Super User FryDog62 Posted May 2, 2019 Author Super User Posted May 2, 2019 8 hours ago, punch said: Anyone running over to Wisconsin next week? Not out of the question... any good Wisconsin bass lakes within an hour or so of the Twin Cities? Quote
punch Posted May 2, 2019 Posted May 2, 2019 11 minutes ago, FryDog62 said: Not out of the question... any good Wisconsin bass lakes within an hour or so of the Twin Cities? Within an hour? Not really.. a lot of people run to Balsam which is just over an hour. Some of the 'good' lakes are about 1:45-2 hours. I'm gonna try and get over there twice next week before my new job starts. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted May 2, 2019 Author Super User Posted May 2, 2019 23 minutes ago, punch said: Within an hour? Not really.. a lot of people run to Balsam which is just over an hour. Some of the 'good' lakes are about 1:45-2 hours. I'm gonna try and get over there twice next week before my new job starts. Good idea, get every day in you can... My family had a cabin near Hayward for 27 years and I know the lakes over there... but not knowledgeable about anything closer than that. If any lakes other than Balsam come to mind within 1 maybe 2 hours I’m open to suggestions or PM. Thx Quote
ThatOneBigKid Posted May 2, 2019 Posted May 2, 2019 Bassmasters on Lake Fork with Live coverage. Zero work getting done today and tomorrow. ? Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted May 4, 2019 Author Super User Posted May 4, 2019 Thx rascaIP for recommending a Lake to me today on the “Sconny” side... 3 Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted May 4, 2019 Super User Posted May 4, 2019 First chance I had to go out. Just popped down to a shore spot on Emerald Lake as I didn't have the time to launch/land the canoe. Didn't get skunked, but nothing but little ones. Mepps Comet #0 in Shad for the first hour, worms the second. 5 Pumpkinseeds, 6 Bluegill and 4 LMBs...nothing over 7" BUT I DIDN'T GET SKUNKED! First catch of the year. 2 Quote
Super User gim Posted May 6, 2019 Super User Posted May 6, 2019 I fished in the crappie contest yesterday. My old man and I boated 40-50 of them. Biggest was 11 inches. The lake and the access were a zoo. Amateur hour at the access trying to leave. Biggest crappie weighed at fletchers was 1.83 pounds, almost 17 inches. Where the heck do they catch those monster slabs out there? 1 Quote
rascalP Posted May 6, 2019 Posted May 6, 2019 On 5/1/2019 at 10:26 AM, punch said: Anyone running over to Wisconsin next week? Went to Loveless by Centuria. Foggy start. My buddy got one right away on a crank, then I went through about 6 rods before getting a couple on a lipless crank. By 1:00 we had it kind of dialed in to slowly working, sometimes jigging, a lipless crank and twitching a Pink x-rap (a personal fav). By 4:30 we had 15 - 20 fish, including 1/2 dozen very respectable northerns. We decided to fish one last section we hadn't hit yet, and my buddy went on a tear with the lipless crank. For the next 45 minutes, he boated maybe 15 fish, all 15-17" with another going 18". I got a few and got cut off twice, but I just enjoyed watching him go to town. We finally moved on, and got a few more on the jerkbait, but that 50 yard stretch was a mother lode. Even though we didn't get any donkey's, the size range was real nice, almost all 14 - 17". Water temp started at 50 and made it up to 57 by late afternoon. I thought the fish would be shallow, but all were deeper than 6 or 7 fow and except for the last flurry they were 8 - 12 fow. Color didn't seem to matter at first. I was using red/black. Max was using silver/black. For his run, I think he had the right bait AND the groove going. Fun day no doubt. 1 Quote
ThatOneBigKid Posted May 6, 2019 Posted May 6, 2019 Got out to Pool 4 Saturday and had a good day with my Uncle. Caught probably 15 or so smallies on jerk baits, 10 or so Largies on Squarebills and a couple on a Tokyo rig flippin' tight to flooded trees. Also had somewhere around 15 toothy slimers mixed in. Great day overall. beautiful weather all day. Water was anywhere between 52-55 degrees. Bass aren't quite into the back backwaters, but they are heading that direction. A number of our catches were on key stopping points on their way back. Best of the trip - 3.5lbs. Caught 3 this size all off the same spot. Looking forward to getting out to Tonka on Saturday for opener and a family fish fry. Such a fun family tradition. 2 Quote
