28 and 27 pound Minnesota Bags

[shimmy]

Day 1 – Got to spend 5 days in Minnesota and had a blast. A very cold blast as well. Day 1 was great. Water temperatures were 51-53 degrees, 0-5 wind, and outside temps up to 55 degrees. First half of the day was rough. Spots that did well last fall were not producing, which had me a bit flustered. I decided to junk fish and hit a ton of spots until some type of pattern held. All active fish were in the 2-5 foot range. Had a great day for numbers and size. Here were my 4 pounders not in the top five: 4.1, 4.1, 4.3, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.12 and 4.12. My top 5 were 4.13, 5.6, 5.10, 5.12, and 6.8 for a total of 28 lbs 1 oz. I only caught 3 other fish that were not 4 pounds. The northern pike were very active as well. Every time my bait was too fast, the northern would let me know. I kept trying to make my Swimjig work and the northern would keep biting it. Finally, in my last attempt (definition of insanity), I was trying to cover water my last half hour of light with my Swimjig and then caught another stinkin northern that had most of the Swimjig down it’s throat. Took me 20 minutes to get the jig back without ruining my jig, having to retie, and clean up the boat. It was miserable. The 6.8 came from casting into weed pockets. Hard to fish this way since you only get a drop or two, but it can really pay off.

 4.13 lb and 5.6 lb (with the serious face)

 5.10 lb and 5.12 lb

6.8 lb

Day 2 – Started with the trolling motor not working. Finally fixed the receptacle to the trolling motor after tearing the old wires out and installing a new one from fleet farm, I was on the water by 1. Only caught 5 bass the whole afternoon. Biggest two went 5.5 and 5.6. Both at random places and not at the places they were supposed to be... This fall fishing really keeps me guessing.

 5.5 lb

5.6 lb

Day 3 – Was unbelievably cold. Day started off at 35 degrees and 10-15 mile per hour winds which made it feel like it was 0 degrees. After fishing 8 hours straight, I only caught 5 fish again. 5 fish limit was around 22 pounds. Top three were 4.13, 5.3, and 5.4. The other two were ~3.5 pounders. Might be the coldest I have ever been fishing.

 4.13 lb and 5.4 lb

5.3 lb

Day 4 – Was cold. Started at 28 degrees but got in the 40s. No wind though so that made it much easier to fish than the previous day. It was freezing last night and I suspected this might affect the movement of the fish on this lake. Water temps were 49 degrees. After an hour, I was able to see that they were in the 5-8 foot range and stuck to that range for most of the day. Had another good limit. 27 lbs 6 oz. Fish not in the top five were a 4.0, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1, 4.6, 4.7, 4.11, and 4.11. The top 5 were a 4.14, 5.2, 5.8, 5.14, and a 6.0. Lost A LOT of lures to northern today. They were so active it is unreal.

4.14 lb

5.2 lb and 5.8 lb

5.14 lb and 6.0 lb

Day 5 – This was my last day. The night before, the car wouldn’t start at the ramp so I had to phone a buddy to help jump the car. So I spent this morning going into town and figuring out what is wrong with the batteries/terminals. After this was done, I only had a few hours to fish in the afternoon. Fishing was super slow. Worst night of the week, but still fun to get out. After a well-rounded week, I decided to head home. Daughter wanted me back to watch her in her church singing program. Was too adorable to say no, so off I went. Tight lines!

Shimmy

[Dwight Hottle]

That's what I call getting it done. I can't believe you're all bundled up yet still wearing shorts. Animal. 

[buzzed bait]

WOW those are some fatties!!

[OperationEagle]

crazy Shimmy!  Nicely done...and great report.  Did all of these come off of a swimjig?

[fishinfiend]

Very nice bro!

[geneoh]

d**n dude, that would be the best week of fishing in my entire life! 

[WIGuide]

Dang dude those are some insane limits for up north. Where the heck in MN is that? haha

[J Francho]

Sick!

[Paul Roberts]

Awesome.

[A-Jay]

Shimmy Getting It DONE ~ ! ! !

That's one Epic trip for the ages right there my man. 

All that Fat Bass Goodness and you had it all to Yourself ~ SWEET.

Nice job on the self photos too - that's always a challenge.

And in reference to all the pike & the bite offs:  That's something I deal with here All The Time and I highly recommend the product below.

By simply adding a 12-15 inch trace between the mainline & the bait you can virtually eliminate bait loss with NO REDUCTION is bites.

 I have a rather healthy supply myself and If you'd like to pm me your shipping address, I'll send you a spool and you can try before you buy.   However, I do believe you to will become a believer as well.

