FryDog62

I think that could be true - SW part of the state near Mankato is where the previous state record was caught and there are a handful of lakes there that could hold the next record. I've never fished there but in the general vicinity a few times. Overall some bigger fish in those eutrophic lakes. Lots of bluegills to feed on --

I'll throw out a couple lakes: -Tetonka (where the previous state record was caught) -Spi But not Minnetonka - tons of one to three lb fish and very few above 4 lbs. Any others??

If you ask anyone where the next Minnesota state record smallmouth will be caught, pretty much everyone will tell you Mille Lacs... But how about the next state record largemouth? Any guesses? And will it be a large or small body of water?

Have switched over from smallies to largemouth this week ... got out at sun up this morning in the west metro. Caught this 20 incher - well it was really early - so of course used a Caffeine Shad. Woke both a nice fish and me up too... right before the rains kicked in.

Nice fish... Can't think of a better way to spend a lunch hour!

Well that electrical storm and 30 degree drop in air temperature this morning should have an effect on things for awhile!!

Went back to SoDak to find the smallmouth and silver bass this time. More South Dakota surprise... brought my kids and it turned out to be a walleye slug fest. Caught 15 that were 22 inches or bigger. Son caught 26, 27 inchers, I had a 28.5 and my daughter caught her first walleye ever at 29.25 inches! I think she's jaded for life. Will go back once more this year and may actually catch some bass as intended... but I'm not complaining!

Wow, still a little surprised they are still pre-spawn on Mille Lacs. I guess at 59 degrees they very well could be. I think those cold heavy rains awhile back delayed things a bit...

Good question... this one was kind of fun. I did one of those long casts to shore, well a little too long -- I threw a wacky worm and it wrapped around a small tree branch about 3 feet above the water. Shoot, hate it when I do that... but it happens fairly often with an amateur like me. I thought about snapping it back and re-casting but thought well, I just dangle the worm into the water and see if anything happens...whoosh! Big boil but no fish, so I let it down just into the water again and this time she did not miss... That was great, but now what? I'm sitting there with a big fish on one end, braided line and an 8 pound leader. I either try to hoist the fish up over the branch or yank and try to snap it. I did the latter and lucked out, probably a 50-50 chance. Was great to get it to the boat and in the net to a big sigh of relief!

Took my last antibiotic this morning after fighting an upper respiratory and Staph infection for the last 3 weeks. Lost 10 pounds and hadn't been outside in what seems like forever. Great to be back on the water. Not a lot of fish today, but a couple very good ones including this 21 -1/4 bronzeback. Good to see Punch out on the water too !!

I have a crazy crawler... in "glow black." However, it has a bone/yellow belly that actually glows slightly. For early morning or lowlight conditions it really stands out and ticks off the smallmouth.

I sure hope so... I was out with a guide 2 years ago and he said he'd heard of it too but never seen it. He said more often it was guys taking their legal limit of smallmouth and depositing in the trash on the way home... Could be urban myth, and now with what Bassmaster brings in revenue maybe sentiments are changing --

Found some river smallies today ... was hard to tell if they are staging or actually spawning. 62 water degree temps. Most were between 16-19 inches on wacky worms... one 20 incher.

Are the walleye guys that catch smallmouth on Mille Lacs still slitting their throats and releasing them to die? I heard that last year and couldn't believe it...

Absolutely on the jerk baits. Hardest thing for me is to fish them slow... painfully at times. Water is still quite cold in April though. Any point, reef or sunken islands or high spots in the middle of the basin. Lindners do talk a lot about bright colors work best, I can't disagree although natural colors work too. Closer to the spawn 4 inch plastics work as they stage near shore. This time I also tried some slow soaking of wacky worms but couldn't coax even one bite. On the jerk baits, be prepared to lose some due to the pike. But dam those things are expensive. I do use a short leader that Wayzata Bait makes specifically for crank baits. They help ... Hey if you're in Eastern Minn, did you get out for the Wisconsin opener this weekend? I'd like to find a few places to fish smallmouth in western Wi to hit some time for smallmouth without going all the way to Hayward. This first week when they're open but we're closed would be fun to try next year or even this. Closer drive than South Dakota for a quick half day of fishing.

Looking to buy a $200 reel and maybe a $100 rod. Just missed the Cabelas one day sale on 4/26. Send me a PM if you have a Cabelas discount code to share. Bait monkeys got me by the throat - help ...

You're right, when I saw air temps in the 60's and winds 5-10 mph I skipped out on work and went. Tried to go the last 3 April's but ran into 20+ mph winds every time I had an open date. It is worth going though if you find the right window. The forage base of freshwater shrimp really helps the fish grow faster there. And the season is open there when it isn't here. Didn't see another boat on the lake --

See my other post on "South Dakota Surprise." Went for one species, caught mostly others, but a good time ~

Our season isn't open (besides crappie) here in Minnesota for another few weeks.... so I went over to fish for smallmouth in the Glacial Lakes area of South Dakota... I went there looking for smallmouth and caught a couple like this over a 10 hour period ... But then ended up catching a bunch of nice walleyes - and a PB 40 inch pike. Not what I went for but had a blast...

As luck would have it Sully, I'll be fishing that area tomorrow so if you send a PM I'll see what I can tell you in terms of water temps, catches, etc. And rascal it will be my maiden voyage in the Pro-V Bass. I have the bench seats. And a whole bunch of new electronics to get used to. But I'm looking forward to the challenge and thankful the SoDak season is open. After recovering from my 5th wrist surgery all winter and counting the days to try out the new rig, I feel very fortunate to be back on the water --

I hope Fenwick goes back to the Smallmouth Elite Tech rod again. The new Bass Elite Tech just isn't the same, the only rods in that lineup I would consider are the Extra Fast, and even those aren't quite the rod the smallmouth was...

Priced out prescription Costas today $750 (their Trivex lenses), with insurance $550. Oakley Rx came out to $350 with insurance. Was all set to make the switch to Costa, but that's ridiculous.

I feel the same and am actually using 8 lb Yo-Zuri Hybrid and it works well. Same thickness as 10 lb fluorocarbon but I would argue much stronger, better knots ... and most importantly less of a PIA than fluorocarbon. I hate rats nests!!

I use 2 baitcasting rods for finesse in that price range: St. Croix BassX 6'-8" Medium Extra Fast and BPS Carbonlite 6'-6" Medium Lite Fast. I throw mostly lighter plastics with them - Senkos, Flukes, skipping jigs, craws, etc. Have used the Carbonlite to throw some of my lighter topwater lures too - poppers, Jitterbug, Crazy Crawler. Both rods seem to work well for the job.

Was out again tonight. Anything at least 3/16 oz or higher is skipping pretty well and for distance without backlash. Weightless and 1/8 oz also skipping without backlash but at lower weights you don't get quite the distance as a spinning reel if you have the brake at 10 (out of 20) or higher. Both reels really work well and are fun to skip at 1/4 oz or more, I've been using a 3/16 and 1/4 oz Fin-tech skip jig + plastic, and also a 3/8 oz Strike King Skipping jig + Rage Bug trailer. The Fin-techs have a bunch of different sizes but I sure wish they had a screwlock like the Strike King jig does, keeps the plastic on tight without having to futz with super glue. A "friend" of mine is working on a custom version of the Fin-tech with screwlock vs. centering pin. Looking forward to trying that next... So far I haven't had to ice the repaired wrist down after skipping practice