Minnesota Lake Reports 2016

[NathanDLTH]

Heading north to the Brainerd Lakes area for the 4th, some new lures and lots of free time. Heck I can even get out on a boys now too! I'll be on bay lake, any recommrndations for lures up north or same thing for down here. 

[gim]

Bay Lake?  You mean the one just north of Garrison and south of Deerwood?  Haven't fished there in a few years now but I was there for a long weekend a while ago and we did pretty decent using tubes in 4-7 feet of water.  Also got some fish to take a topwater early in the morning one day too.  Never caught anything bigger than about 17 inches though.

[NathanDLTH]

That is what I mean, family cabin up there. Back when I was a kid we caught bass under docks with live frogs hooked from the tail end. Should be a good time, thanks gimruis. 

[dsidle61]

On 6/16/2016 at 0:02 AM, punch said:

So, I had the day off of work and I actually remembered to bring my gopro with me this morning! I've been wanting to make an instructional video for a long time, and finally went through with it. I tried my best to make a video about using the pop max (and poppers in general). I'm not sure if I did a good job, but any feedback (and subscribers) would be great. Are there any other MN anglers with active youtube channels? 

 

 

Nice video man, just subscribed to you!  I also have an active channel, just started last season.  I used to have the link on my profile but the Admins flagged me for some reason.  So here is one of my recent videos. 

 

[NathanDLTH]

Question for everyone: What are some must have baits? Looking for a three or four must to round out my collection as that has what it's become lol! 

[Fiske]

Hi Nathan

It's been a while,,,so guess I'll take a crack at it.

As a lure addict I may not be your best source but that aside,,,let's assume I could only have four baits

to fish bass with.

They'd have to give me some versatility so,,,

!. a shallow 3-6 ft running crank bait

2. a bladed swim jig

3. a swim jig

4. and a medium running crank bait 6-9 ft

I guess,,,,a six - eight inch plastic worm rigged Carolina or a so called bass jig could have easily been my third choice as well.

Anyway,,, this probably isn't what you had in mind for 4 must have baits but the point I've tried to make is that versatility is the key to

catching bass consistently,,, so I carry a wide assortment of lures for both horizontal and vertical presentations..

 

[IamNewbie]

Not a lake, but the Mississippi River. Smallies seem to be super active and coming in good sizes. 

 

 

[OperationEagle]

Was out yesterday evening. Deep bite was nonexistent. I tried to jig at 15-22 feet off of points. A few light strikes but caught nothing  

Went shallow near the weeds. Seemed to have a tight line with every cast for about 30 minutes. All were smaller. Largest was 14 inches. They were hitting a weighted watermelon red baby brush hog.  

What would be effective for the big girls down deep in hot conditions?  I tried to slow down my jig presentation but to no avail.  Water temp at 83-85  

 

 

 

[IamNewbie]

2 hours ago, OperationEagle said:

Was out yesterday evening. Deep bite was nonexistent. I tried to jig at 15-22 feet off of points. A few light strikes but caught nothing  

Went shallow near the weeds. Seemed to have a tight line with every cast for about 30 minutes. All were smaller. Largest was 14 inches. They were hitting a weighted watermelon red baby brush hog.  

What would be effective for the big girls down deep in hot conditions?  I tried to slow down my jig presentation but to no avail.  Water temp at 83-85  

 

 

 

It really feels like I need to annoy the crap out of a fish to bite in the Dog Days of Summer. Try getting reaction bites. I'm not experienced at all with Jigs whatsoever so I have no idea what makes fish bite that, hunger or annoyance, but I do know that Jigs are supposed to be heavy and I guess you're supposed to knock them off structures to make vibrations and noise. Tried it yesterday to get a fish from out under this log but the only lure fishing I really know how to do is Wacky Rigged Worms and T-rig. I'm a really bad fisherman lol.

[gim]

83-85 degrees?!  That is like a sauna.  I didn't realize the water was that warm around here.  Course, it has been 95 degrees and very humid the past few days I guess.  With the water being that warm, I would fish very early or late in the day or at night.  The fish will definitely be looking for a way to cool off so they'll be deep or in the shade to avoid sunlight.  I would look for some really thick weeds or lily pads or other jungle and get something in it or along side of it.  If there's deep water near it, even better.  If you're in a river, you gotta fish near some current.

[punch]

Sorry it's been a while! I've been fishing a ton. I've been out at least twice a week all summer. The summer patterns are in full effect right now! I'm finding a strong topwater bite in the morning around docks and reeds, then mid-day i'm having luck going deeper with dropshot+roboworm, chatterbaits (been awesome all year), and jigs. Senkos are working as usual.. pretty much anywhere near vegetation. I've also been having a good frog bite lately over the top of REALLY thick and nasty milfoil clumps. 

Honestly the mid-summer bite has been pretty amazing this year in the metro. It's been pretty consistent (for me and some fellow anglers I talk with), I haven't seen much of a slow down from spring to summer.. makes me excited for some great Fall fishing coming soon. If you guys are having a hard time getting a bite right now, my tip is to slow down.. and either downsize OR drasticly upsize. Meaning go down to a finesse setup w/ a 4" worm and shakeyhead/dropshot OR go to a bigass worm like a Ole Monster on a t-rig. Jigs around deeper weeds/structure is killer this time of year to. 

