Tlauz

Bought 2 new spinning rods in bargain cave at Cabelas with x-mas gift cards. Just bought two new bait casting rods (buy on get one free) for $117. That is the only gear so far. In spring it usually costs me $50 to put new line on and about $80 to buy licenses in 2 states. After 13 years with old boat, I bought a new one this year, so I guess you could say A LOT this year.

This is Lucy. She is 10year old Border Collie Mix from the pound. This is Lucy with her new sister Indy. Indy is an English Cream Golden Retriever.

If you want great smallmouth action and some fabulous topwater all in a kayak, NDYakAngler is the best I've seen. I don't kayak fish and I have watched his stuff over and over. He has one largemouth frog episode that is unbelievable.

About 10 years ago, Cabelas had these Terminators in clearance bin for $1.99. I bought every 1/2 and 3/8 oz in the East Grand Forks store. I then had them look to see if they had any more at any of their other stores. They had some in Texas, but wouldn't look through them, so they shipped them up here with my name on them. I remember going in and asking for them, and they handed me a bag with over 250 spinnerbaits in it. I sat on the floor of the store and went through and picked out the ones I wanted. I think I bought over 80. I thought I would never run out of spinnerbaits. I opened my last one this past year. Most were lost to pike, a few to snags and a few to bad knot tying!

Bought these 2. Can't wait for spring.

Fished Thursday and Friday. 5 hours each day. Water temps upper 40's, WINDY ( 15-25mph) and bright sun. Water was crystal clear and most shallow weeds were brown. Tried swim jig, shallow cranks, lipless crank, swim bait, chatter bait, spinnerbait, deep cranks. Caught 6 Thursday and 9 Friday. It was really tough. I never caught 2 fish in same area. It was so windy today I basically could only throw crank bait or spinnerbait. Most fish were on spinnerbait in shallow water. Dropped off boat to get winterized and stored. Already looking forward to next year.

I was out this last Saturday in Northern Minnesota. Water temp was 51 on a bigger lake and 49 on a smaller lake. I caught 1 fish in 2 hours on bigger lake, but when I moved to smaller lake had a very good bite. Almost all fish were caught on a white or chartreuse swim jig with a 5 inch grub trailer. I was fishing it very slow. Steady retrieve. All fish were in less than 4 feet of water and most in or on edge of reeds. It has been the same the last few years. I can't find em on the bigger lake, but the smaller shallower one seems to hold a lot of fish and pretty good size. The two lakes are connected by a channel.

Here are a couple pics from the Oct. 4th and today. It was cold today. I had so many clothes on I felt like the kid from the movie A Christmas Story. If I would have fallen in the boat I may have just flopped on the floor trying to get up.

I was out October 4th, 7th and today. On the 4th water temp was upper 50's, light wind and partly cloudy. I fish a small shallow lake connected to a bigger deeper lake. I caught 15 fish all on shallow lake. Largest was 20 inches. Everything was shallow. Caught a few on spinnerbait, but most on chartreuse swim jig with green grub trailer. On the 7th water temps were middle 50's and it was windy. I caught 5 fish and struggled!! Today water temp was 51 on big lake, 49 on small. I fished big lake for 2 hours and caught 1 small fish. Moved to the smaller lake and caught 15 in 2 hours. It was some of the best fishing I have had this year. Every fish was 14 inches or better. Largest 2 were 19 inches. Most were caught on white swim jig with white grub trailer. A couple on KVD 1.5. All in less then 4 feet of water. Most fish were really shallow in or next to reeds. Going to get out one more time. Supposed to be sunny and upper 60's Thursday and Friday. I hope that doesn't screw up the bite.

Not a problem for me. I don't fish any lakes where there are tournaments. I think there is a BASS college tourney close to me this year and I may go watch and not fish. If I did live where there are a lot of tournaments, I wouldn't fish. Too many good lakes around. Find one not as busy. I hate crowds. I always try to fish away from people. Many days there are only a handful of boats when I am fishing. Also, If I was on a big lake my boat could never keep up with theirs, so following them wouldn't be an option The only exception would be if there was only one lake in the area and this was my only time to fish. Then I would try to find fish away from everyone.

Fished Wed night, Thursday, Friday morning. Hot without much wind. Fishing was steady. Nice mix of smallmouth and largemouth. Most fish have been in 6-12 feet on weed edges. I've caught most fish on wacky jig and 5 inch worm. Thursday morning had a good frog bite on edge of reeds. Friday morning caught fish on swim jig with seismic grub, wind picked up for about an hour and caught some nice fish on a spinnerbait. Two questions for you guys, first how the heck do you keep dropshot from tangling when not using it. I hook the hook in the keeper, but the line from the hook to the weight seems to get tangled a lot ( I probably shouldn't keep so many rods out). Second, as I am going along with my trolling motor, I have been seeing roaming smallmouth in real shallow water. I usually throw a weightless wacky worm or weighted wacky at them, but this year I can't seem to get them to pay attention to anything. Any tips would be appreciated.

Shhhhh. There are no bass in the Bemidji area .

I live on the Red River and 30+ inch channel cats are fairly common. I fish cats maybe once a year and I have caught a couple 30+ in my lifetime. The guys around here (Grand Forks) that are catfish guys catch many many cats over 30. Bluebasser86 is correct, the farther north you go, the bigger they get. I work with a guy who goes to Manitoba a couple times a year and usually cathes a dozen or more over 30inches in the 20-30lb. range. I am not a catguy, but the few times I have gone it is fun. That is an awesome fish that guy caught!!!!!

