south_metro_fish

I was looking through the gander ad today and saw they had school e-rigs on sale, and had never seen anything like it before. I was wondering if they are legal in MN and what is legal to use on them? they are a weight that is stream lined and looks like a fish head with 5 wires coming off with snap swivels to put 5 baits on, in the ad they have 5 jig heads with plastic minnows on them. I would think they would be legal if they are selling them in MN but not every thing they sell is legal to use in MN like some minreal blocks for hunting that contain fruits or corn. Could u use a few short lindy rigs on it or maybe a rapala on the bottom wire or do u have to jig heads and plastics? Has any one had any luck with them and how easy are they to use, do they just not troll good?

I dont think the metro is done yet I have places in the metro that havent even popped yet. The wind and sun dried the soil out pretty good this week so we needed this rain pretty bad and the soil temp dropped to the lower 40's after last weekend and just reached the lower 50's in the last couple days. I think this rain is just what we needed with the great temps im going to be out this weekend for sure.

I have been seeing a lot of fishing shows talking about the new RAPALA, CLACK n RAP. Any one try one out and have any luck? Also do they make glow crank baits? I would think that might work good after dark for eyes.

Finally DD around 700 ground temp in the low 50's and grays are a poppin in my area. Found about a dozen small grays scattered under different trees, not more then 2 under one tree. Had a ribeye and morels for dinner as a celebration, and it was so good. Give it a good week especially with this cooler weather coming and hopefully the yellows will start popping. Cant wait to get down to SE MN this weekend, I have a 3 day weekend, and hoping the yellows might be up down there. Just glad I don't live in southern Iowa, they had a real bad season that's already done. No rain and hot temps will end a season real quick. But back to the DD, it seems to be about right when you give it a range of 700 to 1000 to be looking for. Ground temp was about right on too, right around 50 and they are starting. I would guess that when you get these 80s quickly warming the ground after having a cool spring, your going to end up on the lower DD range. But if we would have continued a more gradual increase in temps and maybe not as cool to start with we would have probably been closer to the 1000 DD range. I am going to keep watching for years to come and see how it turns out in the future. I would have to say both watching DD and soil temp is a good indicator to know where the line is moving and when a good time is to start looking. Good luck to all the season is on.

DD is looking like it is in the lower temp of the study this year, around 700. I have a good feeling the yellows will be popping closer to the 1000 DD. I am headed SE this weekend and hoping our property is close to the 1000 DD dot that I see in SE MN. Soil temps are good in the upper 40s for a lot of MN with some lower 50s to the SW part of the state. What I have been hearing is around the 50s for soil temp is prime. I went out yesterday in one of my spots and found nothing the ground just didn't seem warm enough in the spots I was looking in. I bet the temps and rain we got today will get them going. I went fishing today figured I would give them a chance to come up before I gave it another shot tomorrow.

I just wanted to share a technique that I use when fishing tube jigs and see it anyone one else had any techniques they wanted to share with tube jigs or other pan fish plastics. I know the most common way to fish tube jigs is with a small jig head in the tube or slid up the shaft of the hook up against the weighted head. I like to use just a plain hook and a split shot. I found that a #6 bait holder hook works well, with a split shot just big enough to get your float to stand up. I run the hook through the tube and bring the closed end just past the top of the hook, and set the split shot 6-8" above that. Then just attach a float at a depth that works with where your fishing. I like to rig it this way so that you don't get just a strait down sink with the tube. You get the split shot bringing the tube down but when the split shot reaches the end you get a little bit of a slow fall at the end. It also makes it easier for the fish to inhale the hook because there is less weight to be sucked in giving a better hook set. It also seemed to work better in ruff conditions because I am sure it is more fluent as the waves lift and drop the float. It is also real easy to change colors. I just work it by casting it out wait for the float to stand up and jerk it in a little and continue. Does anyone use one of thoughs floats that clack when you jerk it. I was watching a fishing show that was working plastics under a float and the float had some beads on it with the float part loose on a rod going through the center. Every time he jerked it, it made a clacking noise that is suppose to attract fish. Anyone try one or know where to find them? Anyone have anything to add or other techniques for working pan fish plastics?

Well nothing is at the temp that I have been looking for but the blacks are up. The soil temp is at least getting close to 40 so that might just be the ticket with all this nice sun finally. I have seen reports as far as Bemidji for finding blacks and grays down south. I am going to go fishing today and morel hunting tomorrow.

The ground temps and DD are not here yet and all the natural signs are not here yet. Looking at some maps I would expect southern Iowa to finally get going pretty good in the next couple of days as long as it doesn't cool down too much. The ground temps are in the lower 50s and the DD is almost at 1000. After yesterday we are finally seeing some ground temps in southern MN that are around the mid 40s that seem to be high enough to pop some grays and DD around 500 and 600. We still have a ways to go but I think these warmer temps might finally be moving the line a little farther north. Hope it keeps this up.

