ThatOneBigKid

Nick and I were going to fish the Open, but He had knee surgery the week leading up to it and Washington/Stella are a 2hr drive one way from my house so I wasn't thrilled about that. Figured I would call it a year for tourneys and do some fun fishing for fall. Sounds like a fun trip up north. Enjoy it!

Had a great day on Saturday. My Uncle and I got out at sunrise and fished until about 2pm. Must have caught around 50 fish total. Biggest was a hair over 3lbs. Lost a mid 4lber and another three at the boat, and had another 3 wrap me around a limb and get off. Was not my day for putting the big ones in the boat. All fish came on either a Blk/Blue Swim Jig, Blk/Blue chatterbait, or a 1/4oz TX rig in the lay downs. I was using a Rage Menace on the Swim Jig and this seemed to be key. My uncle was using the exact same jig, but with a boot tail trailer and I was catching 2 or 3 to each one he was. The 1/4oz TX Rig was key for fishing the laydowns. My uncle was throwing 3/8 with the same bait I was and i was getting bite at a 4:1 rate he was. I think the 1/4oz gave it a slower more natural fall. Almost all bites were there on the fall of the initial pitch in. Hope everyone else had a productive fishing weekend. Looks like the weather is really going to turn after today so it should really start cooling the water down. Bring on the feasting giants.

Some decent deels to be had on ebay right now if anyone needs a fishing reel. 20% off Code: JUMPINTOFALL Snagged a Revo ALX 6.4:1 for $104 shipped (249.99 MSRP). Code doesn't work on everything, but there are a few good deals. I know I saw a Curado 70XG 8:1 reel for $135 shipped on there too.

Good report rascalP. Nice to hear they were shallow and tight to cover. Going to a lake tomorrow that fits that bill to a T. Lots of shallow flooded timber.

@sully420 cool to hear that they are going on the same deal on another lake too. Two weeks ago the same pattern was working for me but the Spro DD Little John was the hot crank. That one has a very deep tone rattle to it as if there is a lead ball in it instead of steel. I started with the Spro the other night and switched to the DT20 (which I killed them on last year) when I hadn't gotten any bites. Thing is, you know those fish are there, just have to find the "winner" for that night to get them to fire up.

Managed 8 fish last night, the biggest being 3.45lbs. All the fish came on a DT20 cranked over points with gravel on top. Top of the points were in approx. 14-16 FOW. Hot colors were Ike's Mule and Ike's Rasta. Fish didn't want anything with rattles, just silent. Also threw a Berkley Dredger, Spro DD Little John and a 8XD. No bites on any of those.

Going out after work here in a few minutes. Looking a bit windy out there. Could be fun....

@punch Congrats. How do you like it? Is that a 60" shaft? Hitting the river tonight after work looking for some smallies. Hope all goes well.

Got out this weekend on a lake in the Cambridge area. Nothing great to report other than I think the lake may have turned recently. This is a lake that has been relatively clear as of late but was very dirty in Monday. Might explain the tough fishing too. Only caught a few smaller fish for 6 hours of fishing. Had a buddy from work report similar theories, but there were on Winnie all weekend. Anyone else think the lakes are turning?

Hit N/S Center Wed night and we caught some decent fish. Only fished for 2 hours, but caught 10 and jumped off a couple. All came on deep cranks. My cousin had never fished deep cranks so it was awesome to get him on some fish with a new to him technique. He thought it was so cool how you could feel the deep gravel with the crank and then BAM! a fish would just bull doze your crank. He caught the biggest of the night too at 3.25lbs. No giants, but all the fish we caught were doing their best impression of the spotted bass from California. All the fish had huge full guts. Hoping to get out somewhere after church on Sunday, but haven't settled on a lake yet. Good luck to all getting out this weekend!

d**n Sully, I am mirin' your picks day after day. Are all these studs coming out of the same lake? I am heading out to N/S Center after work today. Going to see if I can find an big girls that want to play (don't tell my wife).

Very nice, I use these same heads with the Yamamoto Zako. They work really well and have a real tight action to them. I got out on to a new lake on Saturday. The lake had mildly dirty water (1' visibility) and temps in the low 70s. with the Fog and overcast skys all day I threw topwaters in the early AM with no takers. Changed to a black and blue swim jig that I make and was able to crack a 4.6lber for my second fish. This lake had a large amount of down timber in the water. Main pattern by the end of the day was dead laydown pine trees. The big one of the day was on the end of a pine and there was literally at least one fish in every pine tree I flipped. caught another fish that was just over 3lbs. This fish looked very sick. Head of a 5lber, but only 3lbs. Probably caught around 30 fish with the biggest 5 going around 14 - 15 lbs. Pattern was a one, two punch of B&B swim jig on the tips of the trees and then punching the heart of the timber with a 5/16oz TX rigged Pit Boss in the "Perfection W/ Blue Fleck" color.

