Opener Results?

[serpent]

Opener was ok. Saturday being the best day. Sunday was ok. Monday was awful. Biggest was a 20". Lost a monster next to the boat. She sucked in the bait when it was on bottom and I didn't get a good hook set. booooo.

[Duffman]

Introduced the pup to her first largemouth.

18.5"

[reinhard1]

Great picture!!!!! good luck.

[jefflake]

The five biggest Saturday for my buddy and I went 24-0. The biggest bass Saturday went 5-8.

Monday the biggest bass went 6-0. Spawned out female. The bass were about half and half spawned to not spawned.

[MudPuppy77]

My neighbor and I went out for a few hours yesterday morning. We didn't find the numbers but what we did find was quality. We boated a 15",17",18.5",19", and this dandy, which is 21", 4lbs-12oz. I was throwing senkos and creature baits in 5ft of water.

It was a great way to start my day!

[thatoneguy]

The five biggest Saturday for my buddy and I went 24-0. The biggest bass Saturday went 5-8.

Monday the biggest bass went 6-0. Spawned out female. The bass were about half and half spawned to not spawned.

Great day! Put up some pics of those pigs.

[Juan Grande]

Wow MudPuppy, 21" and it didn't crack 5 lbs?

[MudPuppy77]

Wow MudPuppy, 21" and it didn't crack 5 lbs?

That was my initial thought as well. I thought for sure it was at least 5 when I pulled it in.

[RuddyDuck]

Made it out Sat. early morning on a Zimmerman area lake. Ended up with about 8 or so bass from 1-2 lbs, nothing real big. Most were caught on a frog with the biggest coming on a lake fork ring worm. It was fun watching them hit the frog, with a few jumping past it and missing!

Made it out during the heat of the day on Sunday on a lake near me. Only got one for 3hrs out, but it was a real nice fat bellied 5 lber. Sometimes 1 big one is better than 10 one pounders. Caught that one pitching a Beaver bait in the rushes.

It's great to have the Bass opener here again! Sorry,no pictures, my darn camera on my phone is broke.

[kt]

Opener was pretty inconsistent for me up in the alex/fergus areas. Inconsistent weather/winds/temps this time of year usually means inconsistent bite and that was definitely the case. We spent almost six hours waiting out storms at the accesses for the 3 day weekend, I can definitely say that was a first for me.

We ended up putting 12 fish over 4 lbs in the boat this weekend but didn't manage to crack 5 lbs. Biggest went 4 lb 14 oz. We found fish in all stages of spawn on the various lakes we fished. Saw a few fish on beds including a pair of 4+ lbers on the same bed which was pretty cool to see. We caught fish on swim jigs, lipless cranks, t-rigs, jigs, and grubs. We caught fish as shallow as 1' of water all the way out to 12' of water. All in all it was a good weekend other than the tail kicking the smallmouth gave us on sunday, we shoulda left the lake as soon as we saw the water color. Less than 2 foot visibility on a lake that normally has visibility in the 12+ foot range was a recipe for lock jaw.

[st.crioxfishin]

I had an old college buddy come up for the weekend and we went on a 4 day fishing escapade for the opener. We hit pool 2 on friday and the frog bite was on fire - I have not caught fish on a frog like that in a long time. Swim jigs were also good and all fish were post spawn. On Friday afternoon we drove 3.5 hours north to fish a smallie lake for the opener. It ended up being one of the best days I've ever had for smallmouth. There were prespawn and spawning fish - flukes, grubs, tubes, and clousers worked best (caught 2 over 4lbs on the fly rod which was a riot). On Sunday we fished another lake up north for largemouth - I'd say the fishing was par for the course, but nothing spectacular. Yesterday we fished a local metro area lake and caught many smaller fish with a few nicer ones mixed in - all postspawn fish as well. I'm used to having to deal with fish in an all out funk on certain lakes this time of year due to the spawn and immediate post spawn fish. I really dislike fishing during that spawning and immediate postspawn phase. I'm liking this warmer spring as it seems most of the fish around the metro area are near there summer spots already. All in all it was a good weekend.

[NickMcD63]

We got them really well on Friday up shallow on light weighted creature baits. We saw the females, but there were spooking way too easily.

Monday we were able to find thge bigger bite off the first break around a point on a NorthStar Custom Baits Flip & Swim jig.

[Lakeside_Nelson]

Opener was pretty good for only a couple hours before the storms hit the metro. We ended up with 17 total, 4 fish 17in plus with the largest at 19in. Pretty good considering the storms the day before, but I wished there was a more consistent bite. The bonus of the day though was the girlfriend her PR at 18in, beating my biggest of the day

[bassfshin24]

Where do you guys get your northstar swimjigs from? I want to order some and TW always has them on backorder. Are there places around the cities that have them?

[thatoneguy]

Go right to the source at www.northstarbaits.com

[NickMcD63]

Go right to the source at www.northstarbaits.com

This

[river rat316]

We have been playing catchup since like February, trying to keep up with TW and the HSOforum. I initially talked to Thorne Bros and a couple others in January but quickly got over ran with orders so I had to pull the plug on expanding into any new retailers this spring. Hopefully we get caught up here enough in the next couple of weeks to revisit this soon, I really want to expand here locally and with the new shop and more space we should be able to!

[RK]

Where do you guys get your northstar swimjigs from? I want to order some and TW always has them on backorder. Are there places around the cities that have them?

North Star swim jigs are outstanding. Just outstanding. Great hook, the right weedguard, skirts are tied on, and some of his colors are crazy good. When the swim jig bite is on I could make a pretty good living with a box full of nothing but Smokey Bluegill, Olive Minnow and Watermelon Magic. Actually, that's pretty much what I have now that I think about it...heh.

One thing that's really, really high on my to do list this season is to experiment with swim jigs in other situations beyond shallow cover. Had some experiences last fall using swim jigs in deeper water that were real eye-openers...

I'm finally going to get to bass fish this weekend, and one of the rods on the deck will have a swim jig on, for sure.

RK

[corncob]

I'm curious what trailer is preferred on a swim jig?....Grub , swimbait, senko, what?

[Cecil]

Yes. All of the above. There is no bad trailer for a swim jig. Confidence and mood of fish are key factors

[bassfshin24]

During the heat of the summer would a twin tail grub work better? I pretty much just stick to a single tail grub on my swimjigs.

[RK]

I use twin tail grubs a lot - lots of vibration when the bait's moving fast, but they kind of act like a parachute when you pause your retrieve. I like the new Berkley Havoc twin tails - the body is a little longer so the tails are out past the skirt, and they're fairly tough. Plus, they're dirt cheap, which I like.

When I want a little less commotion, I use Zoom Swimmin' Chunks, which are kind of hard to find sometimes, but are great subtle trailers.

I also - especially when the water's got a little color to it - like thumper tail trailers like a Keitech Swing Impact.

Whatever trailer, get some Hitch Series trailer hitch clips. Sunfish love tugging at the tails on swim jigs, and the trailer hitches will save you a lot of torn up trailers.

Cheers,

RK

[bassfshin24]

Thanks for the good info as usual RK!

[Cecil]

I have used a horny toad as well. Good bulk, but not a crazy action.

[JP Z]

A great trailer I have just started using and have had Killer success with are the Lake Fork Hyper Worms......those are pretty slick.