punch Posted May 8, 2019 Posted May 8, 2019 Nice job Clay! I ran over to Wood Lake in WI for the day today. I hit a few rocky points and tossed a paddle tail swimbait and BAM.. got a bite right away. Then the rest of the day I couldn't get a single bite on moving bait. Weird huh? I got a little frustrated and pulled into a bay with a bank that had some tree shadows and dead reeds. The wind was blowing into this bank so I pulled out the jig and worked it slow through the reeds. I got a ton of bites so I ran that pattern the rest of the day around the lake and got a lot of action. It was a jig kinda day.. the females seemed to be holding onto the hard bottom of the dead reeds. Still pre-spawn. Water temps was like 56ish. I worked 2 jigs, a custom 1/2oz green pumpkin with a biospawn vile bug trailer and a 3/8oz outkast Stealth Fider jig with a rage menace trailer. Of course the 1/2oz got my two 3lbers with the bigger profile but the 3/8th got the most number of bites. I tossed the 3/8oz on a St Croix Legend X 7'1MH with 15lb fluoro. That rod is simply incredible. I can feel every little twig that the jig comes across. It's like having underwater sonar... even with fluoro. I tossed the 1/2oz on a megabass destroyer FMJ 7'1 heavy with straight 40lb braid, no leader. I really like jig days. 6 1 Quote
Dubtee Posted May 9, 2019 Posted May 9, 2019 On 5/7/2019 at 9:42 PM, punch said: Nice job Clay! I ran over to Wood Lake in WI for the day today. I hit a few rocky points and tossed a paddle tail swimbait and BAM.. got a bite right away. Then the rest of the day I couldn't get a single bite on moving bait. Weird huh? I got a little frustrated and pulled into a bay with a bank that had some tree shadows and dead reeds. The wind was blowing into this bank so I pulled out the jig and worked it slow through the reeds. I got a ton of bites so I ran that pattern the rest of the day around the lake and got a lot of action. It was a jig kinda day.. the females seemed to be holding onto the hard bottom of the dead reeds. Still pre-spawn. Water temps was like 56ish. I worked 2 jigs, a custom 1/2oz green pumpkin with a biospawn vile bug trailer and a 3/8oz outkast Stealth Fider jig with a rage menace trailer. Of course the 1/2oz got my two 3lbers with the bigger profile but the 3/8th got the most number of bites. I tossed the 3/8oz on a St Croix Legend X 7'1MH with 15lb fluoro. That rod is simply incredible. I can feel every little twig that the jig comes across. It's like having underwater sonar... even with fluoro. I tossed the 1/2oz on a megabass destroyer FMJ 7'1 heavy with straight 40lb braid, no leader. I really like jig days. Hard to beat a good jig day, nice work. IS IT SATURDAY YET?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Quote
SmallBlockMuscle Posted May 9, 2019 Posted May 9, 2019 Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time. Quote
JackKlassen Posted May 9, 2019 Posted May 9, 2019 2 hours ago, SmallBlockMuscle said: Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time. Fish around here normally flood the bank when water gets into the 50s. A chatterbait is my go to searchbait and a jig is hard to beat if you know where they're holding. Look for back bays and pockets where the bottom is soft and can soak up the sun, water is usually warmer there. By far the best time of the year to slay fish on moving baits. Quote
punch Posted May 9, 2019 Posted May 9, 2019 3 hours ago, JackKlassen said: Fish around here normally flood the bank when water gets into the 50s. A chatterbait is my go to searchbait and a jig is hard to beat if you know where they're holding. Look for back bays and pockets where the bottom is soft and can soak up the sun, water is usually warmer there. By far the best time of the year to slay fish on moving baits. When I went out fishing Tuesday (in eastern WI) the fish wouldn't touch a moving bait and were hanging out on hard bottom area's with dead vegetation. Totally opposite of what you just said haha. The bucks don't seem to have pulled up and started making beds yet, the waters still in the mid 50's. I found the fatty females up shallow but they seemed to be grouping up in hard bottom spots. Don't be afraid to fish slow and drag a jig/texas rig around this weekend. 5 hours ago, SmallBlockMuscle said: Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time. When it gets to 59 degrees start hunting for beds. Until then.. good luck! haha 1 Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted May 9, 2019 Author Super User Posted May 9, 2019 “When it gets to 59 degrees start hunting for beds. Until then.. good luck! haha“ Probably pretty close... usually the first full moon after mid-50’s water temp is when the spawn really kicks in. This year that would be May 18... Quote
