Super User Jeff H Posted October 4, 2015 Super User Posted October 4, 2015 Winning weight was 36.30 this year. I think last year it was over 41 lbs if I remember correctly. Quote
sean55337 Posted October 4, 2015 Posted October 4, 2015 Yes I think its worth it. I save quite a bit getting into open water this season. I got myself some poles for 50% off and reels about 35% off. Can't wait til this next one Which one did you attend? Quote
MidwestF1sh Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 Winning weight was 36.30 this year. I think last year it was over 41 lbs if I remember correctly.Did you fish any of the Frankie's tournaments? Quote
Super User Jeff H Posted October 6, 2015 Super User Posted October 6, 2015 Did you fish any of the Frankie's tournaments? I did not. Quote
punch Posted October 6, 2015 Posted October 6, 2015 I've been out a few times in the last couple days in the north metro. The fish seem to have moved up into shallow cover and seem to be hanging out there for most of the day. I've had no luck fishing dropoffs or weed lines. I've had lots of luck fishing right in and around any bunched up, shallow cover like weeds and pads. They are IN the thick stuff, not around it. I've had lots of topwater explosions right on the edge of the vegetation in just 3-5 feet of water. Frogs and poppers have gotten me some nice bites. A weedless wacky senko has been doing well also. I've should be punching the thick stuff with T rigs and jiggs but I always try topwater first and it's been working. Really target that thick shallow vegitation right now, you might find some big boys. I caught a nice 5.3LBer in about 3 feet of water on a x-rap popper on Saturday. I've been ripping spinnerbaits (as per usual once the temp dips) and I've just been having pike hit them. I've had no action on squarebills at all. Temps seem to be in the mid-low 60s. The bite has been much better in the last week. Should just keep picking up until the snow fliys. Quote
punch Posted October 6, 2015 Posted October 6, 2015 I just got into bass fishing this year, always fished as kid, but got busy with life, wife, and kids. I finally have time to get back into it and came across this forum. Nice to see a page that helps other fellow fishermen get on fish, but I know most will keep some secret spots to themselves. Anyways, the Fall bite is ON!! Sounds like Punch and I must live in the same area, since I seem to hit the same lakes to kill time. I'm still hunting for my 5+ lbs. Out to N&S Center tomorrow, Hopefully they are hungry I've pulled several +5LBers out of Crooked this year, infact I got one yesterday. I know a guy that got a 6LBer out of Coon this summer also. Keep hunting! Quote
punch Posted October 12, 2015 Posted October 12, 2015 So I'd like to get out and do some fall smallmouth fishing, does anyone have some twin cities metro area lake recommendations? There has to be some decent smallmouth action that isn't on a river in the metro. Smally fishing is a big hole in my bass game. Quote
MidwestF1sh Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 So I'd like to get out and do some fall smallmouth fishing, does anyone have some twin cities metro area lake recommendations? There has to be some decent smallmouth action that isn't on a river in the metro. Smally fishing is a big hole in my bass game.Best bet would be white bear. Some big ones in there too! Ive only caught a few out of there but I know other people who do fairly well out there Quote
MN hooksetter Posted October 15, 2015 Posted October 15, 2015 Best bet would be white bear. Some big ones in there too! Ive only caught a few out of there but I know other people who do fairly well out there It's been tough to find them this year on White Bear and have not caught many at all. Not in their usual spots, although the smallies i've caught this summer and into the fall have been decent size on average with the biggest being 20.5". Quote
MidwestF1sh Posted October 15, 2015 Posted October 15, 2015 I saw a few and even caught one in a couple tournaments but numbers are definitely down. That's a nice smallies for the metro! I've never targeted them there just catch them on accident while drop shotting for largemouth. Quote
MN hooksetter Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 I saw a few and even caught one in a couple tournaments but numbers are definitely down. That's a nice smallies for the metro! I've never targeted them there just catch them on accident while drop shotting for largemouth. The numbers seem to be down and I have a feeling it has to do with the spraying of the weeds. They do quite a number on a sizeable portion of the lake. The poor fishing seemed to coincide with the spraying when they started a few years back. I've noticed it on other lakes around the area too. Quote
punch Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 The numbers seem to be down and I have a feeling it has to do with the spraying of the weeds. They do quite a number on a sizeable portion of the lake. The poor fishing seemed to coincide with the spraying when they started a few years back. I've noticed it on other lakes around the area too. Ugh don't even get me started on Milfoil spraying. It drives me nuts! My favorite bass haunt was sidelined this summer by milfoil chemicals. The bite was amazing spring and early summer.. then they sprayed. Now it's really hard to find active fish. It's half as productive as it was this time last year. The good news is the MN DNR slashed the amount of money it will give out next year on milfoil management. If cities want to combat invasive species they will have to pay for it out of their own pockets to a greater degree. This hopefully means much less spraying. I really question how effective spraying for milfoil is in the long term. I'd love to see some statistics that proves it's worth what it does to the bass fishing. On a fishing note, I hit Lake George in St Francis tonight and did pretty well tossing old faithful.. a Rapala DT4. Caught some good fish (bass and pike) in 6-10 feet of water along deep water edges. My dad caught a nice 3-4lber right as the sun went down. If you don't have a couple DT4s in your crankbait arsenal in Minnesota you're nuts. It's been my most productive crankbait by a mile the last few years. It out fishes every squarebill I have. It's the perfect bait for those 6-12' weedlines (which all of our lakes have). It's a heck of a trolling bait too. Quote
