Cade Laufenberg Posted November 17, 2008 Posted November 17, 2008 Well to say the least the day started off kinda rough. I hit snooze about a dozen times between 5:45 and 6:15, and ended up waking up around 8:00 wondering what happened. It was 28 degrees and snowing. After a slow start I made it out hoping to find some shallow fish, a change from what I've been doing. I headed to an area that i thought might be ok, and was immediately yelled at to "Get the F*** out of here" by one of hundreds of duck hunters in the area. I decided this wasn't for me so i trailered in to town to chase some smallies. Things just kept sucking more and more, and in the same area where i caught a 19.25 lb limit last year, i was only able to catch one 14-1/2" smallmouth. I headed to the backwaters and continued to have a tough time.. I painfully filled my limit switching off between a jig and a jerkbait. I pondered if I should go home and watch the second half of the packer game, or head south and try to make something of the day. I'm glad I chose to head south..Besides we are going to a Packer game at Lambeau on the 30th anyway. ;D The first spot produced one keeper and one dink on a jig. I looked at the temperature guage and it read 38 degrees. I was losing confidence fast. I moved to another spot and for some reason decided to throw the jerkbait again, even though I somehow thought-- no knew, that I wouldn't catch anything. Well I was wrong. It only took a couple of fish to get it down, and then it was almost every cast for quite some time. Of the fish caught, most were over 2-1/2 lbs, 6 were over 3 lbs with a kicker 4-1/2+ lb 20"er. I only wish I had pics to show for it, it was definitely the best day of the year for me despite the constant snow and sub freezing temperatures.. here are the records I broke: Coldest water temperature to catch Largemouth in: 38 degrees Previous: 41 degrees Biggest 5 fish limit of 2008: 17-1/2+ lbs Previous: 16-1/2 lbs Most Keepers EVER caught in a day: 35 Previous: 29 Latest in month of November to catch Largemouth: November 16th (This record will fall later this week, I gaurantee it ;D ) Also: -Biggest limit I've ever caught in that area -Top 10 biggest largemouth of the year -Most fish I've ever caught in open water during a snowstorm Quote
Super User Bassn Blvd Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 Awesome stringer dude but your are one crazy f@@@@r fishing in 28 degree weather. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 Congratulations! 8-) Quote
Matt Jungblut Posted November 17, 2008 Posted November 17, 2008 you must be just a little above me im about 30 mins from the ill and wis boarder and i to vetured out in the freezing cold to catch some quality fish Quote
Super User Catt Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 Don't y'all know bass will not bite in water that cold? Quote
Super User firefightn15 Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 Nice haul! Quote
Super User Grey Wolf Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 A very productive day. Quote
Super User T-rig Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 That's awesome, congrats! 8-) Quote
Infidel. Posted November 17, 2008 Posted November 17, 2008 One hell of a way to spend you Sunday. Congrats! Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted November 17, 2008 Super User Posted November 17, 2008 Just awesome. I bet you were alone out there. Very cool place to be. Some questions: How deep were these fish? What kind of structure / cover were they using: flats ... vertical structure? What do you think these bass were feeding on in this lake? Did you catch any really little bass: 7-10inchers? Quote
basser89 Posted November 17, 2008 Posted November 17, 2008 Impressive outing! Congrats! Awesome stringer dude but your are one crazy f@@@@r fishing in 28 degree weather. You should try fishing when the air temps are in the teens! ;D Quote
farmpond1 Posted November 17, 2008 Posted November 17, 2008 Nice! Better late in the day than never! Yours was the kind of day I've only dreamt of but never really experienced (certainly not this time of year, anyway). What did you key in on as far as structure? A creek channel? near the dam/spillway? points? Bays? Water inlets? Inquiring minds want to know. Quote
Cade Laufenberg Posted November 18, 2008 Author Posted November 18, 2008 Just awesome. I bet you were alone out there. Very cool place to be. Some questions: How deep were these fish? What kind of structure / cover were they using: flats ... vertical structure? What do you think these bass were feeding on in this lake? Did you catch any really little bass: 7-10inchers? To answer your questions- The majority of the fish I caught were hanging near a rock/mud transition. A ways off the bank in 9-10 ft of water there is a really nice tree that a lot of the fish were suspending in. I simply used a jerkbait to fish over the top of it, and the fish did the rest, coming up to get it. I'd say the fish were suspending amongst the lims anywhere between 6 and 8 ft down. The primary forage in the Mississippi River is gizzard shad running from late July through winter, when we experience a shad die off. Then in the spring it becomes sunfish and crayfish. I did not catch any fish smaller than 12" or so, and though I still caught many dinks from 12 to 13-3/4", I'm not so sure that I didn't catch more keepers. to go a little further for farmboy, The area I'm fishing has a lot of deep