8 hours ago, king fisher said:

The bass in this lake jump more than anywhere I have ever fished.

 

I would love ^this.^ I would hate ^this.^

 

8 hours ago, king fisher said:

The day before I had tried to fish some offshore structure in the wind and was not able to stay on the spot.

 

Hey, we have ^something^ in common!

 

To summarize your day, I quote Carly Simon: "That's the stuff that dreams of made of!"

DANG!!! Ok,... Who wants to fall on the sword and follow that report? Congrats king fisher!!! What an amazing day!!!

Took Mama out with Jake yesterday and got her on her first good sized jig bass.

 

Jake and I also caught some chunky fish on jigs and I caught 6 more smaller fish on jerkbaits all on an offshore hump yesterday.

 

Meagan got her bass near the end of the day around a bluegill spawn in a shallow pocket on a Siebert Brush jig with a Christie Craw trailer (she wanted that 9.4 lb bass Christie mojo on the jig ?).

 

Water temps were 78-80° in the major spawning pockets and 74-75° out on the hump and near the marina.  

 

Bass seemed to be mostly in that post spawn recovery mode around the lake.

 

 

 

I'll follow up @king fisher with this report....local lake...all caught on 6th Sense Crush 50x crank:

 

1. Pretty pink goggles...weight unknown

2. Carp, 2lbs-5oz.

3. 20" LMB, 4lbs-6oz.

 

10 hours ago, king fisher said:

     I had the best bass fishing weekend of my life.  I didn't get to the lake until mid morning on Friday, but my first bass was a 7.5 pounder caught on a Pop R. starting the trip off with a bang.  I ended Friday with two 7.5 pound bass and a few in the 4 to 6 pound class.  The two big ones came on a Pop R, and the rest split between a Mag Trick worm, and a 6th Sense Magnum Square Bill.

      Saturday I got an early start, for the day with a 5.5 pound bass on a T rig mag trick worm.  I lost a giant on a Bacca Burrito, then had a dry stretch for an hour with no action.  I tried another spot, and had a good one miss a spook, but I caught it with a follow up T rig worm.  I guessed the bass to be around 5 pounds.  I have marks on the side of my Kayak, for a quick measure.  Most days I only weigh the bass that make the 24 inch mark. So anything less is just an estimate.

      I left that place but decided to go back there in the afternoon, when the wind picked up.  There was a shelf that I hoped the bass would move up on with the wind.  There was 6 to 8 feet of visibility and the bass were spooky, I marked some fish on the drop by the shelf in 22 feet, but couldn't get them to bite.

      I went to a bay close by after checking some points while catching a few smaller bass. I managed to catch my first bass of the day over 7 pounds pitching a worm in to a tree.  After spending an hour pitching to trees for no more bites I decided to give up on bays for the day.

      At 11:30 the wind started blowing so I peddled over to the spot I picked for fishing in the afternoon.  The day before I had tried to fish some offshore structure in the wind and was not able to stay on the spot.  I was happy to find a place I thought I could drift by and still be able to present a moving bait effectively.  I fished that shelf with a variety of baits with only one strike on a top water that I missed.  The wind kept picking up making it difficult to maintain position, but I wasn't going to give up on the spot.

      It was then I decided to tie on a 3/4 ounce spinnerbait.  I had never had any luck at this lake with spinnerbaits, and I usually like to fish crankbaits on rock, preferring to fish spinnerbaits in wood, and grass.  The crankbaits weren't working, and I just can't resist the urge to give a spinnerbait a try whenever the wind is strong.

      First cast I hooked a big bass.  while fighting the bass I looked down and saw 3 other bass attacking the blades on the spinnerbait hooked to my bass.  I maneuvered to the lee side of an island where I could drop my anchor, land, weigh, and take pictures of the bass.  It was well over 24 inches, and 7.9 pounds on the scale.

      The wind was getting stronger, and I noticed some current running through a slot on the shelf I was fishing.  I had hoped some bass would move up on to the shelf, but didn't notice there was a slot that concentrated the wind driven current, this was only getting better.  The first cast in the slot produced my next bass that was over 25 inches and weighed in at 10.1 pounds.  After getting back in position, my next cast landed another one over 25 inches at 8.9 pounds.  I lost the next bass when it jumped and it was in the same class as the previous fish.

      Then the bite stopped so I started drifting by wind blown points, and managed to land an 8.2 pound bass, as well as lost two more in the same size class all on the same worn out spinnerbait.  The wind died down some in the evening, but the spinnerbait still hooked one more monster bass, but as others had that day, the hook came out on the second jump.  The bass in this lake jump more than anywhere I have ever fished.

      Most days I would be devastated to loose a bass over 7 pound's but It didn't bother me in the least.  I also landed a few bass that didn't make the 24 inch cut, that I estimate were between 4 and 6 pounds.  I went back to camp with a big smile, and memories that will last forever.

 

Saturday's catch total.

7.9

8.2

8.9

10.1

7.6

 

 

 

I'm never posting again!

Man, what a day!

