Weekly Bass Reports

[thatoneguy]

I wouldn't say that I'm happy to say others struggled too, but I am glad to know that I am not alone. I had just a couple of hours on Leech with a cousin on Saturday, and what I assumed would be a nonstop smashfest ended up not being all that good. Granted, we weren't fishing the best stuff because we had very limited time, but it was a much tougher bite than I had expected.  
I'm hoping that the hot weather the next few days will fire up a good frog bite

[thatoneguy]

Well time hasn't permitted me to do any frog fishing for greenies, but I put the hurt on some really good smallies the past couple of days. On these hot, muggy dog days of summer when a lot of people look deep, I always go shallow for smallies. My goal the past two trips was to locate the schools of small perch that brownies love to feed on, and then throw around the rocks in that area. The pattern held up all over the lake, and I was able to put good numbers and very good size in the boat - almost all of them in less than 5 feet of water. One big one came out of about 12' by a giant boulder that always holds a fish or two, but the rest were dirt shallow. 

Tubes worked best during the afternoon, and towards evening when the wind laid down a bit I stuck a few good ones on a bone super spook. Good stuff!

[smalliehunter]

Over by willmar this morning.  Fish were on fire, on deep rocks for couple hours before that moved in.

[RuddyDuck]

Fished a little Saturday evening and Sunday late morning. Got a few on Frogs Saturday evening, but nothing real crazy shallow. Finished the night getting a few on the outside milfoil edge on jigs in about 8-10ft.

Came out later Sunday Morning and went straight to the edge with jigs. Got one on the first cast and one on the last cast. Had about 18 or so in between. Alot of 2lbers with a 3.5 being the biggest. Got to see a bigger one, but hit 12ft from boat and jumped at me, grrr! Of course the next 3 smaller ones stayed on!! All but two fish came on N/S Newgill flip and swim. I like it when they are where you think they should be.

[rascal23]

Took a break from tourny lakes and fished a local lake for fun on Wednesday afternoon/eve. Tried real shallow areas first with no results for an hour or so then went to some mid-depth weeds.  Still nothing.  Then to some mid-depth rocks surrounded by weeds.  Lights on!  Got a couple dozen on mostly jig/worm up to 18".  Moved to try some deep rocks - nothing but pannies and one strong bite.  Went to some other shallow veg.  Nope.  Back to the shallower rocks for another for another 15 or so to close out the day. One of the biggest concentration of fish I have ever seen.  Much needed boost to the mojo.

[Juan Grande]

Got out a lot the past week.  Fished Lake Sarah last Saturday and got on a decent dock bite.  Caught 10 or so in about two hours and had two bite offs that I'm sure were pike.  

Fished Mille Lacs on Monday morning.  We ended up catching more walleyes than smallies.  Fished the deeper end of some points and were about to head out to 3 Mile when my buddy started having boat troubles.   It was really windy and he couldn't go any faster than 10 mph so we decided to get off the lake.  Fished a couple lakes on the west side of Mille Lacs for largies. First lake was a complete bust except for the big fish of the trip which was a 4-6 largemouth on my last cast before we docked. Switched to a bit bigger lake and ended up getting around 40 fish between the two boats.  Mostly small pound to pound and a half fish, but they were viciously hitting frogs in the pads and jigs pitched under docks so it was a lot of fun. 

Next day we headed up to Nisswa and fished a lake in town. Kind of a repeat of the day before, caught lots of fish but mostly smaller ones. There are a couple large shallow weed flats on the lake and we got them drop shotting and throwing swim jigs on the weed line.  The three guys I was with had never drop shotted before so it was a good chance to get their feet wet. Got quite a few fish on spinnerbaits and some on jigs under docks as well.  My boat had 11 fish in the first 15 minutes on the lake.  Got three off a downed tree and nine off one resort dock on jigs.  I thought it was going to be an epic day of fishing, but the bite slowed down considerably as the sun came up. 

