belak00

I while back I joined this forum when I found out that the lake my in-laws have a cabin on was a decent bass lake. My son who just turned 9 just started to really get excited about fishing, and spending time with dad (maybe more catching fish then the dad part). So we planned a day and a half trip to the lake by ourselves to fish. The day finally came and it was great. I have never targeted bass, I grew up a walleye fisherman(thank you grandpa). With the help of the members and sponsors here I found the right combinations of lure and location. Now on to the fishing. We got out there around 6.30p and hit the water. Now my in-laws just have a pontoon, so we used that to fish. It actually works great with my son, he can walk around and cast to the spots he wants. First I stopped at a small lilly pad patch just off a 7' channel. My first cast with a swimsenko along the edge and fish on. My son's second cast to the pads, fish on. We fished that small patch of pads til dusk. We used the swinmsenko and some small spinners and caught 9 bass and a small northern(slimmy little sucker). The next morning we were on the water by 6.30a. I had researched the structure of the lake prior to going out. So I drove the pontoon to the edge of a sand bar around 10' deep. The wind was in perfect direction to slowly push us right down the sand bar. We would get tho the end and I would reposition the boat, and the wind would take us right back down the line. We caught 15 more bass tossing a weightless swimsenko and a yum craw and just letting them fall to the bottom. Later in the evening we went back to the same patch of pads and caught more. Twice we landed bass at the same time. Both times we were fishing off opposite sides of the boat and reeled in at the same time. It was great, and we had a blast. No we didn't catch any lunkers the biggest fish we caught was around 18". A lot were only 12"-14" but it didn't matter. I don't have a scale so we never got the weights. It was the perfect introduction to bass fishing for him, by the time we left we had caught over 30 fish. Heres some pics.

Worked great for my 9 year old son. He caught over 10 and was having a blast watching his bait swim through the water. This was the most productive soft bait we used last time we went bass fishing.

Thanks for all the reply's. We absolutely smashed them. We caught over 40 fish in a day and a half of fishing. Nothing big, but we didn't care. The swim senko was the best producing lure we used, but we caught fish with everything. It didn't seem to matter what plastic we had on(senko, yum dinger, yum craw, tiki tube) we caught fish. The only thing I didn't have any luck on was the zoom super fluke. I caught a small northern on one but that was it. Fished everything weightless, and weedless. Our biggest bass was around 18" didn't have a scale with, so I don't know how much it weighed. The look on my son's face when a bass would get up and walk across the water was priceless. This was my first attempt at targeting bass, and it was a blast. My son was having a great time and I think this will make him want to fish even more. Yesterday around 11 am the bite started to get real "slow", remember I'm with a 9 year old. So we went over to a blue gill bed and put some bobbers. I decided to toss a wacky rig yum dinger and on the first cast a 16" lm smashed it. I couldn't believe it, we have fished in this exact same spot tons of times for pan fish and never even seen a bass in the area. What a great way to introduce my son to bass fishing. Thanks

Thanks for all the replys. Just got back from gander mountain, and it was slim pickings to say the least. Picked up some 6" watermelon with red and green flake swimsenkos, a pack of zoom super fluke in baby bass, yum craw (for me), bomber model a shallow diver, rapala dt-10, strike king red eye shad, smaller booyah spinner, offset hooks and octopus hooks for t-rig and wacky. Weather is supposed to be in the high 80's with clear skys and 5 mph breeze. This will be the first heat wave of the summer. I hope he gets a good bite, the poor boy has only caught blue gill and a few pumpkin seeds on th lake. He is really excited so hopefully we find some fish.

Well we are finally going to make it to the lake this week to do some bass fishing. My son is 9 and has the patients of a 9 year old. He really wants to catch a bass on a plastic worm. He has been watching a lot of bass fishing shows and he is really excited to go. So my questions is what worm setup would work best. He doesn't let it sit for long. With all the info I found on this forum, I was thinking of setting him up with a jig and worm, shaky head maybe. The waters up here just started to warm up, it has been a miserable spring, very cold. What would be a good size/style jig and worm combo for him to get some bites? I'm not really concerned about the size of fish, just want him to catch some bass. We will be on a clear water spring fed lake with lots of Lilly pads and under water weed beds. The bottom of the lake is very mucky with a few areas of sand.

