Rush Lake bassin'

[1morecast]

Anyone having any success out there so far this year? Been out there a couple times and it's a tough bite. Caught a few jiggin the outside weed lines but only seem to catch one then have to move along to another spot. Nothing seems to be consistant out there. Any hotspots or the winning set up advise would be cool.

I thought I should edit this as to which Rush Lake I'm refering to. I'm looking at Rush Lake in Rush City.

Thanks

[evinrude19]

i have also had some bad luck out there this year most of my fish have also came from the outside weed edge on a drop shot rig and jig worm and a couple under docks but thats it.

[Deitz Dittrich]

part of your problem is the fish are all messed up out there right now. I saw fish still on beds this last weekend. We had a tournament out there on sunday. While I am not the one to give the advice as I got 9th out of 15 boats.. I did manage to catch 30ish fish throughout the day. And know I was on the right pattern, just the wrong area of the lake. Inside weed lines seemed to produce the fish. Look for pockets in the curly leaf pond weed. The winning team had over 15 lbs for 5 fish, they are there to catch.

[1morecast]

The curly leaf pond weed seems to be a heavy this year. Thanks for the tip thou. I was tossin' and turnin' in bed lastnight just thinking about "why I didn't try the inside line?"

[Daze Off]

We had a tournament there on Saturday and the fishing was very tough. Water was way low, algae bloom beginning, and lots of weeds already matted. Winner had 5 for 9 lbs. I don't think big fish even broke 5 lbs. I had 4 bites all day and weighed 2 and had a short to toss back. It was pure junk fishing. One here, one there, one on one bait then nothing else so change baits and catch another, etc. inside lines, outside lines, nothing on beds, etc. If there was one bait that was most consistent it would have been spinnerbaits. Nearly everyone caught at least one on a spinnerbait. I think there were only 2-3 limits weighed.

[Juan Grande]

I heard Rush is very weedy with heavy algae already. A few of the lakes I've fished look like they would in mid August. Why the early algae bloom? Is it because of the low water levels?

Do you guys change your tactics when the water looks like pea soup? I would assume loud flashier batis (spinner baits) would be easier for the fish to find.

[RECOIL]

Rush is not a big fish factory anymore, but there are still a few to be had. Inside edges and pockets.... cleaner the better.

[1morecast]

I went and picked up some swim jigs and some 5" grubs yesterday. It's one lure that I haven't really focused on before. I'm going to give it a try and keep many different rig's available. Like what was mentioned above, catching one in a spot on a certain lure doesn't mean I found the right combo. It moreless tells me to put that rod down and throw a different presentation in the same spot. I'll be out there today and I'll post up the results.

Wish me luck.

[1morecast]

I heard Rush is very weedy with heavy algae already. A few of the lakes I've fished look like they would in mid August. Why the early algae bloom? Is it because of the low water levels?

Do you guys change your tactics when the water looks like pea soup? I would assume loud flashier batis (spinner baits) would be easier for the fish to find.

My guess to the algie would be due to the water level being so low.

[East Rush Rules]

While living on the lake for the last 8 years, i have seen a major decline in the number of big fish being caught out here. You used to be able to go out and whack a really nice bag of fish everytime you went out. Im not saying there isn't still nice fish out here, just saying the bite is a lot tougher with all of the pressure the lake has been getting in the last couple of years. The lake went from having maybe one big tournament a year to having 5 or more a year and it is showing in the fishing. All i can say is good luck to the people fishing the big one out here this weekend(Nat. Gaurd), the bite is a tough one!

[Neighbor_guy]

We had a tournament there on Saturday and the fishing was very tough. Water was way low, algae bloom beginning, and lots of weeds already matted. Winner had 5 for 9 lbs. I don't think big fish even broke 5 lbs. I had 4 bites all day and weighed 2 and had a short to toss back. It was pure junk fishing. One here, one there, one on one bait then nothing else so change baits and catch another, etc. inside lines, outside lines, nothing on beds, etc. If there was one bait that was most consistent it would have been spinnerbaits. Nearly everyone caught at least one on a spinnerbait. I think there were only 2-3 limits weighed.

Daze,

If you dont mind my asking, what club were you fishing with, and where were you out of? A few of the boats we encountered fishing out there on Saturday were some of the most inconsiderate Jack Donkeys I have ever run into on a lake. On several occasions we had boats run into and over weed beds and lines we were fishing just to spook the fish. Then when we did locate a decent school of bass we had several boats decend on our location and when we asked what club they were in they snaped off all arogant and bailed in a hurry. One guy even cramed his boat into a space between two docks and at one time he was fishing from the bow with one foot on the dock and one in the boat while the guy in the back had one foot on the lift from the neighbors dock. When leaving he hit them BOTH!!! Several times!!!

