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Minnesota Fishing Reports - 2018 2024


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Exactly 100 days from today - I will take the boat out of storage and head to South Dakota for ice out smallmouth!!!

 

Gotta look forward to something when it’s -12 degrees and windchill of -30...


fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 

Awesome ~ You know I can relate.

btw - your ability to predict the exact date of soft water is admirable.

Especially 3 months out . . . . 

:smiley:

A-Jay


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 1/5/2018 at 10:10 PM, A-Jay said:

Awesome ~ You know I can relate.

btw - your ability to predict the exact date of soft water is admirable.

Especially 3 months out . . . . 

:smiley:

A-Jay

Well, if there is a little ice left on the lakes then, it’s good to be back in an aluminum boat again to push through without chipping the fiberglass as with boats in my past.  

 

It was was a great first year with the Lund PVB, looking forward to year 2!!


fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 
  On 1/6/2018 at 4:08 AM, FryDog62 said:

Well, if there is a little ice left on the lakes then, it’s good to be back in an aluminum boat again to push through without chipping the fiberglass as with boats in my past.  

 

It was was a great first year with the Lund PVB, looking forward to year 2!!

I'm with ya ! 

And "PVB" ~ I really like that one.

:smiley:

A-Jay

 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I'm embracing the ice season this year... even got a proper thermal 8x8 hub. I've dabbled in the past but I'm all-in this year. 

 

It's a heck of a lot harder than open water fishing that's for sure! We hit medicine lake last night and drilled probably 50+ holes, then when we finally found fish they weren't active.

 

It's like asking 50 women out on a date, and one finally says yes.. then she doesn't like you. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Frydog,  SD has been on my bucket list for a number of years now.  For better or worse, I'm caught up in trout fishing in april and early may, making at least one trip to SE MN.  Been scouting out a few lakes to hit if we ever do get out there.

 

  Got out for some ice fishing today and got 4 bass to the hand, broke off 2 more - biggest went about 17 inches.  Panfishing was surprisingly tough, but good enough to keep 5 each for a meal.  


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 1/11/2018 at 11:19 AM, rascalP said:

Frydog,  SD has been on my bucket list for a number of years now.  For better or worse, I'm caught up in trout fishing in april and early may, making at least one trip to SE MN.  Been scouting out a few lakes to hit if we ever do get out there.

 

  Got out for some ice fishing today and got 4 bass to the hand, broke off 2 more - biggest went about 17 inches.  Panfishing was surprisingly tough, but good enough to keep 5 each for a meal.  

How did you get the bass? Tip ups? 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 1/12/2018 at 11:12 PM, punch said:

How did you get the bass? Tip ups? 

I wish I could tell you it was a real technical method, but truth is just fish for panfish. I use various types of lures -- horizontal and vertical hanging, usually tungsten cause they are heavy for their size and I want my line pulled tight as possible. No bobber, just watching the tip or line.  If fish are real aggressive you can just use various plastics on the lure, but usually I tip everything with eurolarvae (maggots).  Bass are hanging with the sunnies  8 to 12 fow.  I've been using 3lb test, but 4 would be better.  Make sure your drag works and use your backreel.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 1/13/2018 at 11:59 PM, rascalP said:

I wish I could tell you it was a real technical method, but truth is just fish for panfish. I use various types of lures -- horizontal and vertical hanging, usually tungsten cause they are heavy for their size and I want my line pulled tight as possible. No bobber, just watching the tip or line.  If fish are real aggressive you can just use various plastics on the lure, but usually I tip everything with eurolarvae (maggots).  Bass are hanging with the sunnies  8 to 12 fow.  I've been using 3lb test, but 4 would be better.  Make sure your drag works and use your backreel.

 

Yeah I hear ya! I do the same for panfish. Tungsten jigs or small spoons with spikes.  I just never seem to luck into a largie when i'm targeting crappies/bluegills. I only seem to get bass/pike on minnows with deadsticks & tip ups. 


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Anyone fished Monticello recently? Thinking about heading up this weekend.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 1/19/2018 at 2:54 AM, JackKlassen said:

Anyone fished Monticello recently? Thinking about heading up this weekend.

It's REALLY busy on the weekends. It's gotten quite popular if the temps over 25-30. I'd go during the week if you don't want to be shoulder to shoulder with people. 


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Well the bait monkey hit hard today lol! Stomached the purchase of a Daiwa Steez A TW, the price was $90 less than asking price at any local shop, top it off I've ordered one more rod and all my tackle purchases are done. The bill for all this. Wow! I've been fishing once thanks to this warmer weather and there are bass to be had. I'd say a jerk bait or finesse jig if you're looking for open water. 


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 1/23/2018 at 2:08 AM, punch said:

It's REALLY busy on the weekends. It's gotten quite popular if the temps over 25-30. I'd go during the week if you don't want to be shoulder to shoulder with people. 

Good to know, was also thinking about going up there this weekend.  Now that Major League Fishing has started up again ice fishing just isn't cutting it right now.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 1/26/2018 at 12:44 PM, NathanDLTH said:

Well the bait monkey hit hard today lol! Stomached the purchase of a Daiwa Steez A TW, the price was $90 less than asking price at any local shop, top it off I've ordered one more rod and all my tackle purchases are done. The bill for all this. Wow! I've been fishing once thanks to this warmer weather and there are bass to be had. I'd say a jerk bait or finesse jig if you're looking for open water. 

Good to know someone else is bordering on insane.  Am close to purchasing a Steez as well.  Ordering the SV to skip weightless plastics.  May hold off and purchase at the NW Sportshow in March.  Usually someone running a deal then (I hope anyway)...


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 1/26/2018 at 9:29 PM, FryDog62 said:

Good to know someone else is bordering on insane.  Am close to purchasing a Steez as well.  Ordering the SV to skip weightless plastics.  May hold off and purchase at the NW Sportshow in March.  Usually someone running a deal then (I hope anyway)...

The NW sports show is basically 20% off rods/reels/tackle at all the dealers. It's all MSRP with a 20% haircut. You can get bigger discounts on more expensive stuff like electronics but rods/reels are pretty much 20% off across the board. One nice thing about the NW sports show is most of the vendors are on-site with their promo's.. and you can double dip! 

 

Like last year Daiwa had a "free jersey with the purchase of a tatula product" and they had jerseys there on-site. If you walked over to a vendor, bought a rod, then walked back to the Daiwa booth and showed them your rod & receipt they gave you a jersey. Then you could go home and mail in the same promo rebate, and get another jersey in the mail. I did this and flipped the 2nd Huk jersey on ebay for like 45 bucks haha. 

 

So if you buy rods/reels/tackle with the 20% off discount, and take advantage of in-show promotions (some of which can be replicated online when you get home)... you can snag some good stuff from the NW sports show. 


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 
  On 1/26/2018 at 9:29 PM, FryDog62 said:

Good to know someone else is bordering on insane.  Am close to purchasing a Steez as well.  Ordering the SV to skip weightless plastics.  May hold off and purchase at the NW Sportshow in March.  Usually someone running a deal then (I hope anyway)...

Ive never thought about the Steez SV, to rich for me, but wanted the deeper spoil that comes with the Steez A. Check out eBay as that’s how I found mine. I don’t ice fish so I keep planning around the summer and my shooting hobby. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I had one of those epic ice fishing days on Saturday. I've been chasing a school of crappies around all week after work and on lunch breaks on a smaller north metro lake.. I kinda had a good idea where they were roaming around. Once I got on them I could blast crappies for a good chunk of time. I went out Saturday morning with my kid and I found the school within about 20 holes.. we setup the hub and drilled them for like 2-3 hours (catch & release of course). I had to go back home at lunch, but I talked my wife into letting me go back out solo later in the afternoon.. sure enough the school was still in the same area and I kept catching them for another couple of hours. I'll admit next to bass, crappies are probably my 2nd favorite species to fish. 

 

I manged a few largemouth, a pike and like 40+ panfish all day jigging tungsten. It was so much fun. It's funny how some days on the ice you drill dozens of holes and can't find a single bite.. and other days you're just on the juice and can wack them. I'm getting more confident as an ice angler this year, but man it's a hard sport. I've learned that mobility and not sticking to dead water is key. Lotta folks drill, setup, and sit there for hours expecting fish to magicly appear. You gotta be willing to dump a spot and fish the fish, not the location on a map. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 1/29/2018 at 11:29 PM, punch said:

I've learned that mobility and not sticking to dead water is key. Lotta folks drill, setup, and sit there for hours expecting fish to magicly appear.

Totally.  Think about it, would you sit in one spot for hours over dead water without a bite if you were in your boat?  Hell no, so why do so many people do that when they're ice fishing?!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 2/7/2018 at 10:32 AM, gimruis said:

Totally.  Think about it, would you sit in one spot for hours over dead water without a bite if you were in your boat?  Hell no, so why do so many people do that when they're ice fishing?!

I think because its a pain in the ass to take down/setup your shack AND people want to hang out and drink... catching fish is kinda a bonus. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 2/7/2018 at 10:32 AM, gimruis said:

  Hell no, so why do so many people do that when they're ice fishing?!

Me and the fish are glad they do!:rolleyes:


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Anyone planning trips to new water this year? Last year I was able to check Kabetogama off my bucket list, this year we're going to Vermilion. They opened a new state park campground on Vermillion and I'm going to take the family/RV/boat for a long weekend. 


Northern Minnesota has so many amazing places. I'm trying to expand my horizons and get out of the metro. 


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

Every year I try to fish at least 1 or 2 new lakes.  There are so many lakes near the Bemidji area I haven't tried, my goal this summer is to fish a couple new ones and go back to a couple I haven't been to in a few years.  A friend has a canoe, and I would like to take a few river trips. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

I have two places I want to try - a Largemouth lake near Alexandria that a guide friend of mine said has huge fish in it.  Second is Lake McBride in Iowa - yes IOWA!!  My daughter has a fellowship in Iowa City and heard they have big wipers in McBride.  Would be an excuse to get down and see her and catch a species I haven’t caught yet...  c’mon Spring get here !!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

We're now officially into panfish season. Boo. Minnesota needs to get wise like Michigan and open bass year round to catch & release. 

 

I do like catching me some crappies though. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 2/26/2018 at 10:52 PM, punch said:

Minnesota needs to get wise like Michigan and open bass year round to catch & release. 

South Dakota does too... just make it all C&R in Minn


fishing user avatarHawkeye21 reply : 
  On 2/26/2018 at 4:26 AM, FryDog62 said:

I have two places I want to try - a Largemouth lake near Alexandria that a guide friend of mine said has huge fish in it.  Second is Lake McBride in Iowa - yes IOWA!!  My daughter has a fellowship in Iowa City and heard they have big wipers in McBride.  Would be an excuse to get down and see her and catch a species I haven’t caught yet...  c’mon Spring get here !!

I don't know too many people that have MacBride on their list of places to go but there are a lot of people who fish it.  For the last 5 years I've gone on a trip to fish the Alexandria area lakes.  Last year was our best year for big bass.  We had two over 6lbs and probably a dozen over 4lbs.  Love that area.


fishing user avatarBent reply : 
  On 2/26/2018 at 4:26 AM, FryDog62 said:

I have two places I want to try - a Largemouth lake near Alexandria that a guide friend of mine said has huge fish in it.  Second is Lake McBride in Iowa - yes IOWA!!  My daughter has a fellowship in Iowa City and heard they have big wipers in McBride.  Would be an excuse to get down and see her and catch a species I haven’t caught yet...  c’mon Spring get here !!

Macbride is a lot of fun, in addition to wipers there is also a population of spotted bass.  Not sure if you'd be hauling a boat down here, but just in case make sure to check in with the Iowa DNR on motor restrictions - there have been HP limits in place for a long time but I've heard rumors they will be lifted.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 2/26/2018 at 4:21 AM, Tlauz said:

A friend has a canoe, and I would like to take a few river trips. 

I mentioned this last year already, but rivers are SO under fished here in Minnesota.  Even some small to mid size rivers that are only accessible by small craft like canoe have some awesome smallmouth fishing.  And when the hot, slow, dog days of summer are here and the lakes are crawling with recreational traffic, rivers are where its at.

 

I am hoping to do more bass fishing in the Brainerd area.  I have only fished a couple lakes there and there are a dozen or more good ones that have barely any bass fishing pressure.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

@rascalP are you guys signed up for the Greenhorn Wednesday night league? We're locked and loaded. Anyone else on here fishing GH??

 

I'm excited for all the lakes on the schedule EXCEPT Big Marine. I've fished BM a few times and had bad days. Gin clear lake, very big.. couldn't find any bass. 


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

NDYakAngler on youtube makes me want to hit some small rivers.  Awesome smallmouth footage.  I will be headed to Ottertail River this summer. 


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 3/1/2018 at 12:34 AM, punch said:

@rascalP are you guys signed up for the Greenhorn Wednesday night league? We're locked and loaded. Anyone else on here fishing GH??

 

I'm excited for all the lakes on the schedule EXCEPT Big Marine. I've fished BM a few times and had bad days. Gin clear lake, very big.. couldn't find any bass. 

I'll be fishing the Sunday league.  Will be my first year.  Pretty excited for it!

  On 2/28/2018 at 9:41 AM, gimruis said:

I mentioned this last year already, but rivers are SO under fished here in Minnesota.  Even some small to mid size rivers that are only accessible by small craft like canoe have some awesome smallmouth fishing.  And when the hot, slow, dog days of summer are here and the lakes are crawling with recreational traffic, rivers are where its at.

 

I am hoping to do more bass fishing in the Brainerd area.  I have only fished a couple lakes there and there are a dozen or more good ones that have barely any bass fishing pressure.

I just fished the Mississippi last weekend and pulled out 7 smallies in about 3 hours from the bank.  Such a great fishery.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Got a equipment question for you guys.. what are your summer milfoil flipping setups? Rods/reels/line? Just curious.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 3/5/2018 at 7:34 AM, punch said:

Got a equipment question for you guys.. what are your summer milfoil flipping setups? Rods/reels/line? Just curious.

7'3"heavy fast rod 6:3 abu reel 50 lb power pro and this. 3/4 oz tungsten with skirt keeper a boss bluegill skirt and a strike king menace. Ill also use a jig if i can fish it efficiently i like the hook up better. I generally use a 4ot tk 130 flipping hook some people like 4 or 5 ot ewg hooks i think they work great as well.

20170502_092803.thumb.jpg.40000f505465cdefebc67810aad0e8e1.jpg

Anyone going to be in SD late apirl? Im going to lake city area apirl 26-30


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Hope to be there a week before depending on ice out...


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 3/1/2018 at 12:34 AM, punch said:

@rascalP are you guys signed up for the Greenhorn Wednesday night league? We're locked and loaded. Anyone else on here fishing GH??

 

I'm excited for all the lakes on the schedule EXCEPT Big Marine. I've fished BM a few times and had bad days. Gin clear lake, very big.. couldn't find any bass. 

I'm fishing Wednesday Greenhorn with my main fishing buddy and Wednesday GH advanced with another buddies son.  This will be our 3rd year fishing the GH "beginner level".  Once a member, you can fish "up" the advanced if space allows, so last year I asked my buddies son if he wanted to give tournament bass fishing a try and fish a derby at the advanced level on Big Marine. He was in.  I have a decent amount of confidence in the lake so I thought this would fun.  We finished 6th and he was hooked.  We ended up fishing the rest of the series since a couple teams dropped off,  and finished 8th for the year, just a point out of 7th and missing the TOC. 

 

     This year he'll be fishing the Wednesday GH with one of his buddies and wed advanced with me.  Opponents one week and partners the next. This'll be a hoot.  Can't wait.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/8/2018 at 10:37 AM, rascalP said:

I'm fishing Wednesday Greenhorn with my main fishing buddy and Wednesday GH advanced with another buddies son.  This will be our 3rd year fishing the GH "beginner level".  Once a member, you can fish "up" the advanced if space allows, so last year I asked my buddies son if he wanted to give tournament bass fishing a try and fish a derby at the advanced level on Big Marine. He was in.  I have a decent amount of confidence in the lake so I thought this would fun.  We finished 6th and he was hooked.  We ended up fishing the rest of the series since a couple teams dropped off,  and finished 8th for the year, just a point out of 7th and missing the TOC. 

 

     This year he'll be fishing the Wednesday GH with one of his buddies and wed advanced with me.  Opponents one week and partners the next. This'll be a hoot.  Can't wait.

Wow so you're fishing BOTH the Wednesday series? Wow that's a lot of tournaments haha. 

 

I gotta get your number man, if you ever go fun fish Big Marine i'd love to tag along. I've only been on it twice and was a little perplexed both times. I'm usually pretty comfortable fishing clear water lakes but BM kicked my butt. 


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Hey guys,

 

New to the forum. Just wanted to say what's up?!?!?! Who's excited about this coming season and what are you most excited about? For me it's gotta be testing out my new setups and my theory crafted lures. And of course the tournaments!!!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/9/2018 at 12:10 AM, misho187 said:

Hey guys,

 

New to the forum. Just wanted to say what's up?!?!?! Who's excited about this coming season and what are you most excited about? For me it's gotta be testing out my new setups and my theory crafted lures. And of course the tournaments!!!

Welcome! What are theory crafted lures? Just curious. 

 

I'm most excited for traveling to some new bodies of water like the whitefish chain and vermillion. I really want to get up to Rainy this year too. 


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 3/5/2018 at 7:34 AM, punch said:

Got a equipment question for you guys.. what are your summer milfoil flipping setups? Rods/reels/line? Just curious.

It really depends on a few different factors like weather, water clarity and etc. I can really talk about it all day. For baits, I usually go with any with that's got good bulk like Havoc Pitoboss or the Daiwa Rattlin' Tube craw. For weights, like everything else it depends on what you need to get to the bottom with. Lighter milfoil means lighter weight and vise versa.

 

Here are some of my setups:


Light - Curado 71 XG/Tatula 7'2" H 15lb Seaguar Flouro
Med - Curado 71 XG/Steez XBD 7'4" H 17lb Seaguar Flouro
Hvy - Curado K 201 XG with Steez 8'0" H 40lb Daiwa J Braid


 

  On 3/9/2018 at 12:15 AM, punch said:

Welcome! What are theory crafted lures? Just curious. 

 

I'm most excited for traveling to some new bodies of water like the whitefish chain and vermillion. I really want to get up to Rainy this year too. 

Theory crafted lures? Oh just things I think of when I'm in hibernation mode during the winter. I hate ice fishing so I make lures during the winter and make minute adjustments to techniques I like such as adding blades to lures or different methods of rigging particular baits. I take those and I use them during the first week of catch and release to test them out. Most of them turn out to be crap but I find some secret gems here and there.

Vermillion sounds stupidly fun. I usually don't get to fun fish much. I'm usually on that tournament mentality of thinking... marking fish and way points for 8 hours a day lol


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

@misho187 What tournaments do you fish?

 

I'm sorta the opposite.. I mostly fun fish and travel around the state with our RV & the boat. I'm just recently dipping my toe into club tournaments. 

  On 3/6/2018 at 2:42 AM, sully420 said:

7'3"heavy fast rod 6:3 abu reel 50 lb power pro and this. 3/4 oz tungsten with skirt keeper a boss bluegill skirt and a strike king menace. Ill also use a jig if i can fish it efficiently i like the hook up better. I generally use a 4ot tk 130 flipping hook some people like 4 or 5 ot ewg hooks i think they work great as well.

20170502_092803.thumb.jpg.40000f505465cdefebc67810aad0e8e1.jpg

Anyone going to be in SD late apirl? Im going to lake city area apirl 26-30

I'm all in on Boss skirts & Boss Swim Jig heads. Only ones i'm using anymore. 


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 3/9/2018 at 12:44 AM, punch said:

@misho187 What tournaments do you fish?

 

I'm sorta the opposite.. I mostly fun fish and travel around the state with our RV & the boat. I'm just recently dipping my toe into club tournaments. 

 

  On 3/9/2018 at 12:44 AM, punch said:

@misho187 What tournaments do you fish?

 

I'm sorta the opposite.. I mostly fun fish and travel around the state with our RV & the boat. I'm just recently dipping my toe into club tournaments. 

I mostly fish some small club tournaments like HBA, FOB, etc. But I fished a really big one last year on the Croix... pulled a nice 10k off of that out of 120ish boats. My brother fishes Denny's and Sportek so they're the bigger tournaments around the cities. That my goal... to get into Denny's this year and go get my butt whooped by Seth Feider lol


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 3/8/2018 at 11:54 PM, punch said:

Wow so you're fishing BOTH the Wednesday series? Wow that's a lot of tournaments haha. 

 

I gotta get your number man, if you ever go fun fish Big Marine i'd love to tag along. I've only been on it twice and was a little perplexed both times. I'm usually pretty comfortable fishing clear water lakes but BM kicked my butt. 

Punch,  I don't do a whole lot of "fun" fishing anymore and if I do, its either Chisago or outstate MN.  That said, you should do fine on BM, just don't rule out any water.  I like it cause I like fishing deep weeds and BM has plenty of that. Just make sure you fish weeds at ALL depths and look for a mix of 2 different weeds.  Reeds can be good too and there is plenty of them. It kind of got to be known as a small fish lake, but the last few years it seems have gotten better.          2 years ago I lucked into a 5 1/2 pounder with a total of 13 some pounds and we finished 3rd behind a couple 15 + bags.  Last year the sunday series winners had nearly 20 pounds all caught in REAL shallow water.  

 

  On 3/9/2018 at 12:10 AM, misho187 said:

Hey guys,

 

New to the forum. Just wanted to say what's up?!?!?! Who's excited about this coming season and what are you most excited about? For me it's gotta be testing out my new setups and my theory crafted lures. And of course the tournaments!!!

   misho,  Welcome.

  It looks like you'll have lots to contribute.

  On 3/6/2018 at 2:42 AM, sully420 said:

7'3"heavy fast rod 6:3 abu reel 50 lb power pro and this. 3/4 oz tungsten with skirt keeper a boss bluegill skirt and a strike king menace. Ill also use a jig if i can fish it efficiently i like the hook up better. I generally use a 4ot tk 130 flipping hook some people like 4 or 5 ot ewg hooks i think they work great as well.

20170502_092803.thumb.jpg.40000f505465cdefebc67810aad0e8e1.jpg

Anyone going to be in SD late apirl? Im going to lake city area apirl 26-30

   Sully, I like the looks of that rig.   I've had a hard time forking over the money for any Rage stuff, but they're topwater frogs and shad can't be beat.  BPS had a sale on all Rage so I bought 5 or so packs of the menace.  If I use them on a jig, you can bet superglue will be involved.  

   I've been wanting to get out to SD since I first saw Lindners out there, but trout fishing in SE MN keeps getting in the way.  Maybe this year. I've already got the lakes picked out.

 

  For now...   I'm still ice fishing.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 2/22/2018 at 3:14 AM, punch said:

Anyone planning trips to new water this year? Last year I was able to check Kabetogama off my bucket list, this year we're going to Vermilion. They opened a new state park campground on Vermillion and I'm going to take the family/RV/boat for a long weekend. 


Northern Minnesota has so many amazing places. I'm trying to expand my horizons and get out of the metro. 

Punch,  I can give you some info on Vermillion, though I'm most familiar with the other end of the lake from the new SP.  Overlooked LM population.  If I don't see you at the GH meeting, I'll see you at tourny time.

 

   One area I want to check out more is the lakes around Hackensack and south of Leech. We've fished a few but there's more that look real good on Lakefinder.   And Leech is real good too.  If you're not adding lakes, you're not fishing.


fishing user avatarBKhaos reply : 

They're starting to whisper about winterkill concerns here in Western MN on smaller waters. Not sure how it affects bass, I hear northern are pretty resilient...something something disolved oxygen. 

 

Needless to say, really hoping for some 40+ degree weather to come quick so we can get our melt on.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Any one been down to Pool 4 yet? I heard they're starting to bite like crazy. Boat is still in storage so I haven't been able to make the trip.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I hope to give Leech Lake a try this upcoming season.  I may bring my muskie gear with too if its later in the season.

 

Hoping for a gradual warm until during the next 30-45 days for a chance at some open water panfishing by April 20.

 

Speaking of trips, I'm going to Key West at the end of March for a 3-day saltwater fishing trip with my Father.  I've only ever saltwater fished one time and it was awesome.  We tried planning this to coincide with Tarpon migration.


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

Hey guys, 

 

I just wanted to say what's up. I've been a forum spectator for about a year and thought I'd finally join the discussion. 

 

I moved to Minneapolis in June 2016 and have had a lot of fun discovering the lakes and rivers around the metro area. I've been confined to the banks so far but am about to purchase my first kayak. I've just recently got much more serious about fishing and I am looking forward to another fun season.

 

Hope to see some of you around this summer! 


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 3/12/2018 at 11:43 PM, misho187 said:

Any one been down to Pool 4 yet? I heard they're starting to bite like crazy. Boat is still in storage so I haven't been able to make the trip.

I'm getting my boat in two weeks and I've been reading up on Pool 4 and plan to hit it a few time this year. I've heard only a couple of the ramps are open and there are a lot of icebergs floating around.

  On 3/8/2018 at 11:54 PM, punch said:

Wow so you're fishing BOTH the Wednesday series? Wow that's a lot of tournaments haha. 

 

I gotta get your number man, if you ever go fun fish Big Marine i'd love to tag along. I've only been on it twice and was a little perplexed both times. I'm usually pretty comfortable fishing clear water lakes but BM kicked my butt. 

I like Big Marine. Haven't fished it for bass in awhile as others have said, it has quite a lot of small bass. But the crappies are THICK in the early Spring.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 3/13/2018 at 8:12 AM, drscholl14 said:

I'm getting my boat in two weeks and I've been reading up on Pool 4 and plan to hit it a few time this year. I've heard only a couple of the ramps are open and there are a lot of icebergs floating around.

I like Big Marine. Haven't fished it for bass in awhile as others have said, it has quite a lot of small bass. But the crappies are THICK in the early Spring.

Yeah some guy I know have been pulling walleyes are smallies out of there right now. They said not too much ice left but it can be quite annoying with how many boats there are out there right now.


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 3/13/2018 at 9:43 PM, misho187 said:

Yeah some guy I know have been pulling walleyes are smallies out of there right now. They said not too much ice left but it can be quite annoying with how many boats there are out there right now.

There's enough room out there to get away from the crowds and it can be beneficial also. Before I bought my boat last fall I had some shore fishing spots that would out produce some of the popular spots where you had to play "bumper boats".


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 3/14/2018 at 9:17 AM, drscholl14 said:

There's enough room out there to get away from the crowds and it can be beneficial also. Before I bought my boat last fall I had some shore fishing spots that would out produce some of the popular spots where you had to play "bumper boats".

Dang those spots must be hot! Yeah I can't stand the crowds. Especially on small bodies. Even medium bodies like Tonka are super annoying with the yachts and powerboats running everywhere, especially on tournament days.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/13/2018 at 7:05 AM, starkeer said:

Hey guys, 

 

I just wanted to say what's up. I've been a forum spectator for about a year and thought I'd finally join the discussion. 

 

I moved to Minneapolis in June 2016 and have had a lot of fun discovering the lakes and rivers around the metro area. I've been confined to the banks so far but am about to purchase my first kayak. I've just recently got much more serious about fishing and I am looking forward to another fun season.

 

Hope to see some of you around this summer! 

 

Welcome! Nice to see some lurkers come and post. What kind of kayak are you looking at? 

 

We really should do a Bass Resource MN meetup at a lake one of these days. I'd be happy to organize it. Maybe some of the guys without a boat could pair up with some of us who have boats. Could even do a little tournament or something for fun. 


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 3/15/2018 at 1:42 AM, misho187 said:

Dang those spots must be hot! Yeah I can't stand the crowds. Especially on small bodies. Even medium bodies like Tonka are super annoying with the yachts and powerboats running everywhere, especially on tournament days.

Yeah, I work nights and 4 days a week so I'm usually out when everyone else is at work. It's much less stressful.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 3/15/2018 at 2:19 AM, punch said:

 

Welcome! Nice to see some lurkers come and post. What kind of kayak are you looking at? 

 

We really should do a Bass Resource MN meetup at a lake one of these days. I'd be happy to organize it. Maybe some of the guys without a boat could pair up with some of us who have boats. Could even do a little tournament or something for fun. 

Should at least have a get lunch/beers, or something this spring ... could plan something or just get the locals together ..


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/15/2018 at 8:29 PM, FryDog62 said:

Should at least have a get lunch/beers, or something this spring ... could plan something or just get the locals together ..

Good call, we could hit a taproom or something? 

 

Is anyone going to the Sportsmens show next weekend? I'll be there. Either Friday evening or Saturday. Haven't decided yet. Great show to oogle all the new rods/reels/electronics and get a buncha gear at 20% off. 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 

Thought I'd jump in here - just joined BR a couple days ago and still wading through posts.

 

I agree that Tonka is busy, but you can stay away from the ski/speed crowds fairly easily in some of the back-water areas. I'll be going out this year in a new canoe - find out if I need stabilizers too.

 

A meetup sounds good, a beer or two and gab about the good holes in the area sounds like a sweet time.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 3/15/2018 at 9:57 PM, punch said:

Good call, we could hit a taproom or something? 

 

Is anyone going to the Sportsmens show next weekend? I'll be there. Either Friday evening or Saturday. Haven't decided yet. Great show to oogle all the new rods/reels/electronics and get a buncha gear at 20% off. 

Yeah I'm going the Sportsman Show. It's one of the things I look forward to during the year. I'm in need of some new spinning set ups and a new boat. Plus there's always a smaller vendors that offer unique baits/rigs.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 3/15/2018 at 1:42 AM, misho187 said:

Dang those spots must be hot! Yeah I can't stand the crowds. Especially on small bodies. Even medium bodies like Tonka are super annoying with the yachts and powerboats running everywhere, especially on tournament days.

Most metro lakes get to be pretty intolerable with recreational traffic if you're talking a weekend or holiday and its warm and sunny out.  Two things I've found that help avoid these problems: fish early in the morning and get outta there before noon, or target days with inclement weather in the forecast.  You'd be surprised how many people avoid the lake when there's a little rain in the forecast.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I’m hoping to hit the SD smallies in April. Heard good things and I’m dying to get out soon


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/20/2018 at 7:59 PM, Jmhalvo said:

I’m hoping to hit the SD smallies in April. Heard good things and I’m dying to get out soon

 

Any specific lakes/areas? 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 3/20/2018 at 11:26 PM, punch said:

 

Any specific lakes/areas? 

Probably Webster, but might do Roy Lake. Could do Horseshoe- recent state record smallie there of 7lbs. Just hate all the wind so we’ll see


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I'll be fishing roy lake apirl 26 - 30 i hope the ice is out by then.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/21/2018 at 7:26 AM, Jmhalvo said:

Probably Webster, but might do Roy Lake. Could do Horseshoe- recent state record smallie there of 7lbs. Just hate all the wind so we’ll see

I've always wanted to go to enemy swim. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 3/21/2018 at 11:32 PM, punch said:

I've always wanted to go to enemy swim. 

Enemy Swim and Horseshoe would be on my list.  Maybe throw clear in there.  Roy has some pretty cool looking bays that would be nice to get into if there was alot of wind.

   We'll be down in SE MN trout fishing 4th week of april and then things start to jam up leading up to our annual trip to Basswood Lake the end of May.  I might have to open up some time 1st week of May just in case.

Got a couple nice bass through the ice on Wednesday - 16 and 17", and my buddy got a 17".  They seem to be waking up a bit.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

The last 4 years I hoped/attempted to fish SoDak in April.  Between wind and weather I made it 1 out of 4 years.  Fun when it works but it is one badazz place when that wind kicks in... and usually cold/rain/sleet with it.  Hard to predict, and best if you have job/family flexibility to go at the drop of the hat those few days in the spring when it’s nice.  If not, it’s easy to circle a date and say you’re going... and then find out it’s better to stay home and try again later in the year..


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Anyone doing some spring cleaning and selling some gear? I got a few sub $100 spinning combo's that have been sitting in the rod rack for far too long that I'm looking to move. Shoot me a PM if anyone's interested. I'll give BR members a hookup! 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Anyone do some damage at the NW Sports Show? 


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 
  On 3/26/2018 at 7:20 AM, punch said:

Anyone do some damage at the NW Sports Show? 

I got my fill in! Quantum had a great deal, new reel get the rod for free, no restrictions. Grabbed the new Smoke 7.3-1 for 30% off and a Vapor 6'10" MH fast.  $118 bucks all together.  Also got my eyes on the Lund renegade 1775.  Slick looking boat.  I'm running a tracker 170 now and this could be a near future upgrade. 

