a Daiwa ballistic 2500 for $115, a presidential xt for $35, and an avid x spinning rod medium xf for $110.
I believe it will continue until inventory is drawn down. Hear they want to make room for moving some RV’s into the retail space so they need the room.
Note that the cashiers are having to manually mark everything down at the register so the checkout line was extremely long. For this discount it was worth the wait.
FryDog62 reply :
Interesting article on a big fish caught in a state not known for big bass... kind of like Minnesota. Was caught on a mop jig which is one of my favorite lures when hunting for size. Wonder if there is a double digit bass that will be caught here someday, and if not on live bait, if it will be on something like the big mop??
Angler Catches Giant Bass in Unlikely State
This is something we certainly didn't expect to see, to be quite honest. Angler John Huckstep caught a 13.2-pound bass in Virginia last week! We've never really heard much about big bass coming from Virginia, but apparently some monster bass live there. Huckstep is known for his big bass prowess and is a respected angler throughout the state. He was kind enough to share some of the details of his incredible catch with us.
Huckstep fooled the 13-pounder with a black/blue-colored Buckeye Lures Mop Jigwith a Zoom Swimmin' Chunk in sapphire blue.
gimruis reply :
While Minnesota lies further north than Virginia does, its very possible that both the largemouth and smallmouth state records could be broken here soon. A 13 pounder largie might be a little extreme here in Minnesota but a 9 or 10 pounder probably isn't. It would have to also be a pre-spawn or autumn fish so it has the massive weight needed in my opinion. With warming waters/climate and the fact that bass are adaptive to it, maybe its only a matter of time.
Not_Here reply :
.
FryDog62 reply :
On 12/21/2019 at 6:53 AM, Frog Turds said:i'll definitely keep swingin for the record, be cool to catch a freak that really tops it and not by just splitting hairs...i've only been 1.37#'s off of the current record twice, both were fall feedbag largies...love to look into a scale crystal ball and know what those same females would of weighed up prespawn...
Frog, The bigger fish you’ve caught, have they been on big jigs or on other favored set-ups?
Not_Here reply :
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FryDog62 reply :
On 12/22/2019 at 8:16 AM, Frog Turds said:the one in 9/24/13 was an inland chain of lakes in central MN/south of the cities on a 1/2oz black/blue jig with a 4" pitboss trailer, so somewhat bulky...jig is my favorite and one of my bread & butters...she was under a dock, the last dock in the line with the deepest water under it with a fairly fast transition to deep water...2 or 3 docks prior to that one and the fish just before went 6.72#'s on the same...which i broke both my PB's back to back just minutes apart, was a good day...
the other was last year in the sippi backwaters on 10/22/18...on my least favorite baits to throw, a 1/2oz chatterbait...i'll point out why i dont care for them is that i really hate feeling all that vibration BUT if its the tool i need and they are keyed in on it ill throw it, im not that stubborn lol...i found a pile of pigs on an outside edge of a lotus point that had some deeper structure (never really deep in the backwaters but still deeper structure compared to adjacent area) and had flow running along the entire edge of that lotus field...
to be honest, i would of never thought id get a 7.56#er out of the sippi...compared to the lakes i used to fish which i caught 5+ pounders regularly and usually atleast 1 over 6 per season...the sippi gives up a decent amount of 4+ but 5's and above are scarce compared...not saying the numbers of 5's and/or 6+ arent there but your dealing with endless acres of water volume and endless acres of veg for them to get lost in (p.s keep in mind i know that im not telling you anything you dont already know
for me, lakes are easy to break down and find them compared, sippi is a different animal when every time i go, which is weekly there are so many environmental factors at play it can be like day 1 each time in a sense...whether its water level fluctuations, flow, vegetation growth (i'll throw in vegetation movement even) it can morph so rapidly and behave so drastically different from one week to the next...just can be a very unstable system vs a land locked lake that doesnt experience those same factors that the mighty miss does and for the most part, lakes are stable and consistent...
but i wouldnt change it, im a river rat and i'd be totally cool if i never fished a land locked lake again...per my heavy cover bassin style, theres simply just no better fit for me...
so to answer your question, oddly enough 1 on my favorite and 1 on my least favorite...
Having grown up in Rochester and in Olmsted County (the only county in Minnesota without a natural lake) we fished the Zumbro River and Mississippi near Wabasha frequently. You’re absolutely right, a lot of 3-4 pound bass and the occasional 5, so to catch something north of 7 lbs there is a very rare beast indeed!
NathanDLTH reply :
Think it’s possible for a 9-10 lber here, glad someone broke a record. I’m hoping Minnesota’s record gets beaten.
FryDog62 reply :
On 12/23/2019 at 5:00 AM, NathanDLTH said:Think it’s possible for a 9-10 lber here, glad someone broke a record. I’m hoping Minnesota’s record gets beaten.
If you had to guess - - will it be caught on a river, large lake or smaller body of water?
MN Fisher reply :
On 12/23/2019 at 9:17 AM, FryDog62 said:If you had to guess - - will it be caught on a river, large lake or smaller body of water?
Probably an out of the way lake that's not fished much. Current official record, 8-15 on Auburn Lake in Carver County (290 acres). In 2011, some lady fishing up by Embarrass caught one and released it...measurements (wasn't weighed) put it around 9.9#.
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/1497631-Was-Moorhead-womans-fish-a-largemouth-bass-record-Well-never-know-for-sure
Not_Here reply :
.
gimruis reply :
So what did Santa bring ya'll this year? I got a new pair of Costa sunglasses and a Megabass jerk bait. I could never get myself to buy one of these expensive items myself with my own hard earned money so this was the only way I was gonna get either one!
