High water temps, bright sun, little wind, stained water.

[Further North]

Scenario:

 

Water temps 80° in the AM, climbing to 85°.

 

Stained flowage (Chippewa Flowage, SE of Hayward, WI).  Parts of the flowage are clear-ish, some are heavily stained.

 

Air temps 80° - 85° daytime, 51° - 59° overnight.

 

Weather will be sunny/mostly sunny, not much wind (might top out around 7 - 8 MPH late afternoon).

 

Will be getting to the lake after a day of thunderstorms.  Barometer should be steady or slightly rising while we are there, with a dip at the end of the day Saturday.

 

Relatively high fishing pressure for a NW WI lake.

 

How would you fish this?

[Glaucus]

Let me tell you bout my best friend (Ned)

[Further North]

6 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

Let me tell you bout my best friend (Ned)

Interesting thought...where would you fish them?

[NHBull]

2 thoughts

 

Find the thermocline and match the bottom to that depth.

 

Look for cover and laydowns in the AM shallow

 

Popper, Jerks, Jigs,.....dropshot if all off fails

 

 

[Dirtyeggroll]

Probably a thermocline, which can help you target depth.

[A-Jay]

Forget the deep water -

Get on 'the biggest' mid depth flat (4-8 ft) somewhat close to deep(er) water.

Don't fish until you find the food, perch, small sunnies or pumpkinseeds or crayfish - (like gold btw).

Once you do, make long casts and Burn your favorite (insert most appropriate for the deal) horizontal presentation all over that deal.

Admittedly, super early mornings may be your best bet and the bite may not last - especially if there's zero wind.

But it's worth a shot.

Hang on . . . . .

A-Jay  

[Further North]

Thanks - especially on the thermocline.

 

Hadn't thought of that as I usually don't have to deal with bathwater this warm.

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Forget the deep water -

Get on 'the biggest' mid depth flat (4-8 ft) somewhat close to deep(er) water.

Don't fish until you find the food, perch, small sunnies or pumpkinseeds or crayfish - (like gold btw).

Once you do, make long casts and Burn your favorite (insert most appropriate for the deal) horizontal presentation all over that deal.

Admittedly, super early mornings may be your best bet and the bite may not last - especially if there' zero wind.

But it's worth a shot.

Hang on . . . . .

A-Jay  

Thanks.

 

Are you dealing with the same high water temps we are this year?  It's just gross...  I'm thinkin' rivers...

[Glaucus]

28 minutes ago, Further North said:

Interesting thought...where would you fish them?

Ned is amazing at work, at home, at the gym, at the restaurant, at the bank. Ned is Ned and we all strive to be like Ned. He never fails. Ned wins at life 

[A-Jay]

4 minutes ago, Further North said:

Thanks - especially on the thermocline.

 

Hadn't thought of that as I usually don't have to deal with bathwater this warm.

Thanks.

 

Are you dealing with the same high water temps we are this year?  It's just gross...  I'm thinkin' rivers...

Yes - air temps approaching 90 and water temps shallow in the mid-70's.

But I have to say the exact opposite of what I expected has happened.

Bait is shallow and the big fish are on them hard. 

Past two days the smallies I'm on are averaging over 5 1/2 lbs. 

Go look shallow first.   

You can catch nothing anywhere . . . 

A-Jay

[Further North]

44 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

Ned is amazing at work, at home, at the gym, at the restaurant, at the bank. Ned is Ned and we all strive to be like Ned. He never fails. Ned wins at life 

Great stuff...we all love Ned...but how would you fish Ned in the circumstances above?

[Glaucus]

3 minutes ago, Further North said:

Great stuff...we all love Ned...but how would you fish Ned in the circumstances above?

Anywhere you know has bass. It's the least complicated thing brother. Swim it, hop it Ned will get it done anywhere they are.

[Further North]

41 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Yes - air temps approaching 90 and water temps shallow in the mid-70's.

But I have to say the exact opposite of what I expected has happened.

Bait is shallow and the big fish are on them hard. 

Past two days the smallies I'm on are averaging over 5 1/2 lbs. 

Go look shallow first.   

You can catch nothing anywhere . . . 

A-Jay

I'm a terrible warm water fisherman...if we had mid 70s water temps, I'd be fine...but this is 10° over what I was expecting...add the pea soup clarity, and I'm way off my game...

 

I like clear, cold water...I may get grumpy... ?

1 minute ago, Glaucus said:

Anywhere you know has bass. It's the least complicated thing brother. Swim it, hop it Ned will get it done anywhere they are.