rascalP Posted May 10, 2019 Posted May 10, 2019 10 hours ago, SmallBlockMuscle said: Anybody want to share any early season tips that have worked in the past around the metro area? Hoping to get out for a few hours Saturday and haven't fished this early in a long time. Sluggo. aka - fluke, jerk shad, soft stickbait - fished weightless. That said, it didn't even get a sniff last week in wisconsin, but I know a couple lakes it will work on next week. Always on a rod in May. Quote
SmallBlockMuscle Posted May 10, 2019 Posted May 10, 2019 Thanks for the replies. I will work in the advice, hoping the wind isnt too bad. Quote
ThatOneBigKid Posted May 10, 2019 Posted May 10, 2019 Beautiful smallie @Frog Turds. Thanks for the info too. That cane/reed stuff is all over in the area we were at, but like you said, we drove right past it to another place we had done very well at in previous years. They could have been sitting right there. Certainly will pay more attention to that stuff in the future. Is it Saturday yet!!!! Quote
OperationEagle Posted May 11, 2019 Posted May 11, 2019 My clock say 12:09. Season starts boys. See you on the water. Stay safe. 2 Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted May 11, 2019 Author Super User Posted May 11, 2019 Jerkbaits working today - 3 species liked it 3 Quote
bwjay Posted May 11, 2019 Posted May 11, 2019 Had a chance to fish a family friend's bay on Minnetonka today. It was pretty slow all day, couldn't get a reaction bite so I switched over to a brown/purple football jig (Papa Mur) with a Bandito Bug trailer (natural color). Pitched it over to the neighbor's dock and on the second cast, lifting the rod felt heavier than normal, so I flicked the wrist and started feeling a fish fighting back. The drag was reeling and I thought I had it set too loose, but nope, it just turned out to be a bigger fish than I was expecting!! I got this girl close to the surface and gasped. I'd never caught a largemouth before so this was not only a new experience but a great one. I just remember telling myself to keep pressure on my line as she jumped a few times so she wouldn't come off, while I waited for my fishing partner to come over and take a picture. Little did I know, there was no way this fish was coming off on its own. Look how she ate that jig. Came out to 20 inches, and I estimate between 3 and 4 pounds. Not only did she break the skunk streak but she was a beautiful fish. Couldn't get another bite on the jig so I switched to a white/chartreuse spinnerbait and managed a small, maybe 1lb largie. Kept throwing the spinnerbait and couldn't get another bite. I switched to a red squarebill and kept snagging weeds - it was pretty shallow in this bay. What got me though was that as I was reeling in this big strand of weeds, I pulled the bait out of the water and saw a big pike, maybe 30 inches, in about 2 feet of water near shore. I got the weeds off and tried to cast out in front of it, but got more weeds. I put a spinnerbait back on but couldn't manage to entice the pike. I was bummed but that big largie from earlier had me satisfied. Even though things were slow I had a good time. How did everyone else do? 2 Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted May 11, 2019 Super User Posted May 11, 2019 12 minutes ago, bwjay said: Even though things were slow I had a good time. How did everyone else do? Nice fish...was that Phelps Bay by any chance? Due to scheduling with the wife, I won't get out until Wednesday...hopefully they're biting then. Quote
bwjay Posted May 11, 2019 Posted May 11, 2019 1 minute ago, MN Fisher said: Nice fish...was that Phelps Bay by any chance? Due to scheduling with the wife, I won't get out until Wednesday...hopefully they're biting then. No clue where it actually is on the lake. It was a pretty small bay so I doubt it has its own name... but I'll be going back tomorrow with another friend, rain or shine. Hoping to have a few more photos to share! Quote
geneoh Posted May 12, 2019 Posted May 12, 2019 Had a fun opener. My bud and I caught probably 30 total all on reaction baits. Swim jig, chatterbait, squarebill, s-waver. Up shallow to start, then we moved to clumps of weeds at 8-12 fow. They were scattered as the day went on. The bank bite stopped and just picked of randoms in the weeds. They were active for us, wt 55. Best 5 was 17lbs. 7 Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted May 12, 2019 Super User Posted May 12, 2019 1 hour ago, bwjay said: No clue where it actually is on the lake. It was a pretty small bay so I doubt it has its own name... but I'll be going back tomorrow with another friend, rain or shine. Hoping to have a few more photos to share! Quick questions. Does the bay run east-west, were there islands on the east side and a bridge over a channel on the west? Quote
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