 

                                                 

@king fisher Congrats & thanks for sharing!

 

@DaubsNU1 No weight on the goggles? Does that mean you've caught bigger pink goggle? Perfect post following the king. ?

I hope that Glenn isn't thinking of shutting down Bass Resource now that @king fisher has caught the ultimate bag.

 

I fear that Glenn is thinking, "Well, there's nowhere to go but down from here."

Well I had an exhilarating morning but not in the way you want to. On a farm to market road near Ray Roberts, a car pulled out in front of me as I crossed a side street. Were I not a skilled driver and had I not been paying attention, I would have t boned that person at a solid 55+mph and I can guarantee at least one hospitalization. Woulda been a real bummer the day after mothers day. Instead, I managed to swerve around his front using a little bit of extra pavement from the road he was proceeding down. Amazingly he only tagged my rear bumper and left a little scuff on the rear driver sidewall. I turned around to go exchange info, but driver had taken off. All that early morning driving spent drifting around surprise deer paid off I guess. 

 

Then I snapped off a couple nice chatterbaits near the marina. Eventually I got to the spot I was trying to reach in the first place...and behold. A nice bass, with a friend, and perhaps a hybrid crappie? I like A frame spinnerbaits now.

 

Anyway. It was nice to hook into a nice bass and not die in the process. Can't top the fishing above, probably never will, but I live to fish another day. 

Did a little creek fishing Saturday with my boys. Couldn't find any bigger fish, but the sunfish were willing. Tons of green sunfish and longears. Found a couple little bass right before we left.

Sunday I took the boat out. I don't know why I do that anymore. It was the calmest day I've fished in a long time and I was in my boat instead of my kayak. I catch bigger fish from my kayak too I think. We still caught over 30 bass and I got to test out my new mini bladed jigs a little bit.

I caught a little one on it this morning on a quick stop before work also. I was surprised I caught anything with all the spawning carp tearing things up. 

 

@Bluebasser86 that is the most colorful sunfish I’ve ever seen. Simply stunning and that rock bass is definitely well built also.

With the big family in town for Mother's Day and birthdays, it looked like we'd have to cancel our first Jon boat trip of the year yet again, but the Phish brothers are tricky, and we worked out a deal with the powers that be.

 

Too bad we couldn't have hit this mid-island lake 2 weeks ago because it's already topped out with weeds and the pad fields are almost fully developed which is crazy-early for May 13th. It was muggy and the swarms of gnats were overwhelming no matter where we stopped. My son in law got the same pass we did, but he headed 75miles out east with his brother to the north fork. As usual, that lake is way behind ours only 35 miles east of there. Not a Lily pad anywhere near the surface and no new grass sprouted up yet. Anyway, I spent as much time peeling weeds off the prop as I did fishing, so it'll be the yaks or nothing if we get back to this place any time soon.

 

We had little time to develop a solid strategy, but figured out small wakes and cranks running barely subsurface was the deal.  Small golden shiners were darting through the weed tops, so this made sense. The bass were just slurping or slapping at treble baits though, and we were amazed at how many managed to hit the baits but miss the hooks. The trusty Livingston Bullnose wake worked through open lanes saved our trip in the end, so we beat the skunk for our first time out which is always a good omen. Would've liked to stay longer having found the juice, but swans went to war with geese, and it was no different than if a meteor shower hit the lake, so we split.

 

1 hour ago, Eric 26 said:

@Bluebasser86 that is the most colorful sunfish I’ve ever seen. Simply stunning and that rock bass is definitely well built also.

Prettiest fish I've seen posted.   Pretty hard to compete with sunfish in terms of a beauty contest. 

42 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

With the big family in town for Mother's Day and birthdays, it looked like we'd have to cancel our first Jon boat trip of the year yet again, but the Phish brothers are tricky, and we worked out a deal with the powers that be.

 

Too bad we couldn't have hit this mid-island lake 2 weeks ago because it's already topped out with weeds and the pad fields are almost fully developed which is crazy-early for May 13th. It was muggy and the swarms of gnats were overwhelming no matter where we stopped. My son in law got the same pass we did, but he headed 75miles out east with his brother to the north fork. As usual, that lake is way behind ours only 35 miles east of there. Not a Lily pad anywhere near the surface and no new grass sprouted up yet. Anyway, I spent as much time peeling weeds off the prop as I did fishing, so it'll be the yaks or nothing if we get back to this place any time soon.

 

We had little time to develop a solid strategy, but figured out small wakes and cranks running barely subsurface was the deal.  Small golden shiners were darting through the weed tops, so this made sense. The bass were just slurping or slapping at treble baits though, and we were amazed at how many managed to hit the baits but miss the hooks. The trusty Livingston Bullnose wake worked through open lanes saved our trip in the end, so we beat the skunk for our first time out which is always a good omen. Would've like to stay longer having found the juice, but swans went to war with geese, and it was no different than if a meteor shower hit the lake, so we split.

 

You and Katie are so hardcore I'm not even sure if we are doing the same activity ?

 

Couple of nice fish! 