Thanks - I've not fished them a bunch.

 

I have one rod I can dedicate to that set-up, I'll have it set up tomorrow, ready to go.

[Russ E]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Forget the deep water -

Get on 'the biggest' mid depth flat (4-8 ft) somewhat close to deep(er) water.

Don't fish until you find the food, perch, small sunnies or pumpkinseeds or crayfish - (like gold btw).

Once you do, make long casts and Burn your favorite (insert most appropriate for the deal) horizontal presentation all over that deal.

Admittedly, super early mornings may be your best bet and the bite may not last - especially if there' zero wind.

But it's worth a shot.

Hang on . . . . .

A-Jay  

^^^ this.

If that does not work, back off to the deeper water and drag a big worm or jig off the edges of that flat.

Like @ajay said. don't fish until you find the food.

[Glaucus]

8 minutes ago, Further North said:

I'm a terrible warm water fisherman...if we had mid 70s water temps, I'd be fine...but this is 10° over what I was expecting...add the pea soup clarity, and I'm way off my game...

 

I like clear, cold water...I may get grumpy... ?

Thanks - I've not fished them a bunch.

 

I have one rod I can dedicate to that set-up, I'll have it set up tomorrow, ready to go.

I realize my specifics aren't specific at all. That's just the Ned. Anywhere bass are located, there's nothing special you have to do. People use it as a last resort. The past month, I've used it as my start and kept using it because it works. Check out the Fishing Report forum and the Latest Catch thread. Big Smallies, big Larries, it don't matter. It catches them all, catches the dinks,catches the bigs; it just catches them. The inspiration for my "has bass fishing become expensive and complicated for no reason" thread. There are some techniques that just "do it" but we dedicate 12 setups to other things any ways. 

[Further North]

3 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

There are some techniques that just "do it" but we dedicate 12 setups to other things any ways. 

That's funny...

 

I have three "confidence" baits:

1. Smokin' Rooster, T-rigged with a 1/4 oz. wt. over a 30# tied-in wire leader (so the sliding weight still works)
2. Senko.  T-rigged or Wacky...doesn't matter.
3. #5 Mepps.  Color may vary, but it'll find fish.

 

...and I've got at least another 12 set-ups dedicated to other things*.

 

Why the weird mix?  Teeth first, bass 2nd...most days...

 

*In Canada, I've a 4th confidence bait: Dr. Spoon.  Colors my vary, but red and white dominates, most years.

[soflabasser]

Sounds like a good time to try topwater fishing at night time.

[Further North]

4 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Sounds like a good time to try topwater fishing at night time.

Hard to say...I don't like night fishing...it's skeeter city in these parts (days don't have a lot of bugs) and I really don't like running across flowages that are part of river systems up here at night.

 

I'm sure our skeeters are nothing like yours...but I've got a really low tolerance and most years I don't have to deal with them more than a couple times.

[Brew City Bass]

I've been dealing with the same crap down here near Milwaukee. One of my favorite lakes is more stained than it's ever been and the water temp just hit 81* today. I went out this AM for 4 hours and only got 3 bass. One on a spinnerbait, one a whopper plopper, and one on a frog. I couldn't find a pattern so I just started junk fishing. 

Wind was nowhere to be found and not a cloud in the sky. It's been rough. Thankfully, night fishing has been rather productive this summer.

[burrows]

TRD 

[Further North]

13 minutes ago, Burrows said:

TRD 

Toyota Racing Development?  ?

[Further North]

1 hour ago, Brew City Bass said:

I've been dealing with the same crap down here near Milwaukee. One of my favorite lakes is more stained than it's ever been and the water temp just hit 81* today. I went out this AM for 4 hours and only got 3 bass. One on a spinnerbait, one a whopper plopper, and one on a frog. I couldn't find a pattern so I just started junk fishing. 

Wind was nowhere to be found and not a cloud in the sky. It's been rough. Thankfully, night fishing has been rather productive this summer.

My fishing partner for the trip is from Racine...he's been dealing with the same stuff.

 

That you guys don't have very many lakes in your part of the state isn't helping his attitude...

 

I grew up down there (Elkhorn/Lauderdale Lakes) and on my few trips back just one look at the scarcity of fishable water, and the number of boats on it...I'm never sorry to head back home...

 

There are hundreds of lakes in the county I live in now...

[Brew City Bass]

14 minutes ago, Further North said:

My fishing partner for the trip is from Racine...he's been dealing with the same stuff.