Come on guys, have your tourneys and have fun, but think about the other people who use the lake. Please. If the tourney guys act like that, others with bass boats run the risk of being treated poorly in retaliation just because they look like tourney fisherman.

Off my soap box now.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Neighbor guy- Just making sure it was saturday.. My tournament club was out there sunday, and if I ever find out one of them did was disrespectful like that, I would hunt them down.

[1morecast]

Well we brought in 5 fish for a 6.38lb. bag. That put us in 4th. 3rd was a 8lb bag, 2nd was a 9lb bag, and 1st was a 10lb bag. Big fish was just over 3lbs. Was a battle finding them but patients ruled. We only moved once. First spot we fished, we fished for a hour and a half with nothing. Second spot we found one and then stuck it out in that section of the lake for 2 1/2 hours and pulled in 5 more. I was throwin' a spro and partner was jiggin'. We went 1 for 1 on each other which was pretty cool. I'm glad we're done with that lake for the rest of the year. It's a tough bite out there.

[Doufish2]

Neighbor Guy,

Our club is the Fat Belly Bassmaters. I was one of the guys out there on Saturday for the tourney, my partner and I fished East exclusively all day. We NEVER saw any of our club guys near anyone else. All of our club members had club shirts or jackets. If you can let us know what boat it was, we would surely talk to that pair. I personally have a hard time believing any of our club members were running over weed edges and weed lines to spook fish. The bite was hard enough out there. All of us respect other anglers. There is no way, we would I think this was any of our club members.

[RECOIL]

I have ran into my share of "Jack Donkeys" on the water. Not sure I have never seen a club or tournament angler running over weed beds to spook fish though. I would have too see it with my own eyes to judge whether or not it was out of line. I consider myself very courteous on the water which several folks on here could vouch for, and still I've gotten hollered at for one thing or another. I don't sweat it. Some people are maybe just a little over sensitive, or think they own the lake, not really sure. Bottom line.. just be nice and enjoy your time on the water. Neighbor guy - don't take it so seriously, the jerk that day probably has a crappy job, zero friends, and a crabby wife... give him a break.

[Neighbor_guy]

Neighbor Guy,

Our club is the Fat Belly Bassmaters....

That was it. Orange stickers on the consoles, not sure what they said on them, but everyone had one.

Everything I described above occured on the very south end of the East lake between like 1:30 and 3:00. The guys on West were out there and abundant, but not like the spot we fished on east. As far as the boats invoved they all blend togeter. The guy hitting the docks (hard enough for us to hear it) was and older guy in a red on white of some sort w/a big old merc on it.

I was not looking to stir the pot. I just dont like to see that kind of stuff going on. Non tourney or club boaters share the water with the rest of you. To be honest it was kind of funny to see it. Start working a weed bed... zoom another boat. I guess I just get spoiled fishing on thursdays or fridays. Busy lake, lots of boats, picky fish, and all of us going through the same check list of patterns just all ended up in the same spots at the same time.

It is what it is.

[Wanderer]

Neighbor Guy,

Our club is the Fat Belly Bassmaters. I was one of the guys out there on Saturday for the tourney, my partner and I fished East exclusively all day. We NEVER saw any of our club guys near anyone else. All of our club members had club shirts or jackets. If you can let us know what boat it was, we would surely talk to that pair. I personally have a hard time believing any of our club members were running over weed edges and weed lines to spook fish. The bite was hard enough out there. All of us respect other anglers. There is no way, we would I think this was any of our club members.

Not surprised to see this come up, I guess.

To be fair here, I'll offer my perspective since Neighbor was in my boat (older red and gold Ranger w/Yammy if you saw us out there) and I have fished a lot of tourneys in the past, so I see both sides.

It was one of those days in Metro fishing where every spot you want to fish either already had a boat on it or one came in while we were fishing it.

Several times the navigation route chosen by a boater (tourney and non tourney) was right over the perceived sweet spot of the weedline we were working up to. And a few times we flat got cut off. The crew in the pontoon took the cake, but that's another story.

I know when you're in a tourney you need fish and when some schmo (us) comes and sets down on a stretch you're planning to fish, you really wish he wouldn't have just done that. So you try to eat up as much of the area as you can before he does. It happens. I predicted it.

To be specific: We pulled into a short run of docks when we saw a boat on the weedline we wanted to fish. By the time we fished our first dock, the boat from the weedline scooted up to the last dock of that run and made his intentions known what direction he wanted to go. That being toward us. I backed off the line and motored past him so he could fish them.

