2024 Minnesota Season Thread

[Adrift]

Fished a metro lake today. Fish were scattered but fairly active. Water was 72F. 

Caught this muskie and it had what looks like a burn behind its gill plate.  Anybody seen this before?

 

 

[gim]

Could be from a prop or outboard?

 

Nice tiger BTW.  Just caught one myself last weekend.  Did you measure it?

[Adrift]

I didn't measure it. Wanted to get it swimming again ASAP and I wasn't sure where my tape was located.  I would guess it was mid to upper 30s. 

 

[gim]

1 minute ago, Adrift said:

I didn't measure it. Wanted to get it swimming again ASAP. I would guess it was mid to upper 30s. 

 

The one I caught last week had a rusted treble with 16 inches of old fishing line in its mouth.  Those fish are tough, I tell you.  I'm surprised it could even eat with that thing and line in there.  I removed it properly before releasing it.

[Adrift]

On a related note; my pb muskie was 50.75" and had 3 perfectly healed prop slashes down its back. You aren't kidding about them being tough!

[gim]

Ya they get beat up pretty bad sometimes.  You see some of the ones that guys hold up in tournaments and they look like they've been through a meat grinder.

[gim]

Went bass fishing with the boy for a few hours this morning. I had not been bass fishing since August (I’ve been muskie fishing for the past few weeks instead). Caught about a dozen fish ranging in size from 12-17 inches. I got up at 6am and Garrett was already chomping at the bit to go. We’re still working on how to hold the fish correctly. Water temp is 73.5 degrees.

 

 

[gim]

I went muskie fishing today for about 5 hours. I had one sizable fish swipe and miss. Caught 7 northern pike, including a 34 1/4 incher, my biggest pike this season. Water temp is up  to 74.5 degrees today with the heat this week.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

Dealing with some health issues and I haven’t been able to fish hardly at all this month, maybe 8 total hours this whole month. Hoping to get on the water sometime this week/next weekend. Not exactly sure what the water temps are in the bemidji area but it sure feels like fall. I’ll let you guys how it goes, wish me luck.

[gim]

3 hours ago, August said:

Dealing with some health issues

 

Health is more important than fishing.  Best to get and stay healthy.

 

I have a derby a week from tomorrow (Mon, Sept 30) so I'm gonna do some pre-fishing next weekend for it.  I expect the bass to still be in full summer mode.  Leaves are still nearly fully green here, water temps are in the 70's, and there's no sign of fall on the horizon.

[gim]

Anyone been chasing largemouth recently here?  I've been muskie fishing for a month and I have a derby on Monday so I've kind of been out of the bassin' game.  My understanding is that they're still in full summer mode with the extended summer weather we've been having.  I'll be pre fishing on Saturday for it and my intention is to start off like its midsummer out there.

[Adrift]

16 hours ago, gimruis said:

Anyone been chasing largemouth recently here?  I've been muskie fishing for a month and I have a derby on Monday so I've kind of been out of the bassin' game.  My understanding is that they're still in full summer mode with the extended summer weather we've been having.  I'll be pre fishing on Saturday for it and my intention is to start off like its midsummer out there.

I was out the other day. Had a few blowups on frogs. Caught a couple punching. Caught the bigger ones out flipping deep grass. 

 

[gim]

I went for about 3.5 hours this morning targeting largemouth.  I was pre-fishing for a derby on Monday.  A friend and I caught about 20 fish in 3.5 hours.  A few early on a buzz bait and a spinner bait, but by 9:30am when the sun had risen higher, that bite was done.  Moved deeper, found some good green weeds, a nearby school of sunfish, and did some damage with a jig worm.  Several doubles, and at one point I caught 3 in 3 casts.  Size ranged from 15-19 inches, with one bigger than that which jumped and spit the hook.

 

By 11am we were pretty toasted out there.  Hot, sunny, no wind, and still plenty of pleasure boaters out there.  Jet skis, wake boats, and pontoons were all out like it was the middle of July.  Water temps are still 72 degrees.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

Huh still 72? I haven’t been on the water in long time but my Omnia app says mid to low sixties around me. I wonder how accurate it is.

I just checked and Omnia says around 65-66 down south in the metro area so I might be off a few degrees. 

[throttleplate]

10 hours ago, gimruis said:

By 11am we were pretty toasted out there.  Hot, sunny, no wind, and still plenty of pleasure boaters out there.  Jet skis, wake boats, and pontoons were all out like it was the middle of July.  Water temps are still 72 degrees.