 

That you guys don't have very many lakes in your part of the state isn't helping his attitude...

 

I grew up down there (Elkhorn/Lauderdale Lakes) and on my few trips back just one look at the scarcity of fishable water, and the number of boats on it...I'm never sorry to head back home...

 

There are hundreds of lakes in the county I live in now...

Well, it isn't terribly bad. I do have 3-4 crystal clear lakes that are spring fed within 20 minutes of me. I'm talking 20ft visibility most days. Added bonus is that they're fairly small with very few trailer parking spots. This means on weekdays I am usually the only one on the lake. One of those lakes got me two PB bass this summer. Another one is a pretty great smallie fishery that has yielded me two 5lbers this summer and more 3-4s than I can count. Plenty of walleye in that lake as well. The rest of the bigger lakes are dammed up use to be rivers. Those I try to avoid this time of year. Fishing in stained hot water isn't my strong point.

Sadly, you are right about crowded waters. I can put up with it because when the weather is like this, I become nocturnal and start fishing at night. Usually am the only one on the water then and the fish really turn on. During the hot months, the residents seem to become a problem. Tons of people with the "I own the lake" attitude. I've had tons confrontations with owners driving over my lines, cutting between me and the shore when there is literally 10 yards leeway, or just trying to send massive wakes my way. I don't take much crap when it comes to that. I usually start off with chucking a 1oz jig at their boat and see how far they want to take it. Usually never goes further than them swinging around, yelling from a distance when they realize I'm ready to rip their head off. I did let the anger get the best of me once this year and chased a guy who almost clipped me when I was trolling the shore. I pulled up the trolling motor and chased him back to his dock, got off the boat and told him to throw em up. Then I saw his wife and kids and reality hit me that it was just dumb to try and fight someone like that. Nothing to gain, everything to lose. I just hate it when people put me or my family in danger. 

[soflabasser]

3 hours ago, Further North said:

Hard to say...I don't like night fishing...it's skeeter city in these parts (days don't have a lot of bugs) and I really don't like running across flowages that are part of river systems up here at night.

 

I'm sure our skeeters are nothing like yours...but I've got a really low tolerance ans most years I don't have to deal with them more than a couple times.

We have lots of mosquitoes in South Florida along with alligators, pythons,cottonmouths, black widow spiders,etc. I fish at least 10 feet away from the bank,near a source of light, and only fish for a few hours to be safe. It's been worth it to me since I have caught dozens and dozens of big bass at night time. I also don't like the +90 degree intense sauna like heat (unless I am diving) that South Florida has during the Summer so I prefer fishing lowlight conditions than dealing with the day heat.

[Further North]

23 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

We have lots of mosquitoes in South Florida along with alligators, pythons,etc. I fish at least 10 feet away from the bank,near a source of light, and only fish for a few hours to be safe. It's been worth it to me since I have caught dozens and dozens of big bass at nighttime. I also don't like the +90 degree intense sauna like heat that South Florida has so I prefer fishing lowlight conditions than dealing with the day heat.

Yup, different worlds.  I was down your way in June, once...the skeeters drove me nuts.  Not sure if I could adjust or not.

 

...On the other hand...you can fish in January...when all we can do is jump up and down on the ice...

[Brew City Bass]

24 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

We have lots of mosquitoes in South Florida along with alligators, pythons,cottonmouths, black widow spiders,etc. I fish at least 10 feet away from the bank,near a source of light, and only fish for a few hours to be safe. It's been worth it to me since I have caught dozens and dozens of big bass at night time. I also don't like the +90 degree intense sauna like heat (unless I am diving) that South Florida has during the Summer so I prefer fishing lowlight conditions than dealing with the day heat.

This is one thing that I've always felt blessed about living in the north. Nothing tries to kill us up here. I mean, we have rattle snakes and brown recluses, but in my 23 years on this earth, I've only ever seen one rattler in my state and they seem to stay out of the lakes. If I had to deal with cottonmouths, widows, gators, and everything else you guys have, I'd probably never fish at night!

1 minute ago, Further North said:

Yup, different worlds.  I was down your way in June, once...the skeeters drove me nuts.  Not sure if I could adjust or not.

 

...On the other hand...you can fish in January...when all we can do is jump up and down on the ice...

This is the first year I am gonna try and give ice fishing a really good shot. I about went nuts last winter being all cooped up with no fishing. I've ice fished before, but never seriously. I am gonna get a gas auger, ice sonar set up and a decent shanty and see how it goes. It's gotta be better than not fishing at all.