 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/26/2018 at 10:36 AM, dsidle61 said:

I got my fill in! Quantum had a great deal, new reel get the rod for free, no restrictions. Grabbed the new Smoke 7.3-1 for 30% off and a Vapor 6'10" MH fast.  $118 bucks all together.  Also got my eyes on the Lund renegade 1775.  Slick looking boat.  I'm running a tracker 170 now and this could be a near future upgrade. 

 

Boy I'm glad I didn't swing by the Quantum booth! Be gone vile temptation. That sounds like a killer deal. 

 

I did buckle and pick up a sterling silver Diawa Tatula LT "limited edition" reel to pair up with my tatula elite dropshot rod. Got 20% off at Joe's, plus a $25 gift card (that i'll use at their spring sale), plus a free Huk Diawa jersey.. and they even tossed me a trucker hat because I asked nice. I'll double up and do the online rebate for a 2nd Huk jersey and toss them both on Ebay. This combo just looks siiiiiiiick together. 

 

These new Daiwa LT (tatula & ballistic) reels are the real deal.. there's a couple good tear down videos of them on youtube and they have some real high quality gears. Diawa really stepped their game up with these reels.. pretty sure I'm going to get another one for my Steez. 

 

I sold some rods this weekend though so I can sleep a little better at night knowing I blew almost $200 on a spinning reel.. and i'm about to do it again.

 

Side note, one of my favorite things about the NW Sports Show is that I got have some long conversations with some of my local fishing hero's. I got to talk Tony Roach's ear off for a bit, got to talk to Feider, and got to have yet another nice long conversation with FLW pro Josh Douglas. He's such a cool guy and every time I talk to him I learn something new. He'll literally sit and answer any possible question you could have with very specific information. He's my fishing spirit animal. 


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 
  On 3/26/2018 at 10:52 AM, punch said:

Boy I'm glad I didn't swing by the Quantum booth! Be gone vile temptation. That sounds like a killer deal. 

 

I did buckle and pick up a sterling silver Diawa Tatula LT "limited edition" reel to pair up with my tatula elite dropshot rod. Got 20% off at Joe's, plus a $25 gift card (that i'll use at their spring sale), plus a free Huk Diawa jersey.. and they even tossed me a trucker hat because I asked nice. I'll double up and do the online rebate for a 2nd Huk jersey and toss them both on Ebay. This combo just looks siiiiiiiick together. 

 

These new Daiwa LT (tatula & ballistic) reels are the real deal.. there's a couple good tear down videos of them on youtube and they have some real high quality gears. Diawa really stepped their game up with these reels.. pretty sure I'm going to get another one for my Steez. 

 

I sold some rods this weekend though so I can sleep a little better at night knowing I blew almost $200 on a spinning reel.. and i'm about to do it again.

 

Side note, one of my favorite things about the NW Sports Show is that I got have some long conversations with some of my local fishing hero's. I got to talk Tony Roach's ear off for a bit, got to talk to Feider, and got to have yet another nice long conversation with FLW pro Josh Douglas. He's such a cool guy and every time I talk to him I learn something new. He'll literally sit and answer any possible question you could have with very specific information. He's my fishing spirit animal. 

Nice work! For some reason I have a hard time dishing out for spinning reels.  Maybe bc that’s what I used as a kid and to me I think “well they must be all the same”.  I just got myself back into finesse fishing last year, and it paid off.  Might have to look for a high quality spinner next year at the show.  

I got the quantum at joes to I thought.  Maybe it was Thorne?  They weren’t advertising it, just overheard some guy buying one at the register and the lady told him to go get his free rod.  Couldn’t pass it up after that.  


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

As someone who grew up in Michigan, does anyone know why bass are not C&R year round in Minnesota? Just curious 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 

We got plenty and some of us, while practicing C&R on the larger fish (4#+), bass in the 2#-3# range are good eating.

 

I remember watching a vid recently that the expert states that 'weeding out' the smaller sizes allows more to grow to larger sizes. So keeping those in a certain size range (12"-18") allows more 'trophy-size' to develop.

 

I got no objections to that, Bass are mighty tasty in that keeper-range.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 3/29/2018 at 10:24 AM, starkeer said:

As someone who grew up in Michigan, does anyone know why bass are not C&R year round in Minnesota? Just curious 

We have a lot off stupid and outdated rules & regulations in this state, that's why. It's irritating. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 3/29/2018 at 10:24 AM, starkeer said:

As someone who grew up in Michigan, does anyone know why bass are not C&R year round in Minnesota? Just curious 

There is one and only one true answer to this...

 

One must understand that the only fish that that matters to 90+% of Minnesotans is the sacred walleye.  Period.  And if people are able to be out fishing bass/pike before the walleye opener (even if it’s C&R) there is concern they will “accidentally” catch walleyes.  Has nothing to do with protecting bass at all, its all about the state fish - the almighty Waldo!


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 3/29/2018 at 11:27 AM, FryDog62 said:

There is one and only one true answer to this...

 

One must understand that the only fish that that matters to 90+% of Minnesotans is the sacred walleye.  Period.  And if people are able to be out fishing bass/pike before the walleye opener (even if it’s C&R) there is concern they will “accidentally” catch walleyes.  Has nothing to do with protecting bass at all, its all about the state fish - the almighty Waldo!

Except Walleye and Pike open mid-May, Bass C&R only for two weeks before 'keeping' Bass is allowed the last weekend. So the 'Holy Walleye' for keeping has two weeks on the 'Lowly Bass'.

 

Walleye, Pike and Bass seasons are all closed until then, so unless you can prove you're panfishing and accidentally caught that Bass/Walleye/Pike, you're in big trouble.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I think they originally thought it protected the bedding bass, but really it’s silly because it doesn’t. They are on the beds all through May, so why not open up April? Few Minnesotans care anyway. Walleye is king by a mile - I can hardly find anyone interested in bass fishing 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I wish it was catch and release from ice out to the end of may but what can we do.


fishing user avatargeneoh reply : 

I'm starting to get a little stir crazy. I must be watching to much fishing youtube. I'm going to try to get to Iowa mid-April before the opener. That's if ice out happens soon...


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 3/29/2018 at 9:50 PM, geneoh said:

I'm starting to get a little stir crazy. I must be watching to much fishing youtube. I'm going to try to get to Iowa mid-April before the opener. That's if ice out happens soon...

Hit me up if you want my login for my outdoor tv there some good mlf to catch up on


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 3/29/2018 at 9:50 PM, geneoh said:

I'm starting to get a little stir crazy. I must be watching to much fishing youtube. I'm going to try to get to Iowa mid-April before the opener. That's if ice out happens soon...

Why not SD smallies?


fishing user avatarnguggs reply : 

Where are some good smallmouth spots in SD? Ideally near Sioux Falls...


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 3/30/2018 at 4:05 AM, nguggs said:

Where are some good smallmouth spots in SD? Ideally near Sioux Falls...

They are all over UTube

 


fishing user avatarRanger518vx reply : 

I have fished Mille Lacs the last 2 years and the first week in June seems to have been peak week for bed fishing. However, this winter has been much colder and I am nervous this week may not be peak this year. Historically, does anyone know when the best week is for bed fishing? 


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 3/29/2018 at 8:37 PM, Jmhalvo said:

I think they originally thought it protected the bedding bass, but really it’s silly because it doesn’t. They are on the beds all through May, so why not open up April? Few Minnesotans care anyway. Walleye is king by a mile - I can hardly find anyone interested in bass fishing 

Although it isn't something I'm proud of, a few years ago when I was still in junior-high, me and a few of my buddies would fish a few city lakes before the season started (April/early May) and really lay the hammer on them. We would catch tons of fish in the 4-5 range with a couple pushing 6 and 7 in lakes where we'd struggle to break 4 in the summer months and we weren't catching them off beds. Looking back, I think this is part of the reason the season is so late (protecting fish preparing to spawn), not just bedding fish since lots of fish are still on beds by the time the season starts, especially in years like this year where ice out will be late.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 4/3/2018 at 7:44 AM, JackKlassen said:

Although it isn't something I'm proud of, a few years ago when I was still in junior-high, me and a few of my buddies would fish a few city lakes before the season started (April/early May) and really lay the hammer on them. We would catch tons of fish in the 4-5 range with a couple pushing 6 and 7 in lakes where we'd struggle to break 4 in the summer months and we weren't catching them off beds. Looking back, I think this is part of the reason the season is so late (protecting fish preparing to spawn), not just bedding fish since lots of fish are still on beds by the time the season starts, especially in years like this year where ice out will be late.

Yes that is probably the reason, but that doesn’t explain Michigan. No season and yet they still have big bass to catch all year


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 4/3/2018 at 8:59 PM, Jmhalvo said:

Yes that is probably the reason, but that doesn’t explain Michigan. No season and yet they still have big bass to catch all year

Michigan actually did a study where they took a few lakes and left them open for year-round catch & release and compared the data with lakes that had a closed season and found that C&R didn't damage the population. Which is super obvious to ANYONE who lives in the south that catch bass all year. Michigan, however, used the data to make a legitimate argument for changing the regulations. Minnesota & Wisconsin need to follow suit, and i'd imagine they will someday. They don't even need to do their own surveys! Just use the Michigan data.

 

Every season I send the MN DNR an email asking them for year round bass C&R, and link the articles about Michigan's open season. They have yet to respond to me. 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/3/2018 at 11:10 PM, punch said:

Every season I send the MN DNR an email asking them for year round bass C&R, and link the articles about Michigan's open season. They have yet to respond to me. 

I hope it's not C&R only you're asking for - some of us like eating Bass. If it went to C&R only, I'd probably fade away from fishing all-together.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Im in favour of a c&r period from ice out untill june 1st i think that would be a good compromise. 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/4/2018 at 12:03 AM, sully420 said:

Im in favour of a c&r period from ice out untill june 1st i think that would be a good compromise. 

Opens to keepers Memorial Weekend now - how about Ice-Out to the normal open date? I would cheer for that - get more 'practice' in before I start stocking my freezer.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 4/3/2018 at 11:46 PM, MN Fisher said:

I hope it's not C&R only you're asking for - some of us like eating Bass. If it went to C&R only, I'd probably fade away from fishing all-together.

Of course no one is suggesting that. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I'm beginning to wonder if there will be open water by opener this spring.  A friend told me that most people are still driving a full size truck on lakes in the metro, and I see single digits for lows for several days now.  I wouldn't be surprised if the entire northern half of the state is still covered in ice by mid May.

 

On the regulations, I think Frydog is right.  They've always had a closed season from March - mid May for walleyes/pike in Minnesota and it simply carried on to bass...to protect them when they are most vulnerable during peak reproduction.  That's why the traditional opener for bass used to always be the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  The thing I worry about is if (and when) walleye populations start getting so depleted that meat hunters turn to bass instead.  Bass are not a renewable resource around here because we don't stock them and they take a lot longer to grow in cold water.  I think the days of keeping 4 or 6 walleyes as a daily bag limit and 10 crappies is coming to an end.  Its completely unsustainable.  I just hope they don't start keeping bass instead.  I think our state has the great bass (and muskie) fishing it does because most people practice C & R when targeting them.


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 9:30 AM, gimruis said:

I'm beginning to wonder if there will be open water by opener this spring.  A friend told me that most people are still driving a full size truck on lakes in the metro, and I see single digits for lows for several days now.

I live by Lake Minnetonka - have no choice but to see Black Lake or Emerald Lake when I go out as I live on Phelps Island. I haven't seen anyone driving on the lake, be it Black, Emerald, Cooks Bay or Spring Park Bay in over a week. People are still walking out to do some fishing, but that's it.

 

Far as open water...was starting to see some open places along the shorelines of just about every bay or small lake in the group, but that went away with last night's frigid temp. I doubt we'll see an average Ice-Out (Apr 14), but I think we won't even have floating ice by opener.

 

Though I do remember an opener back 40 years ago when I lived in Bemidji where we WERE fighting floating ice the whole weekend.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

""...........

  On 4/5/2018 at 9:30 AM, gimruis said:

I'm beginning to wonder if there will be open water by opener this spring.  A friend told me that most people are still driving a full size truck on lakes in the metro, and I see single digits for lows for several days now.  I wouldn't be surprised if the entire northern half of the state is still covered in ice by mid May.

 

On the regulations, I think Frydog is right.  They've always had a closed season from March - mid May for walleyes/pike in Minnesota and it simply carried on to bass...to protect them when they are most vulnerable during peak reproduction.  That's why the traditional opener for bass used to always be the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.  The thing I worry about is if (and when) walleye populations start getting so depleted that meat hunters turn to bass instead.  Bass are not a renewable resource around here because we don't stock them and they take a lot longer to grow in cold water.  I think the days of keeping 4 or 6 walleyes as a daily bag limit and 10 crappies is coming to an end.  Its completely unsustainable.  I just hope they don't start keeping bass instead.  I think our state has the great bass (and muskie) fishing it does because most people practice C & R when targeting them.

Every few years there is talk of ice for the opener but it never happens. The sun is too strong now. The local weather just mentioned that it was below freezing all day YET we lost 2 in of snow. Fear not- the lakes will be open south of Ely

Edited by Jmhalvo
fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 11:13 AM, Jmhalvo said:

""...........

Every few years there is talk of ice for the opener but it never happens. The sun is too strong now. The local weather just mentioned that it was below freezing all day YET we lost 2 in of snow. Fear not- the lakes will be open south of Ely

Wasn’t it 4-5 years ago Mille Lacs still had ice on it for opener and it was basically cancelled... I remember a week later the wind came up and some sheet of ice went across the road and hit some houses...  Man I hope that doesn’t happen again!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I'm just bummed I gotta drill a hole to go fish some crappies still. This time last year I was already out crappie fishing in my boat! 

 

Guess we can go in our backyards and practice flipping into snow banks? 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 12:08 PM, punch said:

Guess we can go in our backyards and practice flipping into snow banks? 

Or re-organize the tackle boxes for the 5th time

Or plan on the mods to our rides (been drawing up plans to mod my canoe)

Or maybe have a coffee-klatch to discuss...whatever (though if it's sports other than fishing, I'm useless)


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 12:16 PM, MN Fisher said:

Or re-organize the tackle boxes for the 5th time

Or plan on the mods to our rides (been drawing up plans to mod my canoe)

Or maybe have a coffee-klatch to discuss...whatever (though if it's sports other than fishing, I'm useless)

 

And scour ebay & facebook & CL for fishing deals.. and refresh Bass Resource all day.. and watch old FLW & BASS tournaments on youtube.. 

 

 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 11:47 AM, FryDog62 said:

Wasn’t it 4-5 years ago Mille Lacs still had ice on it for opener and it was basically cancelled... I remember a week later the wind came up and some sheet of ice went across the road and hit some houses...  Man I hope that doesn’t happen again!

Could be, I stand corrected. Anyway I still hope to hit S Dakota soon!


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 8:24 PM, Jmhalvo said:

Could be, I stand corrected. Anyway I still hope to hit S Dakota soon!

I know... I was there April 20-21 last year.  Beautiful, glassy calm, mid 60’s, literally no one on the water.  Obviously not going to happen this year, but I remain optimistic to get there at some point hopefully before the season opens in Minn.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I don't think South Dakota will happen this year for me ice wont be out by apirl 26th. Im thinking about going to Iowa a lake called Brushy Creek lake. Has anyone heard of it?


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

April 5th, 2012.  Devils Lake North Dakota.  There is still 30 inches of ice on a lot of the lake this year. :(DSC00562_10.jpg.1c78c85bc1730da3643bf7e2f73a8487.jpgDSC00561_1_10.jpg.5c2d4a078f1c007a947a0b8f4fa7428e.jpg


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 4/5/2018 at 11:04 PM, sully420 said:

I don't think South Dakota will happen this year for me ice wont be out by apirl 26th. Im thinking about going to Iowa a lake called Brushy Creek lake. Has anyone heard of it?

I see it on YouTube . Looks great to me!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Looks cool too me as well. Never really finished a reservoir or an impoundment before. Looks tailor-made for some pre-spawn fishing with all the creek channels and flooded timber


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Don't look at the forecast.... 30's again this weekend. Jeeeeeeezus. 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/10/2018 at 1:36 AM, punch said:

Don't look at the forecast.... 30's again this weekend. Jeeeeeeezus. 

Shhh - if you ignore the forecast, maybe like the 3-7 inches of snow we were 'suppose' to get, it'll go away and we'll have major meltage.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Now my best shot at SD smallies looks to be early May, if at all. Bummer


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 4/10/2018 at 9:17 PM, Jmhalvo said:

Now my best shot at SD smallies looks to be early May, if at all. Bummer

I hear ya, I cancelled my reservation last week and the guy just laughed and asked me if I wanted to ice fish instead.  It’s got to be hurting the local businesses over there to some degree although there’s rarely anyone fishing before mid May outside of the big well-known walleye lakes.  Walleye is king in SoDak too.

 

I love golf and walleye fishing - - keeps thousands of the unworthy away from my favorite bass fishing spots!!


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

With all of our cancelled fishing plans for this spring, I think whoever suggested a Minnesota BR get together had a good idea.  At least we could share ideas, or commiserate... 

 

... maybe at least have a casting contest inside the Braemar dome or something :dontknow:


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

This weather is brutal!


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/15/2018 at 4:54 AM, gimruis said:

This weather is brutal!

9.5" in my backyard already (it was clear ground yesterday) and it shows no sign of slowing down.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Looks like SE MN got missed. Heading to Whitewater State Park next Sunday for 3 or 4 days. We should be spared a gully-washing runoff. Trout fishing should be good.  I know this is a "bass" site, but the way we fish for trout, it's very similar to bass fishing. Jerkbaits, rapalas and spinners on medium-light gear is standard.   We cover a lot of water, sometimes a few miles of stream and catch numbers of 13-15" with a few going 16"+.  The scenery is some of the most beautiful in the state and it's a great way to bridge the ice fishing season to bass season.  If you've never tried it, put it on your list.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 4/16/2018 at 10:41 AM, rascalP said:

Looks like SE MN got missed. Heading to Whitewater State Park next Sunday for 3 or 4 days. We should be spared a gully-washing runoff. Trout fishing should be good.  I know this is a "bass" site, but the way we fish for trout, it's very similar to bass fishing. Jerkbaits, rapalas and spinners on medium-light gear is standard.   We cover a lot of water, sometimes a few miles of stream and catch numbers of 13-15" with a few going 16"+.  The scenery is some of the most beautiful in the state and it's a great way to bridge the ice fishing season to bass season.  If you've never tried it, put it on your list.

I'll second that. I usually fish the Root River in SE MN this time of the year just haven't been able to make it down yet. Trout fishing is awesome down there, even if the bite is tough because of the awesome scenery.


fishing user avatarDB-fish reply : 

There is still ice in Minnesota it so annoying


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/17/2018 at 3:10 AM, DB-fish said:

There is still ice in Minnesota it so annoying

Welcome to MN - the state that's had snow every month of the year except July. We're past the average ice-out date for Minnetonka, and with 2-feet still in some places it's going to be a while before it's gone. Be patient and this too shall pass.

 

If past years are any indication, next year we'll have an earlier than average ice-out and the ice-fishers will be complaining that the season was too short.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

It’s hard enough to stare out the window for 6 months of winter thinking about everything you want to be doing the next 6 months on the water.  It’s even harder staring out the window in years like this for 7 months wondering how the heck you’re going to fit all that into only 5 months now!


fishing user avatarScott F reply : 

200sn42.jpg


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Fear not!  Spring is coming, the 10 day forecast has every single day at 50 or above and several days of 60!  Long range forecast even says 70's by the weekend of April 28.  I was outside yesterday and even though it was only 43 degrees, when I was in the sun it felt like 60.  The sun is very powerful now. :D


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

This may be my new rig this year... 

 

QbFhfYY.jpg


fishing user avatarwisconsin heat reply : 
  On 4/19/2018 at 9:34 AM, punch said:

This may be my new rig this year... 

 

QbFhfYY.jpg

Looks like a nice sled to tow behind your Snowmobile. Looks like it should fit your Ice Auger fine, but where do you fit your Ice Shack?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 4/19/2018 at 9:34 AM, punch said:

This may be my new rig this year... 

 

QbFhfYY.jpg

Looks great!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I'll get some more pics of the Skeeter once I pick it up, but looks like a done deal. I can't wait to gut all the electronics and rig it the way I want! I'll be looking to sell a Helix 5 and a 859ci HD if anyone's interested, hit me up. 

 

Also, on another side note.. if anyone needs an expensive flippin stick I have a NEW never used Tatula 7'6 heavy flippin stick that I'm looking to sell. Shoot me a mesasge. 


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Was out today fishing pool two, lots of ice in the back pockets of the Mississippi. Maybe one bite, but it was great to be out fishing. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 4/22/2018 at 2:36 AM, punch said:

I'll get some more pics of the Skeeter once I pick it up, but looks like a done deal.

Don't forget to post photos in the "show us your ride" thread!

 

Hey MN Fisher whats the word on Tonka?  How much ice still out there?


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 4/24/2018 at 4:19 AM, gimruis said:

Don't forget to post photos in the "show us your ride" thread!

 

Hey MN Fisher whats the word on Tonka?  How much ice still out there?

Yeah for sure, I got some HDS gen3 units to slap on it.. can't wait. Hopefully get it this weekend. 


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/24/2018 at 4:19 AM, gimruis said:

Hey MN Fisher whats the word on Tonka?  How much ice still out there?

We're starting to see some melting around the shoreline, but I'm still seeing people on the ice. It's still going to be a bit before we have open water on even the smaller lakes/bays of 'Tonka even with the 60s and 70s predicted for the next week.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 4/24/2018 at 11:56 AM, MN Fisher said:

We're starting to see some melting around the shoreline, but I'm still seeing people on the ice. It's still going to be a bit before we have open water on even the smaller lakes/bays of 'Tonka even with the 60s and 70s predicted for the next week.

What’s the latest prediction for “ice out” date?


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 
  On 4/24/2018 at 11:49 PM, FryDog62 said:

What’s the latest prediction for “ice out” date?

No predictions yet, but Lake Pepin on the Mississippi has been declared ice-free - first lake in MN to clear.

 

I'm thinking it's going to be at least a couple weeks for the main lake, week to week-and-a-half for the smaller bays/lakes.

 

Once Emerald is clear, I'm taking the canoe out, I don't care about the big bays.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Man, that sucks.  I was hoping to get out there to panfish in a week.  Thanks for the update.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

is FG knot best for leaders?


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 4/25/2018 at 9:09 AM, Jmhalvo said:

is FG knot best for leaders?

FG knot is good! There's a lot of good leader knots out there. Blood, FG, and the RP (royal polaris) are popular. Try em and see which ones you like the best. I'm a RP knot kinda guy personally. 

 

 

Oh another note.. she's home! 

 

31213720_10111833485796540_6244255889964

 

Let the rigging begin. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 4/25/2018 at 12:06 PM, punch said:

FG knot is good! There's a lot of good leader knots out there. Blood, FG, and the RP (royal polaris) are popular. Try em and see which ones you like the best. I'm a RP knot kinda guy personally. 

 

 

Oh another note.. she's home! 

 

31213720_10111833485796540_6244255889964

 

Let the rigging begin. 

Beautiful boat! How do you even sleep- very exciting 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Awesome looking boat Punch!


fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 
  On 4/25/2018 at 12:06 PM, punch said:

FG knot is good! There's a lot of good leader knots out there. Blood, FG, and the RP (royal polaris) are popular. Try em and see which ones you like the best. I'm a RP knot kinda guy personally. 

 

 

Oh another note.. she's home! 

 

31213720_10111833485796540_6244255889964

 

Let the rigging begin. 

Sweet Rig ~

:smiley:

A-Jay


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

It's a 2002 sx190 with a 150 vmax. It's in fantastic condition and was under 12k. It's my first fiberglass bass boat. Been a long time coming! 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

*boats sold*

 

 

 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I snuck out for an hour today over lunch and ran the skeet, she's fast! I rigged a HDS12 and HDS7 gen 3's and everything worked, although I need to adjust the transducer angle a little bit. I'm surprised at how quick and smooth the hole shot is. 

 

27984543628_0dec73a24e_b.jpg


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 5/3/2018 at 2:09 AM, punch said:

I snuck out for an hour today over lunch and ran the skeet, she's fast! I rigged a HDS12 and HDS7 gen 3's and everything worked, although I need to adjust the transducer angle a little bit. I'm surprised at how quick and smooth the hole shot is. 

 

27984543628_0dec73a24e_b.jpg

Sweet - Time now to get the carpeting coated with a little fish slime! 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 2/26/2018 at 11:44 PM, FryDog62 said:

South Dakota does too... just make it all C&R in Minn

Right...we would have had this week, but I’m sure not that many other folks would be out. It’s all about the walleye as we know. But that also means we are a small group who’s concerns are not widely held. In other words: ignored. No one cares but us few bass guys, so.....doubt we will see a change. 

 

Please tell me if I’m wrong


fishing user avatarWillbroberg reply : 

Hows it goin! I'll be coming up to Minnesota from Maryland this summer for an internship. I'm going to be situated in Winona, and was just wondering what the fishing is generally  like on the Mississippi and little lakes. I'm mostly a bass fisherman but after reading through this forum a bit I see that a lot of the focus is on Walleye? Is the bass fishing still reasonable? Any general things I should know about Minnesota's fishing?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/7/2018 at 6:02 AM, Willbroberg said:

Hows it goin! I'll be coming up to Minnesota from Maryland this summer for an internship. I'm going to be situated in Winona, and was just wondering what the fishing is generally  like on the Mississippi and little lakes. I'm mostly a bass fisherman but after reading through this forum a bit I see that a lot of the focus is on Walleye? Is the bass fishing still reasonable? Any general things I should know about Minnesota's fishing?

MN bass fishing is awesome but It’s a big state- Winona’s totally diff than Central MN which is totally diff than Northern MN. But because everyone ELSE is after walleye......


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Well it looks like we have ice out pretty much everywhere in the metro on up towards St Cloud and towards Mille Lacs.  Tonka tied a record that had been held for 171 years!  Now the question is how many of these bigger lakes up north will be ice free by opener?  I'm gonna say that the bigger ones still have ice by Saturday but go ice free a few days after that.

 

I got my boat out yesterday for the first time this season just to make sure everything was running properly.  I didn't find any issues and equipment was operating as normal.  Water temp was 50.5 degrees.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 5/7/2018 at 6:02 AM, Willbroberg said:

Hows it goin! I'll be coming up to Minnesota from Maryland this summer for an internship. I'm going to be situated in Winona, and was just wondering what the fishing is generally  like on the Mississippi and little lakes. I'm mostly a bass fisherman but after reading through this forum a bit I see that a lot of the focus is on Walleye? Is the bass fishing still reasonable? Any general things I should know about Minnesota's fishing?

The bass fishing is great. 


fishing user avatarnguggs reply : 
  On 5/7/2018 at 6:02 AM, Willbroberg said:

Hows it goin! I'll be coming up to Minnesota from Maryland this summer for an internship. I'm going to be situated in Winona, and was just wondering what the fishing is generally  like on the Mississippi and little lakes. I'm mostly a bass fisherman but after reading through this forum a bit I see that a lot of the focus is on Walleye? Is the bass fishing still reasonable? Any general things I should know about Minnesota's fishing?

I went to college in Winona. Your best bet is going to be the river. Pool 7 (La Crosse area) is considered by some, to be one of the better bass fisheries in the country. Winona is on pool 6, which isn't too bad. If youre fishing from shore, there is access to some of the backwaters by the airport and Prairie Island Rd.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Where is everyone fishing for opener?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Alexandria (Mother’s Day weekend). Will hit Blackwell as well as the Chain


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Word is Mille Lacs is looking open'ish. Should be good by the weekend. 


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 

Had the boat out on Tonka this past weekend to knock the dust off of it.  Water temps in Grays and Wayzata were about 50-51, down in the lower lake it was down to 48-49.  Will probably duck off to a smaller body for the opener, probably out in Carver.  


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Wife’s birthday Saturday, Mother’s Day on Sunday... do I dare sneak out??


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 5/11/2018 at 11:52 AM, FryDog62 said:

Wife’s birthday Saturday, Mother’s Day on Sunday... do I dare sneak out??

i'm going out sunday evening for sure 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

There is still a significant ice flow on the west side of Mille lacs. Don't end up like the titanic fellas


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
On 5/10/2018 at 10:52 PM, FryDog62 said:

Wife’s birthday Saturday, Mother’s Day on Sunday... do I dare sneak out??

A double whammy! Sounds like time for a little negotiating. Good luck with that!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Report: The bass are bitting good. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Alexandria report: not so much


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 5/12/2018 at 7:00 PM, Jmhalvo said:

A double whammy! Sounds like time for a little negotiating. Good luck with that!

The pressure

got

the

best of me...

 

Got out this morning for a one-eyed, 20 inch bronzeback... Happy Season Opener to my Minnesota friends!! 

ADCB1387-67D8-451A-A6BD-1CBB49D0219A.jpeg


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 
  On 5/13/2018 at 2:43 AM, sully420 said:

Report: The bass are bitting good. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Hey sully. What did u throw today?  Caught 4-5 today but had to work for them. Light colored senko did it for me. 

 

Nothin on the jig. 


fishing user avatargeneoh reply : 

South metro, wt 58. Bass were active, caught a bunch but no giants. Anything moving would of worked today, I did most of my damage on a chatterbait. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

I'm a weekend worker, so I gotta wait till Tuesday afternoon.  Then a couple days in Chisago area.  I was on Chisago last Wednesday panfishing.  Bass were going better than the pannies, but we got enough for a couple meals. That lake got HAMMERED all winter long.  I'm sure there are a few freezers packed with sunnie/crappie fillets.  I've always said the possession limit is the most broken game law.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Amazingly, Sat am water temp here on the Alexandria Chain was only 43 (L Carlos ice had only been totally out for 7days). That has to be a record, or close to it. I didn’t even see minnows let alone bass. I traveled about 2 miles of bulrushes on the north end without fishing, and saw 4 crappies and 2 bass in the gin-clear water (zebra mussels). Without wind, the bottom is completely visible at any depth light penetrates due to the mussels. No doubt this ecosystem is completely changed. It’s very pretty but it can’t be good for fishing.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 5/13/2018 at 9:45 AM, OperationEagle said:

Hey sully. What did u throw today?  Caught 4-5 today but had to work for them. Light colored senko did it for me. 

 

Nothin on the jig. 

Chatter bait did all the work for me. The bass were really choking it.

 

  On 5/13/2018 at 8:04 PM, Jmhalvo said:

Amazingly, Sat am water temp here on the Alexandria Chain was only 43 (L Carlos ice had only been totally out for 7days). That has to be a record, or close to it. I didn’t even see minnows let alone bass. I traveled about 2 miles of bulrushes on the north end without fishing, and saw 4 crappies and 2 bass in the gin-clear water (zebra mussels). Without wind, the bottom is completely visible at any depth light penetrates due to the mussels. No doubt this ecosystem is completely changed. It’s very pretty but it can’t be good for fishing.

Sorry to heat that, i was worried for ya when you said you were going to that area. Im waiting 2 weeks to fish up north.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 5/13/2018 at 7:55 AM, Jmhalvo said:

Alexandria report: not so much

LOL good one

 

I was an hour north of the metro at my folk's house turkey hunting for a few days.  I went out with my Father on Saturday evening in his boat and the water temp was still a frigid 45 degrees.  I think the bass are still hibernating and it was PIKE city!  I can't believe the water is already 58 in the south metro.  That's a significant gap from what I saw.

 

Looks like 80's most of the week so I think I'll wait for the water to warm up some.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/13/2018 at 10:42 PM, sully420 said:

Chatter bait did all the work for me. The bass were really choking it.

 

Sorry to heat that, i was worried for ya when you said you were going to that area. Im waiting 2 weeks to fish up north.

Thanks for the concern ! Back in the Cities, hoping to sneak out to some “warm” water Tuesday 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

It was just right this weekend. Probably spawning next week. I was at crooked lake today and the bass were post spwan at least the big females that spawned first. In saturday i got em pre spawn on LOI.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I have never had a great day on the Mnpls Chain. Stumped.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

There was lots of pressure. I was lucky i got to the good stuff and fished it fastest. 


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 

Hope everyone enjoyed the opener.  I only got out for a few hours.  Landed a 5lber in the first 10 mins.  Lost another close to the same size about 10 mins after that then went dry.  What can you do!  

Also I was wondering if anyone had any info on Spurzem Lake out in Medina.  I’ve read winterkill in 2014 but DNR says no winterkill.  Just wondering if it holds anything worth dropping the boat in for.  

