What's working now

[JoeTC]

This time of year can be tough to find a consistent pattern as bass are in different stages of transitioning off of the spawn but haven't yet set up in their summer locations. What locations and techniques have been putting fish in your boat for you over the past week? I found some largemouth in a shallow backwater last wkd in northern mn but hope to hit the metro for the first time this wkd.

Thanks,

Joe

[RumRiverRat]

Jigs fished on spawning flats 2 to 8 feet deep.

Chatterbaits at night in warm shallow protected bays.

Pitching jigs and T-rig creature baits into flooded brush and grass.

Bass are in all stages of the spawn on the lake I have fished most of the week.

Fishing has been nothing short of epic.

[RK]

I fished a metro lake yesterday and a lot of fish were starting to make beds. I fished one area at around 9 yesterday morning and there were a couple small bucks making beds, but by early afternoon there were beds all over. Watched a small male and what looked like a 4 pounder or so locked on a bed for quite a while.

Got glassed out mid-afternoon which actually made things tougher than they needed to be but ended up with a good day overall - except for a nice sunburn on the sides of my hands where I missed with the sunscreen...

Caught some fish early on swim jigs and squarebills, and did ok blind pitching some shallow cabbage with t-rigged creatures later as the sun got up. Mid-day though, texas rigging a straight tailed worm did a lot better than either creatures or jigs. Almost like the high skies had them skittish and a creature with a lot of action was too much commotion.

I think you'll see a lot of fish locked on beds by this weekend.

[RK]

Surface temp was 71 by yesterday afternoon, btw. Granted, that's surface temp on a hot, calm day. But still. Warming up quickly.

[gritsnham]

Fished the metro hard over memorial weekend and had some awesome catches. Swim jigs, square bills, jigs and t-rigged creatures did the best for us. Lot of fish moving up shallow and by Monday started to see more small males cruising...I suspect RK is right that beds will be very prominent this weekend!

[Craigums]

Was on a small metro lake yesterday and saw lots of empty beds. Did see a 4-pounder locked on a bed but couldn't get it to bite

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I witnessed the same thing Saturday, empty beds. Opener they were moving up and just starting their beds, this Saturday they were empty and the sunnies were starting to move up into the same areas to spawn. Hopefully the another week and they will be putting on the feed bag, the bigger fish were hard to come by.

[th64]

Caught a 20.25" in about 9ft-she was skinny-I think females are done in the metro.

[RuddyDuck]

Not sure what is working right now?? I was out last Thursday and had a great evening after work. Bass were up shallow(4-6ft) and caught 16+ in a few hours. All on jigs.

Went out last night to same lake and struggled to catch one fish for two hours. Nothing much was shallow. Missed one shallow bass. I tried weeds in 7-10ft and nothing. The one I caught was deeper in about 10-12ft of water and caught on a weighted t-rigged senko. At least it was a decent 18.5 incher. Not sure if the Monday night cold front turned them off or if the spawn is winding down. I assume some of both.

[MN BassFisher]

I got out on Friday and caught them coming out of the shallows on Swimg Jigs and Senko's. Found some healthy fish and had a blast. Saturday on a North Metro lake and the Bass were tough to find. Went out last night in the South Metro and caught about 30 but only small buck males off the deep weedline and fishing painfully slow.

[M1dwestF1sh]

Just got in. Tried some jigs and senkos but what wprkied the best was crankbaits. Work and cover lots of shoreline and find the beds still on the lake I was on.

[Baitchaser]

Last night on a north metro lake, spent most of the time on the inside or outside weed edge in 4-12ft. senkos hooked wacky produced most of the fish. Couldn't get one to go on a crank to save my life. Towards the end of the night I was throwing a skitter pop over the weed edge and caught 4 doing that with a few misses as well. nothin much for size, biggest was 17"... surface temp on the lake was up to 75-76.

[M1dwestF1sh]

Funny to hear your report because I was trying senkos for awhile on the north metro lake I was on and couldn't get a single bite! What size senkos were you using?

[no bait nate]

Have been getting a few bass shallow on wacky style senkos and some square bill cranks. Also have had quite a few blow ups on frogs in the last week or two. Love the topwater!

[Craigums]

I really struggled this weekend. Caught only 7 bass on 2 seperate 3.5 hour trips. All fish were 12-14 inchces. Weightless senkos in 7-10fow or drop shot. Never felt a bite just weight when I went to move the bait.

[Juan Grande]

I went out with RRR and ToddS yesterday and we had the same experience Craigums. Lots of little fish on Senkos along the inside weedline. Todd got one nice fish and the rest were dinks. Post spawn funk is full swing.

[BTL]

Caught bass on just about everything from 5/25-6/6. I fished 6 lakes at least 2 times apiece and found bass in all stages of the spawn.

What I used really depended on the lake. Hot baits were frogs and senkos in the weedy lakes; jigs, jerkbaits, tubes, and swimbaits in the others.

[JP Z]

So where in Texas were you fishing BTL???

[BTL]

So where in Texas were you fishing BTL???

LOL

Otter Tail County Minnesota!

[RuddyDuck]

I was up north this weekend in the Akeley area on a small lake and found the same thing going on. I probably got 12-15 bass in the 1 to 2.5 range. Biggest one was just an ounce under 3lb. I got them shallow in the emerging dollar pads on jigs, senkos and the old t-rigged zoom lizard. Tried deeper, but couldn't find any bigger ones. The deeper cabbage is just starting to grow and they don't like the old dead stuff. The fish in the pic isn't that big, but I just liked looking at the bassey looking cover!

[bucketmouth64]

Went on a couple lakes in Ottertail county and didn't fair well at all. Couldn't find weed lines in the lakes I was on, mostly emerging reeds and some pads. Fished 2-6 feet and 8-12 and couldn't find any type of pattern. I wonder if the fronts that came thru earlier had an effect? Where do you look when the weeds haven't grown and the shallow bite isn't working?

[M1dwestF1sh]

Wacky rig drop shot on the deep edge worked for me tonight on forest. If there aren't any weeds up and no shallow bite and you can use sonar or somehow find the depth fish the drop off. I like drops that go to about 12-13ft deep best.

[BTL]

Went on a couple lakes in Ottertail county and didn't fair well at all. Couldn't find weed lines in the lakes I was on, mostly emerging reeds and some pads. Fished 2-6 feet and 8-12 and couldn't find any type of pattern. I wonder if the fronts that came thru earlier had an effect? Where do you look when the weeds haven't grown and the shallow bite isn't working?

That's surprising, we found fish on all kinds of shallow cover up there. Reed edges, wood, pads, docks, etc. Maybe you just hit a postspawn lull.

[RK]

When the weeds aren't up on those lakes I usually look for some kind of hard cover - wood, docks, rushes, etc. Sometimes it's just little bottom irregularities. There's one OTC lake where there's a washout hole from the waves right against shore, and it can load up with fish sometimes. All it is is a depression in the sand that's 8" deeper than the rest of the bank.

If they aren't shallow at all it gets a little tougher. Usually end up looking for last year's weeds that are still standing, and it can vary from year to year how much old growth there is and what condition it's in. It can be hard to find, although it's a lot easier with good electronics. The good news is it's usually in somewhat predictable places - inside turns on shoreline connected weed flats, the sides of points sheltered from prevailing winds (so the south and east sides), and the lee side of the lake in general. Sometimes you can just zip down a break with a deep diving crankbait and find it by feel.

Sometimes post-spawn, these weed beds can really load with fish, so they can be worth finding if you aren't seeing anything exciting shallow.

[grab the net]

One of the lakes looks like a foreign country.