We took the place on the weedline and worked outside and inside while another boat dropped in to motor around to check out the area, going over the two prime spots, then left. I don't think he was driving the fish down, but we had to ask ourselves, "Why wouldn't he do that?"

We found some fish and tossed a bouy since we were on a flat. We worked that area for some time as another tourney boat dropped in and fished his way toward us and into my casting zone.

I politely asked the usuals. Tourney? How's it going? Club name? From where? The answers we got back were pretty short. I was just asking out of curiosity, not like anybody was on trial.

I get it. The day was tough. The fish were hard to come by and as I put to Neighbor, sometimes guys feel like their fish are being wasted by a non-tourney guy on their spot.

Been there.

All this being said, it's been comical for us this year fishing different lakes in the Metro with the pressure and people doing things that couldn't have screwed up our plans any worse.

Been getting spoiled in Ely.

I just keep the Butt-Hole Surfers' lyrics in mind when this stuff happens. "Cinnamon and sugar and softly spoken lies. You never know just how you look through other people's eyes".

No sweat guys, it was just a little rubbin on a slow day.

[Doufish2]

That was it. Orange stickers on the consoles, not sure what they said on them, but everyone had one.

Well, then I know it wasn't from our club, no one has orange stickers on our boats. If it was one of our members, we apologize for the inconveinience it caused. I talked to several boaters that day on the lake, never got close enough to upset anyone.

[Ray Esboldt]

Not that I am happy that your day on the water was spoiled, but whatever you guys did on Saturday on the south end of East caused the bigger fish to bite on Sunday. The top two boats (we were second) fished the south end of East. The winners had 5 for 15+ and we had 5 for just under 15.

I did sit and watch two guys walleye fishing clean up on bass on a weedline while we conversed with them. That's just the way it goes sometimes. You're not there first and that's just way it is. We did manage to clean up one of their leftovers after they left. It's just fishing - competition or not. So, everyone show a little love and be happy.

[Bullwinkle]

Neighbor guy- Just making sure it was saturday.. My tournament club was out there sunday, and if I ever find out one of them did was disrespectful like that, I would hunt them down.

You and I both Deitz! Respect is a big part of what we preach and everyone should be allowed to enjoy the water. Plenty of fish to go around.

[Wanderer]

Not that I am happy that your day on the water was spoiled, but whatever you guys did on Saturday on the south end of East caused the bigger fish to bite on Sunday.

Glad we could help! ???????

Those girls prolly thought every bass boat in the state had been through there by Sunday and figgered they were in the clear.

Great job on your weight.

[HellaBass]

any issues with water levels getting between the two lakes?

[Deitz Dittrich]

its low Rich, but still manageable,.

[Daze Off]

We are new club out of the north metro - had about 7-8 boats and most guys had club gear of some kind on (Fatbelly Bassmasters). I don't know the guys real well yet but would be surprised (and hugely disappointed) if it was our guys. If that turns out to the the case I will not be fishing in this club long as I could not agree with you more.

I will pass the info along to the tournament director.

Sorry you had that experience.

[Basseyes]

Off topic a little bit but has anybody been catching walleyes while bass fishing more than normal?

The east side of the channel is getting pretty low but still able to motor through it. If we don't get some decent rain soon with the heat the water might drop enough to make it a challenge to get through the east side.

I've fished the lake a lot and never had any issues what so ever with the bass guys on the lake. Actually seems a very tolerable lake to fish for the pressure it gets.

Now those darn pan fish guys on the north end are a bit of a concerning at times.

I stay away from that area at all costs but gave her a go this spring with my 4 y/o on a Friday. We got in a spot a guy in a pontoon had left and started catching fish after fish. Had a guy in a 14' boat come and drop anchor within 10' of us. No biggy. He is watching my kid catch fish after fish and starts casting right next to his bobber. Still he's not catching anything. He's getting irked that a 4y/o kid is out fishing him so he noisily lifts his anchor and less than 10' from the side of my boat lets his 10 or 15 hp motor rip right at the side of my boat. Then the guy who left the spot in the pontoon moved around a half dozen times and moves right in on us and drops his huge anchor and chain with no stealth at all. He catches nothing in 5 minutes so decides to move again.

A little while later a newer skeeter moves in with a 250 on the back. He moves in quiet as a mouse with his electric motor. With the stealth of a cat very slowly lowers 2 anchors. I barely even heard the guy come in. The 2 guys in the boat kept their voices down and caught a pile of fish very quietly and without incident.

Who'd you rather fish by?

My moneys with the serious bass or walleye guys 99% of the time. The more I fish the more I see how most of them are confident enough in their ability they don't need to crowd you to catch fish. Most seem concerned about the image of their sport and are trying to show they aren't the jerk-baits the one or two bad apples that get way to much lip service are.