7A4ED1DB-97B5-4DC8-8221-1CC6155E2400.jpeg


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Hit my trusty Yak lake today, lotsa fish in 4 ft. Best bait by far was weighted coffee fluke- thx for the tip FryDog!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I've been out the last few days around the north metro. The fish are up REALLY shallow and look to be ready to spawn any day now.  On Saturday/Sunday/Monday I was able to catch a bunch of fish right up on the bank w/ spinnerbait and  a ton on a weightless stick bait. 

 

Today we hit a muddier lake and the fish didn't want ANYTHING. I got one on a dropshot in like 3 hours of fishing. Guess I couldn't have 4 straight days of a good bite haha. 

 


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 

Saturday I found the same thing as Popper Ninja. Bass were way back in flooded bushes and trees and chomping.  My best five weighed just over 17.  I didn't see a single bass cruising the shallows, or on beds.  Water temps on White Bear have been mid 50s all week.  A smaller lake just east was in the low 60s yesterday but NOTHING was biting.  Had one swing and miss on a Spook and caught another on a texas rigged structure bug in a laydown. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Small lake in West metro yesterday was 62 degrees.  Anyone seen temps on the Mississippi in the north metro?  I might head there Fri or Sat.


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

visibly noticed 20 or so bass over a 600 foot section cruising in 3 fow or less in water ~63degrees with mostly sandy bottom and some weeds mixed in around docks.   Tried throwing small crankbaits, curly tail worms, senko, weightless fluke, tried staying far away casting with as long as possible casts, and really only got 1 to bite after fan casting for almost 2 hours..   Is this a mid spawn attitude? Or am I doing something wrong?  There were also plenty of sunfish/crappie around.   Perhaps they weren't hungry?  They didn't seem to be pinned to a particular spot/bed.  just cruising. 


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

I have had a few fun mornings in a row on Lake of the Isles. Lots of good sized fish including this healthy 18 incher. Caught most fish on wacky rig, and chatterbait, with a few nice fish caught on a jerkbait as well.  

IMG_4373.jpg


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 5/17/2018 at 4:29 AM, FishingMN said:

visibly noticed 20 or so bass over a 600 foot section cruising in 3 fow or less in water ~63degrees with mostly sandy bottom and some weeds mixed in around docks.   Tried throwing small crankbaits, curly tail worms, senko, weightless fluke, tried staying far away casting with as long as possible casts, and really only got 1 to bite after fan casting for almost 2 hours..   Is this a mid spawn attitude? Or am I doing something wrong?  There were also plenty of sunfish/crappie around.   Perhaps they weren't hungry?  They didn't seem to be pinned to a particular spot/bed.  just cruising. 

Can't be sure, could've been the weather could be there's enough baitfish and other food sources.  My guess is they are still searching for the spawning areas and aren't protecting beds so they aren't quite to that "spawn level" of aggressiveness.  I'm glad to hear other people found a tough bite the last few days.  I was starting to wonder after having a great trip on Opener and then having two tough days Sunday and Monday.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/17/2018 at 4:29 AM, FishingMN said:

visibly noticed 20 or so bass over a 600 foot section cruising in 3 fow or less in water ~63degrees with mostly sandy bottom and some weeds mixed in around docks.   Tried throwing small crankbaits, curly tail worms, senko, weightless fluke, tried staying far away casting with as long as possible casts, and really only got 1 to bite after fan casting for almost 2 hours..   Is this a mid spawn attitude? Or am I doing something wrong?  There were also plenty of sunfish/crappie around.   Perhaps they weren't hungry?  They didn't seem to be pinned to a particular spot/bed.  just cruising. 

It does sound like pre spawn... on Tuesday I found 70 degree water and very aggressive bed protectors in a small lake. My guess is this next week will be better BUT of course now the weekend weather looks ready to shut some of that down a bit. It’s always something!


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Hey guys...a major uplift in sharing of what is working at what depth...from more metro fishers.

 

I love to see this!


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

If water temp is 70, and some bass found on beds.  Where is best place to go to target the other bass (the ones that I assume are not spawning..they don't all spawn at once right?)


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Was on the Mississippi in North metro... water temps 64.  The 10-13 inch males are near shore preparing beds, very few females yet.  Prob next week...


fishing user avatargeneoh reply : 

Was on a metro lake, water temps were 74-78(!). I did see some beds and looked like males were locked on. I didn't try to catch any of them, didn't really want to waste time on some 12 inch squeakers. I'm relatively new to fishing during the spawn, I thought they spawned more at 64-68. Or did that temp come and go so fast they didn't really have a chance? 

 

Bite was a little tough, caught most of mine deep in timber today.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 5/18/2018 at 10:59 AM, geneoh said:

Was on a metro lake, water temps were 74-78(!). I did see some beds and looked like males were locked on. I didn't try to catch any of them, didn't really want to waste time on some 12 inch squeakers. I'm relatively new to fishing during the spawn, I thought they spawned more at 64-68. Or did that temp come and go so fast they didn't really have a chance? 

 

Bite was a little tough, caught most of mine deep in timber today.

with temps rising some 10 degrees in some lakes in the last few days the fish are kind of in a weird stage from what I've seen. Normally the water doesn't heat up nearly this fast and they begin to start moving up at around 60 in my experience. The warm rush has definitely caused some fish to spawn although I wouldn't be surprised if we still had fish moving up throughout the next month. On the topic of warm water, anyone else catching topwater fish yet? I had about a 20 fish night yesterday on a popper. Pretty cool for the week after opener. Water was around 69-72.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Caught some on a wopper plopper last night and some on a popping frog a few nights ago. I could have got more but the wind picked up pretty good and killed the bite.

 


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Bass were definitely shallow today and tonight.  Light colored senko did the trick for me.   All in 3-6 feet of water. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

5am air temp 65, great shallow bite including Whopper Plopper. By 9am, air temp 52...shut down.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Talked to a high-level tournament fisherman today - Metro area: 3 to 6 fow water, reaction baits, rattle traps, wiggle warts, chatterbaits, jerk baits.  Next week - big girls on Senkos, plastics on beds.  


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Tuesday I fished N. Center for a couple hours in the evening and did pretty good ultra shallow with a weightless jerk shad.  I was really looking forward to a full day with big fish on Green wednesday, but it was tough. Caught fish, but a lot of dead time. Swimbait was best. Nothing on jerkbait, chatterbait or dinger.  Stayed mostly shallow - less than 5 fow.  Blew some opportunities at big ones, boatside that I thought were pike.   Water temps topped out at about 68 on N. Center and 64 on Green.


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 5/18/2018 at 12:24 PM, JackKlassen said:

with temps rising some 10 degrees in some lakes in the last few days the fish are kind of in a weird stage from what I've seen. Normally the water doesn't heat up nearly this fast and they begin to start moving up at around 60 in my experience. The warm rush has definitely caused some fish to spawn although I wouldn't be surprised if we still had fish moving up throughout the next month. On the topic of warm water, anyone else catching topwater fish yet? I had about a 20 fish night yesterday on a popper. Pretty cool for the week after opener. Water was around 69-72.

Friday morning I caught almost 30 bass on a Bronzeye Frog in a 100 yd stretch.  They were blowing it up almost every other cast.  It was awesome.  


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

finding lots of .5 to 1.5 lbers shallow.  Some on beds.  Water temp 63-65.  Where are the more sizable fish?


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 5/23/2018 at 8:27 AM, FishingMN said:

finding lots of .5 to 1.5 lbers shallow.  Some on beds.  Water temp 63-65.  Where are the more sizable fish?

When they've been biting, I've found them in flooded bushes and laydowns.  Most likely still in a staging mode although I would think many of them will be on beds by the weekend if not sooner.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/23/2018 at 8:27 AM, FishingMN said:

finding lots of .5 to 1.5 lbers shallow.  Some on beds.  Water temp 63-65.  Where are the more sizable fish?

Find a smaller lake, temps close to 70 


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Wahoo! Been a while since I last posted to How's the fishing been for everyone since the opener?!?!?! Fishing has been amazing for me. I've only been on 2 lakes  (Green and Minnetonka) but the fishing is on fire. We smacked em on the 12th on Green. No momma's but we had ourselves a nice 60+ fish day biggest being a 3/3.5lb smallie (I didn't even know smallies existed on Green). They were all shallow around 4 to 8 feet. They were chomping on jigs. The 13th was spent on Tonka. Took an hour or two but we figured out the pattern. I started the day with the same pattern as I did on Green but it did not work out. Switched to a heavy power fishing style and started to getting bites. We threw spinnerbaits and RTO's and they were getting it done. Awesome day of around 40ish+ fish with the big one going for around 4 lbs. The weekend of 19th and 20th was just alot of scanning/ scouting and shaking fish off. Not fun too most but stupidly awesome for a tournament angler. Did not see alot of spawners. It seems the fish are cruising. I hope you all get em this weekend for the bass opener!


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Air temps in the low 90’s this weekend ought to have some effect on things! 


fishing user avatarHawkeye21 reply : 

I fished the river south of La Crosse on Friday and Saturday.  Water temp was about 70 in the back water.  The big bass were in about 2 foot of water and protecting beds.  I caught a decent amount of nice bass over 17" all on a black/blue chatterbait.


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 
  On 5/18/2018 at 9:59 AM, FryDog62 said:

Was on the Mississippi in North metro... water temps 64.  The 10-13 inch males are near shore preparing beds, very few females yet.  Prob next week...

Just read the your boat description in your bio.  How far can you take that up the Mississippi towards St. Cloud?  Ive always wanted to fish the area between St Cloud and Elk River for smallies but dont know it well enough to know the areas to avoid.  I have a tracker 170 w/40hp so I would think it doesnt sit quite as low as yours.  Just curious!

Haven't been out this week at all.  Plan on hitting Medicine tomorrow to get ready for a little tournament.  Never had a ton of luck there but ill mainly be searching for beds.  I would think with the temps heating up quick they should head to them in the next few days.  


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/24/2018 at 9:41 AM, dsidle61 said:

Just read the your boat description in your bio.  How far can you take that up the Mississippi towards St. Cloud?  Ive always wanted to fish the area between St Cloud and Elk River for smallies but dont know it well enough to know the areas to avoid.  I have a tracker 170 w/40hp so I would think it doesnt sit quite as low as yours.  Just curious!

Haven't been out this week at all.  Plan on hitting Medicine tomorrow to get ready for a little tournament.  Never had a ton of luck there but ill mainly be searching for beds.  I would think with the temps heating up quick they should head to them in the next few days.  

I kayak St Cloud to Monticello a lot....no way a prop motor will make it there! I do see boats, but none with propellers


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 5/24/2018 at 9:41 AM, dsidle61 said:

Just read the your boat description in your bio.  How far can you take that up the Mississippi towards St. Cloud?  Ive always wanted to fish the area between St Cloud and Elk River for smallies but dont know it well enough to know the areas to avoid.  I have a tracker 170 w/40hp so I would think it doesnt sit quite as low as yours.  Just curious!

Haven't been out this week at all.  Plan on hitting Medicine tomorrow to get ready for a little tournament.  Never had a ton of luck there but ill mainly be searching for beds.  I would think with the temps heating up quick they should head to them in the next few days.  

Agree with Jmhalvo... tough when you get up North.  I put in Anoka and go up river to the first two islands on the Mississippi.  Along back side of this islands is good.  But I have a jack plate and can hike it up pretty far (see link below).  I only draft about 14-18 inches and there’s some low spots along the way... but worth it.  

 


fishing user avatarshimmy reply : 

Hit a metro lake last week (lake auburn) on Wednesday and got a 22 pound limit. Water temps were up to 68 by the evening. Not one fish with a red tail. Water temps were great for spawning, but the fish had not come up yet. I think the spawn is ready now. Prior to the cold front, I fished some lakes in ottertail county from Thursday to Saturday. Water temps were lower by a few degrees, but we caught a lot more spawning. Very interesting how each lake plays by its own rules. Highest bag was 25 lbs. One 6 pounder. Jigs outfished plastics, but plastics did better at getting the missed strikes. Hope you all get them. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Holy HOT.  Just 5 weeks ago we had a historic April blizzard and just 2.5 weeks ago there was still ice out there.  What happened to the season called spring?!  Directly from winter to summer I guess.  The rapid change has to be playing games with the fish in their normal various stages of spawning.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 5/25/2018 at 8:39 PM, gimruis said:

Holy HOT.  Just 5 weeks ago we had a historic April blizzard and just 2.5 weeks ago there was still ice out there.  What happened to the season called spring?!  Directly from winter to summer I guess.  The rapid change has to be playing games with the fish in their normal various stages of spawning.

It’s crazy... I keep going out here and there as water temps have steadily risen thinking it’s going to be ‘game on’ eventually.  Still mostly small-mid sized males and a few females here and there but very few really big ones yet.  


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Me and a buddy went to Big Lake today and we had a really good bite this morning on jigs and wacky worms. The fish were out and about near the shore line until the sun came out. Once the sun came out they started to tuck into the shade and under the docks. The dock bite started to get really good and we caught some pre-spawners and some spawned out females with the red tails. Very weird. 

 

I was sure there would be a topwater bite today.. but nothing. They only wanted the jig for me. 

 

I did get my first 4lber of the year skipping a jig under a dock. That was really fun. 

 

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fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 
  On 5/25/2018 at 9:30 PM, FryDog62 said:

It’s crazy... I keep going out here and there as water temps have steadily risen thinking it’s going to be ‘game on’ eventually.  Still mostly small-mid sized males and a few females here and there but very few really big ones yet.  

that's what i've been noticing too.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Small lake nears Alex tonite WTemp was 73, really good action 2-5 ft. Zero topwater, but great on chatter and fluke. Boated a 21,an 18, and about 20 bass that were 15-18. Almost without fail, there would be a bed near submerged logs/timber. A great time. Probably try the actual Alex Chain this weekend, but temp on CARLOS still only 64.


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Anyone fish Bald Eagle? Fishing there for a local tournament series and that’s the first lake. Suggestions? My teammate was throwing senkos yesterday, but nothing over a pound. 


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 
  On 5/26/2018 at 11:45 AM, Jmhalvo said:

Small lake nears Alex tonite WTemp was 73, really good action 2-5 ft. Zero topwater, but great on chatter and fluke. Boated a 21,an 18, and about 20 bass that were 15-18. Almost without fail, there would be a bed near submerged logs/timber. A great time. Probably try the actual Alex Chain this weekend, but temp on CARLOS still only 64.

water clear or stained?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/27/2018 at 12:47 AM, FishingMN said:

water clear or stained?

More towards clear- could see bottom up to 6 ft...as opposed to the Chain where sechi disc is over 20ft


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 
  On 5/27/2018 at 1:42 AM, Jmhalvo said:

More towards clear- could see bottom up to 6 ft...as opposed to the Chain where sechi disc is over 20ft

I think a lot of lakes are starting to get to the clear stage, before they become stained/green again.

I am impressed they were biting the chatterbait in the clear waters is why I asked.   

I have been doing ok with a keitech with a very slightly weighted hook and/or a minus 1ft mini crankbait.  I like the fluke Idea.  Did you have any weight added to the fluke?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Yes, added weight to the fluke...they were not hitting on top or I would’ve gone weightless fluke. To me it was not “clear” water but just not quite stained


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Females are starting to bite pretty good. 

Still pretty shallow.

20180527_133928.jpg


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Where have Wacky ring-installation pens been all my life 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I really wish i had the patients to fish a wacky rig. I don't even skip them any more, and they catch so many fish. One thing I've noticed so far this season is that the life cycle of the fish is more advanced than the life cycle of the vegetation. That seems to really dictate where good fish are holding even though the water temperature is rising so fast. Fish seem to be gravitating towards the best vegetation weather that's on shore emergent or submergent vegetation.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 5/28/2018 at 10:45 PM, sully420 said:

I really wish i had the patients to fish a wacky rig. I don't even skip them any more, and they catch so many fish. One thing I've noticed so far this season is that the life cycle of the fish is more advanced than the life cycle of the vegetation. That seems to really dictate where good fish are holding even though the water temperature is rising so fast. Fish seem to be gravitating towards the best vegetation weather that's on shore emergent or submergent vegetation.

I find that having a really expensive & overpriced rod & reel make finesse fishing way more enjoyable! So try that. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 5/29/2018 at 7:42 AM, punch said:

find that having a really expensive & overpriced rod & reel make finesse fishing way more enjoyable! So try that. 

Yea i know but the most important thing about fishing to me is knowing the kind of fisherman i am and being that. I am an admirer of of fitness fisherman and i learn so much but herr in Minnesota I'll  do me.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 5/28/2018 at 10:45 PM, sully420 said:

I really wish i had the patients to fish a wacky rig. I don't even skip them any more, and they catch so many fish. One thing I've noticed so far this season is that the life cycle of the fish is more advanced than the life cycle of the vegetation. That seems to really dictate where good fish are holding even though the water temperature is rising so fast. Fish seem to be gravitating towards the best vegetation weather that's on shore emergent or submergent vegetation.

Are those big jigs getting bit?


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Yes. Its not about what there bitting its where why how. I know i can get bit on a senko, i want to get bit by the biggest fish the most. I want to fish the best the fastest. 

Big jigs allways get bit. My only decision is how fast can I fish that big jig. I ask myself should I go to a big punch rig?


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 

Haven't been out there this year yet, but the end of last year it was VERY brown.  Frogs are always a good bet out there as well as dock fishing and punching.  If it's as dark as it was last fall make sure you bring loud lures with you.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 5/26/2018 at 10:36 PM, NathanDLTH said:

Anyone fish Bald Eagle? Fishing there for a local tournament series and that’s the first lake. Suggestions? My teammate was throwing senkos yesterday, but nothing over a pound. 

It depends on water temp. I used to fish Bald Eagle alot when I lived in Whitebear. That place sees alot of stick baits. I would avoid them unless you're just looking to get your limit quick. I would suggest punching the thickest/healthiest grass you can find. I never avg lower then 14 to 16lbs there doing that. You wont get alot of bites but when you do they'll be the better quality fish your looking for. I would hit up those 3 major points on the left side of the lake. Flip in those. The weeds should come up to 10 to 15 ft when they topped out. Good luck on your tournament.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Anybody been out on Tonka? It crazy busy over there. Having a super tough time locating anything big. Went there 4 days in a row this weekend. Day 1 had only 14. 7lbs. Day 2 i had 14.2lbs. Day 3 had 16.2lbs. Day 4 only had 12.4 lbs. There's not much healthy grass out there yet and the deep bite isn't working, even with the super hot weather. Fish must be in a transition period. I can't quite figure them out yet. Can't compete with those Denny boys if I can't avg at least 18lbs per outing.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Has anyone fished Lake Marion in Lakeville? I have a highschool tournament there in a few weeks and plan on getting out there sometime this week. Was wondering if anyone had any tips. Judging from Navionics I'm guessing its a stained milfoil lake but could be wrong.


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 
  On 5/30/2018 at 4:37 AM, JackKlassen said:

Has anyone fished Lake Marion in Lakeville? I have a highschool tournament there in a few weeks and plan on getting out there sometime this week. Was wondering if anyone had any tips. Judging from Navionics I'm guessing its a stained milfoil lake but could be wrong.

Marion was treated for zebras last year by the launch so check your boat and trailer a little extra...and encourage others to do so as well.

 

I will PM you on some thoughts.


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 
  On 5/29/2018 at 1:08 PM, drscholl14 said:

Haven't been out there this year yet, but the end of last year it was VERY brown.  Frogs are always a good bet out there as well as dock fishing and punching.  If it's as dark as it was last fall make sure you bring loud lures with you.

This was referring to the previous question about Bald Eagle Lake.


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

water temp 75ish mid size west/north lakes today.  Was near 80 earlier this week.  CRAZY.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 5/30/2018 at 3:57 AM, misho187 said:

Anybody been out on Tonka? It crazy busy over there. Having a super tough time locating anything big. Went there 4 days in a row this weekend. Day 1 had only 14. 7lbs. Day 2 i had 14.2lbs. Day 3 had 16.2lbs. Day 4 only had 12.4 lbs. There's not much healthy grass out there yet and the deep bite isn't working, even with the super hot weather. Fish must be in a transition period. I can't quite figure them out yet. Can't compete with those Denny boys if I can't avg at least 18lbs per outing.

That lake gets absolutely pounded by competitive bass fishing virtually every weekend and several nights a week.  Combined with ultra clear water and you get what may be a perfect storm in terms of very pressured fish that are spooky on top of it.


fishing user avatardrscholl14 reply : 

Figure out where the weigh ins have been.....:lol: .


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 5/31/2018 at 3:43 PM, drscholl14 said:

Figure out where the weigh ins have been.....:lol: .

LOL!!! If only it were that easy. They use to release them directly at the docks of Lord Fletcher's, but now they take em to random spots now.

  On 5/31/2018 at 8:23 AM, gimruis said:

That lake gets absolutely pounded by competitive bass fishing virtually every weekend and several nights a week.  Combined with ultra clear water and you get what may be a perfect storm in terms of very pressured fish that are spooky on top of it.

Yeah the lake does get pounded, but it makes you a better fisherman if you can find them and get them to bite. I like the struggle of figuring out the fish. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy pounding them in un-pressured lakes too but that's way too easy. I usually head to one of the Chisago area lakes if i just want to smack 'em.


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

Had a great time this morning whacking smallies on topwater on the Mississippi. Caught about 15 small-medium fish all on a spook. Nothing pulls like a river smallie. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I went to Mille Lacs on Friday, June 1 and fished the east side of the lake for about 5 hours.  Tough bite overall.  My Father and I caught 4 bass, 1 walleye, and 1 pike.  We saw a lot of fish in super shallow water including a couple on beds but generally when we saw them, we couldn't catch them.  I think the bass began to guard beds when it got really hot but it got down into the 40's up there the last couple nights and I think they moved back out because we saw a lot of beds without fish - and I don't think they spawned yet because the water temp was only 50-53 degrees.  All four smallmouth we caught were over 17 inches and I caught probably the second biggest smallmouth I've ever caught - a 20.5 incher.  A saw a TON of bass boats out there.  I think the fishing pressure has finally got to them.  Slowly fished soft plastics in natural colors was the only thing that caught fish.  I tried a jerkbait for a long time and saw a lot of other guys trying that too.  I only saw one other bass caught the entire time out of at least 40 boats I saw out there.

june 1 toad.jpg


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Pro tip: don't use trash hooks

IMG_1467 (1).JPG


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

have the fish started to move deeper?


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@FishingMN There definitely feeding, but im not really targeting deep structure or weedlines yet there is too much forage shallow. In other words i think they are suspended over deeper water but feeding shallower i expect this to hold true untill sunfish are finished spawning.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Me and @geneoh are fishing aginst @rascalP tonight in Greenhorn.. who will be the victor! Bass resource member battle. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@punch what lake are you guys fishing?


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Royal rumble on the lake


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Congrats to Punch and Geneoh on their 3rd place finish.  Nice to meet you both.  Always something to learn with fishing and I will always be willing to be a pupil.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 6/7/2018 at 4:32 AM, sully420 said:

@punch what lake are you guys fishing?

Sully,   we were on N/S Center.  Are you doing the Sunday GH series?  Coon?  (cough,cough) reeds (cough, cough)????.

 

  Actually, anybody fishing the GH should take advantage of the archives and past results.  There's usually a pretty good write up on the tourny.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@rascalP no i e-mailed the director to see if i can join any series. Coon is a tough lake I've only been there once.


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

Does anyone know if there are largemouth bass on Wolf Lake up near bemidji?   I will be spending a week in that area. Curious if there are any good tips on finding the bass.  Last time there only found northern (smallish) and some walleye, but couldn't connect with a single bass.  It does connect to Andruisa Lake and Cass Lake if I wanted to spend a long time idling through a mile of channels.  So kinda curious about those lakes too.  Any pointers would be helpful.  Have a great week everyone!


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 6/9/2018 at 1:03 AM, FishingMN said:

Does anyone know if there are largemouth bass on Wolf Lake up near bemidji?   I will be spending a week in that area. Curious if there are any good tips on finding the bass.  Last time there only found northern (smallish) and some walleye, but couldn't connect with a single bass.  It does connect to Andruisa Lake and Cass Lake if I wanted to spend a long time idling through a mile of channels.  So kinda curious about those lakes too.  Any pointers would be helpful.  Have a great week everyone!

2009 survey shows DNR captured exactly one bass- 19 inch. Old survey, but the DNR does not mention bass on their list of species in the lake


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 
  On 6/9/2018 at 1:03 AM, FishingMN said:

Does anyone know if there are largemouth bass on Wolf Lake up near bemidji?   I will be spending a week in that area. Curious if there are any good tips on finding the bass.  Last time there only found northern (smallish) and some walleye, but couldn't connect with a single bass.  It does connect to Andruisa Lake and Cass Lake if I wanted to spend a long time idling through a mile of channels.  So kinda curious about those lakes too.  Any pointers would be helpful.  Have a great week everyone!

 I am not sure if you have a boat you can trailer, but Grace is really close and has good bass fishing.  Others that are a little farther away in the area that I fish that aren't really busy are North Twin, Medicine, and Three Island. Big Turtle and Beltrami are good but can be busy.  If a lake does have bass, a wacky rigged worm on outside weed edge will let you know if they are there.  Swim jig with trailer thrown in shallow works well also. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 6/11/2018 at 7:14 AM, Tlauz said:

 I am not sure if you have a boat you can trailer, but Grace is really close and has good bass fishing.  Others that are a little farther away in the area that I fish that aren't really busy are North Twin, Medicine, and Three Island. Big Turtle and Beltrami are good but can be busy.  If a lake does have bass, a wacky rigged worm on outside weed edge will let you know if they are there.  Swim jig with trailer thrown in shallow works well also. 

Doesn’t Big Bass Lk have new Catch and Release only? Might be good....


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

We're heading up to the Crow Wing chain this weekend. I can't wait! Low pressure (everyone fishes for walleye or trophy pike uo there), clear water and little to no boat traffic. I've had some amazing bass days in the chain.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

There's so many small to medium sized lakes in Northern Minnesota that have none or minimal bass fishing pressure.  I could spend a month up there just hopping from one to the other and not encounter another bass boat.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 6/12/2018 at 9:29 PM, gimruis said:

There's so many small to medium sized lakes in Northern Minnesota that have none or minimal bass fishing pressure.  I could spend a month up there just hopping from one to the other and not encounter another bass boat.

X2... this is one of the great things about our state... so many small-medium and relatively unexplored lakes.  The big bodies of water get so much notoriety but I prefer the smaller ones and rivers where there are less people/pressure.  And you’re right, once most people get above Mille Lacs they are pretty much only focused on walleyes.  

 

Once at a bait shop in Northern Minnesota I stopped to see if they had any plastic creature baits and the guy looks at me like I’m nuts “What would you need those for?  ...But I’ll sell you some shiners here for the walleyes that are in 14 feet of water right now... maybe you’ll also run into some of those ‘bronze carp’ while you’re at it.!”


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 
  On 6/9/2018 at 9:36 AM, Jmhalvo said:

2009 survey shows DNR captured exactly one bass- 19 inch. Old survey, but the DNR does not mention bass on their list of species in the lake

Well so far I've caught 3.  so I guess I am doing ok in a non bass lake.  Actually, i think they pull into this lake in the spring and then thin out later in the year is my guess. Thanks for the info I should have looked up dnr info

  On 6/11/2018 at 7:14 AM, Tlauz said:

 I am not sure if you have a boat you can trailer, but Grace is really close and has good bass fishing.  Others that are a little farther away in the area that I fish that aren't really busy are North Twin, Medicine, and Three Island. Big Turtle and Beltrami are good but can be busy.  If a lake does have bass, a wacky rigged worm on outside weed edge will let you know if they are there.  Swim jig with trailer thrown in shallow works well also. 

Thanks!  We did bring trailer.  We will try Grace.  Sounds fun.  I did find a few on wolf using a keitech or a chatterbait in the pencil reeds..  4ft water.

Thanks guys for the help.  Did find 3 bass on wolf.  (2+, 2+, 3+ lbs)  but appears population of bass is thin..

haven't yet ventured to the other lakes. 


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

cass lake seems much better..btw. long idle over there, but 10 bass with largest being almost 4lbs


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Fished Tonka today. It was hard fishing. Fish were still shallow around 5-7 fow. Found them tight to pads. Caught most on senkos and jigs. Definitely post spawn. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Spicer was a bust- wind died and so did we


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

It's definitely transition time right now.


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

Every time I've been out bank fishing Lake of the Isles in the past 3 weeks it seems like the carp are spawning, at least they are thrashing around making a commotion in the shallows. This has been ongoing since around May 20. Has anyone experienced anything similar? It seems strange to me that it has gone on so long and in my opinion really disrupts the bass fishing. 


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 

I’m up on Birch lake this week in Hackensack (cass).  Anyone ever had any luck up here before? Putting the boat in after the showers finish up.  Been having really good luck w the whopper plopper lately on metro lakes.  Tons of grass up here, hoping for the same results. 


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 
  On 6/18/2018 at 3:48 AM, dsidle61 said:

I’m up on Birch lake this week in Hackensack (cass).  Anyone ever had any luck up here before? Putting the boat in after the showers finish up.  Been having really good luck w the whopper plopper lately on metro lakes.  Tons of grass up here, hoping for the same results. 

try to find pencil reeds next to (interspersed with) other weeds with the most life around in 4fow on cass lake.  Try texas rigged, wacky or, chatterbait.  see my previous posts from a few days ago on cass lake 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Been fishing lots of metro lakes with algae.  I've had good results fishing grass where the algae was gone or there was less of it. Frogging and flippin.


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

New poster here, but have been lurking, reading, and watching this report for years now.  Good stuff guys, appreciate the time it takes to write these.  Purchased a new rig this winter so I'm fishing more now, so I thought I'd start chiming in.

 

Thanks for the report Sully, I've been struggling to find good ones last couple times out SW Metro, at least that's something to go on.  Anything you are keying in on when you flip - hard bottom, structure, etc?  I want to flip, but not sure where to start.

 

I can't find anything but dinks up shallow and on docks, so I'm trying not to spend much time there.  I need to dedicate some more time to frogging, just haven't yet.  Been running moving baits in 8-10 fow over grass, but not getting the bites there I was a few weeks ago.  Yesterday, I did find quite a few in the submerged milfoil that hasn't topped out yet.  No real size, but it was enough of an indicator to run a pattern if I would have had the time.  Been trying to find some off shore spots to deep crank, but it seems 9 casts out of ten come back with junk on my plug, I don't feel that is very efficient so getting frustrated there.  I'm graphing quite a few fish on main lake points in 13-17 fow, but not exactly sure what they are.  I try to drop shot them and most seem to be bluegills tearing at my lure.

 

Keep the reports coming fellas.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@Dubtee yea clean topped out grass flats 5 to 7' deep with lots of holes in it the bigger the holes the better. If you get a chance to fish early morning you can run alot of it with a frog to find hot spots then work it over with a jig or t-rig. Look for sunnies in the area thats a big clue.

I don't think bass are really setting up deep yet. The rain is keeping the water up and sunfish really want to spawn so they are staying shallow for the most part. It seems like the pike are feeding on the deeper stuff and the bass are tucked in a bit shallower. 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Good stuff Sully, thanks.  Makes sense on the deep stuff as I have fished out there enough over the last week and haven't really found them there yet.  Gonna get my flipping rigs ready and go to work, I'll report back.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I tried Mille Lacs again yesterday.  The smallmouth are all done spawning now.  The water temperature was 65-67 degrees on the east side.  The water was also noticeably murkier than it has been because of the heavy rain the past week.  My Father and I caught 8 bass and 4 accidental bonus walleyes in about 4.5 hours.  The biggest was a 20 incher that he caught. 

 

Just a heads up guys - there is a HS tournament on Tonka starting Friday that has 150 teams from around the state so the lake is going to get pounded for a few days.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 6/22/2018 at 8:22 AM, gimruis said:

I tried Mille Lacs again yesterday.  The smallmouth are all done spawning now.  The water temperature was 65-67 degrees on the east side.  The water was also noticeably murkier than it has been because of the heavy rain the past week.  My Father and I caught 8 bass and 4 accidental bonus walleyes in about 4.5 hours.  The biggest was a 20 incher that he caught. 

 

Just a heads up guys - there is a HS tournament on Tonka starting Friday that has 150 teams from around the state so the lake is going to get pounded for a few days.

Good to know about the tournament, wondering if other fishermen will get pushed out to the surrounding lakes.  I’m about 50-50 if I can go out tomorrow and thinking where to go... def not Tonka now - thx for the heads up!


