WatterBoy

Sweeeeeet fish and congrats on the PB! My PB Smallie is 4-12 also.

I believe there used to be musky in this lake, but that was a LONG time ago. There is an annual fishing contest on the lake each summer and one of the contest teams caught a musky one year, but I bet that was 10+ years ago by now.

Actually, it *was* caught in a lake...Lake Belle Taine in Nevis, MN to be exact. My sister-in-law caught it last weekend at our cabin. They just assumed it was a baby pike, but weren't 100% sure and started to wonder if it might be a tiger musky.

I know this isn't a bass, but I'm hoping it's ok to ask this here. Can someone tell me what species of fish this is and how you know that? Thanks!

It's interesting how we all see something differently, which is one of the things that makes fishing fun. I wouldn't be looking for a different area. I would be drooling to be able to fish that area in your photo and the FIRST lure I would try would be a Koppers Live Target Hollow Body Field Mouse. I like the 3.5" brown version. Next choice for me would be a Spro Poppin' Frog.

Looks very cool, but wouldn't be legal here in MN unfortunately.

Saturday, May 9 (MN bass opener) -- Third cast of the year using a Zoom Speed Worm (Watermelon Red) without the paddletail -- 3lb 4oz, 17.5"

Yep, we already went through that in posts 8-10 of this thread.

Yes, they are considered game fish...at least in MN anyway. We have lots of "quirky" regs here.

I would keep at it with the frogs and other topwater lures. I have caught two 6s and three 5s (in MN/IA) and all but one of them were on topwater...both of the 6s on a black poppin' frog.And as far as your MN fishing using sunfish as bait goes, I would suggest checking out the MN fishing regs. See the next-to-last bullet in this section. Bait Can I use bait in Minnesota waters? • You can fish with a variety of live or dead bait including worms, night crawlers, in­ sects and larva. If you are fishing with minnows or leeches, a number of restrictions apply. • If you chose to keep your bait when done fishing, you must exchange water in bait buckets with tap or bottled water prior to leaving any water body, except when you are fishing through the ice. The exception for ice fishing does not apply when fishing on VHS-infested waters. • You cannot dispose of unwanted minnows and leeches in Minnesota waters. Un­ used bait, including night crawlers, should be put in the garbage. See pages 24-26. • You cannot use whole or parts of game fish, goldfish or carp for bait. • You may not take bait from infested waters, except bullhead, sucker, mooneye, goldeye and sheepshead may be taken by hook and line from infested rivers for personal use as bait for fishing on the same infested river where the bait was taken. This bait may not be transported live from or off the river.

Nice fish, Clayton!

3lb 14oz LM & 3lb 8oz SM