If you haven't, get out at dusk or dawn and really take advantage of an aggressive topwater bite along the banks. Poppers, frogs, walking baits around docks in the morning are killer right now. Yesterday we were slamming bass on hula poppers and megabass popmax in shady spots around docks on Green Lake in Chisago. That bite will "click off" though as the morning goes.. the fish are still under the docks but they wont be so aggressive to come out and chase a popper. You can still fish the docks, but you're gonna have to get a jig/shakeyhead/trig into the dock. 

Right now my most used baits/setups are: white/chartreuse chatterbait with a white kaitch swimbait trailer, dropshot w/ roboworm, DT4 in bluegill, popmax & chug bug, booya pad crasher frog, shakeyhead with zoom finesse worm, trig senko or berkley power worm, wacky senko

[gim]

Good report.  I mostly fish metro lakes too and I CANNOT get a fish to take a topwater frog to save my life.  I try using one almost every time I go in and around lily pads and they simply will not attack it.  Yes, I fish early AM and at dusk when it should be effective but still nothing.  I've been having much better fishing slowing way down and using finesse tactics around thick weeds too, but not much for size.  Most of the bass I've been catching are 12-16 inches long.  Fun to catch but a 19 incher would be better.

[punch]

I went out last night and we caught about 8-9 bass on DT4's off mid-lake humps. Like 10 feet of water. Got a couple fish on shakey head and zoom finesse worm also, and some pike on a chatterbait. Not a bad evening. The topwater bite at dusk was non existent so we went back to cranking. 

On 8/1/2016 at 8:02 PM, gimruis said:

Good report.  I mostly fish metro lakes too and I CANNOT get a fish to take a topwater frog to save my life.  I try using one almost every time I go in and around lily pads and they simply will not attack it.  Yes, I fish early AM and at dusk when it should be effective but still nothing.  I've been having much better fishing slowing way down and using finesse tactics around thick weeds too, but not much for size.  Most of the bass I've been catching are 12-16 inches long.  Fun to catch but a 19 incher would be better.

I've been having all my frog luck this summer over mats, not so much pads. Running the frog over really thick mats or milfoil clumps has gotten me some good bites. Honestly I tend to toss poppers around pads and get more bites than frogs. I get WAY more topwater bites on poppers than frogs year after year. Tie one on when the frogs not working. 

Have you tried tossing the frog around and under docks? They might just not be in the pads. I've had a much better mid-summer dock bite than pad bite lately. 

[FishingMN]

On 7/23/2016 at 11:16 AM, OperationEagle said:

Was out yesterday evening. Deep bite was nonexistent. I tried to jig at 15-22 feet off of points. A few light strikes but caught nothing  

Went shallow near the weeds. Seemed to have a tight line with every cast for about 30 minutes. All were smaller. Largest was 14 inches. They were hitting a weighted watermelon red baby brush hog.  

What would be effective for the big girls down deep in hot conditions?  I tried to slow down my jig presentation but to no avail.  Water temp at 83-85  

 

 

 

I've noticed that too lately. I am new to offshore deep water fishing, but a few weeks ago on some rock humps and points I managed to squeak out a fish or two or 3 per outing using either a dropshot or a deep diving crankbait.  Now the last 4 outings, as hard as I've tried, I haven't hardly had anything.  20+ hours of fishing and really only 2 fish to show for it is hard work.  I tried carolina rigs, and football jigs, too.  Also nothing.  The depth I am targeting is 12 to 22 probably, with rock, in a lake that has some fairly heavy green color to the water.  My baits disappear from visibility within 2-3 feet of the surface of the water.  Have they moved or is my presentation bad?  I am getting frequent nibbles from smaller fish biting off the tails of the roboworms/dreamshot.  Even the occasional crappie.  I am just so new to this deep water fishing my confidence isn't high enough to know if the issue is presentation, bait, or location.

7 hours ago, punch said:

I went out last night and we caught about 8-9 bass on DT4's off mid-lake humps. Like 10 feet of water. Got a couple fish on shakey head and zoom finesse worm also, and some pike on a chatterbait. Not a bad evening.

Punch, does that mean the bass are suspended or that they are coming up off the 10' bottom to bite your bait at 4'?  I've had real trouble lately getting a bite.  Maybe I am fishing too low?  Also what is your water clarity and when you say 10' of water mid lake humps, is that the highest point on the hump that you are fishing, or partway down the side?   Grass edge or rock?   The deep water bite is still a mystery to me.

[gim]

I have trouble with deep water bass fishing too.  Your not the only one FishingMN.

[gim]

The smallmouth are going really good in the rivers.  After some heavy rains over the past few weeks, its starting to drop and clear up some.  We caught almost all of our big smallmouth 18+ inches the last couple trips in shade near some sort of wood.  If there's a tree sticking in the water and some current nearby, they were there.  Caught the smaller ones in more open water but all the big ones were holding tight to wood in the shade.  Precision casting was very important.  Get the lure literally RIGHT UP to the log or tree.  A foot away didn't produce.