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Yakkers like “no public access”

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fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Had a great day yesterday fishing a north west metro lake. We were flipping arrowheads in 4' of water. The water temp was 74 degrees and visibility was 1' 

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fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Very healthy looking fish sully!!  Early morning or evening bite better?


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@FryDog62 I fished from 5am to 12:30. I bet we could have stayed there all day and got bit. Bass kept moving in to the area as the day progressed.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

The middle of the day seemed like the best time for the flippin bite. The water was so dirty that it was really hard to get them on topwaters or reaction baits. I could see bass feeding on top and chasing bait outside of the pads i was fishing but couldn't get them to bite until they moved into the pads.


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Nice fish gents. 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Nice fish sully.  I still haven't figured out the flipping bite yet.  Fished Prior yesterday and there was a tourney launching when I got there.  Everyone I saw went off shore on breaks, humps, or main lake points.  I followed suit and found a lot of bass in 10-20 feet on outside grass on a power shot but no real size.  I didn't have the time to run the pattern so not sure if it was just a matter of finding one of those points/breaks with good ones on it.  I'd be interested to know what won the tourney - anyone here fish it?


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

In no tournament fishermen but on prior i would have been fishing docks and grass. I don't like doing what everyone else is doing.

Try smaller bodies of water, less traffic and pressure 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I was out yesterday afternoon and figured fish would be offshore a bit on deeper grass lines.. nope. I was marking fish. Just a bunch of pike. 

 

I switched gears and started tossing a frog and wacky senko around reeds in REALLY skinny water and then I started catching quality fish. They were really shallow, and I also spotted a bunch of active bluegill beds. The bluegill spawn seems to be like.. going forever. Saw beds 3 weeks ago and I'm still seeing active beds on metro lakes. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Yea the good fish seem to be shallow and on the gill bite still

 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Parts of the state have had a ton of rain, anyone fishing flooded areas lately?  


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

We got on an INSANE topwater bite tonight in the north metro. We found a gigantic school of bass at around 5pm that were on an offshore, underwater point busting on bluegill. We started walking poppers in the area and were getting fish after fish after fish. They were inhaling the popper. I've never seen that many topwater strikes in one session. It went on for like 2 hours. We also fished shallow and worked some bluegill beds & reeds with jigs & wacky worms and caught a few nice ones too. Was just one of those amazing nights. We easily boated 60+ (seriously lost count) bass in 5 hours. It was ridiculous. 

 

It helped that we had the entire lake to ourselves. Just a few canoes and kayaks. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Don't you just love a good topwater bite?  Doesn't seem to happen very often anymore.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Anyone else in the metro area out fishing today?  I did - really struggled to find any pattern on a lake that is usually “can’t miss.”

 

In 6 hours I only caught 5 LMB and 4 we’re small.  Tried Chatterbaits in 6-10 fow, plastics under the docks, Poppin Frog/Toadrunner in/near the pads, and 1oz Dark Sleeper on off shore structure 10-18 fow.  

 

Hopefully somebody else else found something that worked ?!?  I’m all ears!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Algae and stained water are stunting the health and growth of some vegetation. Keeping fish a bit shallower and reducing there strike zones as well as limiting there willingness to chase and the duration of time they spend chasing bait. I've found that the better bass have been on natural cover (vegetation)3 to 8 feet of water roaming early in the day and getting tight to cover as the day progresses. Bigger baits have been more effective for me. The fish seem to bite good you just have to put the bait in there face or look for signs of bass pushing gills to the surface and squeak out some bites with a topwater or bait close to the surface. Look for areas that are near the deep edge of flats also look for activity on those flats and fish the area with activity with a topwater or swimbait then fish the best cover nearest  the active area jig or t rig. If the bottom isn't hard the bass don't want it on the bottom. They will eat it on the fall or after you lift it off the bottom.


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 
  On 6/29/2018 at 6:21 AM, FryDog62 said:

Anyone else in the metro area out fishing today?  I did - really struggled to find any pattern on a lake that is usually “can’t miss.”

 

In 6 hours I only caught 5 LMB and 4 we’re small.  Tried Chatterbaits in 6-10 fow, plastics under the docks, Poppin Frog/Toadrunner in/near the pads, and 1oz Dark Sleeper on off shore structure 10-18 fow.  

 

Hopefully somebody else else found something that worked ?!?  I’m all ears!

My frog bite has been so lackluster this year that I’m starting to wonder! It’s been my go to for the past 3-4 years.  Having better luck on poppers and whopper plopper next to docks and pads.  Wednesday I tried out a new west metro lake, started w a chatterbait, switched to plastics deeper and didn’t get bit til I tossed a weightless wacky right on the outside edge of very established weedlines.  Even then it was the most subtle little tap.  Don’t know if the summer heat is making them sluggish? But I’ll use that at my excuse ????


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

I have been out on the Minneapolis Chain the last few nights and done pretty well, probably caught about 30 fish between the last two nights but fish would only hit the wacky rig. I was able to end last night with this 21". No scale but definitely a healthy fish, put up a good fight on my medium light rod as well

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fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 6/30/2018 at 10:10 AM, starkeer said:

I have been out on the Minneapolis Chain the last few nights and done pretty well, probably caught about 30 fish between the last two nights but fish would only hit the wacky rig. I was able to end last night with this 21". No scale but definitely a healthy fish, put up a good fight on my medium light rod as well

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Wacky is incredible- ever insert a nail in one end? Causes it to “back up”


fishing user avatarnguggs reply : 

I got out on Tonka Saturday morning for a few hours before most of the recreational traffic started. Sully's analysis was spot on to what we put together as well. We tried a couple different spots but almost all our fish came between docks in the grass in about 4-6 FOW. Deeper docks were less productive. They still seem to want it slow. Slow rolled belly weighted Gambler swimbaits and would stop them and start up again and have a fish on. 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Although I can catch them off shore on breaks right now, they only seem to be small.  That being said, went shallow yesterday after the storms, caught a few shorts and one real good one on a frog.  Saw another good one miss the frog and another came off.   I then found some hard botttom coontail just off some docks, 4-6 FOW, and pitching a 1/2 oz jig was the ticket.  Caught 12 or so fish (all quality) in about 1.5 hours once I happened across the coontail.  They didn't seem to be in the neighboring patches of curly leaf.  Real fun evening and was good to get off of the 13'' funk I have been in.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I just read that Yesterday St Cloud had an all-time high pressure reading for July. Interesting cuz the bite was hot, then really dropped off in Alexandria thurs/fri. I guess that explains it...or it could of course just be the fisherman 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

So @rascalP got me in our 2nd tournament of the year by .1 LB! He got 7.99lb of smallmouth and we got 7.88lb on the Mississippi river. So we're 1-1 thus far. 

 

Our next tournament is this week on White Bear Lake and Ethan.. I'm ready for ya! Been putting some work in. 

 

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fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Quick report:  Fished Saturday morning and bite was pretty good early, west side lake, 76 degree water.  Caught several on a KVD popper first thing around submerged milfoil and the lily pad line. I then went to my jig bite and it was still there, several quality fish.  Picked up a few with weightless a T-rigged senko in the same area as a follow up lure after I felt I picked off the aggressive jig fish.  Bite slowed around 8:30/9.

 

Quick question on vegetation ID.

Does anyone know (for certain) what this type of vegetation is?  It seemed to grow in clumps, 4-8 fow, also seemed attached to bottom.  There are curly leaf patches around it, but didn't seem to be mixed with anything.  It is real limp and grass-like when I pull it out of the water, not real hard stemmed.  Sago Pondweed?IMG_6115.thumb.jpg.39c166a0d4052230ab471e01d0d4075c.jpg 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I've had some trouble lately.  I don't know if its the hot/humid weather or what but it has been pretty tough.  Seems like the only way I can get bit is with a very slow presentation, and even that's only somewhat reliable.  I've noticed that the water has gotten a little murkier with some rain too.  Normally I try to target days with inclement weather in the forecast but its either been bright, hot sun or severe t-storms and I aint going in either of those.  What has been working lately and at what depth?  Slow or faster presentations?  Any help would be appreciated.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Been a little slow for me too... but as the day goes on.  Seems like the majority of fish I catch are sunrise until about 8:30, then it’s a different game after that I haven’t figured out yet either.  


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I think a July high pressure reading this week that was an ALL TIME HIGH for July qualifies as unusual - I think it did not help at all. So there is an excuse just waiting to be picked up, so I will.

 

Wednesday between storms was fantastic- high pressure hadn’t moved in obviously. Friday was tough, a minor bite til noon then zip. In 8 hours Friday I caught 4 fish, all before 10:30...my partner caught about 8,all T rigged in the thick stuff. Sunday was pretty good (2-3 per hour myself) with T rigged Rage bugs mid depths and some on wood. Only one fish top water. I love lay downs...it seems every tree has fish. I have found the bigger baits better than senko lately.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 7/10/2018 at 10:09 AM, Jmhalvo said:

 I have found the bigger baits better than senko lately.

I think this might be true and am switching to more jigs.  In fact, I might even break out the big Mop Jig with the 5 inch Megadaddy trailer..!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I'm going out today at 2pm I'll report this evening.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Hello everyone!

 

How's everyone doing?!?! How's the fishing been for everyone? Took 2 weeks off from fishing after a huge 100+ boat derby. Pulled close to 30lbs of bass(8 fish). It was a total crazy experience. Outside of that I've been fishing alot of west metro lakes. The fish are "ON"!!! I've been getting 20+ lbs (5 fish) bags just this last week. Lots of 3's and 4's everywhere. Find the thickest, greenest grass and they'll be there. I've been hooked on ripping lipless cranks out of thick grass. It's tiring but its been super effective and it gives the fish a different look from the typical t-rigs and jigs. Frog fishing has been a dud because everyone is doing it right now.

Anyways. I hope you all are ripping lips. Take care and God bless!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Got out today from 3 to 7pm today. Fished around for a bit and decided to fish docks, caught a 5 and a 4 on a shad color swimjig kvd sexy shad I think is the color. Also got lots of bites but the bass were taken the bait funny today an missed them. I wanted to fish grass but the grass on the lake I was fishing was garbage ( dead and full of algae). Thanks @misho187 for the lipless tip I know a lake that should set up well for that technique. I think this season is all about reading the lake and finding the best stuff on that body of water, versatility and trying new techniques that allow you to present your bait correctly in the cover you find seems to be the deal.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 7/11/2018 at 9:35 AM, sully420 said:

Got out today from 3 to 7pm today. Fished around for a bit and decided to fish docks, caught a 5 and a 4 on a shad color swimjig kvd sexy shad I think is the color. Also got lots of bites but the bass were taken the bait funny today an missed them. I wanted to fish grass but the grass on the lake I was fishing was garbage ( dead and full of algae). Thanks @misho187 for the lipless tip I know a lake that should set up well for that technique. I think this season is all about reading the lake and finding the best stuff on that body of water, versatility and trying new techniques that allow you to present your bait correctly in the cover you find seems to be the deal.

@sully420Yeah gotta stay away from that nasty stuff. I always spend the first hour or two scanning and looking at the map before I even make my first if I don't fish that lake much. I guess it's my tournament mentality. Find the juice before you squeeze it.

I got out last night too from 5 to 8:30ish. I spent an 30 min scanning the whole lake (it's a small lake) picked out a few nice drop offs where I marked some bait fish with healthy coontail on it and got to work. Caught a nice bag again. 16-18lbs of bass (5 fish). I honestly didn't expect it cause I was using a bunch baits/lures/colors I have never used or have no confidence in. Brush hogs, spoons, chatterbaits, etc. The fish were biting like crazy. I think they were just in feeding mode.


@sully420 I'm definitely on the same boat as you in terms of trying new techniques. I think most anglers just get used to using the same techniques over and over again because it works in Minnesota. But when you go to a different body of water in a different state things change drastically. Flipping Tonka is way different that flipping the Cali Delta I tell ya. I know I get stubborn when I can't get that jig pattern to work, cause that's my favorite lure/technique. But I've learned to kinda just fish the moment and let the fish tell you what they want instead of trying to force your will onto them. We are all not KVD! LOL!!!


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

I really struck out this morning. Got out on the Minneapolis chain and did absolutely nothing on some normally productive spots. I then went up north to go out on the Mississippi and did absolutely nothing there as well. Probably the least productive day of the season for me. I was out by 5am and it was already 81 degrees, I am thinking the heat kept the fish in a sluggish mood even though I was fishing normally productive times, and spots. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

...well I was thinking of going up to the Snake River to fish tomorrow..


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 7/8/2018 at 11:00 AM, punch said:

So @rascalP got me in our 2nd tournament of the year by .1 LB! He got 7.99lb of smallmouth and we got 7.88lb on the Mississippi river. So we're 1-1 thus far. 

 

Our next tournament is this week on White Bear Lake and Ethan.. I'm ready for ya! Been putting some work in. 

 

36728102_10112176117684490_1221590489707

yep, you got us.  Well done.  I would have never thought to go that deep. I gotta put a little more time in figuring  out them thar new fangled  e-lectronics.  No doubt, time on the water puts fish in the boat.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 7/13/2018 at 10:01 AM, starkeer said:

I really struck out this morning. Got out on the Minneapolis chain and did absolutely nothing on some normally productive spots. I then went up north to go out on the Mississippi and did absolutely nothing there as well. Probably the least productive day of the season for me. I was out by 5am and it was already 81 degrees, I am thinking the heat kept the fish in a sluggish mood even though I was fishing normally productive times, and spots. 

Went out in the afternoon heat today. Horrible, not a bite. Was definitely fishing, not catching. Not a good feeling but I try to enjoy it


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Relief from this sweltering heat and humidity is coming soon.  This upcoming week looks very comfortable.  I don't know how those guys down south fish in this kind of weather for 5 months straight.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Went out to coon today from 11am to 5. Caught 10 bass 2 3lb. Caught  them on a reed point that had lots of floating degree blown in I was flipping a kvd sexy shad swim jig with a watermelon menace a couple of feet back in the reeds. I love this weather it's right in my wheelhouse puts bass right where I like them. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 7/15/2018 at 7:30 AM, sully420 said:

Went out to coon today from 11am to 5. Caught 10 bass 2 3lb. Caught  them on a reed point that had lots of floating degree blown in I was flipping a kvd sexy shad swim jig with a watermelon menace a couple of feet back in the reeds. I love this weather it's right in my wheelhouse puts bass right where I like them. 

So sully you use swim jigs even when flippin. Also what determines your trailer style?

 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 7/15/2018 at 11:44 AM, Jmhalvo said:

So sully you use swim jigs even when flippin. Also what determines your trailer style?

A swim jig is really versatile and in the sunny calm conditions I had I started with the swim jig just junk fishing some emergent vegetation ( cattails and a wispy kind of grass) there were some pads and really shallow milfoil about 3' at the boat and 1.5 where the cattails were. So I was just covering water with a swim jig, I could cast it and flipp it. I got bit 3' in to the cattails with the jig and went to a 3/4oz skirted punch rig and it didn't get bit as well as the jig so I went with the jig 70% of the time. I think it was the rate of the fall the jig was 1/2oz, the bass seemed to like it off the bottom. Long story short swim jig is a good versatile search bait when conditions don't favor spinners and blades jigs and you can't fish a treble bait clean. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

As for trailer style I consider 3.

1. Size what profile am I looking for and do I need extra bulk maby for skipping ease or displacement in dirty water also rate of fall.

2. Action do I need some king of moving action In warm water or to trigger reaction bites. I cold water I'll use trailers with dead action like rodents or beavers.

3. Rig I am using. Different baits have different pros and cons for the hooks and bait style you are using. I feel like the hook up ratio for big trailers  like rage draws is better on a jig than a flipping hook because the hook needs to penetrate all that plastic bait. On a jig all you need to overcome is the brush guard. I like a lean bait like a sweet beaver or a menace for flipping hooks JMO. Many people overcome this problem by using ewg hooks for flipping because if rigged correctly the bait slides more easily exposing the hook. Personally I prefer the flipping hook for its strength and hold, also is a bit more seedless than the ewg imo. I still think it is worth trying the ewg, it may just fit one's style better.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 7/13/2018 at 1:11 PM, rascalP said:

yep, you got us.  Well done.  I would have never thought to go that deep. I gotta put a little more time in figuring  out them thar new fangled  e-lectronics.  No doubt, time on the water puts fish in the boat.

Thanks man! The electronics helped us find the rock piles (side scan) on the flat near the grass on White Bear Lake. We fished like 4-5 spots in practice and only got bit on two of them, so we fished just those two spots during the derby and the fish were luckly still there and still biting on the same pattern. All the action was in 16-22' pretty far offshore. 

 

That was the first tournament I've EVER won.. and it came on a lake I've literally fished twice in my life. Funny how that works. 

  On 7/16/2018 at 3:40 AM, sully420 said:

As for trailer style I consider 3.

1. Size what profile am I looking for and do I need extra bulk maby for skipping ease or displacement in dirty water also rate of fall.

2. Action do I need some king of moving action In warm water or to trigger reaction bites. I cold water I'll use trailers with dead action like rodents or beavers.

3. Rig I am using. Different baits have different pros and cons for the hooks and bait style you are using. I feel like the hook up ratio for big trailers  like rage draws is better on a jig than a flipping hook because the hook needs to penetrate all that plastic bait. On a jig all you need to overcome is the brush guard. I like a lean bait like a sweet beaver or a menace for flipping hooks JMO. Many people overcome this problem by using ewg hooks for flipping because if rigged correctly the bait slides more easily exposing the hook. Personally I prefer the flipping hook for its strength and hold, also is a bit more seedless than the ewg imo. I still think it is worth trying the ewg, it may just fit one's style better.

I pretty much only use 4 trailers on a swim jig these days.. Keitech, rage menace, or a rage craw. I pretty much only use the Menace on 3/8ths swim jigs and either the keitech or rage craw on a 1/2oz. I'm tossing a 1/2oz swim jig like 75% of the time. 

 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Love all this jig talk!  I've been flipping around a 1/2 oz cone shaped jig that I can swim or let settle.  Like Sully said, swim headed jigs are pretty versatile.  I've been having recent success with a rage bug as the trailer.  I bite off a little on the top to make it more compact.


fishing user avatarwisconsin heat reply : 

Hi guys, I've moved to the metro almost a month ago now and have spent a lot of my free time checking out what I can around here as far as shore fishing. I own a 'yak, but my current living situation doesn't provide me with the means to keep it here, so in Wisconsin it stays. The past few weeks have been absolutely brutal, and I'm struggling to even catch a fish. I've tried a lot of metro lakes and some sections of the river, but it seems very high right now and difficult to fish. If anyone has any tips to catch some from the bank, that would be greatly appreciated!

 

Tight Lines,

 

Chris


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 
  On 7/17/2018 at 8:33 AM, wisconsin heat said:

Hi guys, I've moved to the metro almost a month ago now and have spent a lot of my free time checking out what I can around here as far as shore fishing. I own a 'yak, but my current living situation doesn't provide me with the means to keep it here, so in Wisconsin it stays. The past few weeks have been absolutely brutal, and I'm struggling to even catch a fish. I've tried a lot of metro lakes and some sections of the river, but it seems very high right now and difficult to fish. If anyone has any tips to catch some from the bank, that would be greatly appreciated!

 

Tight Lines,

 

Chris

I was in a very similar situation when I moved here 3 summers ago and it took me about a year before I started to find fish. Renting a kayak/canoe and getting out on the Minneapolis Chain is always a good way to go, you can rent one right on Calhoun and then make your way through the whole chain. Otherwise, the river can be your friend, find public parks that have lots of shore access and work the entire shore, I've done really well this summer with squarebills, topwater (spooks and whopper ploppers), and chatterbaits. Also, the same thing that everyone is going to tell you but try your best to fish peak times, early morning (getting out around 5am) or around sunset. It really is just about exploring and fishing all the spots you can find that look fishy until you start finding fish. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 7/10/2018 at 11:48 PM, FryDog62 said:

I think this might be true and am switching to more jigs.  In fact, I might even break out the big Mop Jig with the 5 inch Megadaddy trailer..!

Well, I made the switch to the biggest bad-alec jig and trailer I could find it worked!  

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fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I fished the river today and they were snappin' at the topwaters.  My Father and I caught 27 smallmouth and 2 pike in about 4.5 hours.  Our two biggest an 18 3/4 and a new personal best river smallmouth for me, a 20 3/4 incher.  We did also have some pike issues though.  Got trimmed off 3 times and lost about $25 in topwater lures because of it.  These weren't 20 inch snakes either, they were GATORS...at least 35 inchers.  Man those pike are aggressive.

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fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 7/19/2018 at 7:46 AM, gimruis said:

I fished the river today and they were snappin' at the topwaters.  My Father and I caught 27 smallmouth and 2 pike in about 4.5 hours.  Our two biggest an 18 3/4 and a new personal best river smallmouth for me, a 20 3/4 incher.  We did also have some pike issues though.  Got trimmed off 3 times and lost about $25 in topwater lures because of it.  These weren't 20 inch snakes either, they were GATORS...at least 35 inchers.  Man those pike are aggressive.

7-18-18 toad.jpg

Awesome smallmouth!  I hear you on the pike bite-offs.  When I throw expensive topwater lures like a Whopper Plopper, I use the 2 inch leaders that Wayzata Bait sells.  Doesn’t prevent all bite-offs but the majority of them anyway, and the leaders are small enough not to effect the action of most lures.  

 

Looks like you had a great day on the water... good you got out - I’m hearing 2 straight days of rain now ?!?


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@misho187 got a chance to try your summer lipless rip'n technique. And it was awesome. I was throwing a 3/4oz red eye shad (natural gll) and ripping it out of grass and caught a bag of 3+lb bass. No giants but a really fun bite and great presentation to get reaction bites. Thanks for the tip!!+ 

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fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I tried it too and it worked great, used KVD sunfish 


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

What is this “thick green grass” ? Are we just talking seaweed?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 7/23/2018 at 2:06 AM, OperationEagle said:

What is this “thick green grass” ? Are we just talking seaweed?

What we call “weeds”, the southern bass guys have always called “grass”. Some folks up north use the term as well these days.


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 
  On 7/23/2018 at 9:33 AM, Jmhalvo said:

What we call “weeds”, the southern bass guys have always called “grass”. Some folks up north use the term as well these days.

Ok that’s what I assumed. Also assume that you are picking weeds off with almost every cast?  

 

How deep are these weeds?


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 7/23/2018 at 1:52 PM, OperationEagle said:

Ok that’s what I assumed. Also assume that you are picking weeds off with almost every cast?  

 

How deep are these weeds?

There’s a lot of that but it’s worth trying


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 7/19/2018 at 10:37 AM, sully420 said:

@misho187 got a chance to try your summer lipless rip'n technique. And it was awesome. I was throwing a 3/4oz red eye shad (natural gll) and ripping it out of grass and caught a bag of 3+lb bass. No giants but a really fun bite and great presentation to get reaction bites. Thanks for the tip!!+ 

20180718_153411.jpg

BEAST!!! I'm glad it worked out for you.

I love these underused techniques. It really does give the fish a different look. And I strongly feel they'll react to it first time they see it. Thanks for proving the tech accurate. I'm sure people thought I was BS'ing lol!


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Tonka on Saturday was on fire!!! We smashed 'em. Grass is incredibly thick though. We were flipping/pitching into 20+ ft of water. But man they are incredibly active. We caught alot of bass. We had 18.4lbs (5 fish) bag. Not the best you can get on Tonka but not bad at all. Lots of bass boats though. Must be on there for the Blackfish tournament next week. $10k ain't no joke.

Sunday though was the first time I failed this year though. I went to Buffalo, a lake I haven't fished much of, thinking I would be able to replicate their monster bags of smallies they've been bringing in. I only caught 4 fish going for 8 lbs. 3 dinks and one going for 3lbs+. But all the fish I caught were random. I really need to do some homework on that lake. I marked a bunch of rockpiles and nothing. I found the little grass they had and nothing.

 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I went on Saturday morning too and it was a really good bite.  I didn't catch a lot of fish but every one I tied into was solid and I didn't have to use any finesse tactics - they were smashing moving lures.  I even boated a bonus tiger muskie.

7-21-18 tiger a.jpg


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Good reports fellas.  After a few short trips over the weekend with a 5 yr old, the little bit of fishing I got in seemed to be kind of junking around on main lake points, 15 ft or so of water right on the weed line.  Caught a couple of decent ones on a 10" zoom monster with a 3/8 and a 6XD.

 

Was able to get a good afternoon trip in on Tuesday over by Tonka.  A 4 on the zoom monster on a main lake point and bunches of 2.5-3's on a 1/2oz jig on an off shore ridge, 7-8 feet of water just flipping into grass.

 

I'm wanting to get back on Tonka but it sounds like there is quite a bit of tourney pressure.  Really don't want to deal with the boats.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Hey guys, new to this forum. I fish the same Greenhorn league that @punch and @rascalP fish. I heard them talking about this site so I figured I'd check it out. All of our MN based sites suck IMO. Full of typical forum "good ole boys" that just want to talk walleyes. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 7/27/2018 at 11:04 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Hey guys, new to this forum. I fish the same Greenhorn league that @punch and @rascalP fish. I heard them talking about this site so I figured I'd check it out. All of our MN based sites suck IMO. Full of typical forum "good ole boys" that just want to talk walleyes. 

What's up man! This is a pretty good site.. watch out for the "latest deal" thread because your bank account will suffer greatly. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 7/27/2018 at 11:04 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Hey guys, new to this forum. I fish the same Greenhorn league that @punch and @rascalP fish. I heard them talking about this site so I figured I'd check it out. All of our MN based sites suck IMO. Full of typical forum "good ole boys" that just want to talk walleyes. 

Welcome aboard ... and true the others are mostly all walleye oriented.  I’ve mentioned various bass species on the other boards and have been labeled as a “green carp” fishermen.  

 

I am am what I am, but at least am out of the closet here ;)

 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Thanks guys. I haven't even seen much activity on the MN specific boards, especially in the bass areas. Looking forward to kicking around MN related bass ideas and stuff like that. 

 

Might be getting out on Big Marine this weekend at some point if work and home life allow. Sounds like a guy sacked a 6lber out of that lake last night in a evening tourney. Just a stud for that lake.  


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 
  On 7/27/2018 at 11:04 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Hey guys, new to this forum. I fish the same Greenhorn league that @punch and @rascalP fish. I heard them talking about this site so I figured I'd check it out. All of our MN based sites suck IMO. Full of typical forum "good ole boys" that just want to talk walleyes. 

For being In-Fisherman's 6th best state for bass fishing, I am shocked there aren't more MN bass dedicated forums.

 

I sure am glad we have this one though.  The MN Bass Resource community took some time to build a base of regulars.  Its a great group and getting better.

 

Welcome aboard!


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 7/28/2018 at 7:24 AM, OperationEagle said:

For being In-Fisherman's 6th best state for bass fishing, I am shocked there aren't more MN bass dedicated forums.

 

I sure am glad we have this one though.  The MN Bass Resource community took some time to build a base of regulars.  Its a great group and getting better.

 

Welcome aboard!

Just remember , In Fisherman is based in Minnesota... and as a self-deprecating state placed us just outside the Top 5


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 
  On 7/28/2018 at 10:25 AM, FryDog62 said:

Just remember , In Fisherman is based in Minnesota... and as a self-deprecating state placed us just outside the Top 5

You are right. Especially with the exposure Mille lacs has had the past two years we have got to be in the top 5. 

 

When people learn I’m from Minnesota and we talk about where I want to end up for retirement, they always assume I will say Florida, Texas, anywhere warmer.  No way. MN is a fisherman’s paradise. 

 

Really feel I have just scratched the surface of all the water this state has to offer. 

 

And yes...for bass...not walleye!


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

A quick question for fellow Minnesotans. 

 

Have an Abu Premier baitcaster that is a year old.  Broke just after the warranty went out. The reel won’t retrieve line...handle just spins. 

 

I live in in the south metro. Where is my nearest reel repair shop?  

 

I know thorne bros could fix it but Blaine is no where near me.  Bass or not, with all the fisherman in the area I can’t believe there isn’t a shop for each four corners of the metro!

 

Maybe repair shops are not needed as these days people just toss their reels and buy a new one? For me, I’m too cheap! However there is a limit.  At what repair cost would it be considered totaled?  $40? Thoughts and recommendations on a repair shop please. 


fishing user avatarshimmy reply : 

I always send my reels in to the companies for maintenance/repairs. Guarantees it gets fixed and most of the time they change a few extra things free of cost. In general, companies charge $20 per reel. I know there are guys on this site who are better at reel maintenance, but I eliminate any question marks by going straight to the company. Have done this with Shimano, Abu Garcia, and Lews for years. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 7/29/2018 at 9:22 AM, OperationEagle said:

A quick question for fellow Minnesotans. 

 

Have an Abu Premier baitcaster that is a year old.  Broke just after the warranty went out. The reel won’t retrieve line...handle just spins. 

 

I live in in the south metro. Where is my nearest reel repair shop?  

 

I know thorne bros could fix it but Blaine is no where near me.  Bass or not, with all the fisherman in the area I can’t believe there isn’t a shop for each four corners of the metro!

 

Maybe repair shops are not needed as these days people just toss their reels and buy a new one? For me, I’m too cheap! However there is a limit.  At what repair cost would it be considered totaled?  $40? Thoughts and recommendations on a repair shop please. 

If Wayzata Bait is near enough, see Tim...


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

This cold front must have really turned the fish on because we had an EPIC day fishing Saturday morning on Lake Independence. Boated a ton of bass in 10-15' around grassy points w/ a Neko rig and dropshot. I also hooked into TWO muskys, and was able to actually land one 41" beast on a spinning rod. Pulled a couple nice fish out from under docks with a jig too. 

 

I hit Big Marine last night for a bit for some tournament practice and the fish seemed to be pretty active as well. This doesn't feel like the usual "dog days" of summer. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I've really never noticed a problem catching bass in July and August. Actually August has been my best month for size for the past 3 years. The bass are definitely in a summer pattern now.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 7/27/2018 at 11:04 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Hey guys, new to this forum. I fish the same Greenhorn league that @punch and @rascalP fish. I heard them talking about this site so I figured I'd check it out. All of our MN based sites suck IMO. Full of typical forum "good ole boys" that just want to talk walleyes. 

TOBK,  

  Welcome.  What's your "Greenhorn" name and what boat do you have?  I've been trying to put faces to names at league night.  

    Fishing Minnesota bass forum used to be pretty good, then it just got less and less traffic.  Look me up on Wednesday.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 7/31/2018 at 7:59 AM, rascalP said:

TOBK,  

  Welcome.  What's your "Greenhorn" name and what boat do you have?  I've been trying to put faces to names at league night.  

    Fishing Minnesota bass forum used to be pretty good, then it just got less and less traffic.  Look me up on Wednesday.

First name is Clay. I am the really tall guy fishing out of the White/Red/Blue Stratos with the 250 Evinrude and the twin Talons. 

 

Nick and I got 2nd at White Bear Lake and also 2nd last week on Forest. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Hey Clay, duh.  After I posted, i thought, probably Nick or Clay cause I remember talking to Nick about it.  Should have looked at your picture a little closer too. Old eyes.

   Nice to see you guys doing so good this year.  Have you been scouting out Tonka?  If we have a solid finish on BM, we should be there too. Hitting BM tomorrow and back to WBL on wed for the advanced series.  We'll see if my partners spot holds up. 

  Oh yeah, "ThatOneBigKid".  It's all clear now.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 7/31/2018 at 11:38 AM, rascalP said:

Hey Clay, duh.  After I posted, i thought, probably Nick or Clay cause I remember talking to Nick about it.  Should have looked at your picture a little closer too. Old eyes.

   Nice to see you guys doing so good this year.  Have you been scouting out Tonka?  If we have a solid finish on BM, we should be there too. Hitting BM tomorrow and back to WBL on wed for the advanced series.  We'll see if my partners spot holds up. 

  Oh yeah, "ThatOneBigKid".  It's all clear now.

I think we're going to be on Big Marine tomorrow also. I'll keep an eye out. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Am planning to put a rod up for sale in the classifieds, but of course will involve shipping costs... so thought I would ask the Minnesota guys first.  If not appropriate for this forum Mods, feel free to zap. 

 

The rod for sale has been used once, perfect condition, $350 + tax new and is currently sold out on TW. Selling for $250.  Specs:

 

Dobyns 744c S/H HP Extreme baitcasting rod.  Specs: 7'-4" 1pc. 10-20lb, 1/4-1oz, Heavy Fast Action
TECHNIQUES: Buzzbaits / Horny Toads / Jigs / Senkos / Spinnerbaits

 

If interested, send me a PM.  Thx

 

 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 7/29/2018 at 10:49 AM, FryDog62 said:

If Wayzata Bait is near enough, see Tim...