FryDog62 reply :
On 12/27/2019 at 2:58 AM, gimruis said:So what did Santa bring ya'll this year? I got a new pair of Costa sunglasses and a Megabass jerk bait. I could never get myself to buy one of these expensive items myself with my own hard earned money so this was the only way I was gonna get either one!
Awesome, so did the jerk bait cost more than the Costa’s?? Haha, Megabass Visions cost a pretty penny!
NathanDLTH reply :
On 12/23/2019 at 9:17 AM, FryDog62 said:If you had to guess - - will it be caught on a river, large lake or smaller body of water?
I’d say lake over river, don’t have to fight current and I know little of targeting big fish other than big baits help. I could see both large or smaller lakes, but the unknown lakes or less pressured have a better chance of producing monsters. Let’s look at Mil Lacs, people are catching World Class Muskies up there and we know it has big smallies. So what allowed those fish to get so big? I think some human intervention along with bait/forage and space. Tournaments have seen a consistent 5lb average for winning bags. It’s gonna take an unknown lake that isn’t pressured.
This is a nice change of pace from the guys on Facebook loosing their minds about ppl using live bait in Monticello by the power plant. It’s gotten stupid. That’s all.
I’m gearing more for targeting bigger fish, even though I’m a bank angler, at least once or twice a year I catch a 4+ or high 3s. Lost a couple high 4s early summer. So higher end gear helps, but knowing my equipment and what it can and can’t do too.
MN Fisher reply :
On 12/28/2019 at 12:15 AM, NathanDLTH said:This is a nice change of pace from the guys on Facebook loosing their minds about ppl using live bait in Monticello by the power plant. It’s gotten stupid. That’s all.
What are they worried about? Mutants?
SMH
NathanDLTH reply :
On 12/28/2019 at 12:18 AM, MN Fisher said:What are they worried about? Mutants?
SMH
They are complaining about the treatment of the smallmouth and being that it’s stupid easy with live bait to catch them. Gut hooked, swallowed hooks etc. Its stupid imo.
MN Fisher reply :
On 12/28/2019 at 2:01 AM, NathanDLTH said:They are complaining about the treatment of the smallmouth
Then either don't fish or don't go to where people are fishing. Despite rumors to the contrary, fishing is a sport that's traumatizing to the fish.
On 12/28/2019 at 2:01 AM, NathanDLTH said:being that it’s stupid easy with live bait to catch them.
Let me guess - PETA wannabes who want things harder for the fishermen. If someone wants to catch fish, they'll use the best lure/bait available to them. If that means live bait...so be it.
On 12/28/2019 at 2:01 AM, NathanDLTH said:Gut hooked, swallowed hooks etc.
Have the right tools for removing those hooks...it's not impossible, just takes patience.
On 12/28/2019 at 2:01 AM, NathanDLTH said:Its stupid imo.
No argument here on that.
gimruis reply :
On 12/27/2019 at 8:50 AM, FryDog62 said:Awesome, so did the jerk bait cost more than the Costa’s?? Haha, Megabass Visions cost a pretty penny!
Fake Santa (aka my wife) claims the Costas were acquired about half price but I’m sure that was still quite a bit more than the mega bass jerk bait.
gimruis reply :
On 12/28/2019 at 2:01 AM, NathanDLTH said:They are complaining about the treatment of the smallmouth and being that it’s stupid easy with live bait to catch them. Gut hooked, swallowed hooks etc. Its stupid imo.
Didnt smallmouth harvest ended in September, did it not? So people are targeting them with live bait and intending to release them? Or are they actually trying more for walleyes and catching bass?
NathanDLTH reply :
On 12/28/2019 at 7:53 AM, gimruis said:
Didnt smallmouth harvest ended in September, did it not? So people are targeting them with live bait and intending to release them? Or are they actually trying more for walleyes and catching bass?
They are doing catch n release. It's kinda nuts now. Everyone and their brother is complaining about the fishing out there and how it's nearly shoulder to shoulder. I'm a bank buster and I see the point, but man chill out. Treat the fish with respect and they will be there for years to come.
gimruis reply :
I see. I guess I can’t blame them too much because fishing in a river for bass definitely beats any kind of ice fishing.
umdivx reply :
On 12/28/2019 at 12:18 AM, MN Fisher said:What are they worried about? Mutants?
No, just that the "live bait knuckledraggers" just chuck out over weighted hooks with minnows and just leave the poles on stands and such and aren't feeling for bites and by the time they realize they have a fish on it's too late and the hook is way too far down the gullet of the fish.
I've not personally seen that happen much but i'm not there during the busy times, mostly week days when no one else is around.
On 12/27/2019 at 2:58 AM, gimruis said:So what did Santa bring ya'll this year?
Wife bought me a pair of the Blackfish Endure rain bibs. Pretty sweet gift actually.
On 12/28/2019 at 2:07 AM, MN Fisher said:Let me guess - PETA wannabes who want things harder for the fishermen. If someone wants to catch fish, they'll use the best lure/bait available to them. If that means live bait...so be it.
Actually no, its from other hard core bass guys. They just want to see better treatment of the fish and preserve the fishery.
I can see some of the merits to the argument, but at the same time not.
On 12/28/2019 at 7:42 AM, gimruis said:
Fake Santa (aka my wife) claims the Costas were acquired about half price but I’m sure that was still quite a bit more than the mega bass jerk bait.
I picked up two pair of Coasta's from Nordstrom Rack of all places, they were like 60% off, crazy cheap.
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