badger_bassin

What's up guys i live in Reedsburg (just west of the Dells) I fish some small lakes around my area. Mainly Dutch Hollow, and Lake Redstone, also fish the wisconsin river in the Dells area and from time to time make the drive to Wisconsin Rapids to fish the wiscy river up there for smallies, also used to fish lake wisconsin quite a bit. Glad to see a wiscy thread start again.

I throw a drop-shot rig a lot on the lake i fish, i have good success with it, but i'm gettin sick of how bad my line twists up. I know it's inevitable but was curious if any of you have any tips of tricks i might be missing. Now i don't fish it perfectly vertical. I make long casts and use it kind of like a c-rig. I use #8 flouro and typically have my hook tied 2.5 above the ds sinker to keep it out of the weeds, and yes i use a ds weight. Was wondering if adding a barrel swivel above the hook would help? Any suggestions

c-rig is tough to beat...you can also drag a football head jig

wacky rigged 5 in senko

Line twist just comes along with the technique, but there are ways to help minimize how much twist occurs. The special sinker used for drop shotting is one way to limit line twist, but two more things you can do is, when your done fishing for the day let out a bunch of line and ride around with it running through the water, another thing to limit line twist is to reel up slowly when retrieving to recast. Most line twist actually comes from reeling the bait back up.

try loading a hook up with CORN

a central mudminnow huh, thank you

On my last trip to my local lake I found some of these minnows on the boat launch. Some were still alive. I've done some research but can't seem to figure out what this minnow is. The lake I fish is located in south central Wisconsin, and I know you can't buy any of these at any of the local bait shops.

Drift the deep weed edge, you don't need electronics to find the deep weed edge, just use a carolina rig or whatever your throwing to establish approximately how far off the bank it is, and drift, when you catch a fish throw out a marker buoy you'll often catch a few more then move on. Find a lake map and bring it with you. If you can't find one you can often find one on your DNR or State fish and game internet site. Another thing to look at is the bank: is it steep or flat, you can often tell just by looking at the bank where bottom composition changes. Keep note where you are catching fish in a log book. These are some things I would do. Good luck.

Keep on eye on the water levels if its up, try shallow diving cranks along the rocky shoreline. If it's down go a little deeper, I'm just guessing here but I would assume that the bite is better when water level is up. Also keep an eye on the current look for current breaks. Remember to throw up current as they like to sit behind cover and ambush prey coming downstream. It's a good idea to keep a log book, especially on bigger lakes and ones that fluctuate that dramatically.

I night fish a lot. My home lake is very clear and the bite is much better at night. One thing i've been doing as of late is swimming a 5in grub on a round head jig. The lake has weeds out to 20 ft of water or better. Cast towards shore and follow the tops of the weeds down the slope. And when you feel hung up rip that jig free and Hold On! I've had some VICIOUS strikes doing this.

First of all for me it depends on the water clarity. If it's clear or slightly stained, depending on the lake, there's probably some deeper grass try the deepest weed edge. You can never go wrong fishing the shade try anywhere there is shade. If your fishing docks fish the shady side and directly under. If you have stumps, rocks, or any cover for that matter cast to the shady side. Also another thing to look for if your fishing the bank is overhanging trees, directly under them. Also the shade created by trees that is cast out over the water. If you have wind or current try spinnerbaits, swim jigs,cranks or other horizontal presentations. If you have no wind or current I like to go with more of a vertical approach like jigs, t-rigged plastics, drop shot, and carolina rig etc...Good Luck

Wow!! Some really good info here. thanx guys

If you like to throw tubes try finding internal tube weights. They work good. I like 1/16 oz. Other options I like to skip with are weightless senkos rigged wacky style or super flukes. If you are having problems skipping, try skipping in open water until you get the hang of the cast. The docks I'm used to fishing I need to stay a good distance from because of water clarity so I like to use 7ft rod. The long rod really propels the bait a long way under the dock, plus I have better hooking power being farther away.

Buzzbaiting at night. There's nothing more exciting than topwater fishing in the moonlight.

I once caught a bass that was smaller than my 1/2 oz spinnerbait. :-?

For me it depends on how big of an area you're fishing. If you have a large area of floating vegetation like pads using a hollow frog I'll retrieve it fast twitching it all the way back, but I'll pause it where there are open holes or any changes in vegetation. The bass will tell you how they want it from day to day, just experiment with your retrieve. Also really pay attention to open holes, edges, isolated pads or weeds. Those are the areas you really want to key on.

You can count me in. As long as nothing comes up from now until then. I have a 14 ft alumacraft that I will be bringing, it is setup nicely for 2 people. As far as right now I'll be rolling solo so I can accommodate one other angler. ( I can't PM yet because I don't have enough posts).

I was fishing the Wisconsin river with my father-in-law for catfish one night, I heard my bells on the rod jingling, I set the hook hard and fought this for 20 min. after numerous runs and jumps I got it to shore and it was a 4 1/2 ft sturgeon. No more than 15min later I landed another one that was 5ft long. Then later on that night my father-in-law landed a 50 lb flathead cat.

I to would try a buzz first since windy days typically means active fish but if you don't like to throw them, then out of the choices you gave I would throw a prop bait or walk the dog. I like poppers on calm waters. Just my opinion.

I think it's important to move the rig by sweeping the rod as well, instead of retrieving by reeling. You can feel any cover or structure much better. Also try using a lighter pound test leader than your main line so when you get snagged up you only lose your hook and plastic.

Tubes on standup jigs Bandit 200 (chartreuse spatterback) #3 in-line spinner rapala skitter-prop and skitter-pop

Hey guys I would also be interested in this, I live in Reedsburg ( close to wis dells) never fished the madison chain, but know what it can produce, keep me updated, been fishing lake wis last couple of days and it's been slow for me.

Nice work, those are some impressive smallies.

Horizontal presentations for murky water I like bright colors. Depending on how murky the water is, color might night be that important, sound, vibration, and size will be a bigger factor. Just remember to make contact with structure.