Early Bassin' informal get together - Pool 4/Lake Pepin

[ikeslayer]

Thanks for the info. by the way i am as for sure as i can be. I just got the boat i picked up and unless there are some serious problems you will see me and my big blue down there on Sat. Depending on water temps are we looking at Pre-spawn patterns still??

Getting gittty now, ike.

[sami0115]

HT -- you sound scared (stay at home on the couch when you could be out fishing) ... second place isn't that bad, just get used to it.

[Stelz]

Its about 99 pecent that the Ike slayer and I will be there on Saturday, Ike just got his new(Used) boat... We have been fishin outa barrowed boats and canoes since we started college.. We are unbelievable excited to get out and do some bassin' and meet some of you fellars...

STELZ

[sjmullin25]

does anyone need a non-boating partner for this event. I have never fished that area before but would like to get out and try. I suppose if I had to go by myself I would bring my boat but I would need some pointers on where to go. Any help would be sweet!!

[HawgTide]

We'll see who's scared when you do the return trip up to Monti!

I plan to be there. It's just this Southern Boy don't like cold weather. It's gonna be embarassing when someone who's never been on that water kicks local "Toucas"!

[BigMike]

Ike - looking forward to meeting you and Stelz. Sami & I are going to be hitting the water a little early 6:30-7ish to get some sticks in the water before the bass tourney boys come flying in. I think Hawgtide & co. are showing up around 8am and Ebass & co. are showing up around 9:30-10am. I'm sure Andy and I will be cruisin around the wilcox landing area and we'll be watchin' for the guys showing up at 8am (HT & Ike).

HT, Ebass & Ike... may the best man take second place ... That's all that will be left when Sami & I show up with some nice bass! Don't forget your digital cameras **say cheese**

[sami0115]

Mike....

i think we may limit out before the other guys even wet their line.

[BigMike]

Definitely... we'll be culling 3lbers before they get any the size of the bass in my avatar!

Sami - our systems crashed at work (no email) - I'll check it later but if it doesn't come up what time do you want to meet tomorrow?

[sami0115]

i can be there by 6:30.

i may be a tad "groggy" in the morning, so bear with me.

[river rat316]

If anyone has a open seat let me know! I want to go!

[BigMike]

Sounds good - I'll be there at 6:30 too... No problem on the groggy thing - at least you don't have to drive 1.5+hrs . Just make sure the grogginess doesn't affect your flippin' & buzzin'

[sami0115]

i may still be buzzin'

[BigMike]

LOL! See you in the morning. You've got some mail coming your way...

[HawgTide]

I'll let you know if Riverwader bails on me at 5:30 in the morning ! He's been known to just stay out all night sometimes and wake up on someones porch, so if I can't find him...Can you be on call? J/K

[BigMike]

Hey guys here is the final invitation for tomorrow's informal gathering:

Where: Pool 4 - Mississippi River, Wilcox Launch. Launch is located in the heart of the backwaters: Just east of intersection of County Road 24 & County Road 30 just south of Wabasha

When: Sami & I are meeting at 6:30am, most other guys are meeting at 8am at the launch.

Why: To get a jump start on this year's bass thumb !!! and meet other FM'ers!

If you can make, we've already got 5-6 boats coming and would welcome more, even if you can't make it until later. We are all meeting back at the launch at 2:30pm (per request) to meet each other, trash talk, and weigh for big bass... After that, we can all go back out or for those who can't handle the weather - head home.

If you have any questions just email me at the address listed below. I will see you guys in the early AM.

[Stelz]

WELL,

We blew it again,, Geeze I am sorry,

After Ike and I ended up with a case of food poisoning Thursday eve from a bad Greek lunch wednesday, we really wanted to get down and meet ya, so achin stomachs and all we ventured east to the muddy river at a late 7 sat morning... We took the wrong roads and put in at the pioneer landng W/O even looking at the signs... (I know we are really dumb, but we were both very out of it... ) Between the aching guts and the stops in the woods, we managed to catch one toothy critter and two LM bass, one of which went 4 lbs.. As we returned to the landing at 2:30 to meet everyone we realized we again, had screwed up.. We asked a standerby and he pointed us to the Wilcox landing, we saw a few boats and lots a trucks but figured you all were back out fishin.... We really wanted to be there fellas and apologize for all our shortcomings.. We would love to go again, so make sure and let one of us know when it happens..