Closed out the day on a lake with heavy pad cover.  I busted out the heavy flipping stick, 3/4 oz tungsten and a brush hog (and D-Bomb) and started pitchin.  The two guys I was with were throwing frogs as they didn't have heavy enough gear to fish the pads.  That style of fishing gets a bit monotonous (especially when it's 90 degrees), but when you feel that "thump" as the bait falls through a hole in the pads, it's all worth it.  Caught 6-7 fish in about two hours doing that with an average size around 2 1/2-3 lbs, probably lost just as many.  The fish would not touch a frog so my buddies started fishing the edges while I fished the middle of the pads.  

Mille Lacs still has my number. I haven't had a good day (numbers or size wise) out there in years. I'm sure we should have fished deeper, but the boat troubles limited where we could go.  Oh well, gotta keep trying it, I know how good it can be. 

All in all, it was a really fun trip.  Mixed results on fishing, but we got enough to keep us busy.

 

[bassfshin24]

Well last week started off pretty terrible for me. I had my Minnesota Match Fishing contest on Minnetonka on Monday. This was only the 3rd time I had ever fished it and the 2nd was the week before to practice. Practice went terrible. This lake is massive and just so much to try and fish. Anyway we decided on doing just a 4 fish limit and the guy I was going against won with 4 fish for 7.5lbs. He said it was the worst he's ever done out there. I had only 2 fish for 5.02lbs. Sad part was is that with a half hour left I decided to go shallow and fish some docks. First dock I hook into one and it comes up and head shakes and it was a legit 4.5lber+. Got it to the boat and it came up again and head shook and threw my jig. That would have won the tourney for me. Oh well. I know Tonka is one of the best lakes in the state but man I really don't like it at this point haha. Just need to start learning it I guess.

 

Took the day off Thursday and wanted to get some redemption from Monday. I hit a metro lake that I know has some giants in there. This lake is usually pretty murky so the shallow bite and dock bite is usually pretty decent. Started off with some topwater over a point with no success. Decided to hit my key stretch of docks on this lake and finally pulled the first one in which was about 2.5lbs. A little while later I hook into a monster off a dock. Heart was pumping as I had visions of loosing this girl at the boat just like the one at my tourney Monday. Was finally able to land her and she came in at 5lbs 6oz. Biggest fish I've had in awhile. Hands were shaking and everything. Ended up fishing docks the rest of the day with a few other fish in the 3lber range. 

 

Yesterday I decided to go back to the lake I fished on Thursday and see if I could get into another giant. I'm still searching for that 6lber. I have yet to get one in the boat. Biggest for me is a 5lbs 14oz. Anyway I thought I would start on my good set of docks and right away started getting fish. Mostly small. Finally hooked into a decent one and it was a 3lbs 2oz skinny fish. Had the head an mouth of a 4lber. A little while later I flipped a brush hog to the edge of a dock and hook into a good one. Got it in and it was 4lbs 7oz. Decided to try deep and see if I could pull anything off some rocks that I had graphed. Got to the first set of rocks and through a football jig on it without any success. Dug out my dropshot and on the first pitch to the rocks I hook into a good one. This thing was not moving. My heart was pumping because in this lake any fish could be that 6lbs+. Finally tired her out and got her in the boat and she weighed 4lbs 15oz. Yes I could have called it 5lbs but Im the type of guy that has to see that number on the scale. Anyway I didn't get another bite off the rocks so I went back to some other docks and pulled in another 3lber+. Ended the day with the best 5 fish going 19lbs. Man I can't wait to get back to this lake. The fall bite is usually pretty awesome here. 

[RuddyDuck]

Had a fun night after work tonight. We are defiantely losing daylight fast!  Started out a little crazy as a big pike tail slapped me right at the boat, grabbed my chatterbait and under the boat it and my chatter bait went! Kinda cool though. After retying, I got into a weed bite in about 4-6ft of water. They were really hitting the chatterbait over the weeds and along some cattails.

After a little lull,I again found another spot of weeds that produced several fish in just a few minutes. All but a few were caught on chatterbaits. Total was about 20, with the biggest coming in at 18inches. No Giants tonight, but I still enjoyed the action.  Water temp was around 62, Fall is starting to take hold.