I have taken 4 reels to Wayzata Bait & Tackle the past 5 years to be repaired and they were all fixed for a reasonable cost.  It did take a while though because he was so backed up.

 

I spent 5 days at a cabin in Central Minnesota and fished every day, both from the dock and from my boat.  I literally just hopped from one small lake to another and never saw a SINGLE other bass angler.  The fishing was good too.  I didn't catch any monsters but my wife and I must have caught 20-30 bass every morning on a new lake.  And the nice thing was that I didn't have to finesse them.  Its likely that the lack of pressure made them pretty easy to catch with power tactics and moving lures.  I've always wondered what it would be like to spend a month in remote, northern Minnesota going from one small lake to another...


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 
  On 8/1/2018 at 9:12 AM, gimruis said:

I've always wondered what it would be like to spend a month in remote, northern Minnesota going from one small lake to another...

I love it.  I fish mainly during the week. Often there are only a few other boats on the water.  Sometimes none.  It has been an interesting year.  I have caught some nice bass and had some very good days but I haven't had a day where I have crushed them. Some days spinnerbaits work, then jerk baits, then wacky worms, then swim jigs, then swimbaits,  but nothing seems to produce every day.  I have caught a few really big muskies in the last 2 weeks.  I was alone so the pics are not the best, but it is something I will always remember.

 

 

 

IMG_3490_1_20.jpg.a7c2705c3c1852aedd5f42b5065334a9.jpgIMG_4301_12.jpg.896fb7ceb09bf96a8473317d448d5518.jpgIMG_3576_2_20.jpg.b8f16be1a340173e188aa9b985c2f0da.jpg


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 8/1/2018 at 10:31 AM, Tlauz said:

I love it.  I fish mainly during the week. Often there are only a few other boats on the water.  Sometimes none.  It has been an interesting year.  I have caught some nice bass and had some very good days but I haven't had a day where I have crushed them. Some days spinnerbaits work, then jerk baits, then wacky worms, then swim jigs, then swimbaits,  but nothing seems to produce every day.  I have caught a few really big muskies in the last 2 weeks.  I was alone so the pics are not the best, but it is something I will always remember.

 

 

 

IMG_3490_1_20.jpg.a7c2705c3c1852aedd5f42b5065334a9.jpgIMG_4301_12.jpg.896fb7ceb09bf96a8473317d448d5518.jpgIMG_3576_2_20.jpg.b8f16be1a340173e188aa9b985c2f0da.jpg

Wow nice Muskys!

 

 

I'm heading up to Lake Carlos and the Alexandria chain for 5 days.  Can't wait! 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Anyone fished this week in the Brainerd area?  Going tomorrow (Thurs-Sat).  Open to whatever species is most active - smallmouth, largemouth and even walleyes.  Any ideas on depth, cover, presentation, etc welcomed. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Had a good evening cranking grass in 14' of water. I was marking bait fish mixed in with isolated patches of grass in 14' foot of water, the grass was 4' feet off the bottom. I was fishing a 5xd. I think this bite was very specific to the weather conditions 10 mph wind and overcast skies.

20180801_175137.jpg

20180801_154604.jpg


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

@Sully420, nice fish and report.  Were you just trying to tick the top of the grass with the 5XD?  When I am throwing the 6XD and dredging bottoms, I often think that throwing something just over the top may be more efficient and won't get slimed up as often.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@Dubtee I'm pretty sure the bass were feeding on bait above the grass. There was no need to make contact with the grass.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 7/31/2018 at 11:38 AM, rascalP said:

Hey Clay, duh.  After I posted, i thought, probably Nick or Clay cause I remember talking to Nick about it.  Should have looked at your picture a little closer too. Old eyes.

   Nice to see you guys doing so good this year.  Have you been scouting out Tonka?  If we have a solid finish on BM, we should be there too. Hitting BM tomorrow and back to WBL on wed for the advanced series.  We'll see if my partners spot holds up. 

  Oh yeah, "ThatOneBigKid".  It's all clear now.

Yea, I know you guys have had good finishes on BM in the past so you should make it. I haven't looked at tonka yet this year (opener excluded). Will need to start doing some homework soon though. My uncles have been fishing it for a long time so I will need to pick their brains, but I am looking forward to getting out there and actually fishing a tournament on that lake. I think we might get out to BM either tonight or tomorrow night for the first time. I have talked to some guys and they say the weeds are looking tall and healthy so you know my mouth is watering.  

 

It finally feels like Nick and I are getting out stride back after a couple down years the last two years. Sadly that means we're for sure going to get bounced to advanced next year, but that will also make us better anglers so I welcome that opportunity

 

@sully This is a technique I need to check out more. I love cranking, but have never really gotten into cranking grass. Solid looking fish! Was this patchy grass on a 14' flat or the shorter grass that grows up on the edge of a weedline?


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 8/2/2018 at 11:18 AM, sully420 said:

Had a good evening cranking grass in 14' of water. I was marking bait fish mixed in with isolated patches of grass in 14' foot of water, the grass was 4' feet off the bottom. I was fishing a 5xd. I think this bite was very specific to the weather conditions 10 mph wind and overcast skies.

20180801_175137.jpg

20180801_154604.jpg

Beastin'


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@ThatOneBigKid submerged weed clumps off the edge with bait and bass graphed.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 8/3/2018 at 3:01 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

 

 

@sully This is a technique I need to check out more. I love cranking, but have never really gotten into cranking grass. Solid looking fish! Was this patchy grass on a 14' flat or the shorter grass that grows up on the edge of a weedline?

TOBK,  

There's some spots on BM that fit this to a tee


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 8/3/2018 at 10:48 PM, rascalP said:

TOBK,  

There's some spots on BM that fit this to a tee

I tried this last night out there in a couple spots without any luck. DT10 on 12lb line in 14' of water with the weeds growing up to 10'. I could feel the weeds here and there, but no bites. 

 

Might go out to WBL to try this out too. I can think of a few spots out there that this might work for as well. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@ThatOneBigKid I think you may be trying to replicate exactly what I was doing. Try fishing the deepest weeds you can find with a bait that will go over the top or will get down to the bait on the sonar. Different lakes have different water clarity and weed growth at different depths so whenever you get information about a pattern always think about adapting it to the specific like you're fishing.


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

Headed to the lake last Wednesday. It was cold upper 50's.  Got on the water around 5 and fished till 8:30.  Water temp 73 degrees.  There was a breeze so I threw a spinnerbait over weeds and the fish were chomping.  One of the better bites I have had. Thursday fished morning (till noon) took a break and then fished 5-8:30. It was still cooler than it has been.   It was by far the best day of fishing I have had this year.  Fished weed edges where it dropped off.  Caught fish on spinnerbait, crankbait and weightless wacky worm on multiple spots.  Caught both smallmouth and largemouth off of the same spots.  Friday morning was tougher still caught one really nice smallmouth.  Didn't fish Saturday but got out Sunday morning briefly. Got one really nice fish on a Mann's mid-one minus (that bait caught 2 big smallmouths this trip) over a flat next to a drop-off.  Sun came out and the wind died and fish shut off.  The tops of the weeds are starting to poke out so it is really easy to see edges.  Water temp was in low 70's every day. 

IMG_4303_1_25.jpg.697161c968e128746797ce1b88c881b3.jpg


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Found some river smallies this week... wrist-breakers!

BC3A2BFE-473A-47C6-9372-C5CB24E2BB24.jpeg


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Those brown camo smallies are about the prettiest things that swim, nice work FryDog.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I can confirm Frydog's report.  The smallmouth in the rivers are on fire.  And they're pretty easy to catch right now too, no finesse required.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Ended our regular season off right with a win in the Greenhorn Wednesday night league. Kind of sad that it only took 9.64 to get the win, but for some reason the lake was fishing super tough that night after prefishing had been great for a lot of the team I talked to including us. Anyways, pumped to end the season on a high note and looking forward to the TOC in a week on Minnetonka. 

 

 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@ThatOneBigKid what lake did you guys fish on Wednesday?


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

I fished Wednesday night, Thursday morning and Friday morning.   Pitching wacky rigs on the weed edges has been the most productive also drop-offs along rocks.  The last few days have been calm. Water temps in the 76-degree range.  Only fished  7-10 AM and after 6pm.  Too hot for me the rest of the time. The bite has been the best it has been for me all year.

 

 

 

IMG_3824_1_14.jpg.a9d8d6cd764da0ba7c4a8242ebfe0490.jpg

IMG_3789_13.jpg.c79ba162a45fcc2aadb0d9e3784ae5cc.jpgIMG_3807_13.jpg.9f2be515254319346cd90f681d35d7f1.jpg


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 8/11/2018 at 5:19 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Ended our regular season off right with a win in the Greenhorn Wednesday night league. Kind of sad that it only took 9.64 to get the win, but for some reason the lake was fishing super tough that night after prefishing had been great for a lot of the team I talked to including us. Anyways, pumped to end the season on a high note and looking forward to the TOC in a week on Minnetonka. 

 

 

Congratulations on a great season Clay.  You and Nick really came on strong for a good finish to the year.   With us getting 6th place on Big Marine wednesday night, that locked us in for making the cut to Minnetonka.  I'm really looking forward to it. In fact, Jeff and I got out there Thursday for the first time for both of us.  We focused on Browns Bay and mostly structure fished. In some places we were fishing weeds in 22 fow.   I'll be getting out there a few more times next week and check out a few more bays.  We'll see you soon.

  

  Oh yeah, fishing was tough. You might want to check out some docks.  I hear that's right in Nick's wheelhouse ????.

   


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 8/11/2018 at 6:17 AM, sully420 said:

@ThatOneBigKid what lake did you guys fish on Wednesday?

 

@sully420 we were out on Big Marine

  On 8/11/2018 at 12:58 PM, rascalP said:

Congratulations on a great season Clay.  You and Nick really came on strong for a good finish to the year.   With us getting 6th place on Big Marine wednesday night, that locked us in for making the cut to Minnetonka.  I'm really looking forward to it. In fact, Jeff and I got out there Thursday for the first time for both of us.  We focused on Browns Bay and mostly structure fished. In some places we were fishing weeds in 22 fow.   I'll be getting out there a few more times next week and check out a few more bays.  We'll see you soon.

  

  Oh yeah, fishing was tough. You might want to check out some docks.  I hear that's right in Nick's wheelhouse ????.

   

Yea Nick loves dock fishing.......????

 

We tried to get out there Sunday after church, but I had electrical issues on my boat again and we didn't get to fish at all. I have to get that solved this week before Sunday. Luckily we have Nick's boat as a back up. Nick is getting out there today and I think Thursday. I won't be able to get out there at all, but oh well. 

 

Looking forward to seeing you guys out there and good luck! Should be a fun event.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Was out on Bald Eagle on Friday. First time out there but was able to put a nice little pattern together. Fish were buried in the foil in 8-12 FOW. Water clarity was about 2 feet give or take. Flipping with a slither rig seemed to produce the best but we also caught a few dragging t-rigs and ripping jig worms. Awesome little lake, excited to get back out there.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/14/2018 at 2:33 AM, JackKlassen said:

Was out on Bald Eagle on Friday. First time out there but was able to put a nice little pattern together. Fish were buried in the foil in 8-12 FOW. Water clarity was about 2 feet give or take. Flipping with a slither rig seemed to produce the best but we also caught a few dragging t-rigs and ripping jig worms. Awesome little lake, excited to get back out there.

I use the Slither Rig too... anyone using Grassmaster jig from All-Terrain?  I’ve used a ton of jigs for the deeper slop but the GM seems to come through better than most.  


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 8/14/2018 at 2:33 AM, JackKlassen said:

Was out on Bald Eagle on Friday. First time out there but was able to put a nice little pattern together. Fish were buried in the foil in 8-12 FOW. Water clarity was about 2 feet give or take. Flipping with a slither rig seemed to produce the best but we also caught a few dragging t-rigs and ripping jig worms. Awesome little lake, excited to get back out there.

This lake is very fun for sure. Have fished it numerous times for tournaments and always have a good time out there. Your pattern sounds very similar to what I have done out there with good success. 


fishing user avatarRiggityBop reply : 

What's up everybody!

 

Newbie here with my first contribution to the board!
this place has been a great resource to me so far, so i'd like to pitch in what little info I have. 

 

precursor- I grew up with a dad who was into fishing walleyes/crappies/panfish but never bass, so all this is new territory to me and i've been having a lot of fun trying new tackle and techniques. Getting my hands on my first baitcaster this year has been very exciting!


so on to the report...
I don't have a boat, and i live in NE Minneapolis, so i've been hitting the Mississippi after work trying to get in some late night action... usually ~7-10pm . 

 

Lately I've been by the Lowry Bridge area, and have had some success with smallies, catfish, walleyes, etc. If you have recommendations for bank fishing around this area I'm all ears!

 

my smallie catches have been:

- Mississippi river -  july 24

    - first smallmouth on my new bait caster, using 5 inch senko t-rigged https://youtu.be/mr0vzB8edhI

- Mississippi river - Early August up to present

    - 2 little smallies on rebel pop-r  perch color, really close to the bank

    - 1 little smallie on Rapala original floating minnow - black/white , also really close to the bank

    - lost count how many, but most catches have been on a bobber/split shot/small hook drifting a nightcrawler or leech. this seems to produce the most for me at this location, but maybe it's because my other techniques need polishing. This tech. also produced walleye/catfish here.  

 

I'm going to pick up some more shallow-diving crankbaits to see if that produces some larger smallmouth... 

 

- St. Louis River in Jay cooke State Park - 8/12/18

    -hiked and threw a bunch of tackle but went back to what i know works well here... throwing a small jig head with       a 3 inch chartruesse mister twister tail slow retrieve, produced a couple smallies and a nice northern. 

 

Going to get out on Clearwater lake in Annandale this weekend and will have access to a boat, so i am super stoked to chase bass all weekend and try all these new lures i've bought this last month. gonna hit it hard in the morning, take a lunch break then all evening. Not sure exactly what my plan of attack is going to be yet, but couldn't be more stoked. 

 

Thanks to all you regular posters here for the insight you've shared. 

 

Regards, 

Riggity

Smallie.jpg

 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Welcome @RiggityBop. I am new as well, but this MN section has been good so far. 

 

 

Tried to get out on Tonka to pre-fish on Sunday after church but had electrical problems the second I got on the water. Couldn't get it fixed so put it on the trailer and headed home. Never picked up a rod. 110 miles of driving for nothing. Got the issue fixed now, but dang it this boat is becoming a PITA. Going to try to sneak out of work early on Friday and get a half day of fishing in, but well see how that goes. 

 

@punch @rascalP have you guys gotten out there yet?


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/15/2018 at 6:00 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Welcome @RiggityBop. I am new as well, but this MN section has been good so far. 

 

 

Tried to get out on Tonka to pre-fish on Sunday after church but had electrical problems the second I got on the water. Couldn't get it fixed so put it on the trailer and headed home. Never picked up a rod. 110 miles of driving for nothing. Got the issue fixed now, but dang it this boat is becoming a PITA. Going to try to sneak out of work early on Friday and get a half day of fishing in, but well see how that goes. 

 

@punch @rascalP have you guys gotten out there yet?

I’m due to sneak out of work pretty soon too - our remaining days to fish this season will start to get numbered very soon... 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 8/15/2018 at 6:00 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Welcome @RiggityBop. I am new as well, but this MN section has been good so far. 

 

 

Tried to get out on Tonka to pre-fish on Sunday after church but had electrical problems the second I got on the water. Couldn't get it fixed so put it on the trailer and headed home. Never picked up a rod. 110 miles of driving for nothing. Got the issue fixed now, but dang it this boat is becoming a PITA. Going to try to sneak out of work early on Friday and get a half day of fishing in, but well see how that goes. 

 

@punch @rascalP have you guys gotten out there yet?

Negative. I just spent the weekend up in Vermillion (which was AMAZING. I need to make a post about that). I might get out Thursday evening or even maybe Friday night. 

 

If you're out there Friday and I get out there, we should grab a beer! I gotta get your #


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Hey everybody,

Fishing has been really good lately and two techniques have really been standing out for me lately. Crankin deep and punching pads and mats in 4 to 8 feet of water. Finding schooling bass off weed edges and points with a 5xd has been good in lakes with clear water and deep grass. Punching pads and weed mats is working for me in dirty shallower lakes. Docks have been inconsistent for me lately I think this is due to falling water levels. I'd like to wish all the guys fishing the greenhorn this Saturday good luck and I think Minnetonka is going to be a pretty interesting Lake this weekend and whoever wins is going to earn it.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 8/15/2018 at 3:44 AM, RiggityBop said:

What's up everybody!

 

Newbie here with my first contribution to the board!
this place has been a great resource to me so far, so i'd like to pitch in what little info I have.


so on to the report...
I don't have a boat, and i live in NE Minneapolis, so i've been hitting the Mississippi after work trying to get in some late night action... usually ~7-10

riggity, Welcome.  Many years ago, I too had no boat.  Once in a while we would rent on Chisago or Bald Eagle. Then a buddy got a canoe. That opened it all up - for awhile. Keep shore fishing and get into anything that floats.

 

  On 8/15/2018 at 6:00 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

 

 

@punch @rascalP have you guys gotten out there yet?

  Was out there today.  Breaking it down just like any new lake, except every bay is a new lake without pulling the boat out. Frustrating at times, but getting getting enough bites to build some confidence.  Gotta step up the game to keep up with punch and ThatOneBigKid.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 8/15/2018 at 12:49 PM, rascalP said:

Breaking it down just like any new lake, except every bay is a new lake without pulling the boat out.

This is what worries me. I have very little previous experience on this lake and there is so much water. If I get out Friday I may just focus on one or two bays unless I figure out something specific that I can try to pattern on other bays, but i am only going to have 6 or 7 hours out there so it will be a challenge. Still beats working! 


fishing user avatarRiggityBop reply : 

Got out to the Mississippi river in the downtown area for about an hour last night, and I hooked into 6 nice little smallies. maybe only about a pound or so,  but lots of fun. 

 

I was throwing a Ned rig parallel to the bank and working it at all different speeds... but they all hit on very aggressive retrieves. First time using a Ned Rig, so that was really cool.

 

Anyone been on Clearwater Lake in Annandale lately? any pointers? 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 8/15/2018 at 12:49 PM, rascalP said:

riggity, Welcome.  Many years ago, I too had no boat.  Once in a while we would rent on Chisago or Bald Eagle. Then a buddy got a canoe. That opened it all up - for awhile. Keep shore fishing and get into anything that floats.

 

  Was out there today.  Breaking it down just like any new lake, except every bay is a new lake without pulling the boat out. Frustrating at times, but getting getting enough bites to build some confidence.  Gotta step up the game to keep up with punch and ThatOneBigKid.

I'll be honest... I'm not going to put that much effort into the 'Tonka derby. Work's really busy this week and we've been running around the state camping/fishing the last few weekends. I'm a little burnt out and definitely can't devote the time/focus it would take to try to win on Sunday. I'm just glad we got into the TOC!

 

That being said, i'm still going to get out there and do a very small amount of practice. I just really hate making that drive from Andover to 'Tonka... especially with 169 down to one lane through Champlin. 

  On 8/15/2018 at 10:44 PM, RiggityBop said:

Got out to the Mississippi river in the downtown area for about an hour last night, and I hooked into 6 nice little smallies. maybe only about a pound or so,  but lots of fun. 

 

I was throwing a Ned rig parallel to the bank and working it at all different speeds... but they all hit on very aggressive retrieves. First time using a Ned Rig, so that was really cool.

 

Anyone been on Clearwater Lake in Annandale lately? any pointers? 

If you want to toss something that river Smallies (and walleye) love, rig up a 1/4oz jig head and a Keitech swimbait. That's been a good producer for river fish, especially from the bank, for me over the years. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 8/16/2018 at 2:25 AM, punch said:

I just really hate making that drive from Andover to 'Tonka... especially with 169 down to one lane through Champlin.

You're telling me. I am either coming from work in WBL or home in Isanti. Fish until dark and then you don't have to worry about the traffic. ????


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 8/15/2018 at 10:44 PM, RiggityBop said:

Got out to the Mississippi river in the downtown area for about an hour last night, and I hooked into 6 nice little smallies. maybe only about a pound or so,  but lots of fun. 

Hey Riggity, you're doing it right if you have to fish from shore this time of year.  Rivers are a better option.

 

I went out with my Father today and fished the river.  We caught 25 smallmouth in under 4 hours, mostly on topwater.  The water is so warm its like a bath tub but man they are so aggressive.  I am fully convinced that it does not matter what lure it is, as long as its in the right spot, they will smack it.  Several of the fish we caught were spitting up crayfish too, so its obvious what they're eating.  The biggest one was a 19 incher below.  Most of you know what river I'm talking about...

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fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Today through Sunday big blow out at Joes! 

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fishing user avatarRiggityBop reply : 
  On 8/16/2018 at 2:25 AM, punch said:

If you want to toss something that river Smallies (and walleye) love, rig up a 1/4oz jig head and a Keitech swimbait. That's been a good producer for river fish, especially from the bank, for me over the years.

Thanks punch, I'll give it a shot! Much appreciated my man. 

 

  On 8/16/2018 at 8:03 AM, gimruis said:

ey Riggity, you're doing it right if you have to fish from shore this time of year.  Rivers are a better option

Thanks Kicker, i'm still trying to figure everything out.. it's been a lot of fun. And wow... that sounds like a helluva day catching smallies! Nice Pics!

  On 8/16/2018 at 8:08 PM, NathanDLTH said:

Today through Sunday big blow out at Joes! 

oh man that is so tempting.

 

I'm rocking a 6'6 medium action spinning rod, and a 7 foot medium action baitcasting rod.

 

what would you guys recommend for picking up a 3rd rod to help round out my collection??


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

A heavy action rod-probably 7-7’4 depending on size. Daiwa, Shimano, G-Loomis, or Abu Garcia for brands.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Was out fishing today... have been finding largemouth consistently on jigs in 4-10 fow for weeks now... that is until today.  They’ve definitely moved... 

 

81 degree water temps might have something to do with it!


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Man, awesome reports everyone!  Definitely some good info to use if one hasn't been out in a while.

 

Been out a couple times a week over the last month.  I really haven't been trying anything real shallow.  I have a lake where I can usually catch some good ones on jigs into grass in about 6-7 FOW, but any other west side lake I go to I am focused deeper (12-20) and on any kind of point I can find.  Whether main lake or some kind of submerged hump, I try to find the points and where the grass line is.  Once I find the grass line, big worms, jigs, swing head creatures, and drop shots have all caught them.  Ran this pattern on Waconia the other night and caught something like 20 out of 25 casts on a drop shot - no giants but all of them 2-3lbs.  I have never run into a group wadded up like that.  However, I literally had to make the exact same cast from the exact same spot to get them to eat it.  If I executed, I could call my shot, pretty fun.

 

Will be my first fall with a boat this year, so looking forward to how things will change over the next couple months.  Keep the reports coming!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 8/16/2018 at 8:08 PM, NathanDLTH said:

Today through Sunday big blow out at Joes! 

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I got sucked into this and the bait monkey got me for a AGS guide tatula elite spinning rod for half price. 


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

I might have to run over there on lunch today...


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

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Fished Wednesday night and Thursday morning and night.  Water temps were around 78.  Dead calm both days with sun.  Caught quite a few little fish and a bunch of rock bass. Really struggled finding a consistent pattern or bigger fish.  Spots that had produced last week did not on this trip.  Wacky and popper were the two most productive baits.  Still fished weed edges and drop-offs in the 5-10 foot range. I could see fish cruising, but had a hard time getting them interested.  The lake I fish is really clear and I could see hundreds of small sunnies, bluegills, bass right above the weeds on every spot I fished.  The surface of the water was just popping with small fish.  Had at least a half dozen small fish under my popper every cast. Going back out Monday. supposed to be cooler with some wind. Thank God!


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/18/2018 at 10:25 AM, Tlauz said:

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Fished Wednesday night and Thursday morning and night.  Water temps were around 78.  Dead calm both days with sun.  Caught quite a few little fish and a bunch of rock bass. Really struggled finding a consistent pattern or bigger fish.  Spots that had produced last week did not on this trip.  Wacky and popper were the two most productive baits.  Still fished weed edges and drop-offs in the 5-10 foot range. I could see fish cruising, but had a hard time getting them interested.  The lake I fish is really clear and I could see hundreds of small sunnies, bluegills, bass right above the weeds on every spot I fished.  The surface of the water was just popping with small fish.  Had at least a half dozen small fish under my popper every cast. Going back out Monday. supposed to be cooler with some wind. Thank God!

Totally agree, they are definitely moving from where they’ve been the last month...


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

What's up guys,

Went out this morning and unexpectedly got on the best frog bite I've had all season. I was fishing a bank with laydowns and scattered lilies. All the bites came on a really slow walking retrieve in 1' of water the biggest was 5+ and there was plenty of 3lb fish as well. After that I flipped some arrow head lillies in 4' of water and got bit consistently until noon. My original thought going into the day was going to be a finesse fishing deep edges maybe cranking I started off with that for the first 45 minutes didn't get any bites I saw the bank over there and trusted my instincts and went with the frog. Lesson of the day don't get locked into what you think the fish should be biting sometimes it pays off to take a chance and to trust your instincts.


fishing user avatarRiggityBop reply : 

Wow, picked up the heavy rod and threw frogs all weekend... It had to be one of the most fun fishing experiences to-date. I worked the weeds/bulrushes with a white frog and boom, boom, boom.  lots of action. 

So, I know what i'll be doing next weekend!

Still trying to figure out how to get more bites midday in deeper water... Only landed one on a white chatterbait. tried shad raps, and a couple different worm presentations as well. ???? i guess i'll keep reading and experimenting. 

 

Riggity

 

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fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Minnetonka was quite the experience. We had our final Greenhorn TOC derby yesterday. It seems that most people had a terrible practice. Ours was garbage. We fished twice after work and got probably 5 bites.. one keeper. Going into the derby we were pretty depressed. 

 

Then the magic of the Minnetonka morning bite kicked in at 7am. That lake is a whole different animal before all the boat traffic fires up. We went to a few of the spots in Crystal bay that we couldn't fish during practice due to the chop/traffic. First spot we pulled up on we caught 4 fish, all over 2lbs.. within about 20 minutes. We were just flipping a super bug D-bomb (best color ever btw) on a powershot with a 3/4th weight. Making a lot of quick pitches close to the boat. It was so much fun. We ran the powershot/dbomb + coontail pattern all day and ended up with 16.6LBS and a 5th place finish. 

We did get tired from flipping all day so we mixed in dead-sticking some jigworm senkos.. and caught a few nice ones on that. Same spots.. just letting the worm sit and do-nothing. 

 

I still hate that lake.. but the tournament ended up being super fun. 17lbs won it, and 2-5th place were all 16lb bags so the competition was TIGHT. We caught a ton of 2 & 3lbers. That +4lb kicker elluded us. Our biggest was 3.85lbs. 

 

I got a new found respect for the Dennys Super 30 series guys who fish Tonka all year, and do it at such a high level. That place is a beast. So much water, so much structure, so much pressure, so many boats. Plus one part of the lake is muddy, the other part is gin clear.. it's like 10 different lakes in one. A buddy of mine who fishes tournaments all around the state (and fishes Dennys) says Minnetonka is the single hardest tournament lake in the state. 

 

That was probably my last tournament of the year. Now on to fall fun fishing! 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I agree on the assessment of Tonka.  So much pressure, such clear water, so much recreational boat traffic...generally just not worth it with other options available.  Well done though


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

I agree @gimruis. So many other good lakes that it is not necessary to deal with all the BS of the boat traffic and highly pressured fish. I live on the north metro so Tonka is just under a 1 hour drive for me. Just not worth it if I am looking to "fun" fish somewhere. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Heading out somewhere in the metro for LMB tomorrow... anyone chime in where they are this week?  Depth, cover, lures..?


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

I'm going Saturday AM, curious as well. I haven't been out in a couple weeks 


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 8/21/2018 at 4:54 AM, punch said:

Minnetonka was quite the experience. We had our final Greenhorn TOC derby yesterday. It seems that most people had a terrible practice. Ours was garbage. We fished twice after work and got probably 5 bites.. one keeper. Going into the derby we were pretty depressed. 

 

Then the magic of the Minnetonka morning bite kicked in at 7am. That lake is a whole different animal before all the boat traffic fires up. We went to a few of the spots in Crystal bay that we couldn't fish during practice due to the chop/traffic. First spot we pulled up on we caught 4 fish, all over 2lbs.. within about 20 minutes. We were just flipping a super bug D-bomb (best color ever btw) on a powershot with a 3/4th weight. Making a lot of quick pitches close to the boat. It was so much fun. We ran the powershot/dbomb + coontail pattern all day and ended up with 16.6LBS and a 5th place finish. 

We did get tired from flipping all day so we mixed in dead-sticking some jigworm senkos.. and caught a few nice ones on that. Same spots.. just letting the worm sit and do-nothing. 

 

I still hate that lake.. but the tournament ended up being super fun. 17lbs won it, and 2-5th place were all 16lb bags so the competition was TIGHT. We caught a ton of 2 & 3lbers. That +4lb kicker elluded us. Our biggest was 3.85lbs. 

 

I got a new found respect for the Dennys Super 30 series guys who fish Tonka all year, and do it at such a high level. That place is a beast. So much water, so much structure, so much pressure, so many boats. Plus one part of the lake is muddy, the other part is gin clear.. it's like 10 different lakes in one. A buddy of mine who fishes tournaments all around the state (and fishes Dennys) says Minnetonka is the single hardest tournament lake in the state. 

 

That was probably my last tournament of the year. Now on to fall fun fishing! 

Tonka is my favorite MN lake. You can literally fish any style you want there. You can flip a jig in dirty water. You can drop shot 30 ft rock piles. You can punch/frog thick mats. You can deep crank weedlines. The traffic is terrible but man... the fishing is spectacular! For Denny's if you're not pulling in 3.5lbs per fish or higher you have no chance of getting in the money. That lake you have to have spots on spots. My units are literally like Lite-Brites with how many spots I have marked. Tournament days are all about run and gun and checking out spots. You end up running the whole lake to find your kickers. 34lbs (8fish) of bass though is amazing!

It is my favorite lake to take someone new to fishing cause I can take em to some honey holes with a drop shot and have them pull 2's all day. There's so much fish in that lake you can fish any bay and you'll catch em.

  On 8/23/2018 at 12:59 AM, FryDog62 said:

Heading out somewhere in the metro for LMB tomorrow... anyone chime in where they are this week?  Depth, cover, lures..?

Depends on the lake and if there's zebras. Zebra lakes the fish should still be deep cause the water temps are still hitting the 80's and there should be grass everywhere. Dirtier lakes should be having some slight turn over now and shallower grass should be key for those lakes. I've been personally smashing them on deep rock piles on Tonka with grass all around them. Using heavy punch jigs first, like the RTX jig, to pull out the hungry ones and then a drop shot with a Robo to finish off the school. 50+ bass days and it's not that hard. Fishing is really easy and predictable right now.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 12:13 AM, SmallBlockMuscle said:

I'm going Saturday AM, curious as well. I haven't been out in a couple weeks 

I got out to a usually good West Metro lake this morning.  Drop in temp in the long run is probably good, but today was classic cold-front fishing conditions.  I think I caught about a hundred scud-missile Snot Rockets and lost $50 in tackle from break-offs from those little bassturds.  

 

The quality fish I did catch have seemingly moved deeper - from two weeks ago in 4-10 fow/weeds - to now anywhere from 8-20 fow and scattered.  I caught most on slow moving Texas Rig/Pit Boss.  If I had more time would have side-imaged and used Panoptix to look for structure/fish to drop-shot in deeper water.  

 

Next time, but hope I time the next front right too... 

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fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

I had never caught a fish on a frog and was determined this summer, I had one tied on pretty much every time I fished and have missed every hit I have had until today, the patience paid off as I pulled out this fat pig. Heavy rod, 50lb braid, everything worked just like it was supposed too. 

