jfredds09

yea thanks shimmy. from the profile pic, i think i saw your mn bass fishing video on the web, when you said your trabel to mn every year for a family vacation... not that im stalking. probably one of the best bass videos out there. Ironic how things like that happen. I saw it even before you commented on this post.

If its really right after ice out, the bass may not be up shallow quite yet.... i would stick deff to a drop off, using a heavy football jig so that you have the ability to reach the floor. By sticking to a drop off, you can locate at what depth fish are holding, since drop offs give you a rapid change in depth, which allows your to cover more of the water column without having to move from place to place to try different dpeths. But yess, the bass will be sluggish... jigging and finessing will be key. You will most likely get bit by enticing the bass into eating rather than an anger strike you often recieve from a more eratic moving bait.... sloooow your presentation down. If you are really having a hard time locating the bass, i would suggest even that you use a floating rig, down a drop off. I know it soounds crazy but many times i have went to town using this presentation when i just couldnt find where fish were holding. The floatin rig can be used so that your descent of your bait can tell your EXACTLY where fish may be suspended, rather than a football jig that just rushes straight to the bottom. It will demand that you fish slowly, and patiently and may eat up time, but can help you land at least a few fish, while answering where in the water column bass are. Like shimmy said, to the left of that 50 foot hole, where it goes from 10 to 20 to 50 would be a great place to start. you can hopefully at least find the depth at which the fish are holding, and then move to similar depths you find you get bit the most. Good Luck

In minnesota, i have the problem of snaggin more small northern pike somedays when i set out in search of largies.... Of course smaller northerns tend to hang in similar shallow habitat as largemouth bass but it seems that i might be doing something wrong if i keep catching more northern than i do bass. Last season i even started catching pike when i was jigging or finessing a plasitc worm!! any suggestions cause im about to lose it!

perfect.... thanks again.

p.s....... what time, and conditions should i be focused on shallower water? It feels like by mid day the bass are gone from weeds and are hanging, suspended in deeper water. How long should i be focusing on shallow vegetation or cover before i decide to move to the deeper water column? are there even any bass still there? I am refering to post-spawn and summer months when i ask these questions.

Thanks for the help. It just gets frustrating when all your hoping for is a cast where you dont end up catching on weeds. As soon as the season opens up here ill be sure to try these tactics out. If anything, thanks for the time!

I fish mostly in the brainerd lakes region of minnesota. I was wondering if anyone has some helpful tips on fishing heavy weed growth, preferably finesse techniques for fishing in think cabbage. Also, if anyone has some helpful advice on locating bass within 15-25 foot range after the sun comes up, and the water warms during the day would be great. Thanks!