MuskieFever

Didn't get up this weekend! Starting to get frustrated! I found out the MN state tournament was going on so I decided to not go... Maybe this weekend?!

Tough morning on green. Chose to frog fish and didn't do as well as we'd hope. Caught a few and missed a few. I can't figure our NS Center and I don't know why! I think I will try Chisago next, haven't fished it yet!

Can't choose a lake for the morning! Me and my buddy need input. We've only fished NS Center and Green before but its been a while for both. Any suggestions for the area? Thanks.

^Nailed it! I started fishing deeper water a couple years ago. I would always fish the outside weed edge and try to stay within 10 feet of the outside edge regardless of water clarity. Boy was I wrong.... Last year I fished a tournament on a metro lake with about 3' clarity. Deep edge ended pretty sharply in 10-12'. I didn't see any weeds on my graph deeper than about 15'. Tournament day my buddy and I struggled. Couldn't buy a bite. We pull up to a rock hump that topped out at 9'. I fired a jig to the deep edge, about 12' and got smoked by a 3 pounder. I was fired up. This was it! We finally found em! Worked that hump for the next 2 hours and not one bite. Cranks, jigs, dropshot, nothing! We worked it from 9'-18'. We get to the weigh feeling pretty down about our day. Where the heck were the fish today?! First place 18 pounds, second place 15.75 fishing dropshots and football jigs in 28 FEET OF WATER! I couldn't believe it. That far out from the weed edge?! Both teams suspected crawdads had moved that far out and the bass followed. Long story short, fish don't always follow the rules. Sometimes you have to go deep. Very deep.

Weather permitting, I'm headed to Mille Lacs this weekend. Anybody been out lately?

Big Marine is a tough lake for big fish (3.5 lbs and bigger). About 8 or so years ago I fished a tournament there in which 1st and second were 17 & 19 lbs. the last 3 years usually 12-13 lbs wins... When I first started fishing all I threw was a jig because I heard how effective they are. The last few years I have gotten away from that. I think it has really set me back trying to diversify so much. Jigs always work. Always. Between a jig, dropshot, and a crank, that's about all a guy needs. Jigs are so versatile it's hard to not have one tied on. You can pitch them in the slop, drag me out deep, fish them like a Texas rig, skip them under docks, pretty much anything! Sorry, got a little off topic there... Anyway, my most productive big fish spot have hard bottom or hard bottom near by. The best way of thinking about a good spot I actually got from watching a Deitz seminar, "my best spots are where there should be weeds, but there aren't." I found a spot like this last year in a tournament on a lake with about 12' clarity. Weeds usually grow to 18'-20'. I found a hump that topped at 10' that had zero weeds on top. It was surrounded by weeds starting in about 13' but the top of it had no weeds with some sand/gravel mix. A 4 pounder and a 3.75 pounder on back to back pitches with a dropshot.

Who is fishing these events this year? What are the dates?

Thanks for the update! Just got back from a Canada walleye trip. I was a little bummed because I figure last week would probably be the last prespawn push. I can't complain tho. Hopefully headed up in the next few days.

Who has a smallie update for me?

I fish wbl often and smallies have always been a head scratcher for me. I would always joke when fishing bass tournaments there, 'he who finds the smallmouth, wins.' When you do find them, they are usually nice fish. I have yet to catch one, its becoming a great white buffalo for me. A buddy of mine caught one about 8 years ago that went 6lbs...

Every year I say to myself, "You have enough lures that haven't seen the water. You don't need to buy anything else..." The next thing you know, I'm walking out of Blue Ribbon Bait with a lighter wallet and a heavier tackle box. My question is, how many lures do you buy each year? Be honest! Remember, the first step is admitting you have a problem..

The flats are located north of grahams island, west of 72nd ave (the road that runs on the western shore of six mile bay). For walleyes I was doing well in the 14'-20' range. I've found it really depends on the spot and what structure is on it. Any sort of transition (rock to sand, mud to sand, trees to sand) are always good starting spots. Got out today with a buddy. The devils lake gods were not kind to us. Tried new spots in East Devils and only caught small perch. We started out on what we thought were good looking humps that didn't produce. Moved deeper, nothing. Moved to a 8-10' flat, nothing. The walleyes were a mystery today and I still am scratching my head. Fished 7 or so spots for perch from 27'-51'. The only schools we found were small in number and in size. Frustrating but small fish are better than no fish. One tip I would like to give when looking for perch is start with a rattling spoon and keep it pounding! Pound the bottom, jig up 5' or so and then drop it to the bottom. A key perch trigger for me is jigging aggressive to move the fish in. If it doesn't eat or chase hard, I will drop the bait to the bottom for a few seconds and jig (more like constantly shaking the rod tip) my spoon up about 2-3 feet off the bottom. This tactic triggers a lot of bites for picky perch. Best of luck everyone! Busse: Nice pile of perch!

If you can find one, the 8" k-drill is worth every penny. Light weight, and a hybrid style blade that cuts awesome. I hear ya on the lazer blades. When I got mine I broke blades every few trips. Swapped back to my chipper which is okay. Lazer is just so fast tho...

The snow is very bare after last weeks warm up. Getting around in a truck shouldn't be a problem at all. People just started driving on six mile and i've heard the flats have some thinner ice spots. Other than that I found 15"-20" almost everywhere.

Yes. Was out all weekend as well. Morning walleye bite was very good, a few perch mixed in as well. Midday perch bite was decent, overall size of fish varied. A lot of smaller perch with a few 12-14" in the mix. I will be out this weekend as well.