I have been out several times since I last posted. Early July was fair. My son and I caught 19 inch smallmouths one weekend, but overall the bite was so-so. Nothing seemed steady. This past weekend the bite picked up. A lot of little fish mixed in with 12-15 inchers. Fish were on weed edges and it seemed like summer patterns are here. Caught several nice fish on weightless wacky worm including a couple 18's , a 19 and a 20. On my lake, it seems when I start catching rock bass mixed in with large and smallmouth the bite gets good. Even caught a few on KVD 1.5 for the first time this year. Hopefully things will only get better.

I have a 2005 16.5 ft aluminum boat. I hit a rock once (new lower unit) $1800. Have had the trailer rewired, new tires and some other minor maintenance over the years $250ish. Every year I pay to have my boat winterized. At this time they check all connections, change lube,oil, plugs...... They also shrink wrap and store my boat over the winter. This costs $400ish a year. They also run it and check everything before I pick it up in the spring. I consider this $400 dollars a year money well spent. Knock on wood, except for my lower unit I have had 13 years of trouble free fishing and tubing with kids. Summers seem short up here and the last thing I want is to miss time on the water because of boat trouble. I feel good knowing that every year the motor has been serviced and looked at. I know others do this themselves, but I figure for how much $ a guy spends on tackle, rods and reels, gas...... I will spend the extra $ to make sure I am on the water. If I have to give up other things to make sure my boat runs, I am willing to do it!

Got out a little on the 8th - 11th. Water temps were 68-72. I was fishing by myself so I tried a little bit of everything. Swim jig, swim bait, wacky worm, crank bait, spinnerbait. Steady bite, but not great. Caught 50 + bass, a few pike and some rock bass. Biggest was 19.5 Smallmouth on drop shot. Sunday I lost 6 small mouth in a row. 3 on jumps, 2 at the boat and one giant broke my line. I set the hook, and my line broke. Thought it was a pike, then a huge smallmouth jumped out of the water. After that I headed back and tarped the boat. Anxious to try again next week.

I tried the Storm GT 1/8 oz swimbait this year and have had good luck with it with both largemouth and smallmouth. 3 in a pack and one is already rigged on jig head. I have caught 20 plus bass on one bait with a few pike thrown in before having to replace. I am going to try bigger sizes later in year. I like it because it is easy to rig. I seem to have a hard time rigging things straight!!

Went out 1:30 -6:30 on Wednesday and 8:30 -1:30 Thursday. Wednesday caught 23 all bass. Thursday 10 all bass. First time this year I got into some smallmouth. The lake I fish has an OK number of small mouth, but I struggle to catch them throughout the year. They were all shallow in less than 3 feet of water near beds, but not necessarily on them. Wednesday was fairly windy and I thought with no wind today I would smash em. Nope. Saw lots of fish cruising, but couldn't get them to go. The cruisers seemed to be smaller. Caught almost all fish on Wednesday on Storm 360 1/8 oz. swimbait. Thursday caught a few on jig, weighted worm and Storm swimbait. Water temps were 58-63 depending on day and time. If I would have caught 1/2 the fish I saw the day would have been epic.

Two boats I looked at this year were the Lund Crossover and the Alumacraft Edge. These seemed to be the best options if you like to fish and plan on doing a lot of tubing and water activities with the family. I would take either. They do get spendy quick. I decided to keep mine for a while longer, but when I do pull the trigger, it will be one of these two.

Fished Saturday Morning 8-1 and Sunday morning for 2.5 hours. Saturday was tough. Caught 10 bass and a few pike. Tried weeds in 4-6 feet and caught almost nothing. Finally found some bass in less than a foot of water on trees along sandy shoreline. All smaller fish. Ran out of trees and fish. On Sunday, I went back to what worked opening weekend. Swam a jig with craw trailer in less than 3 feet and bass were still there (not sure why I didn't try this Saturday?). Caught 9. No giants, all between 14-17 inches. Water temps were still middle 50's in mornings. I did much better when I slowed down.

Storm GT 360 swimbait. Really shallow. Less than 3 feet in emergent reeds. They really got it good. All of the bites had it swallowed. Also caught some on wacky worm a little deeper, and a few on a swim jig. Sorm GT was by far the best bait. Monday and Tuesday they were there, Wednesday and Thursday gone. Tried 4-5 feet in emergent weeds and caught a lot of pike.

Got out Monday, Tuesday, Wed,and a little today north of Bemidji. Monday was the best day. Caught 16 bass in 3 1/2 hours. Biggest 3 were 20, 18, 17 1/2. No pike. Tuesday fished with a couple buddies for about 4 hours and caught a mixed bag of pike and bass 18 total. Both Monday and Tuesday were cold, drizzly days. Air temp was upper 40's and water temp low 50's. Wednesday and today the air temp was low 60's, water temp 53-54, WINDY, with blue skies and I threw everything I could think of with little to no success. Water temps were 7 degrees lower than last time I fished opening weekend.

Got the camper opened up and ready for summer. After working yesterday, got out for about 3 1/2 hours today. Only saw 2 other boats which was nice. Water temps were 57-60 degrees. Tried throwing spinnerbait shallow, crankbait in 4-10 ft, swimbait , and got no takers. Went really shallow 1 to 3 feet and caught 5 on swim jig with craw trailer. Three biggest were all around 17 inches. Wind was blowing 15 mph with gusts higher. I only fished the least windy side of lake. I was still flying through area pretty fast. Today is one of the days I wish I had a Talon!

She graduates from high school in a month.

Got out for the first time. Wanted to make sure the boat ran OK and everything worked. Went to a small little lake in ND thinking there wouldn't be any boats there. Apparently, I wasn't the only one itching to get out as there were 6 other boats out on the water.. Three fish in three hours. I got tired of fighting the wind and was clueless about where to find more fish. Water temp was 46 -47. The only fish I caught were all on first drop off in about 6-10 feet.