MN hooksetter Posted October 16, 2015 Posted October 16, 2015 I had not heard of the funding cut for spraying. That's great news and hopefully we'll get some healthy fish back in the local lakes. I was talking to a lake property owner while bass fishing on one of my favorite little north metro lakes the other evening and he said after they spray, there is a lot of dead crappies and sunnies everywhere. The crappie they do catch are very unhealthy looking and he no longer eats any fish out of the lake. The people that know of this lake, know that it is an excellent shallow water bass fishery, and it's been difficult to catch them shallow the last couple years. The lake shore owner said the poison has pushed them deeper and they just don't bite as much because of it's effect on them. Cool thing is this guy is against spraying and hopefully there are more lake shore owners like him. I'll have to get the crankbaits ready. I've been doing okay on topwaters very early in the morning, but after that, not too much. I'm heading to Yellow lake by Danbury for the weekend with some buddies that want to fish for walleye. They don't know this yet, but I'll be deviating from their plan and going for bass!!! Quote
MidwestF1sh Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 That's what I was tellin you punch! I could go on a huge rant about that stuff. They sprayed pretty much every metro lake. White bear still has some good milfoil but I'm sure it'll be gone quick. Quote
MidwestF1sh Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 Well my boats in storage so it meant its time to go chase steelhead and man was it a tough day! Finally 30mins before sundown (2 miles away from where I was parked) I hooked into one. Landed the monster after it made so many big runs. That was my biggest steelhead to date somewhere right around 27" on the fly rod. There is nothing that even comes close to fighting like those things do. Did anybody get out fishin this weekend? Quote
Super User Jeff H Posted October 18, 2015 Super User Posted October 18, 2015 Did anybody get out fishin this weekend? Put my boat away Saturday morning. Went creek fishing with a buddy (North Fork Zumbro/Spring Creek etc) for a couple hours and caught only creek chubs. Water levels are way low so it was tough. Funny how aggressive those little buggers are. Quote
punch Posted October 20, 2015 Posted October 20, 2015 I went out yesterday. I tossed the kitchen sink at fish shallow.. spinners, wake bait, popper, t rigged craw. Nothing. Then i went to the deeper flats and tossed a football jig, t rigged craw, and bounced a lipless crank along the bottom. Nothing (I saw fish on the finder). I hit a couple 14' to 8' foot shelves along vegetation and started nailing them with the ole crankbait. DT4 in bluegill as usual (Still had it tied on from Friday). I would run the crank deep to shallow and get hits right along the ridges. I put 3 fish in the boat doing this then had to go in. In the last few days I've ONLY caught bass on crankbaits in 6 to 12 feet of water. Which is weird because just a week ago I was hammering them real shallow. I think the weather and the wind has blown them back down deeper a bit. Quote
spoolinx Posted October 20, 2015 Posted October 20, 2015 I was out yesterday as well. Caught them all on lipless crank and squarebils most along outside weedd lines in 4-8 ft of water. I came across a school of bluegills with a school of bass and I was able to catch 4 bass all back to back. All my fish came on Strikeking redeye bluegill and 2.5 bluegill. Lots of pike action keeping me busy as well. Quote
mnbassman23 Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Best is yet to come guys. Was out 2 weekends ago and got on a bunch of 3-5lb fish and my father-in-law got his PB at 6.92lbs. Weighed on 2 different digital scales. Pretty awesome moment for the both of us. Going to spend all weekend looking for that 7lber! 2 Quote
OperationEagle Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Found them stacked up in 6-9 FOW today (SUN). Was able to catch 4 17-18inchers in a row all from the same spot. All caught on a Dirty Sanchez Sweet Beaver using a 5/16 offset jighead. Got a few on a jig as well. Green pumpkin Netbait Baby Paca Crawl as a trailer. Water temp is about 48. I was surprised at how aggressive they were hitting the lures. I thought they would be slowing down by now. MNbassman23 you may be right...best is yet to come! Call me a wuss but it gets a bit cold for me when the air temp drops below 50. Next SUN might still break 50 so we will see. Quote
mnbassman23 Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Got out Saturday and ended up with 10 fish in 4 hours. Smallest was 3.5 and biggest was 5.73lbs. Best 5 went just under 24lbs. Good quality but the bites were sparse. Had to fish slow to get bites. Water temps were between 43-45. I might end up winterizing the boat this weekend with deer season coming up. Hate to do it but it's getting to be that time. Quote
punch Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Got out Saturday and ended up with 10 fish in 4 hours. Smallest was 3.5 and biggest was 5.73lbs. Best 5 went just under 24lbs. Good quality but the bites were sparse. Had to fish slow to get bites. Water temps were between 43-45. I might end up winterizing the boat this weekend with deer season coming up. Hate to do it but it's getting to be that time. What baits were you using and where were you fishing them? I've been out a couple times in the last few days and have had a real hard time finding fish. Been getting a lot of pike. Quote
mnbassman23 Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 What baits were you using and where were you fishing them? I've been out a couple times in the last few days and have had a real hard time finding fish. Been getting a lot of pike. Slow dragging a 1/4oz t-rigged havoc craw fatty. I was fishing a big rock flat that has a rock point off the end in 3-8ft of water with deeper water around it. This time of year I can usually get good numbers of fish out there as well but they aren't there this year. I fished a few other spots that were dry that usually produce well in the fall. I'm usually on a good jig bite as well and that's not happening, been a weird fall. Quote
sean55337 Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 Does anyone know the time frame when Gander Mountains and Cabelas have their fishing items on sale (not ice fishing?) With the warm up in temperature, I am getting excited. I know it is still way early but I can't wait Quote
MN hooksetter Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 On 2/17/2016 at 8:29 AM, sean55337 said: Does anyone know the time frame when Gander Mountains and Cabelas have their fishing items on sale (not ice fishing?) With the warm up in temperature, I am getting excited. I know it is still way early but I can't wait I'm not completely sure about this, but I thought their sales were around the same time of the Northwest sports show at the Minneapolis Convention center. Again, I could be wrong... Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.