I personally tried the new Lindy line and Pline floro clear. I was very happy with the Pline and was ok with the Lindy line this year. The Lindy line was nice with its durability bringing in a 28" northern on a plain hook with no leader, but I also got a 24" on the Pline with out a leader. I also liked the diameter of the Lindy line as it dropped smaller jigs pretty fast. I did have a lot of problems with line coil and birds nests with it and ended up having to cut off at least half the line I put on the reel. The Pline I did not have hardly any trouble with coil and knots. I will use up the rest of the Lindy line I have still on the spools next year but I don't know that I will buy it again. I will for sure use Pline next year and I am trying some on open water and so far have been happy with it. Next year I am going to try some 2 lb Pline on my pan fish rod instead of the 4 because I am confident enough with its strength. It is also cheaper then a lot of ice lines out there because you get a 300y spool for around 10$, also its diameter is similar to other ice lines. Wondering what experiences others have had with the new Lindy line and other new lines, or even lines that have been around but you tried for the first time? Or just your go to line.

What do people think of though's almost binder type tackle containers with the clear plastic pages that zip shut. I have seen them a few times and they seem like they would be good for organizing hooks and leaders and other small tackle.

This screwy spring seems to be messing with the morels this year and trying to prove that nothing is going to for sure predict these mysterious shrooms. Looking at some reports it seems that some people might be just starting to find some in far southern MN. DD is still 400 D short of the predicted gray popping DD. The soil temp is almost in the mid 40's in southern MN so that might be something to watch closer. It wont be long now and we will be eating shrooms.

I see it as we have already F with mother nature in eradicating the gar from there native lands and messing with there environment with dams and flood control. So I don't see how a native fish could do any more damage to its native lands then other means of trying to control these non native fish. There was probably other species that were affected negatively with the eradication of the gar farther north. So far from what I have read it doesn't seem like they affect game fish to much but seem to do a number on the ruff fish. I definitely don't see them as being the lone answer to the invasive carp but it could definitely help and be a factor. It seems that both types of invasive carp don't have to many predators in these waters to keep them in check so I could only see introducing a native one would only help. I would much rather they use the native gar then some other non native species that would go out of control, or the use of chemicals, or messing with the river more affecting other fish in there migration and breeding habitats by messing with the dams more. It would be a blast to catch one of these monsters. Years ago in front on my grandparents house on the Mississippi down by Winona. I watched the commercial fishermen do a netting run on the ice for ruff fish. I watched them pull sheep head and carp and everything else, but I couldn't believe it when they pulled a at leas 5 foot long nose gar out of the net. I watched the DNR go over with his air boat and take it. I haven't found anything on long nose eating silver carp, but they might. Think there mouth might be too narrow. Be interesting to find out.

I just wanted to add something that I have read, and after reading the other posts. It seems that hooks don't dissolve like people think they do when you leave them in the fish. There have been study's done that show they don't usually survive. Especially with the new metal compounds that they use to make the hooks now, it is very unlikely for the hook to dissolve and for the fish to survive. Even if the fish was to survive going back it would probably not survive for very long with the hook getting in the way of eating and such. Just had to share. If it was me I would do the best to get it out and if the fish doesn't make it and starts bleeding, its headed for the frying pan.

I was watching River Monsters and watched the one about alligator gar. After hearing about there size and appetite for ruff fish I wondered if they eat the pesky invasive silver carp other wise know as the Asian carp. So I did Google search and came up with an article talking about how in southern states the silver carp seems to be one of there favorite foods. It seems that the gar have taken on a bad name for no reason years ago and there population and range has declined because of eradication from this unwarranted fear. It also sounds like dams and other flood control has contributed to there decline in numbers and range. The episode of River Monster showed there historical range as far north as SE MN on the Mississippi. I found another web site showing it only as far as areas in IL. So this fish looks like it could potentially hold one of the keys to possibly help control the silver carp. Also it seems to be a native fish to ranges farther north where they are working hard to stop the spread of this invasive species. So I was thinking why don't they try reintroducing this native species farther north near the front lines of the effort to stop the spread, and help control the silver carp. The two web sites I mentioned: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/11/g-argantuan-group-of-lies/ http://www.fws.gov/arkansas-es/a_gar/agar_maps.html

Well after a week of watching their progression, they haven't progressed much at all with these cold temps. In fact from watching the DD map I see that some of Iowa has actually lost some DD temp. They still seem to be finding some grays in southern Iowa, but it seemed to slow down a bit as the week went on. They are finding them pretty good in Missouri now but they even had some DD drop and increase as the week went on. I think this week put us back a week but this might be good. I have read people talking about how years with cooler temps with lots of rain have produced excellent seasons in the past and it seems we are looking pretty good so far this year. Hopefully this next week with no snow and temps in the 50s and 60s will move the line a little closer to us, and this rain is perfect to keep that soil moist. Also DD is not the only thing to watch there are lots of other things to watch like lilacs and such but I have so far found DD to be an interesting long rang forecast for watching the line progress north.