 

[thatoneguy]

Got into em pretty good on Leech yesterday. Glad I took a vacation day! Water temps were around 56, so the good frog bite should really be starting now and will hopefully hold up for a few weeks barring any crazy weather. Best 5 were about 26.5 lbs. Really a fun day!

[RuddyDuck]

How did everyone's weekend go? Sure was nice fall weather.

I had a decent Saturday, though it took a while to find them. Sunday tried a different lake and it was even better. Caught most fish on Texas rigged creatures on the edge of the weeds in 6-10ft. Haven't really got a lipless bite going yet, the weeds still seem to be up a lot yet with this warm weather we are having. 

 

[RuddyDuck]

Went out last evening in the Chilly Breeze, since it's when I can get out and not when it is best to get out. Ended up having a Pounder fest, but couldn't get into anything big. Lot's of 1-2 pounders around the weed edges and shore cover. Jigs, Lipless and chatterbaits all caught fish. Water temps are around 55-56 now around here.  

Really wish I could get out in the next couple days, but have to go up north(Akeley area) and get things set up for Deer Camp this weekend. Hoping to maybe get out for an hour if I get things done quick. With the warm up coming, I think fishing could be hot.  

Good luck to those getting out this weekend!

[bassfshin24]

I got out Monday on a local east metro lake and hammered them. This lake really isn't known for giants so I never really am expecting anything over 4lbs. Me and a buddy probably ended up with 30+ fish. Mostly small. Did get 3 or 4 over 3lbs. Most were caught on a Spro Aruku lipless crank. Also caught some on squarebill crank. My buddy did get a Tiger Sku which was awesome. Good looking fish. I will be heading up to Mille Lacs next Thursday-Saturday so hoping for some calm weather!

[thatoneguy]

3 hours ago, bassfshin24 said:

I got out Monday on a local east metro lake and hammered them. This lake really isn't known for giants so I never really am expecting anything over 4lbs. Me and a buddy probably ended up with 30+ fish. Mostly small. Did get 3 or 4 over 3lbs. Most were caught on a Spro Aruku lipless crank. Also caught some on squarebill crank. My buddy did get a Tiger Sku which was awesome. Good looking fish. I will be heading up to Mille Lacs next Thursday-Saturday so hoping for some calm weather!

I really would love to get out on Mille Lacs once more this fall...gonna try to get out there next weekend as well if weather permits.

[rascal23]

Got out tues., wed., and today - all local. One lake, known for big fish, gave up a 19 and a few more 17-18 on mon. and a 20 1/2 today.  The big fish came shallow on swimbaits - 4ft with cabbage. Today, a lot was working. Swimbait got the first fish, the big one, then didn't get one over 16 the rest of the day.   Chatterbait. jerkbait, t-rigged worm all worked with a KVD squarebill coming on strong at the end.    

   Husky jerk was the star on tues., but boat control was tough.  Lotta fish, but all small except a beefy 18 incher.

  I'ld like to try to get to ML next week if the weather cooperates. I really want to learn the fall bite up there.

[smalliehunter]

Got home last night from 4 days fishing in northern Minnesota.  Hit one of my favorite lakes kind of by Emily, MN on Friday and Saturday.  Absolutely destroyed the smallies.  Fish just plane at a jig for 4 days.  Fished lacs Thursday and Sunday.  In 4 days I caught 51 smallies, missed 8, and had a giant break my line.  Crazy good.  Lacs water temp was 48-49.  Other lake is 1400 acres and water was 52..  flat areas right off a steep break is what I fished for 4 days!

[bassfshin24]

I fished local metro lakes last Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday it took me while to find the fish  but once I did it was a decent day. Best 5 fish on Tuesday was 20.56lbs and that's with one of them being 1.75lbs haha. I had to fish right at 5lbs even that hit a KVD 2.5. Had another one at 4.875 that absolutely destroyed a buzzbait. Then a 3.875 that hit a spinnerbait. I think they wanted moving baits. I was fishing a steep bank with good foil that cut off in 7ft. The two 5s came in the same area about 5 minutes apart and also lost one at the boat that was 3.5-4lbs. 