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fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 1:50 AM, misho187 said:

Depends on the lake and if there's zebras. Zebra lakes the fish should still be deep cause the water temps are still hitting the 80's and there should be grass everywhere. Dirtier lakes should be having some slight turn over now and shallower grass should be key for those lakes. I've been personally smashing them on deep rock piles on Tonka with grass all around them. Using heavy punch jigs first, like the RTX jig, to pull out the hungry ones and then a drop shot with a Robo to finish off the school. 50+ bass days and it's not that hard. Fishing is really easy and predictable right now

I couldn't agree with this more. You really have to fish the conditions of the lake and break it down from there. I've been fishing a jig and frog in dirty water and deep cranks and the jerky J in deep water with good grass and some hard bottom edges. I went out today in the wind and fished a main lake point with a dt14 and caught 2 4lbers then tried a jerky j and caught a 5 and a 6.8 20180823_154445.thumb.jpg.251cb3ca31c3d1318218b84f74df55df.jpg

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fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 8/22/2018 at 11:16 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:

I agree @gimruis. So many other good lakes that it is not necessary to deal with all the BS of the boat traffic and highly pressured fish. I live on the north metro so Tonka is just under a 1 hour drive for me. Just not worth it if I am looking to "fun" fish somewhere. 

I grew up about 2 miles from the east side of it.  Its not even remotely the same lake as it was when I fished it then.  It was easy to catch fish on power tactics back then because the water was dirtier and the fish weren't as pressured.  Now, I can't fish half the spots I used to because of monster waves rolling past from recreational traffic, and I have to fish twice as deep and twice as slow.  Hard pass, you guys have at it


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 7:47 AM, sully420 said:

I couldn't agree with this more. You really have to fish the conditions of the lake and break it down from there. I've been fishing a jig and frog in dirty water and deep cranks and the jerky J in deep water with good grass and some hard bottom edges. I went out today in the wind and fished a main lake point with a dt14 and caught 2 4lbers then tried a jerky j and caught a 5 and a 6.8 20180823_154445.thumb.jpg.251cb3ca31c3d1318218b84f74df55df.jpg

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Great fish, 6.8 your PB?  Very nice!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 9:42 AM, FryDog62 said:

Great fish, 6.8 your PB?

Not my pb, I really thought it was going to be.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 7:47 AM, sully420 said:

I couldn't agree with this more. You really have to fish the conditions of the lake and break it down from there. I've been fishing a jig and frog in dirty water and deep cranks and the jerky J in deep water with good grass and some hard bottom edges. I went out today in the wind and fished a main lake point with a dt14 and caught 2 4lbers then tried a jerky j and caught a 5 and a 6.8 20180823_154445.thumb.jpg.251cb3ca31c3d1318218b84f74df55df.jpg

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That 6.8 is a TOAD!!!!!


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

@sully420 how are you fishing that Jerky J? Drop shot? Carolina Rig? T-Rig?

 

Nice work out there. Sounds like a killer day! 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 6:40 PM, sully420 said:

Not my pb, I really thought it was going to be.

Sully, I’m planning on going out tomorrow morning... any tips?  Hell,  I’ll supply the boat, food, drink... let me know where to meet and I’ll take you !!


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@ThatOneBigKid on a tremor head crawling it on the bottom.


fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 

Anyone in here local to the LDC area that could provide me some info on what happened in Cokato lake? Fished it the last 2 years and caught some nice LM and SM.  Used to all be in cover and it was just a coin flip as to what you’d get.  Came out today for the first time this year and there is not a single strand of weeds in the lake.  Don’t know it it got sprayed or had a carp infestation?  Thanks! 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Great report guys.  I'll make it out later this week and report back.  Need to try that scrounger head it looks like!  Nice fish @sully420.

 

Spent a week in central IN for work last week and took the sticks to fish with a buddy.  We fished a Tuesday nighter on a decent place and freaking 3.5 lbs won it.  Talk about pressure and tough fishing!  

 

We sure have it good up here in MN.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Not sure how many more opportunities for a Topwater bite this season, but so far still holding pretty good in the mornings...

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fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Nice! I got out to Lake George for a little bit last night, mostly to play around with the new Lowrance live-charting software update they just released. 

 

I did find some fish up VERY shallow, like less than 3 feet. Water temp's like 72. S


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

Was out Saturday with a buddy from 7am-3pm and we got one 19.75" at about 2:30pm on a frog in the pads. Could not get hardly any other action all day. Tried everything 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/28/2018 at 3:32 AM, SmallBlockMuscle said:

Was out Saturday with a buddy from 7am-3pm and we got one 19.75" at about 2:30pm on a frog in the pads. Could not get hardly any other action all day. Tried everything 

I don’t know about everyone else but this has been one of the toughest years I can remember for frog bites. The fish I caught above were after I threw a frog for 90 minutes with maybe one boil but no real strikes.  Switched to a popper and - Kapow - for the next 3 hours.  

 

I think I’ll Put Kermit away for the year...


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 
  On 8/28/2018 at 3:55 AM, FryDog62 said:

I don’t know about everyone else but this has been one of the toughest years I can remember for frog bites. The fish I caught above were after I threw a frog for 90 minutes with maybe one boil but no real strikes.  Switched to a popper and - Kapow - for the next 3 hours.  

 

I think I’ll Put Kermit away for the year...

Good to know, thanks. I may go tomorrow night if the weather is ok. Need to learn some early fall strategies. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@FryDog62I hear ya topwaters have been tough so far this year there's been really small windows of action here and there. I have a feeling that September will offer some good opportunities for froggen and buzz baits. One thing I've noticed this season is slow walking and patience retrieving has been the deal. Another.  helpful tactic has been having a friend on the boat fishing subsurface baits behind me. I know if he's getting bit and I'm not on a topwater I better put it down. In other words just because I'm not getting bit on a topwater doesn't mean the bass aren't there and they're not biting.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Guys have any suggestions for a buzz frog? I need to pick a few up.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@punch I like the booyah one it gets the job done.


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

Are any of you guys excited for the fall season?!?!?! Far less pleasure boaters, less pressure from the tournament anglers and the fish will be schooled up and ready to eat. I finally get to go attack the smallies in Mille Lacs and go look for some 6lb+ plus momma's. No more 5+ hours of scanning... just go out, put the trolling motor down and fish. I'll get to use my topwaters now (they get no play during tournament season) and my big swimbaits. Tournament season is finally over for me. A few pickups here and there if I want to but now I can finally just go fish around.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 8/25/2018 at 9:36 AM, sully420 said:

@ThatOneBigKid on a tremor head crawling it on the bottom.

Very nice, I use these same heads with the Yamamoto Zako. They work really well and have a real tight action to them. 

 

I got out on to a new lake on Saturday. The lake had mildly dirty water (1' visibility) and temps in the low 70s. with the Fog and overcast skys all day I threw topwaters in the early AM with no takers. Changed to a black and blue swim jig that I make and was able to crack a 4.6lber for my second fish. This lake had a large amount of down timber in the water. Main pattern by the end of the day was dead laydown pine trees. The big one of the day was on the end of a pine and there was literally at least one fish in every pine tree I flipped. caught another fish that was just over 3lbs. This fish looked very sick. Head of a 5lber, but only 3lbs. Probably caught around 30 fish with the biggest 5 going around 14 - 15 lbs. Pattern was a one, two punch of B&B swim jig on the tips of the trees and then punching the heart of the timber with a 5/16oz TX rigged Pit Boss in the "Perfection W/ Blue Fleck" color. 

 

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fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I'm always excited for fall. I'm going to try and get out to Stella Washington this weekend to chase some smallies. Next weekend we're going back to Alexandria to camp at Carlos and fish the chain. The classicbass guys are there this weekend beating it up for their final tournament... glad I"m going next weekend. 

 

Then the first weekend in October me and 5 of my buddies rented a couple cabins at Grandview Lodge on Kabetogama. We're going to chase smallies & walleye's for a long weekend. Going WAY north in the fall is a must if you guys haven't done it.  The lakes huge & mostly are dead from boat traffic..  and the fishing can be bonkers if you time it right. It's stupid cheap to go up the resorts in northern MN in the fall. We're spending like $65 a night after tax per person to stay right on the lake with a sick view and boat slips. 


We did this trip last year at the end of Sept, but the weather was still pretty warm.. the first day there we wore tshirts and shorts and it was pretty hot. The fishing was decent... but this year we bumped it back 2 weeks and hopefully we catch the smallies with their fall feedbags on. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Annual Fall fishing trip to Red Gut Bay on Rainy Lake in mid-Sept - and I can’t make it due to a work commitment.  Bought some specific smallmouth lures... see if I can still use them somewhere - -


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Sup guys,

I was watching some old bassmaster videos last night on YouTube. I decided to watch one of my all time favorite videos, Paul Elias setting the all time record for weight in a elite series event at Falcon lake. I noticed he was using a c-rig to great effect to complement his deep crankbaits. So at lunch today at work I decided to tie one on myself and see if I could get some bites if the crankbait wasn't working. Boy did it pay off. I started with a dt14 and got some bites but the bass just really weren't committing to it, so I picked up the c-rig with a watermelon redflake game hog and caught this gal.20180828_180056.thumb.jpg.7c064565e5ccc0804742af137d8e88aa.jpg

Next cast I got bit after the first drag and got another biggin just like the last gal right up to the boat. I tried to flip her in and snap, my line broke, above the swivel where I had some glass beads between the swivel and my weight. Big mistake, I will never use glass beads ever again ever I'm positive that's what cut my line. Anyway I picked myself up shook it off after some expletives of course and started working a 3/4oz football head jig and the jenko tremor head. After about 45 minutes I made my last cast of the evening with the tremor and stuck this girl.20180828_185253.thumb.jpg.5ae8db60903be9f1552fac6c40aa105c.jpg

Sorry the pic isn't great but this is probably my best bass of the season. I was fishing the edge of a point in 14' of water with some coontail surrounded with rock. The bass seemed to be positioned down wind of the grass on the hard spots.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 8/29/2018 at 11:24 AM, sully420 said:

Sup guys,

I was watching some old bassmaster videos last night on YouTube. I decided to watch one of my all time favorite video, Paul Elias setting the all time record for weight in a elite series event at Falcon lake. I noticed he was using a c-rig to great effect to complement his deep crankbaits. So at lunch today at work I decided to tie one on myself and see if I could get some bites if the crankbait wasn't working. Boy did it pay off. I started with a dt14 and got some bites but the bass just really weren't committing to it, so I picked up the c-rig with a watermelon redflake game hog and caught this gal.20180828_180056.thumb.jpg.7c064565e5ccc0804742af137d8e88aa.jpg

Next cast I got bit after the first drag and got another biggin just like the last gal right up to the boat. I tried to flip her in and snap, my line broke, above the swivel where I had some glass beads between me swivel and my weight. Big mistake I will never use glass beads ever again ever. Anyway I picked myself up shook it off after some expletives ofcourse and started working a 3/4oz football head jig and the jenko tremor head. After about 45 minutes I made my last cast of the evening with the tremor and stuck this girl.20180828_185253.thumb.jpg.5ae8db60903be9f1552fac6c40aa105c.jpg

Sorry the pic isn't great but this is probably my best bass of the season. I was fishing the edge of a point in 14' of water with some coontail surrounded with rock. The bass seemed to be positioned down wind of the grass on the hard spots.

d**n sully you catch hogs out of "that lake"... Haven't been out there in the boat all season. My mistake!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I don't think I've used a carolina rig in like 4 years... haha. I got to revist some of those presentations I used to use. I ignored the jig for a year or two but tossed one all summer this year to great effect. 

 

Nice job Sully, when are you going to start cleaning up in the local derbys? 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@punch I hope to fish greenhorn next year. I don't think I'll be cleaning up at all but I'm excited to learn and compete with you guys in a competitive setting. The c-rig was my go to bait when I started bass fishing and I got away from it for a couple years. I've learned this year that subtle changes to presentation based on how fish are reacting to baits can really make the difference. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 8/29/2018 at 8:56 PM, sully420 said:

@punch I hope to fish greenhorn next year. I don't think I'll be cleaning up at all but I'm excited to learn and compete with you guys in a competitive setting. The c-rig was my go to bait when I started bass fishing and I got away from it for a couple years. I've learned this year that subtle changes to presentation based on how fish are reacting to baits can really make the difference. 

Cool! We're going to fish the Wednesday night greenhorn league again next year. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

d**n Sully, I am mirin' your picks day after day. Are all these studs coming out of the same lake?

 

I am heading out to N/S Center after work today. Going to see if I can find an big girls that want to play (don't tell my wife). 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@ThatOneBigKid same lake been fishing it after work lately. I've never fished north center. I think I'll fish Clearwater lake this weekend and see how that goes. Good luck tonight on n/c


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Sully you gotta get a selfie stick or take a buddy with more often to take photos.  Those fish are hawgs and your selfies don't do justice!


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

Fall pattern seems to not be far away. I was out this morning and it was 51 degrees when I got on the water, and some leaves are starting to change.. I was able to catch more fish on reaction baits this morning (4 on lipless cranks, 2 on a spinnerbait) than I have the last month combined. Biggest fish was maybe 3 pounds but all in less than 10 feet of water. I am ready for more fish to move up shallow. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Got out on Chisago today.  What a great action bite.  Caught a lot of fish in the 2-3.5 lb range with a 1/2 dozen 3.5-4lb.  One rod day, though I did try a couple others.  The ned has been ruling for me since using it at Tonka.  So much fun getting all these fish on exposed hook - they nearly set themselves, just lift the rod.  All fish were 5-10 fow near weeds. I tried a little bit of froggin and some heavy pitchin both deep and shallow, but the light ned was all that was working for me.  Green pumpkin goby and 1/8 or 1/10oz ned jig, but I don't think color mattered as much as weight. The fish seemed to be in loose schools in one big area with one tight school giving up most of the big fish. 

      This pattern and technique is perfect for a kid since the light weight keeps from getting bogged in the scattered weeds and the open hook sets easy.  Make sure you pay attention to where you are casting and dial in where a hooked fish comes from and repeat those casts.  Of course, most of you guys know this, but I keep re-learning how tight some of these schools can be.  

   Sully, I think you'll do very well in the derbys as adaptable as you seem to be. 

   Good luck to the guys fishing the GH open this fall -  I'll be heading to Eveleth/Grand Rapids area around that time.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 8/30/2018 at 9:26 AM, starkeer said:

Fall pattern seems to not be far away. I was out this morning and it was 51 degrees when I got on the water, and some leaves are starting to change.. I was able to catch more fish on reaction baits this morning (4 on lipless cranks, 2 on a spinnerbait) than I have the last month combined. Biggest fish was maybe 3 pounds but all in less than 10 feet of water. I am ready for more fish to move up shallow. 

If they move in shallower and the baitfish are larger this time of year, here’s a good “reaction bait” that gets their attention and targets the bigger gals.  

 

The GRENADE:

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Megabass_Grenade_Squarebill_Crankbaits/descpage-MBGREN.html

 

 


fishing user avatarthatbasschigger187 reply : 

@sully420 shhhhh about the carolina rig.... jkjk. Carolina rig is lowkey hawg-slaying technique. Most people shy from it cause it's slooooooow but man it gets chomped on. I usually run zoom brush hog or a lake fork ring fry.

Another one for you guys to try is a big hair jig while the some fish are still deep. 1/2 to 3/4 oz hair jig. The technique is super easy. Just make a long cast, reel and kill. I usually target really deep points with this. I'll sit in about 30ft and cast into 20ish or lower. Caught some nice ones on Diamond reef doing this. I'll add half a senko to the back of the hairjig if i want it to fall slower/more horizontally and  I'll add some Megastrike on the 1/2 senko for some stank. I use this tech when the DD and the swimbait stop working.


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@ThatOneBigKid oh I've got some hair jigs ready. I don't fish the fall like a pattern I fish it day to day. Lots of the fish that are deep now will stay deep and some will move on and out depending on weather wind and water color and bait movement.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Changed our plans and are heading to Mille Lacs Saturday morning. The weather is looking d**n near perfect. Fish are biting too. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Here's a fun fact I've never caught a smallmouth bass in my life. I really need to figure out how to catch some


fishing user avatarRiggityBop reply : 
  On 8/30/2018 at 4:32 AM, sully420 said:

@ThatOneBigKid same lake been fishing it after work lately. I've never fished north center. I think I'll fish Clearwater lake this weekend and see how that goes. Good luck tonight on n/c

Ayyy, if you see a red lund on clearwater lake with me on it this weekend, i got a beer with your name on it! maybe even some special gummy bears ; ) was still getting some nice frog action last weekend. haven't perfected catching them deeper yet, so can't be helpful there... pic below was last saturday late night on clearwater, 5fow middle of the lake on hook/worm/glow in the dark bobber. 

 

Also to your never catching a smallie comment... i've been doing pretty well with smallmouth just beating the banks of the misssissippi after work. If you're interested i got a couple spots that hold smallies for sure. I have been taking two rods down, one topwater rig, and one spinning rod with plastics. Topwater marks em, and if you can't get em to bite on top, ned rig/ neko rig/ tubes / senkos will for surely get 'em. 

 

cheers

bigdaddy.jpg


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@RiggityBop I love gummy bears. Are you going out to clear on sat?


fishing user avatarRiggityBop reply : 
  On 8/31/2018 at 6:59 AM, sully420 said:

@RiggityBop I love gummy bears. Are you going out to clear on sat?

My parents have a cabin on clearwater, so i'll be going up there tonight and fishing all weekend. : )


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Hit N/S Center Wed night and we caught some decent fish. Only fished for 2 hours, but caught 10 and jumped off a couple. All came on deep cranks. My cousin had never fished deep cranks so it was awesome to get him on some fish with a new to him technique. He thought it was so cool how you could feel the deep gravel with the crank and then BAM! a fish would just bull doze your crank. He caught the biggest of the night too at 3.25lbs. No giants, but all the fish we caught were doing their best impression of the spotted bass from California. All the fish had huge full guts. Hoping to get out somewhere after church on Sunday, but haven't settled on a lake yet. 

 

Good luck to all getting out this weekend! 


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 
  On 8/30/2018 at 8:10 PM, FryDog62 said:

If they move in shallower and the baitfish are larger this time of year, here’s a good “reaction bait” that gets their attention and targets the bigger gals.  

 

The GRENADE:

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Megabass_Grenade_Squarebill_Crankbaits/descpage-MBGREN.html

 

 

You got me haha, just ordered one and had to add several other large profile baits gearing up for the fall bite. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/1/2018 at 6:35 AM, starkeer said:

You got me haha, just ordered one and had to add several other large profile baits gearing up for the fall bite. 

Let me know how you do with it.  I’m also looking at ordering up some big swimbaits like the Hudd 68.  


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 9/1/2018 at 6:17 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Hit N/S Center Wed night and we caught some decent fish.  He thought it was so cool how you could feel the deep gravel with the crank and then BAM! a fish would just bull doze your crank. 

  I have done well at times on some deep spots on S/C with a big swimbait on a 1/2 oz or bigger head. Same type of deal only no BAM.  The rod would just load up.  Cast out, let sink to the bottom, slow reel, stop to let it hit bottom. Repeat.


fishing user avatarshimmy reply : 
  On 8/24/2018 at 7:47 AM, sully420 said:

I couldn't agree with this more. You really have to fish the conditions of the lake and break it down from there. I've been fishing a jig and frog in dirty water and deep cranks and the jerky J in deep water with good grass and some hard bottom edges. I went out today in the wind and fished a main lake point with a dt14 and caught 2 4lbers then tried a jerky j and caught a 5 and a 6.8 20180823_154445.thumb.jpg.251cb3ca31c3d1318218b84f74df55df.jpg

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Giant! Just a toad. Awesome to see you get them giants. A bass that fat, you never know how heavy it will be. Very exciting. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Final trip to the river of the season yesterday produced more great results.  Finished with 20 smallmouth in about 4 hours including three 19 inchers in a span of half an hour.  I couldn't get them to smack the topwater anymore because the water has cooled some but they were still biting shallow crankbaits and a tube.

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fishing user avatardsidle61 reply : 

so I'm relatively new to the area and was wondering if people had any input on pelican in wright county.  I've read some stuff on the restoration they did.  Some say fish it and others say don't bother.  Was thinking of going out there for some bass/pike.  

 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I hit Mille Lacs on Saturday morning with a few buddies. We fished the east side out of Liberty and did pretty well. We caught about 7 walleyes (one 24" tanker) and over a dozen smallies. The biggest was 4lb 1oz. We bounced around from reef to reef and the fish seemed to be up really shallow. Most of our bites came in like 10'-6' on offshore reefs. I've been getting more and more confidence with Mille Lacs over the last couple years. I'm starting to be less intimidated by the lake as i'm getting more comfortable reading my electronics.

 

I'm going to go on a little reef fishing rant here.. buckle up. 

 

I've been spending more time on big rocky smallmouth lakes in the last few years, such as Kabetogama/Vermillion/Mille Lacs. One important lesson that i've learned is that when you're targeting offshore reefs, don't waste time on a dead reef. I've learned some of the obvious signs of a good reef. Good structure, sharp drops in depth, and most importantly FOOD. If you're not seeing bait balls around the reef.. be skeptical. If you see food, start working the depths from the shallowest then out to the edges. Walleye seem to be a great indicator of an active reef. Walleye see to be pack hunters that follow food around. I've noticed that if I catch a walleye quickly on a reef, there's a 100% chance there's food in the zip code which means smallies are likely SOMEWHERE on the reef. They might be at a different depth, but most often they are shoulder to shoulder with the smallies. If you're not seeing food on your sonar, and you don't get bit within the first.. 20-30 minutes.. GTFO. Because that reef isn't active today, doesn't mean it wont be active at another point. Not every reef is holding feeding fish.. you just gotta be willing to move around and find the ones that are currently active.

 

The presentations I like to use on reefs are pretty simple. Swimbait on a 1/4th oz head, ned rig, jig head + soft plastic jerkbait, dropshot, a tube (duh), and a neko worm. Neko's are actually really great on offshore rock reefs, as they rarely get hung up. 

 

A great example of this was up in Kabetogama last fall. There were two reefs that were about 50 yards from each other. On Saturday, the southern reef was boomin.. we caught a ton of smallies.. had a blast. We went back to the same reef the next day and it was a total ghost town. I said, hey.. lets go over to the northern reef.. maybe they just moved over. Sure enough the schools were there. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Got out this weekend on a lake in the Cambridge area. Nothing great to report other than I think the lake may have turned recently. This is a lake that has been relatively clear as of late but was very dirty in Monday. Might explain the tough fishing too. Only caught a few smaller fish for 6 hours of fishing. 

 

Had a buddy from work report similar theories, but there were on Winnie all weekend. 

 

Anyone else think the lakes are turning?


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

I went Saturday and then again yesterday. Both days starting at sun up and fished for around 4 1/2 hours. Two small lakes in the West Metro and the whopper plopper caught most of the fish. From 6-8:30 the top water bite was great, yesterday I pulled a few out after 8:30 on a spinner bait. Didnt do any cranking yesterday. All the fish were in 4-6'. Had to deal with a lot of pike as well which gets old and lost me a plopper later yesterday. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/5/2018 at 1:51 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Got out this weekend on a lake in the Cambridge area. Nothing great to report other than I think the lake may have turned recently. This is a lake that has been relatively clear as of late but was very dirty in Monday. Might explain the tough fishing too. Only caught a few smaller fish for 6 hours of fishing. 

 

Had a buddy from work report similar theories, but there were on Winnie all weekend. 

 

Anyone else think the lakes are turning?

I'm noticing some muddy water and dead vegitation floating around. I'm camping/fishing the Alex chain next weekend.. i'm hoping the fall 'chew' is kicking off soon. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I've noticed a significant drop in surface temperature the past 2 weeks.  Mid August it was in the low 80's and yesterday it was in the low 70's.

 

Punch, good read on Mille Lacs-type lakes.  That lake has more big smallmouth than any other around here so it has a higher "ceiling" but it has gotten to be really tough because of the immense pressure.  I was out there four times in late May and June and seems like I saw about 40 bass boats or more each trip.  I guess that comes with a #1 national ranking.  Its a blessing and a curse.  I used to be able to catch some fish on a jerk bait out there too...this year, not even one bite.  Like Seth Feider said: "You can only catch those fish so many times."


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Was on a West Metro Lake yesterday and flogged all the typical spots... nothing... went deeper.... a couple pike... finally at 15-18 fow just outside of the weed line with a DT14, I got a 15 inch, then a 17 followed by maybe my largest LMB of the year - estimating 22 inches - jumped twice, got to the boat, grabbed the net... and then gone...


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 
  On 9/5/2018 at 8:27 AM, FryDog62 said:

Was on a West Metro Lake yesterday and flogged all the typical spots... nothing... went deeper.... a couple pike... finally at 15-18 fow just outside of the weed line with a DT14, I got a 15 inch, then a 17 followed by maybe my largest LMB of the year - estimating 22 inches - jumped twice, got to the boat, grabbed the net... and then gone...

What rod do you throw the DT14 on? I've been going through my gear trying to figure out what rod I want to throw deep crank on. Thanks


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/5/2018 at 8:32 AM, starkeer said:

What rod do you throw the DT14 on? I've been going through my gear trying to figure out what rod I want to throw deep crank on. Thanks

I throw it on a Duckett White Ice 7’-3” MH.  It has a softer tip and is usually a great crankbait rod... and with fluorocarbon line usually does a great job keeping fish buttoned up on treble hooks.  Despite losing a big bass, it’s a great rod for cranking.

 

Heck, it kept this scud missile attached an hour earlier!

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fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/5/2018 at 8:11 AM, gimruis said:

I've noticed a significant drop in surface temperature the past 2 weeks.  Mid August it was in the low 80's and yesterday it was in the low 70's.

 

Punch, good read on Mille Lacs-type lakes.  That lake has more big smallmouth than any other around here so it has a higher "ceiling" but it has gotten to be really tough because of the immense pressure.  I was out there four times in late May and June and seems like I saw about 40 bass boats or more each trip.  I guess that comes with a #1 national ranking.  Its a blessing and a curse.  I used to be able to catch some fish on a jerk bait out there too...this year, not even one bite.  Like Seth Feider said: "You can only catch those fish so many times."


This is why we're heading all the way up to Kab where the smallies are totally un-pressured next month. 

 

Mille Lacs is still awesome because it's like 1:15 minute drive from my house in the north metro. I get there's a lot more bass pressure nowadays, BUT the lakes so d**n big it's easy to find your own water. Most people tend to hit the more obvious spots & community holes.. but if you can read your graphs/maps you can easily go find your own spots away from the other boats. 

 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

48 degrees at the ramp this morning, but the Berkley Choppo bite on top was still good...

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fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 6:46 AM, FryDog62 said:

48 degrees at the ramp this morning, but the Berkley Choppo bite on top was still good...

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Nice ~ 

And how did you convince that fatty pike to stand straight up like that ?

:checkitout:

A-Jay


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 7:53 AM, A-Jay said:

Nice ~ 

And how did you convince that fatty pike to stand straight up like that ?

:checkitout:

A-Jay

Actually it was in a buddy’s freezer all night ;)


fishing user avatarA-Jay reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 8:38 AM, FryDog62 said:

Actually it was in a buddy’s freezer all night ;)

Well that es-planes it ~ 

:happy7:

A-Jay


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 9:03 AM, A-Jay said:

Well that es-planes it ~ 

:happy7:

A-Jay

...right next to my bottle of Grey Goose ????


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Fishing wasn't great tonight up on Lake George, but I did get to go test my new toy.. got an ultrex this week. 

 

4g1jbS7LRCAybejJEJvOsTRYr9i4lmaY0amFwOPD


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 6:46 AM, FryDog62 said:

48 degrees at the ramp this morning, but the Berkley Choppo bite on top was still good...

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how do you like the choppo compared to the plopper?


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

@punch Congrats. How do you like it? Is that a 60" shaft?

 

Hitting the river tonight after work looking for some smallies. Hope all goes well. 

 

 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 12:11 PM, JackKlassen said:

how do you like the choppo compared to the plopper?

Thx, I’ll give you my unbiased opinion... and I’m not sponsored by anyone either...

 

The larger sized Choppo to me is exactly like the WP... in fact if you had me cast them without knowing which was which I don’t think I’d honestly know.  There is that rich baritone sound the prop makes at a certain retrieve rate that seems to get most strikes for me anyway, and the Choppo has this as well.  

 

The 90 size, I actually stopped using the WP because like others got frustrated with it nose-diving at the wrong time.  So I was skeptical picking up the 90 Choppo at first, but found it did not dive at all.  Granted I used it on more limited basis than the bigger Choppo, but it was screaming “smallmouth killer” the whole time.

 

The other difference between the Choppo and WP is price.  About 1/3 less in cost which I think is refreshing in this day of crazy escalating tackle prices.  Whether it’s as durable over time as my WP’s, I don’t know (a plus for WP’s - always have had good luck there) I don’t know but the Choppo seems to be very good quality too.  


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/7/2018 at 8:34 PM, ThatOneBigKid said:

@punch Congrats. How do you like it? Is that a 60" shaft?

 

Hitting the river tonight after work looking for some smallies. Hope all goes well. 

 

 

It's a 36v 52” 

 

 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Nice TM punch, you'll love it.

 

Nice report Fry.  I'm headed out tomorrow morning for a 1/2 day bite and have a plopper tied on and ready.  Supposed to be a little chop, so I am expecting some mega blow ups!


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I went out on Labor Day morning and it was arguably the best day of the season for me thus far.  That cloud deck with a pending incoming storm likely played a big role.  My biggest largemouth was 19.5 inches and I even landed another "accidental" tiger muskie.  No finesse tactics, all fast moving lures in 5-12 feet of water.

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fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Nice tiger! I gotta ask which lake because there's only a small handful where the Tigers are doing well. Lake Elmo? Clear? 


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 
  On 9/8/2018 at 12:30 AM, punch said:

Nice tiger! I gotta ask which lake because there's only a small handful where the Tigers are doing well. Lake Elmo? Clear? 

Maybe there would be more if they didn't keep trying to literally bite off more than they can chew like this musky I found belly up this morning haha

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fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 9/8/2018 at 12:30 AM, punch said:

Nice tiger! I gotta ask which lake because there's only a small handful where the Tigers are doing well. Lake Elmo? Clear? 

I fish four lakes with stocked tiger muskies regularly: Weaver, Elmo, Gervais, and Johanna.  The thing is with those tigers, they are more likely to hit a smaller lure intended for bass than they will with a normal sized muskie lure.  Just make sure you put a leader on.


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Got out Saturday morning, west side metro lake.  Had water 68-70, slight breeze picked up as the sun came up.  I ended up kind of junking around for the day.  Not a numbers day at all, but the bass I did catch were quality.  I noticed right away that the pads are starting to recede, like very noticeably in a week.  Started off near the pad line with heavy grass near a deep water hole, and stuck a 4 on a popper as my first fish - I thought it was going to be the day of all days.  Caught another 2lb on the popper then moved on to a main like point as I wanted to throw the whopper plopper.  Got to the point, long one, 4-6 FOW with submerged grass - had several swipes at the plopper, but none would eat it.  I had the 110 size on and thought about downsizing to the 90, but didn't want to waste time.  Started throwing a red craw colored red eye shad, ripping off the grass and caught a couple shorts and several slimers, but nothing notable.  Moved to another underwater ridge, 5-6 fow submerged grass and caught a skinny 3.5 on a jig.  Threw a chatter a lot in this area and nothing.  Lastly, moved to a 5' grass flat where I normally catch them good on a jig.  With the wind picking up and blowing directly on this area, I traded the red red eye shad for a blue colored one and first cast caught a nearly 5 pounder.  Next cast caught a big ol pike and I thought I had something going.  Had another real good quality bass come unbuttoned, but I felt like I was on to something then.  Then I had to go, so I couldn't really finish out the pattern, but it did seem that the fall bite is coming on quick.  I bet the weather coming in next week really gets them chomping.

 

One thing to note.  I definitely got caught up by KVD a while ago when he says to switch out your stock trebles for the short shank EWGs.  It seems like once I started, every fish literally has a face full of hooks - like so many in them I feel bad sometimes.  I didn't switch them out on the blue red eye shad I was throwing as it was new and I got lazy.  Not saying the one I had come off was because of that, but you never know.  I do know the lures I have switched them out on are a pain to get out of the fish.  Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone having trouble losing fish with trebles.

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fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

Another small west metro outing Saturday AM. Top water and spinner baits were non existent but I caught 8 bass from 8" to 19" on a Spro Lil Jon. Good advice to get one from this site. They were all in 6-12 fow. Also caught 12 pike (which I hate catching) and had something hit it so hard it pulled my rod out of my hand. Might have been a muskie as I saw a monster swimming in the shallows soon after. The pads and weeds have significantly shrunk towards shore in just a few days. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Ok BR-MN fraternity bros - need your help -

 

Been traveling too much, but taking out an old neighborhood friend fishing, and I’m the “guide” tomorrow.  She doesn’t get out much around the metro to fish very often and I want to put her on some fish.  Bass are moving daily right now.  We’re going out daybreak until Noon, what do we cover tomorrow in the West metro:

 

•Topwater before the wind comes up

•Jigs around deep, green weeds

•Chatterbaits on deep weed edges

•Crankbaits (at depth?) everywhere and everywhere until we find them

•Drop shot deeper structure

•Can of worms off the dock

•Other

 

Thx guys, pressures on me, but will be a good time...