 

 

[OperationEagle]

Friday Saturday and Sunday (today) were all slow on the water.  Hit Tonka and other south metro lakes.  

Fished jigs, jig worms, and senkos. Tried deep, mid, and shallow. I couldn't find them. 

Each day landed an average of three to four....all on the smaller side.  Mostly on senkos. 

Water temp today around 75-78. 

Weather was stunning beautiful, just wish the d**n fish would bite!

[spoolinx]

It's been a while since I been on this forum, but at the same time, I have not been on the water as much as I'd like to. 

I just started fishing more deep water this year as well and I've been doing pretty well. Fishing points, ledges, and outside weed lines. Caught fish in 10-20ft of water. I've been using 1/4oz shaky heads with a zoom finesse worm, 1/2oz jigs, and t-rigged yum swimming dinger or  on 1/2oz bullet weight. Casting towards ledges or points and working it back, also pitching at outside weed lines. Depending on water clarity, black/blue or junebug for dirtier water and green pumpkin or watermelon for clearer water.

Hopefully that helps.

[punch]

I got shot a neat clip while morning fishing on Lake Carlos last weekend (in Alexandria) so I made a quick little video. Turned it into a brief instructional on (IMHO) the best way to get a followup bite on topwater. 

 

 

[Dpb2]

Plan on seeing a buddy in Minneapolis for several days of bass fishing in the next month or 2. Any recommendations on lakes. I'll probably fish for a few days by myself then take him for 2-3 days.  I know Minnetonka is supposed to be great but will the boat traffic be crazy???I have an 18' bass boat so I'm looking for lakes with ramps. Thanks for any info. Been trying to get up there for the last few years after a visit without a boat. 

[gim]

Until about Sept 15, Minnetonka will be heavy with recreational traffic if its warm enough and the suns out.  Once the nights start cooling off and its not so hot anymore, the temps will drop and it won't be warm enough for them.  You could avoid some of that if you went in the early AM or during the week, which is usually when I go.  There's a ton of bass tournaments out there too and weekly evening contests so the bass see lots of pressure.

[dsidle61]

On 8/15/2016 at 0:20 AM, punch said:

I got shot a neat clip while morning fishing on Lake Carlos last weekend (in Alexandria) so I made a quick little video. Turned it into a brief instructional on (IMHO) the best way to get a followup bite on topwater. 

 

 

Love the posts Punch!  I dont throw poppers nearly as much as frogs but I still love them both.  And I will second what you say in this video. 

My fishing has been sparatic lately.  Havent had much time and when I do always seems like crummy weather.  I did get out on Tonka last week on a rare day off.  Started at 545am and had luck on buzzbaits and frogs right away.  Bite tapered off around 8am or so for the topwater.  After that it was a white spinnerbait that caught me a few more bass and northern.  Working it really slow and going right over the top/through the weeds in 8-10ft.  Nothing really of size though, still learning that place.  I see boats out in the middle of the lake tossing jigs, I just dont have the patience (or electronics) to feel comfortable doing it.  I stick to 15' or less 95% of the time.  Was only my second time out and Ive hit Maxwell both times.  Ive heard southern bays are better, so one of these days ill go further.  Did see a guy snap off a muskie at the boat in one of the channels, followed by a string of f-bombs.  Actually felt bad for him.

[punch]

The evening frog bite has been really good for me this past weekend. Temps cooled a bit but the waters still around 80. I've been getting a ton of bites with frogs over shallow cover. Also, when it was rainy/windy I was tossing the spinnerbait and hooked into a chunky 31" pike in about 3 feet of water off a dock which was AWESEOME. 

[gim]

I went out on Saturday in the rain and then again last night in the wind and did very good.  I knew it was going to rain and be windy and that it would keep others off the lake.  Paid off big time.  Caught 9 bass on Sat morning and 8 more last night including several 18+ inchers.  I even had a large tiger muskie follow a white tube several times on Saturday.  I finally hooked up with that toothy buzzard and I set the hook and it felt like a friggin' anchor...and then it was off.  The tube was gone and the hook was bent straight out.  That thing must have jaws made of iron.

[punch]

Well, I'm in the market now for some rods & reels.. My boat was robbed Monday night. I live in Andover. They took 5 rods/reels and my entire 8 tray tackle bag with all my hard baits and terminal tackle. My boat sits next to my garage outside and I take my gear out 99% of the time, but I went on the lake for an hour Monday night with my dad and when we got home it was a bit chaotic with my kids and some other things.. and I didn't take out my gear. I went out Tuesday morning and it was like a kick in the stomach. They left 4 rods and my HDS7 thank god.. but they made off with some pretty good combos including my Avid X finesse rod and dobyns cranking rod. Luckly they left me SOME rods and I had a few good ones in the garage (like my flippin stick).

 

I'm going to have some spendy trips to Cabelas and Gander to replace some must-have's for the rest of the season. Bunch of ****in savages out there.  

 

I'm also in the market for a new frog rod and some reels. If anyone has some stuff laying around or knows of some deals, let me know.