water (for the river) ranging from 10-25 feet on average, and up to as deep as 56'. Early this month I had lots of fish roaming deep points that were eating the suspending jerkbait. I caught fish as deep as 30 ft at that time, most suspending from 5-8 feet down. The recent cool weather has moved those fish off the deep points and put them closer to wood cover. Also I noticed on my graph that the shad moved deeper. I think one could still catch suspending fish in those depths with a deeper jerkbait, but I have not tried it yet. and lastly.. You should try fishing when the air temps are in the teens! amen to that. And after a certain point you don't really realize the difference between 10 degrees and -25..because you are numb. Spent a weekend on the ice last year during a whicked cold snap...Temps were ranging from -10 to 0 for highs. In the mornings it was usually around -20 degrees. We were out there catching fish though!!! Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted November 18, 2008 Super User Posted November 18, 2008 Thanks Cade. Quote
Cade Laufenberg Posted November 20, 2008 Author Posted November 20, 2008 Got out today with my friend Justin for some more action. Broke 2 of the above records: - coldest water temperature to catch Largemouth in: 36 degrees -Latest in November- 11/19 We were out for 4 hours using jerkbaits again. The bite wasn't as impressive as Sunday, but we still did pretty good, racking up 19 keepers between the both of us. Justin popped a nice 4 lber that helped him get close to 15 lbs on 5 fish, while I just couldn't find a kicker, leaving me at a respectable, but not amazing 13-1/2 lbs. All in all a good outing, nice to know they are still eating with ice forming in shallow areas within sight of where we are catching bass! Pic This is my friend Justin with a nice 4 lber. Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted November 20, 2008 Super User Posted November 20, 2008 Awesome day! I know you don't need it, but thanks for expanding the horizons on winter bass fishing in the north. I'd read up on ice-fishing for LM and some good articles talked about first ice being a really good time (like with other species), which made me think that before first ice should provide some opportunities. You put that to ground for us. Thanks. Do you think your bass were picking off weak and dying shad? It sure appears cold enough to start knocking shad off? Were some potentially on bluegills? Or just hangin' out. Any ideas? Quote
Cade Laufenberg Posted November 21, 2008 Author Posted November 21, 2008 The bass are definitely feeding on shad, but they are not in the dying stage yet. As the water cools the shad move further down in the water collumn. That's when the jerkbait becomes superior to topwater lures that we use earlier in the fall. The shad actually remain lively well into winter, and can be a huge pain while ice fishing because they are so grouped up that you can't see your lure or other fish on your flasher. Eventually they do die off, it usually takes a lot of ice and a good cold snap, usually mid January to mid February is when it occurs, and you start to see a die off in the shad. I think a lot of it has to do with oxygen levels in the water. Shad are definitely the "panzy" of all baitfish.. ;D Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted November 21, 2008 Super User Posted November 21, 2008 Cade, you're really on top of your water! Great reports. I almost feel like I'm out there with you, except my finger's aren't numb and my smile isn't nearly so big. Quote
SLO_ROLL Posted November 21, 2008 Posted November 21, 2008 Fishing instead of watching grown men chase a ball. THANK YOU Congrats Quote
Cade Laufenberg Posted November 23, 2008 Author Posted November 23, 2008 Thanks guys. Unfortunately this may have been my last bass report for a while. Between my last update and Friday afternoon, we had 2 extreme cold nights that really did a number on what was left of water in the form of liquid. Everything is locked up right now, and Friday afternoon i made the official first walk on ice of the year. Heading out tomorrow with the short sticks to try and chase some first ice bluegills through the ice. Its just unreal how fast things change. I was fishing in a tanktop and shorts, no lie less than 3 weeks ago crackin' those jerkbait fish. Now I'm going ice fishing. good news is warm temps all week and sunshine. I'm hoping it will open up some of my honey holes so i can make one last hurrah... Quote
Super User Paul Roberts Posted November 23, 2008 Super User Posted November 23, 2008 Its just unreal how fast things change. I was fishing in a tanktop and shorts, no lie less than 3 weeks ago crackin' those jerkbait fish. Now I'm going ice fishing. That's a big difference between north and south; The rate and intensity of season change. Neat that you're so well connected. Keep us posted on your adventures. Quote
Cade Laufenberg Posted November 24, 2008 Author Posted November 24, 2008 New record to add..Earliest I've ever been ice fishing in my life: November 23rd. 2-3" of clear hard ice in most places we checked. Funny, you wouldn't think the latest I've been bass fishing and the earliest i've been ice fishing would go hand in hand in the same year.. :-/ Here's to praying the warm weather of the next 5 days will reopen my honey hole...15 day forecast shows lows in the single digits starting Dec. 1st. :'( Quote
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