 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I think you nailed it @FryDog62.. but if all else fails just toss some wackySenkos around the grass and docks. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/11/2018 at 10:33 AM, punch said:

I think you nailed it @FryDog62.. but if all else fails just toss some wackySenkos around the grass and docks. 

Are they still that shallow?  Thx


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Fry, this may be too late but with the breeze this morning, I'd focus on the movers - chatters, lipless, spinnerbaits even.  If some chop, I like a buzzbait if there is shade or a little cloud cover.

 

 

Guys, I am thinking about taking the family west to camp in a couple weeks.  Has anyone fished Green Lake lately and could chime in on how the lake was?  I have never fished out that way and looking for a lake or two to focus on while we're there.  Thanks in advance for any input.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/11/2018 at 10:44 AM, FryDog62 said:

Are they still that shallow?  Thx

They are! I found some dock fish over the weekend. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Oooh, got humbled today... the two of us used the various techniques I listed above for 5 hours which yielded 2 fish that were 9-10 inches long.  

 

All this on a 150 acre lake that a week and a half ago produced 20+ fish averaging 18 inches and largest over 20. 

 

We tried everything... How things change quickly this time of year..

 

Looking at the bright side - at least the two fish I caught would have been state records in one US state.  

 

https://craigmedred.news/2018/09/04/new-ak-record/

 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Going out after work here in a few minutes. Looking a bit windy out there. Could be fun....


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 9/12/2018 at 3:04 AM, FryDog62 said:

Oooh, got humbled today... the two of us used the various techniques I listed above for 5 hours which yielded 2 fish that were 9-10 inches long.  

 

All this on a 150 acre lake that a week and a half ago produced 20+ fish averaging 18 inches and largest over 20. 

 

We tried everything... How things change quickly this time of year..

 

Looking at the bright side - at least the two fish I caught would have been state records in one US state.  

 

https://craigmedred.news/2018/09/04/new-ak-record/

 

That article is hilarious lol. I think they are overreacting tho about bass spreading. Its so dang cold up there I doubt that fish could breed or get over a pound or two, if they survive at all. I bet someone thought it would be funny to dump a couple in that lake and see what happens????


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 9/12/2018 at 4:25 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Going out after work here in a few minutes. Looking a bit windy out there. Could be fun....

Managed 8 fish last night, the biggest being 3.45lbs. All the fish came on a DT20 cranked over points with gravel on top. Top of the points were in approx. 14-16 FOW. Hot colors were Ike's Mule and Ike's Rasta. Fish didn't want anything with rattles, just silent. Also threw a Berkley Dredger, Spro DD Little John and a 8XD. No bites on any of those. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/13/2018 at 1:47 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Managed 8 fish last night, the biggest being 3.45lbs. All the fish came on a DT20 cranked over points with gravel on top. Top of the points were in approx. 14-16 FOW. Hot colors were Ike's Mule and Ike's Rasta. Fish didn't want anything with rattles, just silent. Also threw a Berkley Dredger, Spro DD Little John and a 8XD. No bites on any of those. 

I was out last Saturday & Sunday up in Alex chain. The topwater bite on Saturday was AMAZING on lake carlos. The popper was on-fire. It was so much fun. The afternoon I was mostly getting bit on a green pumpkin jackhammer chatterbait, but the bite wasn't as good as the morning. I was getting NOTHING on my usual finnesse setups.. like the Ned & dropshot. 

 

Sunday the morning topwater bite sucked. I got like one? The rest of the afternoon the chatterbait was pretty consistant in grass flats around 5-8' FOW. Same green pumpkin jackhammer. 

 

I guess I'll have the chatterbait tied on the rest of the season this year.. it's always good in the fall and they seem to be wanting it now. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

@punch thanks for that report great info and I've always wanted to fish lake Carlos. I also had some luck with a chatterbait and think I will try to see if it out performs a spinnerbait. I think it will, the vibration seems to pull bass out of the grass better than flash. @ThatOneBigKid I've been running the pattern you described for about 4 weeks now and its been awesome. I went out this evening and started on hard points 14-16' and got a 5 and lost a 4. I was thinking that this pattern was slowing down because the amount of bites was slowing down but I never thought of make the adjustment to a crankbait with no rattles. That seems like a big oversight on my part. Bass seem to be  shallow, deep and mid depth ranges now. I think the trick is figuring out if they want to chase or nibble. Bigger baits are better for me either way.

Tight lines!!!


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

@sully420 cool to hear that they are going on the same deal on another lake too. Two weeks ago the same pattern was working for me but the Spro DD Little John was the hot crank. That one has a very deep tone rattle to it as if there is a lead ball in it instead of steel. I started with the Spro the other night and switched to the DT20 (which I killed them on last year) when I hadn't gotten any bites. Thing is, you know those fish are there, just have to find the "winner" for that night to get them to fire up. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Got out the last couple days on some local lakes. I figured with the wind, it would be power fishing.  Started out the first day on a bar where I knew there would be fish, thinking KVD squarebill. Nothing. Threw some t-rig plastic same area. Nothing. Went to the bank and started pitching brush and other cover. Went 100 yds. Nothing. Then 3 nice ones in 10 yds.  A couple of docks came up and they each gave up one, so it looks like tight and shallow.   I decide to try a windy shore and get back to winding. I tried swimming a jig first, then a spinnerbait. I had to dig deep for the spinnerbait cause its been quite a while since I used one, but the wind just screamed for it. Nope on either. After striking out on deeper weeds again, went REAL tight to brush and got a couple more.  I was surprised they were not chasing.

 

  Next day a buddy joined me and we started right away on a stretch of docks and got some nice fish.  Then we moved to some offshore stuff. Nope.  Went to pitching pads and grinded out a few more with a whole lot of pitches. Nothing on froggy.  I finally got a spinnerbait fish at dusk on a weedy flat.

 

    ThatOneBigKid, it's interesting to see you had a deep bite going the same day. Now I wish I would have tried a deep crank when we tried a real deep point for about 20 minutes.

   


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 9/14/2018 at 11:13 AM, rascalP said:

Got out the last couple days on some local lakes. I figured with the wind, it would be power fishing.  Started out the first day on a bar where I knew there would be fish, thinking KVD squarebill. Nothing. Threw some t-rig plastic same area. Nothing. Went to the bank and started pitching brush and other cover. Went 100 yds. Nothing. Then 3 nice ones in 10 yds.  A couple of docks came up and they each gave up one, so it looks like tight and shallow.   I decide to try a windy shore and get back to winding. I tried swimming a jig first, then a spinnerbait. I had to dig deep for the spinnerbait cause its been quite a while since I used one, but the wind just screamed for it. Nope on either. After striking out on deeper weeds again, went REAL tight to brush and got a couple more.  I was surprised they were not chasing.

 

  Next day a buddy joined me and we started right away on a stretch of docks and got some nice fish.  Then we moved to some offshore stuff. Nope.  Went to pitching pads and grinded out a few more with a whole lot of pitches. Nothing on froggy.  I finally got a spinnerbait fish at dusk on a weedy flat.

 

    ThatOneBigKid, it's interesting to see you had a deep bite going the same day. Now I wish I would have tried a deep crank when we tried a real deep point for about 20 minutes.

   

Good report rascalP. Nice to hear they were shallow and tight to cover. Going to a lake tomorrow that fits that bill to a T. Lots of shallow flooded timber.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Anyone been on Mille Lacs recently? Thinking about heading up tmrw


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Some decent deels to be had on ebay right now if anyone needs a fishing reel. 20% off Code: JUMPINTOFALL

 

Snagged a Revo ALX 6.4:1 for $104 shipped (249.99 MSRP). Code doesn't work on everything, but there are a few good deals. 

 

I know I saw a Curado 70XG 8:1 reel for $135 shipped on there too. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I got my biggest largie of the season yesterday morning.  Got it on a Berkley power worm.  I only had the dog with me and she doesn't have opposable thumbs...so no photo holding it.  But I did measure it and weigh it.  21 inches, 5.46 pounds.

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fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 9/15/2018 at 12:53 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Good report rascalP. Nice to hear they were shallow and tight to cover. Going to a lake tomorrow that fits that bill to a T. Lots of shallow flooded timber.

Hope it goes well for you. Maybe you can get out Sunday as well :thumbsup:!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/15/2018 at 1:53 AM, JackKlassen said:

Anyone been on Mille Lacs recently? Thinking about heading up tmrw

I was out there on Friday, did you end up going? We went out of Cove bay and hit some of the reefs in the south west end and even made a run up to Indian Point. We caught some smallies but no biggins. They seemed to be on the dropshot & ned rig but they wanted NOTHING to do with the swimbait.

 

 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 9/15/2018 at 11:24 AM, rascalP said:

Hope it goes well for you. Maybe you can get out Sunday as well :thumbsup:!

Had a great day on Saturday. My Uncle and I got out at sunrise and fished until about 2pm. Must have caught around 50 fish total. Biggest was a hair over 3lbs. Lost a mid 4lber and another three at the boat, and had another 3 wrap me around a limb and get off. Was not my day for putting the big ones in the boat. All fish came on either a Blk/Blue Swim Jig, Blk/Blue chatterbait, or a 1/4oz TX rig in the lay downs. 

 

I was using a Rage Menace on the Swim Jig and this seemed to be key. My uncle was using the exact same jig, but with a boot tail trailer and I was catching 2 or 3 to each one he was. 

 

The 1/4oz TX Rig was key for fishing the laydowns. My uncle was throwing 3/8 with the same bait I was and i was getting bite at a 4:1 rate he was. I think the 1/4oz gave it a slower more natural fall. Almost all bites were there on the fall of the initial pitch in. 

 

Hope everyone else had a productive fishing weekend. 

 

Looks like the weather is really going to turn after today so it should really start cooling the water down. Bring on the feasting giants.


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

Went out yesterday 6am-11am and hammered them on a Spro lil john again. Zero top water action early and immediately started catching them on the spro after switching. Me and my buddy caught 20+ fish including two right around 5#. Lots of smalls as well. Of course lots of pike to deal with but did get a 36" that was fun to fight.


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 9/18/2018 at 1:26 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Had a great day on Saturday. My Uncle and I got out at sunrise and fished until about 2pm. Must have caught around 50 fish total. Biggest was a hair over 3lbs. Lost a mid 4lber and another three at the boat, and had another 3 wrap me around a limb and get off. Was not my day for putting the big ones in the boat. All fish came on either a Blk/Blue Swim Jig, Blk/Blue chatterbait, or a 1/4oz TX rig in the lay downs. 

I thought you would be fishing Washington/Stella on Saturday. Sounds like a great day nonetheless. 

 

 My plans are to head up to Grand Rapids area next Monday and fish a number of lakes for 3 days. It's a great area from GR north to Marcell.   Throw in Pokegema and Trout, and it's easy to see why MLF went there.


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 9/18/2018 at 12:37 AM, punch said:

I was out there on Friday, did you end up going? We went out of Cove bay and hit some of the reefs in the south west end and even made a run up to Indian Point. We caught some smallies but no biggins. They seemed to be on the dropshot & ned rig but they wanted NOTHING to do with the swimbait.

 

 

We launched out of cove as well on Saturday as wind was coming from S/SE. We normally fish out of Garrison so we were going in somewhat blind. Overall the bite was pretty tough. All our fish came on dropshot, tube and spybait in 12-20 ft. besides on 4lber my buddy caught under a dock (crazy huh?). Other than that nothing big. Did have about a 3lber hit my 6 inch osprey swimbait at the boat though which was pretty cool. Will be back up soon once it cools down as fish are definitely still in summer pattern.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/18/2018 at 7:33 AM, JackKlassen said:

We launched out of cove as well on Saturday as wind was coming from S/SE. We normally fish out of Garrison so we were going in somewhat blind. Overall the bite was pretty tough. All our fish came on dropshot, tube and spybait in 12-20 ft. besides on 4lber my buddy caught under a dock (crazy huh?). Other than that nothing big. Did have about a 3lber hit my 6 inch osprey swimbait at the boat though which was pretty cool. Will be back up soon once it cools down as fish are definitely still in summer pattern.

 

We've had some good luck going out of the east side at Liberty recently. Probably where I'll go this weekend. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Mille Lacs fall patterns: what has worked for any of you in the past?


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/20/2018 at 7:28 PM, Jmhalvo said:

Mille Lacs fall patterns: what has worked for any of you in the past?

Same stuff all year honestly with the exception of metal spoons and blade baits as the water gets into the 40s. Once it gets really cold, the metal comes out. 

 

Swimbaits are a big producer in the fall, for me. Slow rolled on the bottom. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 9/18/2018 at 6:56 AM, rascalP said:

I thought you would be fishing Washington/Stella on Saturday. Sounds like a great day nonetheless. 

 

 My plans are to head up to Grand Rapids area next Monday and fish a number of lakes for 3 days. It's a great area from GR north to Marcell.   Throw in Pokegema and Trout, and it's easy to see why MLF went there.

Nick and I were going to fish the Open, but He had knee surgery the week leading up to it and Washington/Stella are a 2hr drive one way from my house so I wasn't thrilled about that. Figured I would call it a year for tourneys and do some fun fishing for fall. 

 

Sounds like a fun trip up north. Enjoy it! 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/21/2018 at 1:04 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Nick and I were going to fish the Open, but He had knee surgery the week leading up to it and Washington/Stella are a 2hr drive one way from my house so I wasn't thrilled about that. Figured I would call it a year for tourneys and do some fun fishing for fall. 

 

Sounds like a fun trip up north. Enjoy it! 

I couldn't fish the GH Fall Open.. I had no child care. My wife was working and my usual babysitters (my folks) were working. Not sure who else I could dump my kids off with at 5am so I can go fish all day haha. 

 

Looks like they are trying to fill up the Aresnal Fall Brawl though, if ya'll are looking for one more derby to hit. It's on E/W Rush. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 9/21/2018 at 2:16 AM, punch said:

Looks like they are trying to fill up the Aresnal Fall Brawl though, if ya'll are looking for one more derby to hit. It's on E/W Rush. 

This is somewhat tempting as it is only minutes from my place. May have to look into this. You fishing it?


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 9/21/2018 at 4:08 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

This is somewhat tempting as it is only minutes from my place. May have to look into this. You fishing it?

 

You have a link to any details by any chance?

https://www.classicbass.com/tournaments?action=view&id=4061

 

I wish I could, but my wife's working that day (so I got kids) and we got some plans that evening. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 9/21/2018 at 4:13 AM, punch said:

https://www.classicbass.com/tournaments?action=view&id=4061

 

I wish I could, but my wife's working that day (so I got kids) and we got some plans that evening. 

Thanks man. 


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

Pretty cool night last night. I really did not want to go out in the kayak and deal with the wind this morning but I really wanted to fish. I went to a nice beach which forms a point on a metro lake and casted from shore.. This was at 1am since I worked till midnight. I ended up catching 7 bass, 3 of them were nice, around 3lbers. I had almost no expectations and I was pretty thrilled to catch anything. All fish were caught on white spinnerbait. 


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Question for y’all. Is there a lake or river or pond in Minnesota which holds Spotted Bass? 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Anyone have a metro report form the past few days?  I have a buddy coming into town this weekend and want to put him on a few.  I tried last night on the west side and got my butt kicked although the pike were active.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Got out yesterday from sunrise to about 3pm. My cousin and I caught somewhere around 30 fish total. I'd say it was a 60/40 split Largemouth to Smallies. Biggest fish was maybe a 17" Smallie. Only pattern we could get going was fishing docks with tx rigs and wacky senkos. This was a new lake to us with very little for grass or structure. Fun fall day overall.

  On 9/24/2018 at 7:47 PM, NathanDLTH said:

Question for y’all. Is there a lake or river or pond in Minnesota which holds Spotted Bass? 

No. You would have to go a few hundred miles south minimum to find some spots.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Don't tell me everyone winterized their boats..........????

 

Wont be fishing this weekend as I have work to do on my Mother-in-laws house. Two windows to replace and a bunch of finish trim work to be done. At least I am getting the cash to buy a new Phenix Feather Jerkbait rod out of the whole deal.


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

I'll be heading out Saturday AM. Supposed to be in the 40s! Any tips? I havent been out in a couple weeks


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I was out yesterday and caught a few on a swim jig & chatterbait in 8ish feet of water. Only presentation I was getting bit on. The grass on the lake I was on was still green and healthy. It feels like fall above the water, but under the water there still seems to be plenty of healthy vegetation. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/27/2018 at 11:19 PM, punch said:

I was out yesterday and caught a few on a swim jig & chatterbait in 8ish feet of water. Only presentation I was getting bit on. The grass on the lake I was on was still green and healthy. It feels like fall above the water, but under the water there still seems to be plenty of healthy vegetation. 

Did you happen to check water temps?  Thx


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Here’s today’s water temp in the South metro...

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fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Thanks frydog. Were they bitin’ today?  Headed out in the morn. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/29/2018 at 7:03 AM, OperationEagle said:

Thanks frydog. Were they bitin’ today?  Headed out in the morn. 

Was a good day - Got about 25 in 4-5 hours between 16-20 inches.  Topwater early (before the wind kicked in), then all Chatterbaits (6-10 fow).  Water temps in the 50’s helps, find the green coontail and stay there...

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fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 
  On 9/29/2018 at 8:23 AM, FryDog62 said:

Was a good day - Got about 25 in 4-5 hours between 16-20 inches.  Topwater early (before the wind kicked in), then all Chatterbaits (6-10 fow).  Water temps in the 50’s helps, find the green coontail and stay there...

41F59A3A-F41C-452F-A07F-FF63993D6E18.jpeg

@FryDog62 I remember seeing a different thread by you that you were looking to try out some larger swimbaits around the area this fall. Any luck so far? Have you been throwing anything? 

 

Thanks


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 9/30/2018 at 3:14 AM, starkeer said:

@FryDog62 I remember seeing a different thread by you that you were looking to try out some larger swimbaits around the area this fall. Any luck so far? Have you been throwing anything? 

 

Thanks

I have thrown a big (7 inch) soft plastic lure I can’t remember the name of right now and a MB Grenade.  Nothing on the plastic yet (fish are still in the coontail) and the Grenade worked great until a 2 foot snot rocket decided to take it with him - argh


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 9/27/2018 at 4:47 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Don't tell me everyone winterized their boats..........????

 

  Not by a long shot!   Was up around Grand Rapids  Mon.-Wed.   Monday on Pokegama.  Launched on Jay Gould and fished pads and got a few on froggy and a weightless dinger, then motored into Pokegama to try some points and reed edges hoping to get some smallie action.  No go, so we went back to Jay Gould, picked up another buddy, and got back to pads. A buddy got a few nice fish on a jig/plastic, and I missed several real big fish on the frog - never really got any hooks into them. The rain started in the afternoon and that seemed to really shut things down.

 

   Tuesday we went to Turtle by Marcell.  Got some nice smallies off reed edges scattered around the lake. The south end of the lake gave up some LM but most weren't very big.  The fish all came on Ned and a weightless dinger.   The biggest smallie came on a pink x-rap.    Wednesday we hit a tiny little lake east of GR that's had a real reliable bite without having to figure anything out.  Perfect for a windy post front day.  We got a dozen or so fatty's up about 4 lbs on t-rigged plastic in 8-10 fow, around a big milfoil hump.   Water temp was 61 -58 on all the lakes.  A tad warmer on the big water on Mon., Tues.

 

  Staying local next week, then hopefully up to Eveleth area the week after.  I will start spending a lot of time on the upper Croix now as well.     Tight lines all,  and dress warm!


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

The air was definitely colder than the water the last few days.  I noticed 58-60 degrees water and obviously not nearly that warm above it.  The pike are on a rampage too.


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 

Water temps 49 north of Bemidji today.  Found a few in the reeds on a swim jig,  cold and breezy made it difficult. 


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 

Had a buddy in town and we fished hard from Friday-Sunday morning at some of the west metro staples and absolutely got our butts kicked.  Water temp was everywhere from 53-59 those days, wind was brutal on Friday and I don't think my hands have unfrozen yet.

 

Threw the kitchen sink at them from 4 to 15 fow trying to focus on greenest grass we could find.  Green Coontail in 7-10 fow was about the only thing I felt any confidence in - if you could find it on a wind blown point then all the better.  I saw some curly leaf still having some green clinging to it, but everything else seems to be dying off pretty fast.  

 

Besides a couple randoms on a jig, swimbait, and chatter, the red eye shad had the most bites by far (and still not very many).  Biggest was only 3.5 lbs.  As @gimruis says, the pike are definitely on a rampage so my red eye shad supply is very short right now.  It did seem the afternoons were better than the mornings as it was flat freaking cold starting out the day on Friday and Saturday.  

 

I couldn't help but think I needed to be in the deer stand this past weekend instead of on the water.  


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

Went out Saturday AM on a smaller west metro lake, water temps were 54-56. One miss on a buzzbait early and then caught 6 between 9-11 am on square bill cranks around 8 fow. Left around 11 because we were absolutely frozen lol. I need better gloves, any recommendations? I don't do well with gloves that have no feeling so I try to stay as thin as possible but then I freeze. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

We ran to Mille Lacs yesterday afternoon. The weather was pretty awesome. We bombed around the north end and ran some new water. There's some reefs i've been wanting to spend some time on. The Ned rig was the most consistent bait all day, a regular TRD on a heavier head. I dropped a dropshot on MANY fish that were holding to rocks.. and not a bite. It was weird. 

 

The walleyes were ON FIRE. I think we caught 2:1 walleyes to smallies. They were in all the depths on the reefs. It was pretty fun actually. 

 

If you have a chance, run to Mille Lacs soon. The fishing is pretty great at the moment. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/1/2018 at 9:33 PM, SmallBlockMuscle said:

Went out Saturday AM on a smaller west metro lake, water temps were 54-56. One miss on a buzzbait early and then caught 6 between 9-11 am on square bill cranks around 8 fow. Left around 11 because we were absolutely frozen lol. I need better gloves, any recommendations? I don't do well with gloves that have no feeling so I try to stay as thin as possible but then I freeze. 

After my share of wrist surgeries, I too am searching for the right pair of cold weather gloves. Haven’t bought them yet but tried on in the store the Cabelas Guidewear “Glomitts.”  Like a Mitt but you can pull back to expose the fingers to tie knots, etc.  Tried all kinds of gloves and they just aren’t working for me when it gets below 45.  Worth trying the Glomitts anyway -


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 
  On 10/1/2018 at 9:33 PM, SmallBlockMuscle said:

Went out Saturday AM on a smaller west metro lake, water temps were 54-56. One miss on a buzzbait early and then caught 6 between 9-11 am on square bill cranks around 8 fow. Left around 11 because we were absolutely frozen lol. I need better gloves, any recommendations? I don't do well with gloves that have no feeling so I try to stay as thin as possible but then I freeze. 

I've been pretty happy lately keeping Hothands handwarmers in my jacket pockets, they really fill the pocked with warmth and you can warm up your hands really quick. Worked well for me on Friday and Saturday mornings. You can buy them in bulk from most big box stores and they stay warm for 8-10 hours. 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Got out on a local lake in the Cambridge area on Sunday morning from 7 until 11. Only got a couple bites and didn't connect with any of them. I tried everything I could think of and nothing. Was quite humbling TBH. Water was 56 degrees and clearing up compared to what I had seen earlier in the year. 

 

The couple bites I got were on light TX rigged beavers on grass edges near steep breaks. Just couldn't get them to commit. The grass I found was healthy which made it more frustrating that the fish weren't biting. 

 

Oh well, there is always next weekend. Might be making a run to Mille Lacs on Sunday with all the good reports I have been hearing. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

The long term weather forecast looks more like November than October right now... starting next week looks like pretty much 40’s for high temps here on out... that’s gotta change hopefully!!


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Mille Lacs on Saturday included a little snow- was very cold shutting smallies down. Switched to musky and caught four walleyes on jerk baits, all about 5-6 lbs which was fun. I would post a photo but it is too big, apparently, which is annoying on this site


fishing user avatarTlauz reply : 
  On 10/2/2018 at 6:46 AM, Jmhalvo said:

Mille Lacs on Saturday included a little snow- was very cold shutting smallies down. Switched to musky and caught four walleyes on jerk baits, all about 5-6 lbs which was fun. I would post a photo but it is too big, apparently, which is annoying on this site

http://www.simpleimageresizer.com/

You can make pictures smaller and then they will post.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I prefer to avoid using gloves, glommits, etc.  I just don't get the feeling I normally would with bare hands.  I have a pretty high tolerance of the colder weather because I hunt in it a lot.  If my fingers/hands start to get cold, its usually because they have gotten wet and then are exposed to the cold air.  Try to keep your fingers and hands dry, fellas.  It will help.  Keep the water temp reports coming.  50 degrees is when the bottom drops out.


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 10/2/2018 at 7:24 AM, Tlauz said:

http://www.simpleimageresizer.com/

You can make pictures smaller and then they will post.

Thx

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Mille Lacs was 57.3


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Was out on Saturday on a metro lake. 60 degrees. Water was warmer than the air. Felt good to dip into the water!  

 

Heres to hoping water stays above 50 for a bit longer. 

 

Caught a few on a ned rig near grass in 6-10 fow. Fish didn’t seem to be in a mood to bite. 


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Got out on Tuesday on a local lake.  Tough, TOUGH bite. Would have been a little better if I had converted on 4 or 5 dumped fish.  As it was, I boated 1 14incher and 1/2 dozen under 12. My buddy got a couple 14"+.  We fished 1ft-10ft.  Weeds, reeds, docks, pads and flooded brush.  Docks and the brush gave up the fish, with my buddy getting a decent one from a real shallow clear spot inside a reed patch. We threw ALL the usual "kitchen sink" utensils at them. T-rig pitched to the brush and lightly weighted wacky dinger got the fish.     Water temp was 57. 

 

Based on how it's been for everybody else the past week -- it's got to get better from here. 


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

I'm heading out Saturday morning. Not quite sure yet what I am going to go with. I've had the best luck with square bills lately


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

49 degree water temp in the North Metro this morning - ????


fishing user avatarstarkeer reply : 

I am pretty worried that the fishing is going to be very slow from here on out with nothing but cold temps in the forecast. This past week has been rough for me in terms of numbers but I did catch 4 5+lbers so if this is the end at least I went out with a bang. 

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fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/5/2018 at 7:23 AM, starkeer said:

I am pretty worried that the fishing is going to be very slow from here on out with nothing but cold temps in the forecast. This past week has been rough for me in terms of numbers but I did catch 4 5+lbers so if this is the end at least I went out with a bang. 

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Nice fish.. you might be right about the long term forecast.  The only thing I’d add is that 2 of the 3 last bodies of water I’ve been on the fish have not started to gorge yet... and a few were down right on the skinny side.  Makes me think if the right conditions and temps for people/fish align there could still be some very good days ahead.  If not, I switch to muskies until ice up...


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

frydog I sure hope you are right. Fall fishing always seems to go by so quickly. 

 

I hope to be out yet this weekend a few times.  Hope I get bit. Will report back water temps. 


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I think the bite is on the verge of being explosive. Just make sure you get on the water as much as possible.


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 
  On 10/5/2018 at 8:48 PM, sully420 said:

I think the bite is on the verge of being explosive. Just make sure you get on the water as much as possible.

I sure hope so! This weather is depressing, totally skipped the mid 60s and sunny fall days 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/5/2018 at 9:49 PM, SmallBlockMuscle said:

I sure hope so! This weather is depressing, totally skipped the mid 60s and sunny fall days 

It’s just your typical global warming pattern, because of the nice long warm spring we had   ;)


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I think the bite is on the verge of being completely done for the season.  Seems like spring and fall were about 3 days long each.  I can remember about 45 days ago when the water temp was 80 degrees.  We went directly from winter to summer and I guess we're going directly from summer to winter now.  I am going to try it at least one more time in the next few days but I just have a bad feeling about this.


fishing user avatarDubtee reply : 
  On 10/5/2018 at 7:23 AM, starkeer said:

I am pretty worried that the fishing is going to be very slow from here on out with nothing but cold temps in the forecast. This past week has been rough for me in terms of numbers but I did catch 4 5+lbers so if this is the end at least I went out with a bang. 

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Nice fish Star!  I like the look of that spinner bait.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Got out yesterday evening to the river chasing smallies. Caught a 2lber on a jerkbait on the fourth or fifth cast. Didn't catch a single fish the rest of the night. Thought it was going to be on, but no luck. River was 51 degrees and surprisingly clear. 4-5ft viability. I think the fact that it was sunny all day and then got cloudy at 3pm right when I hit the water may have fouled the bite. At least that is what I'll tell myself. There also wasn't much current compared to previous trips so that wasn't helping either. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/6/2018 at 2:30 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Got out yesterday evening to the river chasing smallies. Caught a 2lber on a jerkbait on the fourth or fifth cast. Didn't catch a single fish the rest of the night. Thought it was going to be on, but no luck. River was 51 degrees and surprisingly clear. 4-5ft viability. I think the fact that it was sunny all day and then got cloudy at 3pm right when I hit the water may have fouled the bite. At least that is what I'll tell myself. There also wasn't much current compared to previous trips so that wasn't helping either. 

I was out earlier in the day until about 2:00.  Water temps started out at 48/9 and peaked at 51 about the time you came out.  But I had about the same luck even though it was sunny.  1-2 fish right away, then crickets...


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Was on a south metro lake today.  Water temp at 54. 

 

Threw jigs and spinnerbait. Got several strikes but landed nothing. Got zipped. 

 

Will be be out tomorrow.  Looking for a lake with a deeper weedline to see if that changes my luck. I expect the bite to be slow. Hope I will have the patience!

 

 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

I think it’s muskie time


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 
  On 10/5/2018 at 9:56 AM, FryDog62 said:

Nice fish.. you might be right about the long term forecast.  The only thing I’d add is that 2 of the 3 last bodies of water I’ve been on the fish have not started to gorge yet... and a few were down right on the skinny side.  Makes me think if the right conditions and temps for people/fish align there could still be some very good days ahead.  If not, I switch to muskies until ice up...

 

  On 10/5/2018 at 8:48 PM, sully420 said:

I think the bite is on the verge of being explosive. Just make sure you get on the water as much as possible.

This!!  For Sure!!


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 10/7/2018 at 1:50 AM, Jmhalvo said:

I think it’s muskie time

It worked!

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fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/7/2018 at 11:18 AM, Jmhalvo said:

It worked!

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BOOMCHUCKALUCKA to Jmhalvo!!! Way to go???? You made the right decision obviously!

 

 

I did get out this morning... 54 degree water... nothing on Plastics, Chatterbait... one on a jerk bait.  

 

Then switched over to a Mop Jig in the remaining pads near deeper water and got an 18, 19, two 20’s and a 21 incher in a little better than an hour.  Best 75 minutes of the year????D4663207-ADF8-4CBD-A66A-E3ABBE8AC0C2.thumb.jpeg.48ea7823bb230f7b316beb68cf4ca3b9.jpeg

 

 


fishing user avatarSmallBlockMuscle reply : 

Was out Saturday 7:30am to 3pm and crushed them. Caught one 4.5, and two 5s to go along with over 40 others, many of which were in the 3# range. Started out with a KVD square bill and caught about 10 until a northern sawed it off. Switched to a terminator spinner bait and the bite was on big time. All in all I think the count was 43 bass and 15 northern. Water temp was 53


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Wow FryDog. That sounds like an insane flurry! Well done. Do you use a trailer on a mop jig? I have a few but not much experience using them. 

 

Makes me feel better you had similar luck on Thursday even with the sunshine. 

 

I got out on Mille Lacs Sunday. Fished from 10-5 and only managed 2 smallies on drop shot that were both mid 3lbs. It was blowing pretty good out of the east which made boat control a bit tough for the stuff we wanted to hit, but was still an ok trip. Water was 51-52 degrees. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/9/2018 at 3:30 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Wow FryDog. That sounds like an insane flurry! Well done. Do you use a trailer on a mop jig? I have a few but not much experience using them. 

 

Makes me feel better you had similar luck on Thursday even with the sunshine. 

 

I got out on Mille Lacs Sunday. Fished from 10-5 and only managed 2 smallies on drop shot that were both mid 3lbs. It was blowing pretty good out of the east which made boat control a bit tough for the stuff we wanted to hit, but was still an ok trip. Water was 51-52 degrees. 