@sully420 how are you fishing that Jerky J? Drop shot? Carolina Rig? T-Rig? Nice work out there. Sounds like a killer day!

I agree @gimruis. So many other good lakes that it is not necessary to deal with all the BS of the boat traffic and highly pressured fish. I live on the north metro so Tonka is just under a 1 hour drive for me. Just not worth it if I am looking to "fun" fish somewhere.

You're telling me. I am either coming from work in WBL or home in Isanti. Fish until dark and then you don't have to worry about the traffic. ?

This is what worries me. I have very little previous experience on this lake and there is so much water. If I get out Friday I may just focus on one or two bays unless I figure out something specific that I can try to pattern on other bays, but i am only going to have 6 or 7 hours out there so it will be a challenge. Still beats working!

Welcome @RiggityBop. I am new as well, but this MN section has been good so far. Tried to get out on Tonka to pre-fish on Sunday after church but had electrical problems the second I got on the water. Couldn't get it fixed so put it on the trailer and headed home. Never picked up a rod. 110 miles of driving for nothing. Got the issue fixed now, but dang it this boat is becoming a PITA. Going to try to sneak out of work early on Friday and get a half day of fishing in, but well see how that goes. @punch @rascalP have you guys gotten out there yet?

This lake is very fun for sure. Have fished it numerous times for tournaments and always have a good time out there. Your pattern sounds very similar to what I have done out there with good success.

@sully420 we were out on Big Marine Yea Nick loves dock fishing.......? We tried to get out there Sunday after church, but I had electrical issues on my boat again and we didn't get to fish at all. I have to get that solved this week before Sunday. Luckily we have Nick's boat as a back up. Nick is getting out there today and I think Thursday. I won't be able to get out there at all, but oh well. Looking forward to seeing you guys out there and good luck! Should be a fun event.

Ended our regular season off right with a win in the Greenhorn Wednesday night league. Kind of sad that it only took 9.64 to get the win, but for some reason the lake was fishing super tough that night after prefishing had been great for a lot of the team I talked to including us. Anyways, pumped to end the season on a high note and looking forward to the TOC in a week on Minnetonka.

I tried this last night out there in a couple spots without any luck. DT10 on 12lb line in 14' of water with the weeds growing up to 10'. I could feel the weeds here and there, but no bites. Might go out to WBL to try this out too. I can think of a few spots out there that this might work for as well.

Yea, I know you guys have had good finishes on BM in the past so you should make it. I haven't looked at tonka yet this year (opener excluded). Will need to start doing some homework soon though. My uncles have been fishing it for a long time so I will need to pick their brains, but I am looking forward to getting out there and actually fishing a tournament on that lake. I think we might get out to BM either tonight or tomorrow night for the first time. I have talked to some guys and they say the weeds are looking tall and healthy so you know my mouth is watering. It finally feels like Nick and I are getting out stride back after a couple down years the last two years. Sadly that means we're for sure going to get bounced to advanced next year, but that will also make us better anglers so I welcome that opportunity @sully This is a technique I need to check out more. I love cranking, but have never really gotten into cranking grass. Solid looking fish! Was this patchy grass on a 14' flat or the shorter grass that grows up on the edge of a weedline?

First name is Clay. I am the really tall guy fishing out of the White/Red/Blue Stratos with the 250 Evinrude and the twin Talons. Nick and I got 2nd at White Bear Lake and also 2nd last week on Forest.

Thanks guys. I haven't even seen much activity on the MN specific boards, especially in the bass areas. Looking forward to kicking around MN related bass ideas and stuff like that. Might be getting out on Big Marine this weekend at some point if work and home life allow. Sounds like a guy sacked a 6lber out of that lake last night in a evening tourney. Just a stud for that lake.

Hey guys, new to this forum. I fish the same Greenhorn league that @punch and @rascalP fish. I heard them talking about this site so I figured I'd check it out. All of our MN based sites suck IMO. Full of typical forum "good ole boys" that just want to talk walleyes.