2024 Minnesota Season Thread

[gim]

Sure have been getting a lot of rain lately.  I have to imagine lake levels are finally coming back up.  And there's more rain in the forecast this week.

 

I haven't been on the water since April 6.  The water temps were only 41 degrees then.

 

I might try to get out next weekend if there is a break in the weather.  Sure would be nice to get a day without rain and wind.

[MN Fisher]

^ Given the rain and wind, I haven't even gotten Trek out of the garage. I hope I can get her on the water before bass opener so I can play with the 93 and get it set up the way I want before going 'hunting'.

[gim]

3 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Given the rain and wind

 

Its ironic that April 6 was the earliest I've ever used my boat since owning it, and its been such bad weather since I literally haven't even considered going.  There have been 2 days this entire month of April when the wind hasn't been sustained at least 20 mph.

[BassinBrett]

I took the Kayak out on Sunday afternoon and the water temperature on Lotus Lake was 54 to 55 degrees.   Ended up catching 2 largemouth bass on crappie jig.  

[Adrift]

On 4/29/2024 at 1:00 PM, Bass_Fischer said:

Happy 2024 season, all.  Any recent lake temp observations in/around the Twin Cities?

I was on Crystal down in Burnsville today for an hour or two getting the new trolling motor squared away. Water temp was 53. 

[throttleplate]

Why I love fishing the dams in North Dakota, big or small ya never know whats gonna come out of them. This was wednesday, the first day in the past 7 days with no rain, the walleye were biting along with smallies and this surprise catch which i caught on a 1/8 oz ballhead jig. I posted the story on latest catch pic threads if interested.

 

[gim]

Nice job on the muskie @throttleplate.  River still looks a little low in the back ground.  Hopefully you got some rain recently.  I've gotten over 3 inches in 6 days.

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I've gotten over 3 inches in 6 days.

Well, Tonka is up - last month the tops of the second course of blocks at Coffee Cove were 5-6" above the waterline - was out there a couple days ago and the water is lapping at the tops...and the wind was enough to splash water over the tops.

[Deephaven]

Our dock has plenty of lower unit depth...but doesn't usually do yes the lake is up.  I'd bet more than 6" though 

[throttleplate]

10 hours ago, gimruis said:

Nice job on the muskie @throttleplate.  River still looks a little low in the back ground.  Hopefully you got some rain recently.  I've gotten over 3 inches in 6 days.

 

Thanks, right place right time and some luck was involved.  The dam 10 days ago was at 2.95 and now sits at 4.68.

[gim]

Finally got on a quality panfish bite today.  Absolutely stunning day out there.  My wife, my son, and I probably caught about 25 crappies in about 3.5 hours.  Most of them were quality size too.  Two of them were pushing 13 inches.  Water temps in the mid 50's.  Both minnows and plastics were effective.

[gim]

What are people here thinking for early season bass tactics?  I don't think the fish will be in spawning mode quite yet.  Won't be long though, especially further south.

 

I am going to be tossing a jerk bait and maybe a chatterbait or spinnerbait.  A jerk bait seems to catch a multitude of fish species in the spring.  I catch smallmouth, largemouth, walleye, and pike on it.

 

I am seeing about 65-70 degrees for a high on Saturday and partly sunny conditions with a NW wind around 10 mph.

[MN Fisher]

Jerkbait sounds workable, as does a chatterbait....I'm also thinking jig-worm in and along the weed edges.

 

Tentatively, Bass Trek gets wet on Monday.

[Deephaven]

You know I am going to say frog....😜

 

Depending on where you mark them.  My boat is still in storage.  Another big set back on the house today so no time in sight that it'll be out.

 

[throttleplate]

Ummmm oh yeah, live flathead minnows.

i am goin crappie fishin in detroit lakes wed, is it catch and release for bass right now or still off limits to throw bass lures?

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

Ummmm oh yeah, live flathead minnows.

i am goin crappie fishin in detroit lakes wed, is it catch and release for bass right now or still off limits to throw bass lures?

Off limits until 12:01am Saturday.

[Bass_Fischer]

Counting down to the 18th and out of storage.  It'll be Jackhammers and Zakos up skinny until they tell me they want something else  ☺️

[Adrift]

Was out for a bit chasing crappie today. Small south of the metro lake was 59 degrees today. 

Fishing was excellent! Lots of aggressive fish of all shapes and sizes. 

[gim]

I did pretty good this morning locally.  About 4 hours of fishing produced 10 bass and 1 pike.  All of the bass were decent sized.  Two of them were clearly prespawn females.  No particular tactic or presentation seemed better than the other.  A jerk bait, spinnerbait, and a tube all produced fish.  Water temp was 58.5 when I started and 60 when I quit.  One item I did notice was that the weeds seemed to be thicker than usual for mid May.  I assume the fake winter played a role in that.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

Sounds like a good morning - I'll have to enjoy from the shore...did something to my right ankle and pulling the boat around with the dolly is a no-go until it heals. So Bass Trek's maiden voyage for this year is postponed.

[gim]

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

Sounds like a good morning

 

It was pretty good.  Better than average.

 

There was quite a few boats out there but they mostly seemed to be panfishing.  Every other boat I saw except one was anchored and bobber fishing for pannies.

 

Not a single recreational boat in 4 hours.

[BassinBrett]

I headed up to Mil Lacs Lake this morning and started out throwing jerkbaits.  The water temp was 52 at 6:30 am.  I got 2 good SM bass on a Megabass 110 LBO jerkbait.  I caught a small musky and it broke the 110 LBO somehow.  It now has a bunch of water in it and sinks.  I switch to a pointer 100 and caught another SM bass.  I saw lot of bass in the shallow reefs and they would not look at a Ned rig , drop shot, or tube jig. They would just swim off.    When I left the water temps were 56 to 57 degrees.  

[Standard]

Had a pretty good weekend, even managed a few on the fly despite the wind.  Ended up with about 25 smallies on Saturday and another 15 or so Sunday.  Saw a few beds but didn't look like they had spawned yet.  A wake bait running 6-12" was the top producer for me.  Fish seemed to be hanging out at drop offs, especially around points.  If there was a shallow flat with a drop, it was almost a guaranteed strike once that wake bait made it to the drop.  They weren't too picky though, also got them on a chatterbait, spinner, a few top water hits, wacky worm, crankbait.. 

 

Not sure what the water temp was, but they were for sure bulking up before the spawn.

[Adrift]

Finally got out after having to work all last weekend. Was just gonna go for 2 hours (and then again today) but ended up staying out 6 hours. Frustrating beginning to the day with two very good fish shaking loose and then a 3 hour struggle to find anything biting. Had all the rods and baits put away and on the way back to the ramp decided to try one more steep weedline. It paid off! Caught 4 fish over 18" with the best being 19.5 and 4.3#. Second fish had this crazy gash. Still swam off strong. 

Water temp 64F.

 

 

[gim]

I went to Mille Lacs for 2 days smallmouth fishing, about 5.5 hours each day. Friday was tough. Sunny and minimal wind. Boated 5 smallmouth and a pike with a friend. Saturday (today) was quite a bit better with my Father. This morning there was a nice chop with a thick cloud deck until 10am and there was an aggressive bite of bigger fish. Then the sun came out and the wind died along with the bite of sizable fish. Finished with 18 smallmouth, 2 walleye, and a pike. Caught 5 smallmouth in 2 days between 17-20 inches. A jerk bait, crank bait, and a tube all produced the past couple days. Water temp was 57 on Friday, 58.5 today. Did not see any fish on beds yet. I might go one more time next weekend if the weather cooperates.