The weather in fargo and detroit lakes has been so hot, sunny, and no wind that its keeping me from going fishing.

Non fishing folks think im crazy when i tell them i would rather it be extremely cloudy and throw in some 15 mph winds so i can go get some more panfish.

My wifes garden is doing fantastic with the extended summer weather, lots more eggplant, okra, green peppers, bitter gourd and of course tomatos on the vine.

[gim]

12 hours ago, throttleplate said:

The weather in fargo and detroit lakes has been so hot, sunny, and no wind that its keeping me from going fishing.

Non fishing folks think im crazy when i tell them i would rather it be extremely cloudy and throw in some 15 mph winds so i can go get some more panfish.

 

My guess is that your area will record the warmest September on record there.  I know that we already eclipsed that a few days ago here in the Twin Cities.

 

And last year, it was the warmest September on record here too...until this year.

 

September has become a summer month, not a fall one.  Even in the far north.  Not a big fan.

[umdivx]

14 hours ago, August said:

Huh still 72?

Yup was out yesterday just west of Rogers and was seeing 72-73. 

[gim]

14 hours ago, August said:

I just checked and Omnia says around 65-66 down south in the metro area so I might be off a few degrees. 

 

I'm west/northwest metro.

 

I have not seen a temp below 70 since May.

 

65 degrees is not accurate south of the Twin Cities, whatever your source is.  People are still water skiing, tubing, wake boarding, and swimming like its July out there.

[umdivx]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

whatever your source is.

Omnia Fishing has their app with their pro account has water temp as a feature https://www.instagram.com/omniafishing/reel/C5hNaEJvz5u/ it can be fairly accurate, I'm wondering with the cooler nights, and when the data is collected (satellite imaging) if they're collecting it when it's just the surface temps at night or early morning. 

[gim]

2 minutes ago, umdivx said:

if they're collecting it when it's just the surface temps at night or early morning. 

 

If they're collecting it at night time before the sun comes up, then that's possible.  I have been out there 30 minutes prior to sunrise a handful of times since late August and I haven't seen it below 70 degrees though.  The lowest I saw was on Labor Day when we had about a 2 day cool front and it was 70.5 degrees.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

Wow, fall fishing is going to be November this year, not October. It definitely feels like August out there. Was grouse hunting this morning and I cut my hunt short, way too hot.

[gim]

8 minutes ago, August said:

Was grouse hunting this morning and I cut my hunt short, way too hot.

 

I haven't done any hunting in September for years but I have to imagine that walking through the woods, sitting in a duck marsh, or sweating in a tree stand with a bow in this heat gets old pretty quick.

 

And the thing is, there is not much on the 10 day forecast resembling "fall" either.  There is a slight dip in temps on Tuesday but it's going to warm back up by the end of the week again.  We are still weeks away from a potential first frost here the way it seems to be going.

 

Hurricanes are partially to blame.  They tend to block normal weather patterns.

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

I just looked at the weather and I see a few lows in the upper thirties and 36 for a low on Saturday so it might start to feel like fall here. Highs around 60 it looks like. 

6 hours ago, gimruis said:

I have to imagine that walking through the woods, sitting in a duck marsh, or sweating in a tree stand with a bow in this heat gets old pretty quick

Yeah it was pretty miserable out there, but I did flush a few birds so that makes it more bearable. 

8 hours ago, gimruis said:

September has become a summer month, not a fall one.  Even in the far north.  Not a big fan.

I actually don’t mind it too much, we get so much winter anyway I don’t mind the summer hanging on a bit longer. 
Who knows maybe the longer warm season will help grow some of our bass? 
 

[Adrift]

South metro lake I was on this morning was 68-69F so Omnia isn't too far off. 

More summer fishing today. Couldn't get anything to chase.  Caught a whole bunch of 2# fish on jig and t rig. Lost one decent one at the boat. I'll get her next time. 

[gim]

I fished in a 4 hour derby this morning and won. My partner and I caught about 10 bass total. All but 2 of them were 12-14 inch dinks. The other 2 were 4 pounders that ultimately won it for us by less than a pound.

 

It was very windy, and the bite was difficult. Moving lures did not produce much. The two big fish came on a jig worm along the deeper edge of weeds, 10 minutes apart.

 

Water temp was 71.5 degrees, north west metro. I agree with @Adrift, still fishing like it’s summer out there.