Congrats again my friend - that looked like one of those trips you'll remember for a while - from the not so friendly conditions to the equipment challenges and certainly All Those Stout Bass - you certainly persevered.

Much Respect.

A-Jay

 

[long island basser]

Impressive -  nice work!

[NEBasser101]

Awesome. Thats great

[Tlauz]

Awesome fish!!!!!!!!!

[shimmy]

9 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

That's what I call getting it done. I can't believe you're all bundled up yet still wearing shorts. Animal. 

Who says dressing like a homeless man scares the fish!

8 hours ago, OperationEagle said:

crazy Shimmy!  Nicely done...and great report.  Did all of these come off of a swimjig?

None on the swimjig. A slow worked quarter ounce jig did the trick.

4 hours ago, WIGuide said:

Dang dude those are some insane limits for up north. Where the heck in MN is that? haha

As much as I want to take credit, some of the less pressured lakes I fish are easier to catch 4+ fish than your typical nearby crowded 400 acre lakes.

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Shimmy Getting It DONE ~ ! ! !

That's one Epic trip for the ages right there my man. 

All that Fat Bass Goodness and you had it all to Yourself ~ SWEET.

Nice job on the self photos too - that's always a challenge.

And in reference to all the pike & the bite offs:  That's something I deal with here All The Time and I highly recommend the product below.

By simply adding a 12-15 inch trace between the mainline & the bait you can virtually eliminate bait loss with NO REDUCTION is bites.

 I have a rather healthy supply myself and If you'd like to pm me your shipping address, I'll send you a spool and you can try before you buy.   However, I do believe you to will become a believer as well.

Congrats again my friend - that looked like one of those trips you'll remember for a while - from the not so friendly conditions to the equipment challenges and certainly All Those Stout Bass - you certainly persevered.

Much Respect.

A-Jay

 

Good advice, I am terrified of using anything connected to my lure that might deter a big fish. Then again, people swear by leaders...it's interesting, I see the smallest moss/weed on a jig deter bites and I fear that a leader might have that same suspicious look that deters fish from a slow worked bait. But, your advice and experience is a reminder that I should consider it.

[mnbassman23]

Well done sir! Way to put in work on those MN fatties.

["hamma"]

Thats one impressive trip! Congrats to you,..  Shimmy.

[Steveo-1969]

Mr. Shimmy, you are the man.  Congrats and thanks for sharing!

[Glenn]

We're not worthy!  We're not worthy!

[Catch 22]

Awesome catchin

[nosdog2]

Awesome!!!  Those are some great fish!

[senile1]

That's an amazing grouping of big fish, Shimmy!  You are on it.  

[thatoneguyupnorth]

Well done (from a MN guy)! Most folks don't know how amazing fall fishing is up here. Giant largemouth and smallmouth on the feed...fun stuff!

[bassguytom]

Yea boy! Getting it done! That was a great trip. Thanks for sharing. 

[Jeff H]

Amazing!

Who is this guy anyway! 

You do this every year, do you not?  I think I've seen some similar threads in the past.

My best bag was just shy of 19lbs. 27-28 would blow my mind.

Pork or plastic on your 1/4 oz jig?

[shimmy]

2 hours ago, Jeff H said:

Amazing!

Who is this guy anyway! 

You do this every year, do you not?  I think I've seen some similar threads in the past.

My best bag was just shy of 19lbs. 27-28 would blow my mind.

Pork or plastic on your 1/4 oz jig?

The question of pork or plastic totally beats the crap out of me. I literally second guess myself the WHOLE time i have one or the other tied on. This year i forced myself to mostly fish plastic. I did try some pork this trip, but realized i wasn't building confidence in my plastic so took it off. I psych myself out all of the time and have always preferred pork. But with uncle josh stopping their pork, the tediousness of making your own pork, and all of the missed fish from the pork impeding the hook from hooking the fish, i tried this fall to wean myself off. The 4 and 5 pounders didn't seem to mind; however, i did catch less 6 pounders this fall than i did last fall and i was using pork last fall...See, this is the problem with this. I can tell myself, "sure, 28 pounds shows that it is just fine...nothing to worry about." But then i think of catching less 6 pounders and this gets my head all messed up. I don't know the answer and i am sure one or the other might outfish the other at times, but i am currently committing myself to plastic. I just used a subtle action/soft plastic trailer that seemed to work. Anything that moved too fast and the bite would stop. Many to most of my bites came when the jig was sitting on the ground for a about 4 or 5 seconds. I did however get a lot of bites that never held on and i think pork would have been better for those bites, but i probably caught more fish because of the unimpeded hookset from the plastic...an interesting tradeoff.  The struggle is real.