Open water

baileyjs · March 17, 2016, 11:29:10 AM

drove by Lake Minnetonka last night and all I saw were waves

...ok and some ice pushed up along the far shore. But everything else was open

earldogg · March 17, 2016, 09:48:48 PM

Open water at this time of the year is a good thing, but still 2 months before I hook a bass. I got the fever BAD.

CraigP83 · May 18, 2016, 01:36:06 PM

Either of you guys been out on MN lakes yet?

CraigP83 · May 18, 2016, 09:44:17 PM

Just got off the water. Metro lake 66° water temp already. Didn't see many beds but I think some fish may have already spawned. Lots of fish shallow and biting everything. Jigs, spinnerbait, jerkbait, senko and swim jig. Shallow flats seemed to have the highest concentration of fishes.

earldogg · May 19, 2016, 08:43:37 AM

Probably going this weekend, swamp, lake z, or the dirty d.

CraigP83 · May 19, 2016, 09:28:57 AM

It's really fun to fish AND feel you your fingers at the same time.

baileyjs · May 19, 2016, 12:19:52 PM

I'm heading out this weekend. supposed to be real nice not to mention a full moon

dsidle61 · May 22, 2016, 09:33:46 PM

Hope everyone did better than me this weekend. Couldnt find them anywhere.

CraigP83 · May 23, 2016, 08:16:17 AM

Quote from: dsidle61 on May 22, 2016, 09:33:46 PM
Hope everyone did better than me this weekend. Couldnt find them anywhere.

Wow, that shocking. Care to share any details? Lake, Depth, Lure choice?

I didn't get out this weekend, but Mille Lacs would have been the correct choice. It sounds like everyone that went was getting multiple 4+ pound fish

dsidle61 · May 23, 2016, 10:15:50 PM

Quote from: CraigP83 on May 23, 2016, 08:16:17 AM
Wow, that shocking. Care to share any details? Lake, Depth, Lure choice?

I didn't get out this weekend, but Mille Lacs would have been the correct choice. It sounds like everyone that went was getting multiple 4+ pound fish

I heard the same about Mille lacs. I was on Beebe in the west metro. I threw spinnerbait, square bills, jig, frog, and jerkbait. Went everywhere from in the grass with a frog to 16'.

CraigP83 · May 24, 2016, 07:55:02 AM

Bummer, The Lake must have just been off that day. Guess that's why they call it fishing and not catching

RuddyDuck · May 24, 2016, 08:10:35 AM

Quote from: dsidle61 on May 23, 2016, 10:15:50 PM
I heard the same about Mille lacs. I was on Beebe in the west metro. I threw spinnerbait, square bills, jig, frog, and jerkbait. Went everywhere from in the grass with a frog to 16'.

Don't feel bad, I was out there Thursday and I caught more eyes than bass. Got one 14in Bass and two decent 15 and 19in eyes that the wife and me just had for supper last night(Don't worry, I released the good fish!). Got those on lipless cranks and the bass on a squarebill. Had 2 snakes also. Fished about 2 hrs. Funny, I was probably the only guy on the lake that said, 'Dam another stupid walleye!' Thought the 19in was a decent bass.

That lake can be hit or miss and has been getting alot of pressure lately. A lot of milfoil this year and the water is a lot clearer than normal. I fish it a fair amount as I am very close to it and some days it is very stingy. I know that going into it. Some days though you can get some nice ones.

dsidle61 · May 24, 2016, 11:36:39 AM

Quote from: RuddyDuck on May 24, 2016, 08:10:35 AM
Don't feel bad, I was out there Thursday and I caught more eyes than bass. Got one 14in Bass and two decent 15 and 19in eyes that the wife and me just had for supper last night(Don't worry, I released the good fish!). Got those on lipless cranks and the bass on a squarebill. Had 2 snakes also. Fished about 2 hrs. Funny, I was probably the only guy on the lake that said, 'Dam another stupid walleye!' Thought the 19in was a decent bass.

That lake can be hit or miss and has been getting alot of pressure lately. A lot of milfoil this year and the water is a lot clearer than normal. I fish it a fair amount as I am very close to it and some days it is very stingy. I know that going into it. Some days though you can get some nice ones.

Yeah I almost turned around when I got to the ramp, parking was out on the street for trailers. Not to many people running around like idiots but those fish were seeing a lot of baits that day. Ill definitely be back sometime, just maybe not the first nice weekend of the season!

earldogg · May 24, 2016, 08:26:48 PM

Went to swamp sunday with john, didn't do very well, my top 5 went 17,16,16,16,16". John went 19,18,16,16,16", saw tons of fish shallow cruising. Problem was the swamp is swamped out, sooooo thick, can't fish that part of the lk till fall, bummer. Probably going to lk Z this weekend. Gl

flowerjohn · May 24, 2016, 08:39:14 PM

Quote from: CraigP83 on May 19, 2016, 09:28:57 AM
It's really fun to fish AND feel you your fingers at the same time.

Ain't that the truth!!

CraigP83 · May 25, 2016, 07:42:41 AM

I went to White Bear Lake last night. I had heard there were Smallmouth in there so I wanted to see if I could find one. Focused on hard bottom flats with weeds in less than 10' of water. We caught a whole bunch of small largemouth and pike. But, I did find my smallie! It wasn't very large but it made my day. Been catching alot of fish so far this year but the size eludes me.

earldogg · May 25, 2016, 08:47:45 AM

Nice, I heard their are a few big smallie's in that lk. John is going to trophy this weekend, I'm very jealous.

CraigP83 · May 30, 2016, 07:52:17 PM

Went to Mille Lacs today. I'm still trying to learn the lake but we did best on rocks 6-8' deep. Caught the one sight fishing a bed in 8' dropshot.

My wife got this one on a grub

Lipripper · May 31, 2016, 10:03:35 AM

Nice fish Craig.

CraigP83 · June 16, 2016, 09:06:23 AM

Caught a bunch last night. Fish seem to be moving deeper. They were clumped up on weed edges in 14-16' of water. Nothing huge but I FINALLY won a tournament.

On a side note, fishing deep weededges with no bow mount electronics sucks. Placed an order for a new depthfinder this morning

Lipripper · June 16, 2016, 09:55:24 AM

All right way to go Craig.

flowerjohn · June 16, 2016, 06:04:31 PM

Quote from: CraigP83 on June 16, 2016, 09:06:23 AM
Caught a bunch last night. Fish seem to be moving deeper. They were clumped up on weed edges in 14-16' of water. Nothing huge but I FINALLY won a tournament.

On a side note, fishing deep weededges with no bow mount electronics sucks. Placed an order for a new depthfinder this morning

Real nice fishes there boys. Congratulations!!

earldogg · June 17, 2016, 06:27:31 PM

Way to go Craig, Gordy!

baileyjs · June 20, 2016, 09:31:32 AM

I got out Saturday morning with my 7 year old. He wanted to go after bass for the first time rather than throwing out a bobber which I was all for. We ended up with him catching 10 and me 9. Fun morning!!

CraigP83 · June 20, 2016, 04:00:30 PM

Awesome. Any nice ones?