 

Went back to the same lake on Friday with a buddy and I only caught a handful of fish with the two biggest being 4lbs even. Buddy got a couple 3s and one that went 5. The bigger fish all came on cranks. I caught both my 4s on DT10 and he got his 5 on a Live Target perch crank. He caught a couple 3s on chatterbait and one on a jig. Pretty slow day compared to Tuesday. Can't wait to get back out there.

 

I hope I can try and make one more trip back up to Mille Lacs also

[RuddyDuck]

Fished locally with Juan on Friday and enjoyed a great afternoon of weather and fishing. Juan had the biggest at 4.5lbs, plus we had several in the 3lb range. Green weed areas were key. Swim jigs/Jigs, squarebills and paddletails caught most fish.

 

Yesterday I spent most of the day out on the same lake. Once again green weeds were key. Water was down to 49-50. Suspending jerkbaits caught a lot and biggest fish. Then later that quit and T-rigged dbombs took over. Biggest one for me yesterday was 4.5lbs and it even came with a battle scar! I had my own scarred thumb to show for the day.  

 

With Deer hunting coming up this weekend, that might of been my last time out on a lake .  But, maybe not with the warm forecast I see. Next week looks better for fishing, than Deer hunting.

Edited October 31, 2016 by RuddyDuck

[lookincalifornia]

30+fish yesterday from my kayak in the LaCrosse area backwaters. Water temps were low to mid 50s.

fish were crushing the swim jig all day long. A couple fish pushing 4 pounds, only a handful of short fish. Fall fishing is awesome right now!

[RuddyDuck]

Had my 2016 Bass season finale this weekend! Always great to be able to get out after Deer season. Fished Sat. for about 3hrs in the afternoon. Got into a pretty good lipless bite. About 15-20 fish and all but a few caught on a gill colored bait. A pair of 4's were the biggest fish of the day. Green weeds in about 7-10ft,once again the key. Water temps were 47-48.

 

Sunday, I got out an hour earlier and headed to the same spot as Saturday all jacked up. Thought, I'm gonna really kill em today on lipless! Well, wrong. After 2 hrs, only had a couple small ones and a pike.Was like dang, should of stayed home today. Finally switched to a jig and picked a couple up. Then went to a d-bomb with 1/4 wieght and that was the ticket. Got about 15 or so to finish out the season. The highlight was a pair of 4's on back to back casts! See you again next year, Mr. Largemouth!

 

 

Edited November 14, 2016 by RuddyDuck

[smalliehunter]

Was out on the pond today.  Water was 47-48.  Lots of guys musky fishing.  Still a few bass boats around.  Pretty slow.  I only caught 6 all day.  Thanksgiving is at my folks place in Emily.  Might pull the boat up and try Mille Lacs couple days next week..

Edited November 15, 2016 by smalliehunter

[serpent]

Per usual I was out both Saturday and Sunday.  Between two different lakes we caught 35 bass.  Biggest was 19.5 and super fat.  My dad caught 2 fish. I thought he was the guy in the back of the boat but....   Looking at the weather I'll be out Sunday maybe and hopefully  a couple days next week.  C'mon global warming.

[Juan Grande]

Sweet pic smalliehunter!  I like the dog's reflection in the water.

[lookincalifornia]

Last Tuesday on pool 8, 28 bass and 6 pike. I didn't want that to be my last outing so I tried again on Thursday. 52 bass and 20 pike! Water was still in the low 50s and all fish were crushing the NSCB swim jig with a paddle tail swimbait trailer.

tomorrow will be my last outing for the kayak 

31 minutes ago, Juan Grande said:

Sweet pic smalliehunter!  I like the dog's reflection in the water.

I thought that was Sid the sloth!

[RuddyDuck]

44 minutes ago, lookincalifornia said:

I thought that was Sid the sloth!

 

Funny, I was thinking the same thing! Nice pic.

[thatoneguy]

I was heading to a local lake for a last hurrah on Sunday, and discovered that the water level was so low that I never would have been able to get the boat back out! So, instead the boat is winterized now and I am counting the days til ice out before the ice is even here.