Basspastor

My dad taught me the basics. From there a became a student of Al Lindner and In-Fishermen.

I'll throw it in 50 degrees here in Minnesota. I think I've caught them in colder than that in the Fall.

I prefer to fish them on a weighted swimbait hook in the thick stuff. I've used Gammi's and Moaners. I also fish them on a swim jig head when the cover isn't that thick. I think I've used 1/4 and 1/8 weights for both.

I was blessed to grow up in a family that had a cabin on a lake that was full of bass. My dad took me out in the boat with him fishing when I was an infant and as soon as I was old enough to reel in a fish with my dad holding the rod I was catching bass and panfish. We caught so many bass and panfish and were at the cabin so often I can't recall my first bass as the memories all run together now. I'm 43 now. My fondest childhood memory is one particular morning not sure how old I was at the time maybe 5 or 6 when dad and I got up before sunrise. It was dead calm. We went out to a sunken island that I'd fished many times before and many times after. I know dad caught a good fish or two on that spot that morning and I had bites but I'm not sure if I caught any or not. We were using live frogs for bait. For whatever reason that morning stands out.

Are Bowfin open in WI and in the lake your fishing? I also fish for Bowfin here in Minnesota when the bass season is closed. You will probably catch a lot of pike as well, so I recommend using wire leader.

You can always fish for panfish and catch the occasional and totally absolutely accidental bass doing that. I recommend beetle spins, panfish chatterbaits, jig under a bobber tipped with a minnow if you like, or 2" swim baits for crappies.

My guess is it's a waste of time until it's not and you will never know unless you try them. So no, it's not a waste of time if you want to do it.

I'm pretty sure your not supposed to catch and release bass in their closed season in WI. You have to have a special catch and release season for it to be allowed. I believe the Mississippi river allows bass fishing year round and maybe some other waters in WI as well. Does everybody follow the law in regards to the closed season? Probably not. Are they hurting anything by fishing catch and release when the season is closed? Probably not. Can they get a ticket for fishing for bass out of season? Most definitely!

Last year I got a nice fish on my first cast in a club tournament at Leech Lake. I was like, this hasn't turned out well for me a couple of times in the past. A couple of hours later without so much as a bite I was getting a little concerned. But then I caught another fish and I was ok after that. I ended up catching my biggest limit yet in the club I've been in for 5 years. Still everybody else wrecked em that day and I ended up in 21st out of 30 guys. We totally smashed all the club records that day. When I'm out fishing for fun I don't think about it at all.

I grew up fishing out of a 12' Alumacraft tiller boat with bench seats and the trolling motor off the back. I don't think I rode in a true bass boat until I was 27 years old at the very first tournament I ever fished back in 1997. I can fish out of anything and be comfortable doing it; doesn't matter if it's a pontoon boat or a rocket ship. It will forever be a treat to me to ride in somebody else's boat.

Ask around and find some people you know that wouldn't mind a few bass fillets. I have 3 people I give fish too and for one of them I don't even have to clean them.

A Lake Fork Crawtube or one of the knockoffs if not tournament fishing. Havoc Craw Fatty (Really like this as a chatter jig trailer) Zoom Speed Craw as a swim jig trailer. Chiggar Craw have only used them a couple of times and have never bought my own pack, but man did those things catch fish when I used them.

In MN generally the limit and possession are the same. If you give fish to someone else you are supposed to have a note telling who caught the fish. But fish you give to someone else don't count against your limit or at least I don't think they do. We can party fish in MN, meaning you can give fish to others while keeping a limit for yourself.

FLW did this exact thing on Fox after a Packers/Bears game back in 1999 with the Ranger M1 tournament. They even had Joe Buck doing the play by play and interviewing the anglers. I'm not sure if they ever did it again. I think they had an hour, but it might have been two hours or an hour and a half. That was back in the day when they were talking about bass fishing being the next Nascar. Those dreams are long gone now. Neither BASS or FLW could make it happen. I suppose it could still happen, but that seems pretty unlikely to me. I enjoy MLF and maybe it has the potential to grow or maybe it will go the way of the M1, the Elite Series Majors and a handful of idea's that didn't last.

Growing up fishing on a clear water lake I learned the importance of getting out early. Now I prefer the fish in the evening. Maybe I will get back to some morning fishing this year for more than just tournaments.