Danarchy

The Chippewa, Mississippi, and St. Croix rivers are all still high. As soon as they started to recede we got a few more inches of rain so they all swole right up again.

Definitely try the Mississippi river between Wabasha MN and La Crosse WI. There's bass everywhere!

Plumworm - I read it in a report somewhere, can't recall. I remember for a fact that this time last year (or a few weeks back) there was 60 degrees in some of the backwaters of the Miss, pool 4 area. The fish were stacked in these shallow areas where the water was 10-15 degrees warmer than the main channel.

No I put in on the east side, then came into the bay at Guy Sandy - tried to go back across the lake but the waves were too high - I got a ride to my truck and took out at Guy Sandy. I was in a Tracker V-hull, trolled around in the bay there until about 4pm.

Well I got out on Arbuckle today - there was a tourney and a lot of other boats. I got skunked, I imagine all the spots I tried already got pounded this morning, then the wind blew us off the lake. Did meet a guy from Texas at the ramp who said someone he knew got an 11 and a 9 off of beds today. I'll hit it again during the week when there's not so many others on the lake.

X-Raps or Husky Jerks - you can catch them on other stuff but they really key on bait fish this time of year. Look for sand or gravel flats with a drop off or deep hole near by in slack water, behind a current break, or an area with backwards slower current. Rip the bait a few times then just kill it for up to 10-15 seconds. Then rip again. I love this time of year, once you find the bass hold on tight!

Great smallie!

Get yourself some waders and leave the shore behind. There's gotta be some nice little rivers up there you can stomp around in!

Woops - Mark - I was looking for your name after reading your post and saw Fishin FIB.

I wish Wisconsin would do this. There are a lot of anglers around here that hate bass (walleye guys) so a lot of folks would be in favor of it. Anti-bass guys would want them caught and eaten, bass guys would be in favor because bass.

FIB (Mark) is spot on - usually mid to end of May. Mid June they are usually starting to get into their summer patterns and the fishing is great. On local rivers here like the Miss, some of the backwaters are already getting close to 60 degrees or more, so the spawn can be a few weeks ahead.

Thanks guys. Y'all are making me even more excited.

Hello everyone! Just wanted to probe for some info on the current state of bass activity in the state. I'm heading down Friday and plan to fish Arbuckle as much as I can, and maybe spend some time at the Duncan area lakes. From my research I've found some lakes are already tipping the 60-65 degree temp marks - I am hoping to get in on some prespawn fishing, don't really want to fuss with pulling them off beds. So can anyone provide some info or reports on what the bass are doing? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Dan

I never find much Bass info on Lake Link. Mostly walleye and panfish stuff.

I'd prefer big bass because those are the bites that tell you that you're doing something right. Those small, younger bass sometimes seem to be over aggressive and will hit just about anything. Sometimes you can even catch tons of small bass in the usual areas when the big ones are sitting on beds. In my opinion, the small bass don't really tell me what the quality fish are doing.

There's so many videos out there of Pros showing us their skipping skills, but none that I have found mention what you should be doing with your thumb. As soon as your bait hits the water it loses some momentum, but the spool is still spinning at mach 9 from that quick low cast. Should we be applying light pressure to the spool the whole time, or should accurate thumb pressure be applied to the spool the moment the bait hits the water? I like the idea of just keeping a spinning rod with but sometimes as a co-angler I don't bring one with me.

Chris (wisconsin heat) - take a trip down to the Mississippi river. Its only like an hour drive from EC to Alma. And you don't have to wait till May 4th since the season is open all year on the river. Speaking of the Miss... anyone been on it for bass lately? I plan on fishing it this weekend and last I heard the bite was slow and water was around 38 degrees.

From what I remember, white bass spawn once the water hits 50 degrees and up. I was just in Oklahoma last week and got into some white bass in sheltered coves and bays. The water temp was right around 60.

Well guys, we hit Fuqua today - just barely enough water to land the boat but not bad. Spent most of the day figuring out a new boat. Didn't boat a bass and it was windy as heck! Water was right around 60 degrees so them bass might be getting their spawn on soon. My future niece in law caught the only fish - a nice 15" black crappie in about 2 fow so they are most likely spawning. Hope go get out again tomorrow but might go pond hopping if its windy again.

I'm not sure of the names, one I believe is the small lake in Elmore City, another is a large pond on private land. He also heard from friends that several other lakes were closed since they were so low. I'm really hoping we can launch at Fuqua and Clear Creek, they are the closest to where we stay down there.

So my girlfriend's dad is already in Oklahoma and said a few lakes he tried to launch at are so low that a boat can't be launched. Does anyone know if there's enough water to launch in Fuqua, Clear Creek, Humphreys, or Arbuckle? I'm wondering if I should even haul my boat down there this weekend - might just throw on some boots and go pond hopping.

Thanks guys!

Hello all, I'm heading down to Oklahoma this Friday and was wondering how the fishing has been lately (up to today). I'm going to spend a week there like we do every year and just looking for status on the bass fishing. Anyone have water temps, bass activity, or other info to share? I'm hoping they aren't spawning yet - a bass spawn map I saw predicts spawning in most of Oklahoma to occur right around now. Been getting much rain? I'm hoping the water levels are normal because we heard some of the ponds we fished dried up the last few years. I plan on fishing Lake Fuqua and the other Duncan Area Lakes. Does anyone know if the landings on these lakes require a fee? Thanks in advance, see you soon Oklahoma!

I'm excited for ice out. Hopefully by the end of the month the Mississippi will be fishable. I plan to fish it around Alma and La Crosse. Anyone else fish these areas?

Hey guys, if anyone is following this post still, come check out the facebook page I started. Fish Wisconsin: https://www.facebook.com/Fishconsin