2020 Open Water

[CraigP83]

Got the boat out for the first time and everything runs well enough. Warmest water I found was 49°.

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[earldogg]

May 9th around 5am, I will be at lake Z, Craig where you fishing?

[CraigP83]

Haven't thought that far ahead.  Maybe Wisconsin or Waverly

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[Mike Cork]

warmest you found was 49  that's the coldest ours got this year Can't wait to see all those big smallies you guys catch. I missed he brownies...

[CraigP83]

warmest you found was 49  that's the coldest ours got this year Can't wait to see all those big smallies you guys catch. I missed he brownies...

Yup. Our night air temps are still in the high 20s and 30s. Water temps warm up as the day progresses but still pretty cold. That said high air temp today will be into the mid 60s so hopefully in a week or two we'll have some prime prespawn fishing. Downside is our season doesn't start until mid May

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[CraigP83]

58*F in some of those cuts this weekend. They were loaded with schools of small sunfish and small bass (and 1 big muskie), no crappie yet.  Only got to spend 2 hrs on the boat and technically wasn't able to target bass since the season is closed.  Caught a pile of little guys on a small hair jig

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[Lipripper]

58*F in some of those cuts this weekend. They were loaded with schools of small sunfish and small bass (and 1 big muskie), no crappie yet.  Only got to spend 2 hrs on the boat and technically wasn't able to target bass since the season is closed.  Caught a pile of little guys on a small hair jig

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Thanks for the update Craig and I know it felt good to be back out on the boat and catching fish again after a long winter.

[CraigP83]

Weather looks a little crummy for the weekend, anyone got big plans for opener? I unfortunately won't be getting out as I ended up getting stuck working the weekend shift.

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[earldogg]

Lee and I at lake Z. Probably.

[CraigP83]

Hearing some early reports that fishing on Saturday was better than expected for a lot of people. Who here has a report?

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[CraigP83]

58-60 degrees where I fished. Overcast. Struggled today.  Got one good fish really shallow and found a school deep on a sharp break but could only get one to bite.  It was tough today

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[CraigP83]

62°F water temps today. Overcast, slight precipitation. Bass on beds everywhere but as usual I couldn't catch them once I saw them. Caught 15-20 today on 1/2oz jig, Tokyo rig and Crawtube. Best fish came off shallow wood with the Jig. Best 5 went just over 13# anchored by  a 4.25# fish

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[CraigP83]

Lake Z today.  Ultra clear 64°F water caught 3 littles, two on a swimjig and one on a 1/2oz juice jig in the wood.  Lost what may have been a bigger one in the slop on a skinny dipper. Saw a few fish still on beds but I think for the most part this lake was post spawn. Overcast post frontal conditions may have made the bite tougher (at least that's the story I'm going with).

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[CraigP83]

Lake M today. 60° temps, fog and overcast when I started. Once the sun came out fish were stacked in the shallowest warmest (66° when I left) water I could find.  They were spooky so long casts with weightless plastics was key. Best 5 went 22#. Largest fish was 4.75#

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[zippyduck]

22# is nothing to sneeze at. nice haul. 

[Smallie_Stalker]

Man, you keep that up and you're gonna put a real hurtin' on the others in IBASS when it starts.

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[CraigP83]

Lake O 74-76°F water temps. Bluebird sky, post frontal, most bass appear post spawn Sunfish beds in the pads super shallow got a few small ones on a skinny dipper got 2 decent ones off docks and one on a deeper break on a neko rig. Pretty tough and never got a pattern going

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[Lipripper]

Lake O 74-76°F water temps. Bluebird sky, post frontal, most bass appear post spawn Sunfish beds in the pads super shallow got a few small ones on a skinny dipper got 2 decent ones off docks and one on a deeper break on a neko rig. Pretty tough and never got a pattern going

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Nice fish Craig.

[CraigP83]

Tried a brand new lake this morning.  When I launched I was disappointed to see the entire shoreline was weed choked 50+ yards out. Water temps were in that 75°F range again.  Air temps were slightly cooler and there were  a couple clouds todays. Since bank beating was out of the question I spent a lot of time scanning points and islands. Found a few rock piles with some scatter coontail and milfoil. Ended up dragging a jig around. Best 5 probably weighed around 17". Including a 19" + 18.5 + 18" + 16.5" + 16" fish. A couple of the big ones had bloody tails.

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[Lipripper]

Way to go Craig.

[CraigP83]

Went to Lake W again on Sat June 27 with the club and man almighty did we crush them. Water was 77° when I started and shot up to 82 at one point. Air temps were high 80s it was humid and there was no wind.  Caught a quick limit throwing a swim jig and paddle tail around docks but around 930am is when things got interesting.  I was dragging a jig around a hard bottom area in 7-8 fow that had some rock, foil and sunfish beds. Caught a 19" and quickly hit spot lock on the TM. The next 2 hours my buddy and I didn't move and just fan cast the jig with the biggest bulkiest trailers we had. Ended up culling all our fish and by the end of it we had 37# of bass in the livewell between the two of us.

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[Lipripper]

All right Craig sounds like y'all had a very productive day on the water.

[CraigP83]

Lake J. Water temps 65. Fishing was slow but got a few nice ones deep dragging a jig over a hard bottom break

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[zippyduck]

A few of the right ones for sure.  Nice catches. 

[earldogg]

Great bag Craig!