I switch off on trailers - smaller profile I use a Pit Boss, or when I want to go big in the Fall (or slow the fall rate) I use a Gambler Megadaddy..


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 10/9/2018 at 3:30 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Wow FryDog. That sounds like an insane flurry! Well done. Do you use a trailer on a mop jig? I have a few but not much experience using them. 

 

Makes me feel better you had similar luck on Thursday even with the sunshine. 

 

I got out on Mille Lacs Sunday. Fished from 10-5 and only managed 2 smallies on drop shot that were both mid 3lbs. It was blowing pretty good out of the east which made boat control a bit tough for the stuff we wanted to hit, but was still an ok trip. Water was 51-52 degrees. 

 

You need an ultrex ;)


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 10/9/2018 at 5:11 AM, punch said:

 

You need an ultrex ;)

Oh trust me, its on the list. I need of a new unit regardless. My Fortrex is in very rough shape. The stumps on Lake Fork have taken their toll on the old girl. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 

Is it true that the fall bite is over at 50 degrees water temp?


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

Went out on Monday and caught some really nice bass fishing rock piles with a football jig and a dt14. Seems like the fish are acclimated to the water temp now and are feeding pretty good. The challenge it finding the bigger fish and figuring out what they want. @Jmhalvo I'll be bass fishing until there is ice. Just keep slowing down your presentation as the water cools.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/10/2018 at 7:56 PM, Jmhalvo said:

Is it true that the fall bite is over at 50 degrees water temp?

A lot of years... yes, but I think it dipped so quickly this year that the bass are still transitioning and feeding - for awhile anyway.  A few years ago, caught quite a few smallmouth in 43-45 degree water on the Miss near deeper wintering holes.  Key is to keep moving because they are bunched up in more isolated areas - if no ones home, off to the next spot.  


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I went on Monday with a friend in the drizzly overcast conditions during the middle of the day and it was pretty good.  5 bass, 11 pike, and 2 muskies in about 3 hours.  Biggest bass was 19 inches.  Neither of the muskies were real big.  The pike are still on a rampage too.  The bass we caught were like dead weight.  Once they got hooked, it was like a wet shoe coming in.  Water temp was 54 degrees.  I'm about ready to hang it up with lows in the 20's the next few nights.  Boat has to be winterized, stored, and I got some hunting to do now instead.

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fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Went out on Calhoun/Isles today in the boat. Water temp was 53 but the fish were not biting. Flipped mid depth milfoil for a while as well as the wood in isles without a bite. Ended up catching all 8 of our fish throwing chatterbaits over the tops of weeds and jigworms off the breaks. Biggest went 3.5


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/11/2018 at 8:27 AM, gimruis said:

I went on Monday with a friend in the drizzly overcast conditions during the middle of the day and it was pretty good.  5 bass, 11 pike, and 2 muskies in about 3 hours.  Biggest bass was 19 inches.  Neither of the muskies were real big.  The pike are still on a rampage too.  The bass we caught were like dead weight.  Once they got hooked, it was like a wet shoe coming in.  Water temp was 54 degrees.  I'm about ready to hang it up with lows in the 20's the next few nights.  Boat has to be winterized, stored, and I got some hunting to do now instead.

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Nice!  Tigers are on my bucket list (some day)


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Gonna put it on here first in case any local guys are interested. I have a Dobyns Champion XP 703C, 13 M.U.S.E. Black 7'3 MH XF, and a Lews Tournament Lite 7:1. spooled w/ 30# 832. All 3 are in great condition, low use. Asking 165$ for the Dobyns, 115$ for the M.U.S.E. and 100$ for the Lews. Pics won't upload on here so shoot me a PM if interested.

Thanks


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Out in the west metro. Water temp was 47-48. 

 

Fishing was slow. Caught 7, mostly on a crankbait.  All fish hit 5-7 feet of water. 


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Question for all the MN guys on the thread here.  What do ya'll do with your boats during the winter?  I get mine winterized and then pay for 6 months of storage at a storage facility (indoors).  I see a lot of boat owners simply put the cover and/or a tarp on it and then just park it outside (like in their driveway), which I will not do.  Just wondering.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/15/2018 at 8:29 AM, gimruis said:

Question for all the MN guys on the thread here.  What do ya'll do with your boats during the winter?  I get mine winterized and then pay for 6 months of storage at a storage facility (indoors).  I see a lot of boat owners simply put the cover and/or a tarp on it and then just park it outside (like in their driveway), which I will not do.  Just wondering.

I winterize and keep it in my garage for the winter, so when I get bored about Feb can go out to the garage and start cleaning reels, put on new line, reorganizing tackle, and dream of open water...


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 
  On 10/15/2018 at 8:45 AM, FryDog62 said:

I winterize and keep it in my garage for the winter, so when I get bored about Feb can go out to the garage and start cleaning reels, put on new line, reorganizing tackle, and dream of open water...

What frydog said. I have been known to sit in my boat in the garage in March looking at my waypoints on my graph...planning my opener strategy. 

 

An additional question is about the batteries. Do most people unhook them and remove them for the season?  

 

I have left left them in connected and charged them occasionally.  I think this was hard on them as there was a small slow draw.  I had to replace two of the three and they were only a couple years old. 

 

This year im debating whether to disconnect them entirely and charge them occasionally....or just keep the charger on them the whole time.

 

What do people do with their batteries?  My garage is warmer than outside but not heated so it gets cold. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/15/2018 at 12:07 PM, OperationEagle said:

What frydog said. I have been known to sit in my boat in the garage in March looking at my waypoints on my graph...planning my opener strategy. 

 

An additional question is about the batteries. Do most people unhook them and remove them for the season?  

 

I have left left them in connected and charged them occasionally.  I think this was hard on them as there was a small slow draw.  I had to replace two of the three and they were only a couple years old. 

 

This year im debating whether to disconnect them entirely and charge them occasionally....or just keep the charger on them the whole time.

 

What do people do with their batteries?  My garage is warmer than outside but not heated so it gets cold. 

I have a Minnkota onboard charger and was recommended to me to keep the batteries plugged in all year.  It’s a constant low trickle charge.  Guy said batteries are lasting 6-8 years vs. the normal 4-5.  I’m going into Year 3 so ask me again in a few years if it mattered ;)  


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 10/15/2018 at 8:10 PM, FryDog62 said:

I have a Minnkota onboard charger and was recommended to me to keep the batteries plugged in all year.  It’s a constant low trickle charge.  Guy said batteries are lasting 6-8 years vs. the normal 4-5.  I’m going into Year 3 so ask me again in a few years if it mattered ;)  

This is good to hear. I replaced my Noco charger this summer with a Minn Koat after the Noco fried itself. I put a new cranking battery in last spring so I do care about that one. My 3 trolling motor batteries need to be replaced so I don't care about those. Will be replacing in the spring. Sure hope I can get 6 - 8 yrs out of the new ones. I typically just leave the charger plugged in all winter with the boat in the garage.

 

 

Got out in the NW metro yesterday. First time ever fishing in the snow. Water was 47 degrees. Ended up catching close to 20 largies on a Ned Rig before my wife called saying she locked her keys in her car. All fish were on banks that dropped quickly into deeper water. Debating on going to Mille Lacs next weekend or to go back to this lake and hit the Ned rig again. Was a very fun day even with it being freezing outside.  


fishing user avatarsully420 reply : 

I pull my batteries and store them in my basement and rotate them on a portable charger on maintenance mode. I store my boat in my garage I like to sit in it and drink beer and hide from my wife.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Man I haven't had time to make a post lately! Work's been busy. 

 

I'm not putting away the skeeter yet! We're camping with our RV at Baker this weekend and I'm going to bring the boat with so I can hit Independence a few times. Final trip with the camper, hopefully not the final weekend with the boat. I havn't been out fishing for largemouth in like a month.. but I'm just going to slap on a spinnerbait & chatterbait and beat the bank. Probably drag around a jig up shallow too. Who knows. 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 10/17/2018 at 12:04 AM, punch said:

Man I haven't had time to make a post lately! Work's been busy. 

 

I'm not putting away the skeeter yet! We're camping with our RV at Baker this weekend and I'm going to bring the boat with so I can hit Independence a few times. Final trip with the camper, hopefully not the final weekend with the boat. I havn't been out fishing for largemouth in like a month.. but I'm just going to slap on a spinnerbait & chatterbait and beat the bank. Probably drag around a jig up shallow too. Who knows. 

It will be interesting to see if you get any good size fish. In 2016 the dnr electrofishing was not good for size, just numbers


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 10/17/2018 at 5:54 AM, Jmhalvo said:

It will be interesting to see if you get any good size fish. In 2016 the dnr electrofishing was not good for size, just numbers

I fished it in July and experienced just that. Caught probably 50 fish but only a dozen or so were over 2 lbs.


fishing user avatarshimmy reply : 

Got out from the 29th to the 6th of October for my fall trip. Was 7.5 days of fishing. Water temps were 50 - 54 all week. It was the week when it was overcast and rainy EVERY day. One advantage to that was the consistency. Went out with my brother-in-law. Fished the Otter Tail County area again. We had good 5 fish limits the whole week. Since we enjoy keeping track of numbers, our lowest limit was 23 lb 14 oz, most limits were in the 24 lb and 25+ lb limit. Highest limit came on a day when we figured something out that was just weird. Limit came in at 28 lbs 6 oz. Was an incredible day. We had 9 bass over 5 pounds with a 6+ being the biggest. Pretty crazy. The first few days I made the mistake of fishing memories. Don't get me wrong, I think memories are a great default to have and work more times than not, but this clearly did not work. Prior to the 28+ lb day, we had nearly written off the lake since we were catching so few and rarely had a nice one (something in the upper 5 pound range). We had fished deep and shallow to no success. Our shallow fishing on the reeds yielded very few fish. We had skipped over the barren looking areas since, there was nothing there, but dirt. After failing to catch a good fish, we decided to junk fish and just fish slow and intentional on every spot. Low and behold, the barren areas were the ONLY places on the lake with fish biting. It was pretty crazy. My guess is that the crawfish were more loaded in that area? Perhaps there was more gravel and it was warmer? Combination of both? All i know is the years prior, the fish were not here and only in the reeds or weeds deep and shallow.

 

The bass were not biting anything suspended or moving, only baits sitting on the bottom. Jig or Brushhog were equal with producing size and numbers. Tried a lot of baits, but nothing seemed to do well. My buddy is great with the brushhog and it seemed to pick up fish i could not catch. We rotated positiions in the boat, but it didn't seem to matter. The brushhog and jig (one in the front, one in the back) went together like peanut butter and jelly. Great duo to fish on the boat. Slow rolled swimbaits worked, but it had to go really really slow, like painfully slow. Anything moving too fast picked up the snakes. Altogether, we caught a couple 6+ pounders on the trip and over 20 5 pounders. I was lucky enough to catch 47 bass bewteen 4.0 lb - 4.15 lbs and my buddy caught just as much. We caught very few small fish in all the lakes we fished. Terms of pattern, aside from the barren spots on the one lake, all other lakes had no pattern. Just junk fishing. I feel like this is unfortunately the case for many smaller bass lakes with no shad. Just junk fish. We had found very few schools throughout the trip. Biggest walley came in at 6 lbs 11 oz (caught unintentionally and was my first fish of the trip). Here are a few fish from the trip. I don't post pictures of my buddy due to his request. Probably better that way since his big fish can make my fish look smaller. We never ventured to the metro area though. All lakes were under 400 acres and public. Saw very few boat pressure and mostly dealt with hunters shooting around us on all of the points. We caught 90% of our fish on the main lake sides and practically nothing in the coves. Here are some pics.

 

iBkiJ7S.jpg

 

Short - roughly 18-19 inches? But over 5 and a half pounds

zByYljR.jpg

 

Some of the fish on the 28+ lb day

AnWsX38.jpg

 

DNuQrGn.jpg

 

My biggest of the trip, good long arm picture...

Se4NFeQ.jpg

 

Another short and dense high 5

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2GZiNLX.jpg

 

wQllqQ7.jpg

 


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Great write up shimmy. Always enjoy seeing your results. I’ve yet to hit otter county.  You need to work for their Tourism Bureau. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 10/17/2018 at 8:28 AM, JackKlassen said:

I fished it in July and experienced just that. Caught probably 50 fish but only a dozen or so were over 2 lbs.

I've been fishing Independence for a few years now (we like camping at Baker) and I've caught some nice fish on that lake! There's the occasional +3lber. The last time I was out there this summer I hooked into TWO muskys fishing shallow around docks. I actually landed one of them haha. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/17/2018 at 10:19 PM, punch said:

I've been fishing Independence for a few years now (we like camping at Baker) and I've caught some nice fish on that lake! There's the occasional +3lber. The last time I was out there this summer I hooked into TWO muskys fishing shallow around docks. I actually landed one of them haha. 

A friend of mine lives on Indy and is an avid fisherman... he too says bass fishing is pretty average there, but the last few months were better... so you never know, could exceed your expectations, but best to keep them low ;)


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Shimmy, what a week! Nice report. Very interesting with the bald spots being the heavy producing areas. I'll have to keep that in the back of my head in the future for fall fishing. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

So I got out for a few hours last night on Independence. I went to one of my favorite points that has rock piles in 10-20' and saw NO fish on the sonar. I dragged around a football jig & ned rig and not a nibble. Water temp was 49. I then tossed a jig around a dock and caught two.. then I ran the rest of the docks down that bank and not a bite. There is still a lot of grass, although it's dying and turning very dark. So I went to the grass line and tossed a swim jig, jig, & chatterbait.. nothing. 


Then I remembered when the waters this cold sometimes fish can get RIGHT up on the bank. The wind was blowing a bit so i went to one of the windy banks and started tossing the chatterbait around in like 2-3' and just ripping it through the dying grass.. and BAM started catching a ton of fish down one stretch of the windy bank. I think I caught 7 or 8 fish, all 1-2lbers. When I go back out this weekend I'm going to try this pattern again but with a spinnerbait. 

 

I spent the rest of the time before sunset taking my 6yo son around to a few docks and letting him blast sunfish with his hair jig & powerbait. He loves fishing docks for panfish. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Was near Alexandria today, apparently the magic formula is 43° water temps and 43 mile an hour gusts. I about got seasick but the fishing was on fire.

 

Throwing Mop jigs and Megadaddy trailers again, was a good day despite the big blow...

0886D31D-1686-4FD2-BBA6-89AABB22ED53.jpeg


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 10/16/2018 at 3:22 AM, sully420 said:

I pull my batteries and store them in my basement and rotate them on a portable charger on maintenance mode. I store my boat in my garage I like to sit in it and drink beer and hide from my wife.

LOL sure beats ice fishing


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 10/20/2018 at 7:07 AM, FryDog62 said:

Was near Alexandria today, apparently the magic formula is 43° water temps and 43 mile an hour gusts. I about got seasick but the fishing was on fire.

 

Throwing Mop jigs and Megadaddy trailers again, was a good day despite the big blow...

0886D31D-1686-4FD2-BBA6-89AABB22ED53.jpeg

With active fall gators, do you ever use a leader? Or would that affect the action too much? I hate losing baits to Le Homme Dieu gators


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/20/2018 at 8:13 PM, Jmhalvo said:

With active fall gators, do you ever use a leader? Or would that affect the action too much? I hate losing baits to Le Homme Dieu gators

I do for crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits.  Wayzata Bait sells some 2 1/2 inch crank bait leaders that work great.  Most bite-offs happen about an inch above the knot so it prevents about 90% of the break offs - without spoiling the action of the lure like the typical 8-10 inch leader does.

 

Jigs I don’t use a leader, usually use 12 or 15 lb Yozuri Hybrid leader tied to braid.  It isn’t perfect but helps against bite-offs from the little Scud-missiles.  I did lose one yesterday I had on for about 5 seconds and could tell it was a very heavy fish, turned his head and just like that was gone.  


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 10/20/2018 at 7:07 AM, FryDog62 said:

Was near Alexandria today, apparently the magic formula is 43° water temps and 43 mile an hour gusts. I about got seasick but the fishing was on fire.

 

Throwing Mop jigs and Megadaddy trailers again, was a good day despite the big blow...

0886D31D-1686-4FD2-BBA6-89AABB22ED53.jpeg

Just dragging them on hard bottom? I've been working a mop/football jig lately with no success. I kinda Chuck it out and just drag it in like a Carolina rig. Mop jigs are definitely not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to figure them out. 


fishing user avatarshimmy reply : 
  On 10/21/2018 at 5:54 AM, punch said:

Just dragging them on hard bottom? I've been working a mop/football jig lately with no success. I kinda Chuck it out and just drag it in like a Carolina rig. Mop jigs are definitely not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to figure them out. 

Anyone notice any size differences with fish with big mop jigs with big trailers (mega daddy) in Minnesota? More high 5s and 6s from it? The times i have tried to upsize all of my jigs did not seem to produce anything different for me, other than when fishing visibility issues. Then again, I have never really tried that long. When I am feeling crazy, I may add a brushhog to my Jig, but that is rare and have not done it enough to feel like it made a difference. Anyone have other experience with using giant jigs and trailers?


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/21/2018 at 5:54 AM, punch said:

Just dragging them on hard bottom? I've been working a mop/football jig lately with no success. I kinda Chuck it out and just drag it in like a Carolina rig. Mop jigs are definitely not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to figure them out. 

There’s really 2 jig patterns I use in the late Fall, and Mop Jigs are one.

 

Everything revolves around one thing - finding the remaining green weeds (coontail) in or adjacent to deeper water.  Maybe 8-15 fow.

 

If there is taller, thicker weeds I fish more vertically and pitch a relatively light 3/8 oz Mop Jig with the big floppy Megadaddy trailer.  It’s a slower descent down onto the weeds, bouncing off cover and eventually working it’s way towards the bottom.  The big skirt really flares doing this.  As it starts to slow, I pop it a few times and make sure it’s not hung up, and lift and drop it back towards the boat.  

 

As the weeds die out or are more sparse, I switch to a different jig pattern and fish more horizontally.  I cast a 3/4 oz All-Terrain Grassmaster jig with a Pit Boss trailer.  A jig is pretty much a jig, but I find this one to maneuver thru the grass as well or better than any jig I’ve used (reviews on TW are solid too).  Cast out medium/long distance, let it settle down just long enough to hit the tops of the weeds and retrieve horizontally, slow as possible without getting hung up, with a few lift/drops or pops along the way.  Pit Boss still flaps very well when retrieved really slowly.

 

I prefer a jig when the water temps get below 50 degrees.  You can work it slower than squarebills and spinnerbaits and get down in the remaining junk in front of slower moving fish that save their energy for something larger they can easily reach without too much effort.

 

No matter what... it’s worth driving around to find the remaining green weeds in/adjacent to deep water.  That’s probably 10% or less of the water now.  

  On 10/21/2018 at 6:02 AM, shimmy said:

Anyone notice any size differences with fish with big mop jigs with big trailers (mega daddy) in Minnesota? More high 5s and 6s from it? The times i have tried to upsize all of my jigs did not seem to produce anything different for me, other than when fishing visibility issues. Then again, I have never really tried that long. When I am feeling crazy, I may add a brushhog to my Jig, but that is rare and have not done it enough to feel like it made a difference. Anyone have other experience with using giant jigs and trailers?

I think the old saying is if you want to catch ‘em big, you gotta use a jig...

 

Might be true, but with a large Mop Jig or similar I rarely catch anything smaller than 15-16 inches.  Probably catch less fish overall, but fine with me if I eliminate the dinks and get a few extra 18-21+ inch fish mixed in.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Weather this week is looking good... might make a mid-week Mille Lacs run. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/23/2018 at 4:19 AM, punch said:

Weather this week is looking good... might make a mid-week Mille Lacs run. 

Full moon in a couple days ;)


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 10/23/2018 at 8:28 AM, FryDog62 said:

Full moon in a couple days ;)

What does that mean exactly? I'm not smart on the whole moon phase thing. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/23/2018 at 11:14 AM, punch said:

What does that mean exactly? I'm not smart on the whole moon phase thing. 

Usually means the fish get more active, all species but especially muskies in the Fall.  You find a lot of Muskie heads calling in with Strep during the full moon phase...


fishing user avatargeneoh reply : 

Got out Monday for a few hours in the afternoon. Caught like 10 all on a rockpile with a crankbait and a jig. Couldn't get them anywhere else. The wind was fierce. WT 46. Biggest was 3.5lbs.


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 
  On 10/23/2018 at 11:25 AM, FryDog62 said:

Usually means the fish get more active, all species but especially muskies in the Fall.  You find a lot of Muskie heads calling in with Strep during the full moon phase...

And I think that the October full moon phase is the brightest moon phase of the entire year too.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/24/2018 at 7:27 AM, gimruis said:

And I think that the October full moon phase is the brightest moon phase of the entire year too.

Now that I mention it, my throat is starting to feel a little sore now too ... hhmm..


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 10/24/2018 at 8:13 AM, FryDog62 said:

Now that I mention it, my throat is starting to feel a little sore now too ... hhmm..

Me and a buddy are hitting Stella-Washington tomorrow. See you out there! haha


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Well throat is feeling a little better anyway...

 

F35A686B-FBDC-4F4E-8EFD-51D3CE6D8A33.jpeg


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Got out to a lake in the NW metro on Sunday with my cousin. Water temps 44-46. Tried a number of presentations, but again (same lake as before), the only thing we could get bit on were Ned Rigs. Ended up with approx. 30 fish for the day with constant action throughout. Fished from 9am -5pm. Biggest was a mid 4lber and we also mangaed a couple 3s and plenty of fat 2lbers. Very fun day. 

 

Pic of the 4lber

 

yJmIQW0.jpg


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Wow nice fish boys!  Turns out seeing these pics makes me ill. Might need to take a sick day as well. Lol!  

 

Frydog, same pattern for you?


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/25/2018 at 8:57 AM, OperationEagle said:

Wow nice fish boys!  Turns out seeing these pics makes me ill. Might need to take a sick day as well. Lol!  

You sound t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e... probably have a fever, it’s going around, better get on the water quick..


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I had a pretty darn good afternoon chasing smallies yesterday. My best five went for 19.88lbs. I used a Ned rig on a heavy 1/4oz head (custom made ones I get) with the coppertruse TRD & it worked all day. I didn't need any other baits. The fish were all offshore in about 15-18' around a 30' hole. There were very small rock piles around the bowl, which I was able to pick up on my side scan. It's funny how smallies will group up over the smallest of rocks. Some buddies of mine caught some nice ones up shallower in like 6' on a sandbar with swimbaits. I had the deep Ned bite dialed-in though. Working extremely slow what's the deal, which is much easier to do if you use a heavier head. 

 

The last couple years the Ned rig has been the number one Smallmouth producer for me. I still throw swimbaits and drop shot but the Ned rig comes out first almost every time. Coppertruse is definitely my confidence color for smallies. 

 

The fish in the pic was a 4.6lb 

IMG_4740.jpg


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 10/25/2018 at 10:32 PM, punch said:

I had a pretty darn good afternoon chasing smallies yesterday. My best five went for 19.88lbs. I used a Ned rig on a heavy 1/4oz head (custom made ones I get) with the coppertruse TRD & it worked all day. I didn't need any other baits. The fish were all offshore in about 15-18' around a 30' hole. There were very small rock piles around the bowl, which I was able to pick up on my side scan. It's funny how smallies will group up over the smallest of rocks. Some buddies of mine caught some nice ones up shallower in like 6' on a sandbar with swimbaits. I had the deep Ned bite dialed-in though. Working extremely slow what's the deal, which is much easier to do if you use a heavier head. 

 

The last couple years the Ned rig has been the number one Smallmouth producer for me. I still throw swimbaits and drop shot but the Ned rig comes out first almost every time. Coppertruse is definitely my confidence color for smallies. 

 

The fish in the pic was a 4.6lb 

IMG_4740.jpg

Sounds like a good day.  The water looks pretty calm for Mille Lacs standards anyway.  Agree that the Coppertreuse or Orange/Green Pumpkin are great colors for the smallies!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 10/26/2018 at 2:23 AM, FryDog62 said:

Sounds like a good day.  The water looks pretty calm for Mille Lacs standards anyway.  Agree that the Coppertreuse or Orange/Green Pumpkin are great colors for the smallies!

Wasn't on Mille Lacs! Was a bit windy to go up there. 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

A few 19’s and 20’s left in the river.  Water temps 44.

8ED5C245-BEEE-4656-87B7-D0B9330BEE9E.jpeg

93D854CB-FC39-4B30-BC99-D475AAFD1683.jpeg


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 

Mille Lacs water temps 43-44 yesterday. Fish were munching swimbaits

IMG_1921.JPG


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Even my daughter got in the act, before she moves for her new job out of state.  Sad day for me, but good fishing for her...

943C5DCD-589D-411E-A9BA-948D2AAC7A64.jpeg


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Man, some nice brown fish going this last week. Need to even the photos out with some green ones. ????

 

Got out on the water yesterday for a few hours before the Vikings game. Ended up having my best day of the year, size wise. Ended up with my best 5 going just over 20lbs, anchored by these two 5.5lb and 4.4lb studs. The 5.5 is my biggest of the year so far. All bit on a bluegill pattern Chatterbait that I made myself with a Yamamoto Zako trailer. Slow rolling the chatterbait over weeds in 4-5 feet of water right near a steep break line. Was windy out, but it was worth fighting the wind for sure. Water was 46-47 degrees. I think I may be "coming down with something" on Thursday as the wind is supposed to be minimal. May need to make one last Mille Lacs run for the year.

 

vMIg5pw.jpg

 

894lLEA.jpg


fishing user avatarrascalP reply : 

Wow.  I'm impressed with how everybody is doing.  Wish I could join the party.  I haven't done as well, with the exception of today. Got on the river and did real good numbers wise, but nothing over 18".  Lakes have been tough for me, but seeing how you all are doing, I plan on at least a couple more trips to the lakes.  Far now, I'll hit the river a few more times and keep burning vacation time.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Ended the season today with a bang... time to winterize the boat as the weather looks like it’s taking a dive..

8129758F-D20A-493B-ACB5-48D582582310.jpeg


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Frydog you had a great year.  Congrats!

 

Winterized my boat just last night.  With an earlier start to winter (compared to last year) we will be rewarded with an early spring right?

 

Time now to switch to trout.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 11/3/2018 at 2:22 AM, OperationEagle said:

With an earlier start to winter (compared to last year) we will be rewarded with an early spring right?

 

I will hold you to it my friend!!


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

Only 171 days to stare out the window until I take my boat out of storage and head out of state to fish...????


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I'm probably tucking the boat way also. Time to drop off the boat at my dads place and grab my clam thermal shack. Bring on the ice!

 

 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 
  On 11/3/2018 at 11:31 AM, FryDog62 said:

Only 171 days to stare out the window until I take my boat out of storage and head out of state to fish...????

I know this feeling. 154 days until I am headed to Lake Fork in April..........Hold me! 


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 11/7/2018 at 6:49 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

I know this feeling. 154 days until I am headed to Lake Fork in April..........Hold me! 

I’ll join you... 154 sounds a lot better than 171..!


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

It looks like we MIGHT get 40+ degrees next weekend? Guess I won't put the boat away QUITE yet. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Lakes are icing up pretty good. Bummer because this time last year we we're still out fishing open water.  Guess I'll be putting away the skeeter next weekend. Time to ready the ice gear!


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

I was wondering if anyone was still out there braving the elements.  Guess not...


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 
  On 11/13/2018 at 9:54 AM, gimruis said:

I was wondering if anyone was still out there braving the elements.  Guess not...

I saw the long range forecast a week ago and raised the white flag.  Have my sites set on some bass fishing maybe this winter in FLA. 

 

Dam this was a short season...


fishing user avatargimruis reply : 

Spring was non-existent.  Seems like fall was really quick too.  Summer was sweltering hot.  Almost 100 degrees by Memorial Day?  Hope this past season isn't a preview of things to come more often.


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

I took out my ice gear yesterday... already 3-4" on some of the smaller lakes. Who else is already thinking hardwater? 

 

Bass fishing on ice is actually pretty fun fellas. 


fishing user avatarJackKlassen reply : 
  On 11/17/2018 at 3:46 AM, punch said:

I took out my ice gear yesterday... already 3-4" on some of the smaller lakes. Who else is already thinking hardwater? 

 

Bass fishing on ice is actually pretty fun fellas. 

What do you do to specifically target bass through the ice? I catch them here and there in the winter fishing for crappies or pike but never really have gotten on a good bite. It would be cool to target them, especially smallies


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

To all my Minnesota BR online buds. Happy Thanksgiving!  One thing I am thankful for is the sub community we have built here and our willingness to share information. 

 

Here’s to good friends and close families. 

 

OE


fishing user avatarFishingMN reply : 

any shore, river, smallie fishing spots I should check out before the rivers freeze?  nw metro would be best  :)


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 11/24/2018 at 6:57 AM, FishingMN said:

any shore, river, smallie fishing spots I should check out before the rivers freeze?  nw metro would be best  :)

Only thing that's open is the usual stretch by the power plant discharge in Monticello. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 
  On 11/19/2018 at 5:21 AM, JackKlassen said:

What do you do to specifically target bass through the ice? I catch them here and there in the winter fishing for crappies or pike but never really have gotten on a good bite. It would be cool to target them, especially smallies

 

Honestly it's not that hard, but it does take some practice. I target largemouth in the same places that they hang out in the summer. They hang out shallow all winter if there's some grass. I've caught them in like 4-6' if there's any kind of vegetation/soft bottom. Even the smallest amount of dead grass will hold fish. They really seem to like hanging around shallow flats/points that are near deep water, especially if there's any kind of soft bottom. They seem to like to go to the deep water to feed on the panfish that may be in the basin, but then come back to the shallow water to hang out. 

 

The trick to catching them is to try and 'jig one up' to check out your bait. Winter bass are super lethargic, and don't often eat the bait right away. They get curious, they come check out your bait, then they go back down. You can "yo-yo" the same fish several times before they actually bite. The bait doesn't really matter.. I usually use a gold or silver spoon, or the smallest jiggin rap they make. A tungston jig and plastic works fine too. Bass aint picky. 

 

Catching a 3lber with 4lb line in shallow water on the ice is ridiculously fun. It's weird that more people don't target largies on the ice. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

If anyone is looking for a fun & casual bass club to fish in for 2019, GreenHorn Bass Tour is going to open up this weekend for registration for new teams. They have a Sunday and Wednesday series for people new to tournament fishing. There's also an advanced club for guys who want to be a little more competitive. 

 

A few of of the MN Bass Resource guys fish in Greenhorn and can vouch for the club. It's NOT part of the MN Bass federation so you can't win entries into the state tournament, but you can win money as the top 3 bags each tournament get paid. Plus the buy-in fee's are quite low. It's a learning leauge, as the top 3 bags in each tournament have to explain how they caught them to the group after weigh-ins. 

 

Myself and my partner are going to be tournament directors on the Wednesay evening Greenhorn series this year, so if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me a message. 

 

They have the schedule for next year up now if you want to check it out: https://sites.google.com/site/2011greenhornbasstour/2011-tour-schedule


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVsgALi7RL_NbcNLEan53PtHJJxLaIbhTRu030mHGJR8Y7PQ/viewform

 

Registration is open! Cone on, you know you want to join. 


fishing user avatarpunch reply : 

Anyone selling some gear this offseason? Post it up.


fishing user avatarFryDog62 reply : 

I have 2 Lews Custom Speed Stick 6’-10” MH casting - for swim jigs, spinnerbaits, etc.  Planning on selling one of them, $140 new, 2 years old, lightly used, half price at $70.


fishing user avatarOperationEagle reply : 

Merry Christmas everyone. Best wishes into the new year. May we all have 2-3x the number of 20 plus inch LMB this coming season. 

 

OE


fishing user avatarNathanDLTH reply : 

Merry Christmas!!


fishing user avatarMN Fisher reply : 

Happy Yule to all.


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Merry Christmas to everyone! Heres to hoping for an early spring! 


fishing user avatarThatOneBigKid reply : 

Dead thread is dead. Anyone fishing the St. Jude Bass Classic in May?

 

My cousin and I are fishing it this year. Last year was our first year doing it and it was a very fun tournament and it's for an awesome cause so you can't beat that. 

 


fishing user avatarJmhalvo reply : 
  On 2/2/2019 at 4:44 AM, ThatOneBigKid said:

Dead thread is dead. Anyone fishing the St. Jude Bass Classic in May?

 

My cousin and I are fishing it this year. Last year was our first year doing it and it was a very fun tournament and it's for an awesome cause so you can't beat that. 

 

We have a 2019 thread now FYI 




1371

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