Scott F

Soon after a rain, fish the spot where drainage water enters the pond. Fish will concentrate there.

I've caught a walleye and a lake trout on top waters in the past. Two species not normally known to be surface feeders.

Why don't you call the Minnesota DNR and ask them? They are the ones who will write you a ticket if you don't have your license. I print out several copies of my license when I buy them online and keep one in my tackle bag, wallet, boat and truck. I always have one of those when I'm fishing.

How clear is the water you fish?

I've seen plenty of people who have trouble getting their boat on the trailer properly and tie up ramps much longer than should be necessary. I know lots of guys who post here have seen more than their share too. Did not occur to me that he would waste time posting this just to mess with us.

I run 20lb braid but I do not lock my drag down so I can't pull hard enough to make the line dig in.

What kind of trouble are you having? Getting it on the trailer? Getting the trailer the right depth is important. For most boats, back the trailer in so the bunks get totally wet, then pull out so that only a couple of inches of the top of the wheel fenders are out of the water. You might have to experiment to find the right depth for your rig. Drive the boat all the way on until the bow touches the front roller. Hook on, tighten the winch, and pull out.

If I ever buy another boat cover (unlikely), I would only get a custom cover. My boat is garage kept so I don't need an every day cover. I did buy on two separate occasions generic covers. They flapped around so much while driving, both of them were damaged the first time I used them. On one, stress from the wind pulled the straps with the buckles right off, and on the other, the corner of my windshield wore a hole through the canvas. A tight fitting cover is a must and I don't think you can get that with an off the shelf unless you're lucky.

Blame air conditioners. Before A/C, people would sit outdoors to try and stay cool, so did all the neighbors. Everyone was outdoors so they got to know each other. Once the inside of the house was cool no one went out anymore.

My earlier estimate on the largemouth spawn needs to be updated. The above average air temps, lots of sun, and little to no wind has caused the water temps to soar. The big lake I'm fishing is slower to warm than most and the temps here are nearly 70. LM bass are starting to build nests now.

I should add that I only use braided lines but only use 20 lb test or less. On the 8 and 10 lb lines, slipping was a problem with the Trilene knot. I never tried the knot on heavier lines that many other anglers favor. It may work better with those lines.

No. The knot will slip with braided lined

I'm having one of those days today! The fish aren't all huge, but there are a lot of them. 83 smallmouth and 7 largemouth between 7 and 11:30 this morning and that was just my catch. My partner had nearly as many. We could have caught dozens more but we were hot, tired and hungry and we quit for lunch. Believe it or not, it has been like this almost every day for the past 5 days. I just love Northern Wisconsin for prespawn action!

McDonalds french fries.

I never heard that before. On the lake I spend my time on, the smallies are always ahead of the "greenies".

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I was shown the undressed Mepps several years ago by a guide and have used nothing else since. Besides catching a lot of fish, they are cheaper than the squirrel tail versions. I use them in shallow, rocky rivers and tend to lose a few so saving some money helps.

No sign of largemouth spawning, does not look like they are even close. Just saw the first smallmouth beds (no fish on them) in Northern Wisconsin.

There was just an article in Audubon Magazine where there was talk about a project to use molecular biology to bring them back. http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/birds/why-passenger-pigeon-went-extinct

Depends. Glass hull, yes. Aluminum hull, no.

I count the number of fish I catch to judge the level of fish activity for my fishing journal. A fish that gets off near the boat or hits and gets hooked out side of the mouth counts for me. I won't sight fish for bedding fish so they would not count for my records because they aren't feeding.

The only baits that are working, and they are just killing them, are very small jerk baits. I haven't talked to anyone who is catching many fish except me and my partner. If we even change to the same jerk bait in a bigger size, the bite just dies. There is a guy staying at the same resort who has been having a tough time catching smallmouth. I gave him one of the baits I use, and he got 3 fish on his first 4 casts.

With several warm days in the forecast, the water will be warming. I've been fishing the Northern part of the state for the last week. Surface water temps on big lakes are still just in the mid to upper 50s. The smallies are schooled up and killing small jerk baits. Guys who are using ANYTHING else are having a hard time, at least on the lake I'm on. Largemouth are just beginning to move on to the shorelines. It looks like at least a couple of weeks before they start to spawn.

The lakes have finally warmed up to the point where the smallmouths are getting active. Paul and I got a few big girls in the last couple of days and yesterday the numbers jumped up significantly. After days of getting 10 to 30 smallies between us, on Saturday, we had 150. Paul even got 2 on the same cast. This fish was only 18 inches, but had more girth than any fish I've ever caught. Ho-hum, another 18 incher. The numbers of bass we are catching today is just crazy. They are schooled up at each spot we stop. We may get 5 or 6, or we got as many as 40 on a spot. We even get them two at a time. Suspending jerkbaits are getting nearly all the fish. Smaller ones outproduce by a very wide margin. Today, I got 2 on the same jerkbait.

We are in the Onieda, Vilas county area.