Earlier this evening my son and I went fishing. I recently found this forum, thanks to all for all the great information. So I just started to bass fish. I have been fishing since I can remember, but up here, Superior, WI, I was taught to fish walleye and northerns. Recently I was informed that the chain of lakes my inlaws have a cabin on are good bass fishing lakes, so naturally I spend most of my time at work on the internet researching bass. Thanks to all the members I can spend countless hours on this site. Now on to the story.... Like I said earlier my son and I went down to the St. Louis river. The river is mostly known for its walleye and muskie. It's nice because we only live about a mile away and we like to go down there and cast. Well we decided to try to find a new spot. We found a little pull off down the road and parked. Walked down the trail a couple hundred yards and went down a hill into a bay off the main channel. Well I thought this would be a great area to practice with my new bass plastics before we go back to the cabin. So I tie on a worm and jig for my son and his fist cast he has one on. It surfaced once and spit the hook. My son is only 9 and setting the hook will be the next lesson. So I finally tie on a 4" yum dinger and cast it out along the shore. Well in doing so I end up with my line hung up in a tree branch. So there I am trying to free my line and wham, something takes my bait. I try to set the hook and miss. The bait now has gotten hung up in the tree too. So I walk up this little hill to get closer to the tree and pull the branch in, luckily it was a small branch. As I'm balancing there freeing my hook the fish or another fish jumps just feet from me. Now I can't explain this as good as I would like but I'm up on a bank with a 4'-5' drop to the water. Not sure if the fish got me too excited or what but the next thing I know I'm slidding down the hill very slowly. I reach for a tree branch, it breaks. I grab some small weeds, they rip out of the ground. The next thing I know I'm in the water. I landed right on my hip, dam that hurt, still does. I hop up and my son comes running over. "dad you ok, dad you ok" he kept saying. Now I'm soaking wet, cold, and a fish that bit what I had on the line just got away. I tell him I'm fine and to keep fishing. Now I try not to curse in front of my kids, and when they do here it they are shocked. Well I'm saying every cuss word ever invented and I look up the bank and he is standing there with this deer in the headlights look. I compose myself (stop swearing) and he busts out laughing. There was nothing I could do but laugh. We fished the next half hour or so with no luck. Of course this was my fault for falling in the river. A good laugh was had by my wife when we got home, and my 2 year old daugther kept asking my why I went swimming with out her. What a day..

I always fish off of a pontoon. It's the only way to go when I bring my kids with. They can fish from anywhere and move around with out any worries. My 3 year old daughter will even bring toys with to play when she gets bored (approx 5 min. after i get my line in the water).

Thats a problem I wouldn't mind having.

yes, I find it relaxing. But to each his own I guess. Last night I took my 9 year old and my 3 year old down to the river. We got skunked but fun was still had by all. It sure beat chasing them around the yard, or actually doing work around the house.

Unfortunaltly it has happened to me too. But as the old saying goes, a bad day of fishing is better then a good day at work.

Having two young children and a full time job, the internet is my only fishing resource. I don't get out to the water nearly as much as I want to, and the internet gives me that needed bridge between my living room and the lake. I grew up fishing walleye and northern pike here in northern Minnesota. Now I want to give bass a try and lucky for me I found this excellent forum.

Thanks for all the advice. I went with the 4" yum dinger watermelon and some 3/0 red hooks. I'll give it a try tonight when I get done with work.

Not sure how I'll be fishing. If I see them great, if I don't I will be fishing the shallow weedy areas. Like I said bass fishing is new to me. I grew up fishing walleyes and northerns. I was told that these lakes hold good number of bass so I want to give it a try. Thanks for the advice in advance.

I'm new to the bass fishing game and am looking to fill the tackle box with the right lures. I will primarily be fishing two spring fed clear water lakes connected by a short canal. I have spotted a lot of bass in the lily pads where I take my son to fish blue gills. Also see a lot of them while going trough the canal between lakes. There are lots of lily pad and weed beds in both lakes that i will try and target. I'm heading to gander mountain this evening and want to pick up some soft baits to give them a try. What colors and type would you all recommend? Hook size/sinker or even spinners I should look at?

Hello everyone and a big thank you to all the members and admin's that make this site great. Well, I'm from the north which in most cases is considered walleye and northern country. I started fishing around 4 or 5, not sure. I've fished mostly walleye, with the occasional northern/musky. Living so close to the St. Louis river it's hard not target wallys. Well long story short my in-laws have a cabin on a chain of lakes. The lake there cabin is on is a shallow lake, 8' max depth, and thats very generous. I take my son out in the pontoon and fish for blue gills. I' ve noticed in the channels between the lakes there are many Large mouths. So recently I decided to try my hand at bass fishing. I've come here to extract the wealth of info from the dedicated members. I've been out once this year(for bass) used a in-line spinner and caught a small sm it looked more like a rock bass to me but not sure. It had red eyes and was very light in color, and a couple of small northerns. Not having the right tackle yet, what would be a good direction to start. Should I start with plastics, or a spinner, or both. I think I will accumulate my tackle slowly, but just wondering what opinions are out there as far as tackle. the waters I will be fishing. St. Louis river.... I have heard there are no LM but SM can be found. This is a large dirty water river flowing on the boarders for MN and WI Birch Lake, WI.... This is a very shallow lake with very clear water, a weedy, mucky bottom. Lots of lilly pad areas and two small channels leading to other lakes. The channels are only a couple of feet deep and I can see the bass in there. They spook when the pontoon goes past them. They look like large mouths from the surface but I guess untill I catch one I won't know. Robbinson.... Small deep lake with very clear water, big drop offs 20-30 yards from shore. two small inlets with a lot of weed/lilly cover. It has a weedy bottom. Any advice would be more than welcome.