Well.. 5 hours on WBL and.... er.. HELP!

[Slyster]

We got skunked.

We didn't even see a minnow.. was like the lake was sterile. Very disappointing for both me and kids.

I figure that either....

1- We didn't fish right for this early time of year. (Others had success)

2- It was just a tough day on WBL.. water too cold. (Others didn't have success)

I'll tell you what we did and perhaps some wiser than me can tell me where I failed.

Went to WBL from around 2:00pm to 7:00pm. We went to 8 different places, around 1/2 hour or so per spot. Ranged from 5' to 25'... all corners of the lake.. pretty much the same areas we saw groups of boats.

In some deeper areas, I found 10-20 horizontal 'lines' on the graph (I was stationary so I assume they were fish. Ran everything I had (no live bait- no curly tail type baits either) through those zones. Stub grubs, Rat tails, exude tubes, tiny beetle spins, tiny crawdads, flu flu type jigs.. nada.

Please help! Not looking for lakes or spots just some general tips- and I hope the thread helps others as well.

[CALVINIST]

Slyster,

All I can say is, "Man, your kids must have PATIENCE!" My boy Lucas can't take more than 2 hours in the boat.

You probably heard it all before, but here goes. Try a north facing shoreline that has murky water, a soft and muddy botton, and emergent vegetation. The warm weather we have been having will drive the fish into warmer, shallower water.

For presentation, try a soft plastic minnow imitator. Like a Mini-Mite. My favorite is the Culprit paddletails on a 1/32 collerless jighead. Go with black body/green head...this color has never let me down. Once you are in the shallows, fish this under a float. Use a #2 Thill Mini-Stealth, only don't slip rig it. Adjust the depth so your presentation is a foot or two below the surface.

Once you find a location you think might holds fish, cast it out, let it sit for a moment, then "pop" it back to the boat. You can mix things up, too. Try just a slow retrieve with occasional stop. Watch your float. Any motion that looks unusual, like it suddenly lays on it's side, set the hook.

Don't spend much more than 5-10 minutes in one spot. If you don't catch anything during that time, there's probably nothing there, so don't waste your precious time. The key is to keep moving until you find active fish. You can and will catch both crappies and gills doing this, with a token bass and northern too.

Another point you may want to consider is stay away from the crowd and look for those key locations that are unpressured. What the heck, if all the boats are fishing the north side of the lake, then why not try something different and fish south, east, or west side.

Hope this helps.

BTW, I notice you have a love of astronomy and science in general. have you ever heard of Hugh Ross of Reasons To Believe?

[Matt Johnson]

Did you try fishing the deeper weed line? I believe there's a pretty good mid-depth weed line out from Ramsey Beach Park, and I know panfish like to hold on that after the ice is out.

You could also try around Manitou Island just off the first break. Sometimes the crappies will hold in those areas.

And if that doesn't work then I'd try the north bay on the far east section (around the large point) of the lake. Work anywhere from about 10-20 feet to start, but also check the shallows just in case they moved up...

[Slyster]

Thanks.. gives me a few more things to try. That's the best thing, and purpose, of this site eh? I did actually did try black on yellow or white heads.. those are similar to paddle tails no? I think some of my problem is a confidence issue too. I wonder of Bald Eagle is better at this early time of year. The water temps on WBL were from 49-53.

Yes.. the kids did very well.. but I brought lots of FOOD and toys. Lego etc.. and they don't ever have to go with me.. and they won't next time.. I need a few LONG days to figure things out first. I don't want them to not like fishing because it's boring. I think I'll bring them to Sunset Lake near Hugo today for shorefishing.. I was told (another post) that this will get them into small sunnies. Kelsey hasn't ever caught a fish yet.. and Luke (after two summers) has only caught perhaps 4... (He's not patient enough to fish more than a minute at a time).. although I let him reel is a few larger bass last summer.

Got to break in Luke's his first "pro" equipment. (4 foot Yu-Gi-Oh fishing pole).

[Matt Johnson]

Bald Eagle might be a better choice, as I know a lot of people do well on the crappies on there after ice-out. Cigar Island is a popular spot, but you might have to sort through a lot of small fish...

[BDR]

It also may have to do with the fact that WBL is one of the last metro lakes to have the ice come off. It may be a little behind in the water temps. Fish will come shallow on that NE corner of the lake. Before there were houses we used to shore fish up there all the time.

[Slyster]

Well.. Shore fished Sunset lake today.. with plastics tipped with waxies.. we did manage to get 4 sunnies in around 2 hours... so SLOW.. tried plastics ONLY but never any action without wax worms.. I'm not sold on plastics for early panfish yet.. seems only live bait did anything.. but I'll experiment more on my own.

Each child did get two fish each so that was cool... they were pretty happy. I don't like fishing from shore.. so limited... was so shallow and only ONE 200' stretch or so on the main highway.. everywhere else were NO PARKING signs and homes.. stinks.

Bought a bunch of Thill Stealth floats today too.. learning..

I will go out to WBL and BEL next week.. alone.. and try to figure out a few things.. before I bring the kids again.

BTW.. Calvinist.. I haven't heard of Hugh Ross of Reasons To Believe.. I'll look into it.. sounds interesting.

[Ritz]

I too was out on WBL this past Friday and I did pretty well with crappies. There was an extremely good evening bite.

[Slyster]

nice! Ritz.. any tips? What did you use? Any general locations? (ok.. I wasn't going to ask for spots.. but it's worth a try!)... going back out again soon.. and do NOT want to be skunked again!