Thanks

STELZ

[Deitz Dittrich]

Alright boys... lets hear the fishing report?...

[SluggoMaster]

Well,

Dan and I only mustered 3 pike, and one small, smallie. Between the wind and current, and 34-40 degress, it was pretty miserable down there. It was nice to get out and throw the big stuff.

Scott

[HawgTide]

Well, I found out what hypothermia feels like. Riverwader and Myself met up with Dan2957 and Sluggomaster and made the long journey from the NW metro area. We met Sami and BigMike down at Wilcox landing around 8am. Temps were in the 30's and low 40's with 10-20mph winds most of the day. RW and I hit up Buffalo Slough first. We started pounding the Northerns on spinnerbaits. Caught 6 and another couple got off. Then we headed up river to see if we could find Beef slough. We spent about an hour cruising throught the North end of Big Lake or Truedale Lake, not sure what it is called. We kept coming to a dead end and got stuck a few times. Finally we gave up and headed back to the main river channel. We caught one Smallie near Hershey Island. We were clueless on where to go and didn't want to ride very far because of the weather. What happened to Accuweather???? Friday night they said 59 degrees! I didn't even bring gloves or goggles. By Noon, we were frozen and ready to call it quits. We got out of there before anyone brought out the Pink Thongs.

It was good to meet Dan, Sami (Andy), and Sluggomaster (Steve). Hopefully, when the weather is better, we can have another get together.

[BigMike]

I don't know what these guys are talking about - it was warm and balmy! LOL - maybe it was that 17.75'' smallie I caught that warmed me up . Sami & I fished from 6:30am to about 5pm and we only caught 4 bass and 1 small pike. We did have a few short strikes in the early morning on buzzbaits, but I think the cold weather plus the declining water temps was a major issue.

We caught 2 small bass (largest was 14''= 1lb 11oz) in the Wilcox landing channel and we caught our bigger fish in the Wabasha marinas: I caught a 17.75'' (2lbs 7oz) smallie and Sami caught a 17.5'' (3lb 8oz) largie. It was nice to catch a decent fish but nothing real special - but then again we're catching legal bass in April . I can't complain. We'll do this again sometime! It was nice meeting a few of you that I haven't met before - even if it was only for a few minutes due to the weather!

[sami0115]

i am trying to get the photos posted but am having trouble. can i get some help...

[EBass]

You guys did better than us. From 11 - (Yeah I got there at 11, it was friggen cold) to 8:30 I caught 3 fish. 1 20" sauger on a jig/lizard in Robinson's lake. 1 little pike and 1 15" largemouth on a tube near Wabasha. I missed 2 pike and 2 more bass that I saw and missed a couple more strikes. Rob caught 1 14" bass and that was it.

Was anyone out during that storm aroud 6PM? That was nuts for my 14'. 35MPH winds with a nice steady rain. White caps coming overboard. Ah good ol Minne-Snow-ta.

We did some back water exploring and I only hit the prop twice. We took some feeder creek into another feeder creek that lead us all over and ended up in a wee little back bay that was really shallow. Rob saw some big sunnies hanging out, so that was cool. Maybe in a couple weeks there will be bass back there?

It was still fun despite the weather and 80 competitors. I really have to give it up to the pros for producing in those condidtions. It was cool to see that some were thinking the same areas as I was.

In any case as the Terminator would say - "I'll be back." LOL

[ikeslayer]

Well like Stelz put it it was a rigamaroe from the beginning. It sounds like despite the weather it wasn't the worst day of fishing we have ever experienced and i am sure it was educational. Thanks for put this together guys. ike

[sami0115]

The Winning Fish !!!

A strong second place!!

A good place to start (first fish in the boat)

And he casted right to where i was going to cast. (he stole my fish and cost me 2 bucks.)

[HawgTide]

Nice fish. Glad someone caught something to take a picture of. I owe one of you $5 , whose is bigger?

I was going to leave it on BM's car, but there were too many people around and watching. You guys are nuts staying out that long.