shimmy Posted May 27, 2015 Posted May 27, 2015 Been 8 months since i got to wet a line. Been dying to get out. I was able to get a 5 day trip underway to fish with the guys in our annual northern Minnesota spring trip. We fish mainly in the ottertail county area in various lakes. Fished from Wednesday to memorial day and had to head back to ol' Wisconsin on memorial day. Definitely long enough to have fun and get into some nice ones. We had no absolute giants this trip but got into a lot of fun ones. Wednesday's water temps were 55 degrees and much colder than i anticipated. Wednesday morning's boat was covered in frost which was also completely unexpected, So it was decision time and we had to pick one of hundreds of lakes in our area to fish which is oftentimes one of the hardest decisions to make when bass fishing. It is interesting how many of these lakes cycle from being great for a few years and then dead for a couple of years. Unfortunately, some of our bigger bass lakes have been on a steady downfall over the years which is always tough to see. So after a few lakes, we found a few that were hot for this particular temperature and got to work. We started to get into the better fish for these particular waters and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors. Temps changed from 55 to 63 in the coves by memorial day. The last few days were the best in that the bass started to come into the coves in more abundance. Jerkbaits seemed to be the ticket in the beginning and some sort of reaction bite which i had hoped for was not happening in the beginning. Eventually crankbaits started to get them which was always fun (e.g., 2.5 square bill). After a few days and fishing different lakes and varying water temps, we got a good rotation of lakes and had a blast. While walking to a lake, i found this little guy. Perhaps the smallest painter i have ever seen. Of course my girls wanted me to keep it after i sent them a picture so this little thing came home with me. And some more, We were fortunate enough to all get into some good fish. I only have pictures of my own, but everyone else got into some good ones as well. I finally got into a six+ pounder by the end which was a great way to end the trip. Altogether, i had 27 bass between 4-5 pounds, 4 bass between 5-6 pounds, and 1 over 6. Numbers wise, we never had an outing where you caught a ton but had a blast nevertheless. Big fish or not, it was just nice to be out on the water again. Troy 8 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted May 27, 2015 Super User Posted May 27, 2015 It's about time. I have been waiting on this post anxiously. Glad to see you haven't lost your touch. Post up those pairs pictures under the smallmouth section favorite pair thread. 2 Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted May 27, 2015 Super User Posted May 27, 2015 Congrats on the awesome trip! Were those weights on a scale? (Sorry just had to!) Jeff 2 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted May 27, 2015 Super User Posted May 27, 2015 Yea Shimmy do you have any proof regarding those 5lbers and that alleged 6lber? 3 Quote
Super User Jeff H Posted May 27, 2015 Super User Posted May 27, 2015 Good job! Gotta love our weather here, changes by the hour and sometimes big swings. Quote
shimmy Posted May 27, 2015 Author Posted May 27, 2015 Yea Shimmy do you have any proof regarding those 5lbers and that alleged 6lber? Ha. I will provide a drivers license next time to verify it is me as well. Funny thing is, i have all these on film since we always have a camera going, i just need to get my butt in gear and put together some more videos. Thing is, it is super addicting and time consuming...so, yes, i need to do it. 2 Quote
mnbassman23 Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 Awesome MN bass shimmy. Great numbers of fish over 4lbs for a 5 day trip! Quote
shimmy Posted June 1, 2015 Author Posted June 1, 2015 Awesome MN bass shimmy. Great numbers of fish over 4lbs for a 5 day trip! Thanks. Combined we always had some relatively heavy bags each day. The big trick was finding the right lakes to fish. We tried plastics of various sorts but the fish were capping out at the low 4 pound range so we changed predominantly to jigs and swimbaits. Heavier jigs were not cutting it so we had to go really light (1/4 ounce to 1/8 ounce). Kinda hard to cover ground with lighter jigs but we caught more and the fish jumped in size once we lightened the jigs. Would love to get out there in the prespawn to learn more about these lakes and try for a bigger one. I hit some of the lakes in late September last year for a weekend and had an unbelievable time with a few bigger ones. Had one day on the water by myself (7:00 am to 6:00 pm) and caught 143 fish by myself. Most i think i have ever caught in one outing. Caught so many over 4 pounds, i had to start texting myself the numbers halfway through the day to make sure i did not lose track and caught over a 25 pound bag and a 23 pound back-up bag. Just crazy. Seems like you have figured out where a few of the better lakes are as well. To me, i feel like that is most of the battle in catching big fish on these Minnesota lakes, just identifying the best waters takes a lot of time and patience. Knowing when it is ok to only catch 5 smaller fish and continue to fish the lake since you know the lake has them over 6 and 7 pounds, while other people write the lake away. It's about time. I have been waiting on this post anxiously. Glad to see you haven't lost your touch. Post up those pairs pictures under the smallmouth section favorite pair thread. I will have to join you and the crew some time so i can double the size of my fish and progress out of peewee league. Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted June 1, 2015 Super User Posted June 1, 2015 Nice Work Shimmy ~ Several very respectable bass right there . . . . Congrats on another solid trip. A-Jay Quote
mnbassman23 Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Heavier jigs were not cutting it so we had to go really light (1/4 ounce to 1/8 ounce). Kinda hard to cover ground with lighter jigs but we caught more and the fish jumped in size once we lightened the jigs. Seems like you have figured out where a few of the better lakes are as well. To me, i feel like that is most of the battle in catching big fish on these Minnesota lakes, just identifying the best waters takes a lot of time and patience. Knowing when it is ok to only catch 5 smaller fish and continue to fish the lake since you know the lake has them over 6 and 7 pounds, while other people write the lake away. When it comes to spring 90% of the time if I'm dragging a jig or plastic it will be 1/4oz or lighter. A lot of times that is key for me to get my biggest bites. I like your style rocking the jig and swimbait, I think you and I see things pretty similar. 100% agree with the point I bolded. Especially when there are so many lakes to choose from. I spent my 1st 7 years with a boat fishing as many lakes as possibly. I'd fish between 10-20 different lakes each year. The last 3 years I've committed to catching big fish and I've dialed down those select few lakes that will consistently produce fish over 4lbs. You can't catch what isn't there, some lakes have it and others don't. Congrats again on a stellar trip shimmy. 1 Quote
charter21p5 Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Looks like a great trip and some real nice catches! Quote
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