Whitefish chain in August

[pestrem]

Coming up from Fla in late August to fish with some friends and brother-in-law.  Will be hitting the Whitefish chain, to include Cross, Rush, and Daggett Lakes.  Any intel would be appreciated.  Last year had some luck throwing skinny dippers on weed lines in a variety of colors. Also got some bass to hit toads in thick lily pads. Green pumpkin and watermelon red got the hits. Watermelon red super flukes got a share of bass around docks. 

Is there anything in particular that is getting bass attention this year?

[CraigP83]

earldogg and I were just up there last week. I had most of my luck fishing weededges and sunken islands in Trout lake. I started with Tubes and DT10's and the fish were biting so I didn't experiment to much. Lots and lots of Rock Bass in there though! I would suggest making a trip over their, if your lucky you can stumble across some nice size smallies. I didn't find any fish in Rush and struggled in Cross. We had a cold front run through though so I wouldn't completely through those lakes out the window. Maybe earldogg will be willing to share what he found.

[earldogg]

My whole bag came from dagget, most of the chain is very clean water but dagget is very stained, and the grass is much thicker. I was using a drop shot everywhere, but in dagget i used a half oz black and blue jig with a black and blue rage craw in 6-10 fow, this produced much bigger fish, well    big for whitefish!  Those largemouth are very very small, even by MN standards, if i was to go there again, i'd be looking for those big smallmouths.gl

[pestrem]

Thanks for the intel.  I wasn't going to bring any tubes, but I'll throw some in the kit.  I'll be in a fairly small boat, so depending on the weather will determine if we get across Lower Whitefish to have a go at Trout.
Thought about DTs and was planning on bringing some DT10s, 16s, and maybe a freak.  Any particular color?
Also caught a few on a small gunfish last year in early morning.
There are a couple of small pockets off Cross that I've had luck with decent bass - in the 2+ pound range.
Bottom line is I'll be fishing and that will be good to go.  Some pizza at Zorbas, burgers at Moonlight bay, and cooler temps in the evening than down here.

[CraigP83]

I've never been to big on colors. Natural colors in clear water and dark colors in stained water. I think I was using a bluegill colored DT10

[pestrem]

Fishing went well!  444 total fish over the time we were there. Not as many bass as in previous years, but some none-the-same.  LOTS of wind the first three days; mostly out of the south, which made for pretty big water on Whitefish.  Didn't fish on Whitefish, but crossed it to get to Trout.  No smallies anywhere we fished but did catch a lot of different species to include: LM bass, rock bass, northern, crappie (a bunch of eating size but we threw back everything we caught), perch, and tons of sunnies.

Best day for bass was the morning of the 19th.  The winds finally laid down and we got out earlier than in the previous mornings.  Used a gunfish and had about a half hour/45 minute top water bite that was the best of the trip.  Caught four keepers during that time with the biggest right around two and a half pounds.  Had several blowup misses. 

Caught fish on swimbaits, trick worms, stick baits, and flukes.  Even went old school and caught a northern on a Daredevil.  Haven't caught one like that in years.

Attached are a couple of the fish caught.

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[pestrem]

More fish from Rush, Hen, and other lakes.

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[CraigP83]

Nice walleye. How many of those do you see in FL?

[pestrem]

The only walleyes you see in Florida are the ones in pictures and fillets in the grocer freezer.

However, there are walleye in southern states.  I was station at Davis-Monthan AFB, Az way back when.  Fished Lake Apache, up near Phoenix. There are walleye in that lake.  Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't caught one myself.

Much more fun catching LM and bronze backs there.