@AlabamaSpothunter, I have to reach for the brass ring while I can still stretch. I figure in ten years, I'll be bolting a Lazy Susan to a stand up paddle board and then bolting a Lazy Boy to the Lazy Susan and fishing from that. 

 

Great trip reports and photos, my fine fellow fishers! 

1 hour ago, Eric 26 said:

@Bluebasser86 that is the most colorful sunfish I’ve ever seen. Simply stunning and that rock bass is definitely well built also.

That's a male longear sunfish in full spawning colors. They're beautiful little fish and very aggressive when they're protecting their nest. I had some pecking my legs while I was wading through the creek and got too close to their nest. 

 

The other 2 sunfish are both green sunfish, we don't have any rockies within a couple hours of us unfortunately. I guess it's the kid in me that enjoys the panfish but I'll always have a soft spot for them. 

1 minute ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I guess it's the kid in me that enjoys the panfish but I'll always have a soft spot for them. 

 

If a fisher doesn't enjoy panfish, he should see a shrink. If I ever fished for DD bluegills, I'd first strap water skis to my feet to enjoy the ride if I actually hooked one. 

3 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

If a fisher doesn't enjoy panfish, he should see a shrink. If I ever fished for DD bluegills, I'd first strap water skis to my feet to enjoy the ride if I actually hooked one. 

Agreed, it's hard to love Bass fishing without having your first memories being that of catching sunfish.   

 

Sunfish have gotten more kids into fishing than anything else.  

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Did a little creek fishing Saturday with my boys. Couldn't find any bigger fish, but the sunfish were willing. Tons of green sunfish and longears. Found a couple little bass right before we left.

Sunday I took the boat out. I don't know why I do that anymore. It was the calmest day I've fished in a long time and I was in my boat instead of my kayak. I catch bigger fish from my kayak too I think. We still caught over 30 bass and I got to test out my new mini bladed jigs a little bit.

I caught a little one on it this morning on a quick stop before work also. I was surprised I caught anything with all the spawning carp tearing things up. 

 

 

 

Those long ear sunfish sure are beautiful!!!

 

I have kind of a hunch that when the carp get to spawning they kind of root around in the dirt a lot looking for places to make their beds and I think they kick up all sorts of good stuff that brings bait fish into an area which of course brings the bass ?

23 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

Those long ear sunfish sure are beautiful!!!

 

I have kind of a hunch that when the carp get to spawning they kind of root around in the dirt a lot looking for places to make their beds and I think they kick up all sorts of good stuff that brings bait fish into an area which of course brings the bass ?

Prettiest fish that swims, I say! God ran out of colors after creating the Longear. The Bluegills got the leavings. 

22 hours ago, gimruis said:

In northern MN that’s very possible, especially in areas of the boundary waters canoe area.  Around my house in the Twin Cities area, no way. The pressure is very high on the lakes here, especially the more sizable ones. There are tournaments, high school matches, and leagues almost every night from now until Labor Day.

 

@FryDog62, @Deephaven, and @MN Fisher will agree with me on the pressure here locally.

Lord, on Tonka there are more $80k+ bass boats on a normal weekend than in the biggest tournament there ever is.  That being said, since it rained on opener I saw the least amount of fishing boats that I ever had.  Even a spot open on the Carson Bay ramp...albeit a private ramp, but I've never seen that before on opener.  Hopefully the covid fishing itch is waning locally.

 

Got out prefishing for next weekends derby this past weekend. Managed to find a spot stacked up with some prespawn girls. Caught the first one on my first cast actually and almost lost it being more surprised than anything, but overall I caught quite a few fish until the weather changed. The wind switched around and picked up, the clouds came in, and temps dropped from the mid 70's down to the upper 50's. I feel like the crazy weather this spring, has the fish somewhat skittish to move up and are hanging a bit behind the water temp compared to normal. I was seeing temps anywhere from 59 up to 66, but very little activity up shallow at all. Overall, it was a blast to get out and catch them, but I'm not sure how much if any of what I found will play in the tournament. I guess only time will tell. 

 

5 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

I feel like the crazy weather this spring, has the fish somewhat skittish to move up and are hanging a bit behind the water temp compared to normal.

Same exact thing seems to be goin on here. Nice catching!

I was messing around on the dock catching bream, hooked a small one, and this one ate the bream. Put up a great fight with 6# line and a small # 6 light wire bream hook!!

By the way, this is a different fish than the one my boss’s son caught a couple weeks ago. That was chunkier if anything and darker than this one…

Slipped down to the pond right before the storm hit. Not too shabby if I say so myself. 10 minutes and 3rd cast. Made a couple of top water dances while putting up a fight. Was a nice end to the day.

 

53 minutes ago, ScottW said:

Slipped down to the pond right before the storm hit. Not too shabby if I say so myself. 10 minutes and 3rd cast. Made a couple of top water dances while putting up a fight. Was a nice end to the day.

 

Dude I just got absolutely destroyed out in the middle of that crap.   I hate the weatherman so much lol 

 

 Nice one brother, glad you capitalized instead of capsized like me