I took my son fishing locally this morning for about 3.5 hours. We did pretty well. Caught 23 largemouth, all on various plastics. Could not get a bite on any type of moving lure.

It was kinda slow for the first 1.5 hours and then we found a school and boated 19 of them. One after the other for over an hour straight. Which is good because he was starting to lose interest. Most of the bass were in the 13-16 inch range except for 2 that were bigger. I caught a 17.5 incher that weighed over 4 pounds. Not sure if it just didn't spawn or what. Water temp was 74 degrees.

Still pretty windy here today (Saturday) - the wind has been strong all week (30 mph gusts) so I have not gone out - I will look to go to a smaller lake tomorrow to try and avoid the wind - on the plus side I have done some overdue maintenance on the truck and boat (oil/filter change, greased trailer axle bearings, replaced spark plugs, replaced tilt/trim relays, ect...) and organizing/cleaning gear

I was able to get out yesterday (Tuesday) - it started out with low wind (17mph) but a few hours in the gusts really kicked up, it has been a very windy spring/summer so far - due to the recent high winds and not getting out on the water I have been watching some Tactical Bassin' videos - in a recent one Matt encouraged people to use the June Bug color in June - I didn't have anything in June Bug so I travelled to my most local tackle shop and bought a few packs (they had some June Bug soft plastics at 3 packs for $10), so I bought some - There might be something to it as I caught 19 LMB on those June Bug colored baits ! I caught 14 of those 19 on a June Bug colored Boss Grub

@FryDog62 and I fished together this morning for a few hours. Probably caught about 15 largemouth, and one skud missile as he likes to call them. Mostly on plastics along the weed line. Water temp was 71 degrees.

Got out yesterday (Wednesday) - big winds/gust and some pop-up rain - the weather was not nice, but the fishing was good - caught 16 bass, including a two 18 inch smallies - my overall catch numbers are up this year, but I am still searching for my first 5lb bass

Youngest daughter and I made time to get out to some local NW Metro spots. Had a fantastic time and boated 12.

I took a co-worker and his son out this morning for about 4 hours. We boated 14 largemouth. All 13-17 inchers.

At one point when I was reeling in a 14 incher, a giant pike t-boned it boat side. That got my attention. It hung onto the bass for a few seconds before letting go and rocketing back to the depths. The bass had some teeth marks on it but appeared to survive when I released it.

Water temp was 72 degrees. I have a feeling it will be 80 by next week after the sauna-type weather shows up.

Trying to post a pic to match my post of time on water with daughter.. First time for everything and this is my first LM in 20 yrs..

I went this morning with a friend for about 4.5 hours. Caught a dozen largemouth and 2 pike. Decent bite with the clouds until about 9:30-10am. Once those went away and the sun came out, the fishing went in the toilet. I put a pair of 4 pounders in the boat about 10 minutes apart. Caught most of the fish with a spinnerbait around clumps of weeds. Tried docks too, but no bites around those. This is the first time all season that I've found any type of consistent bite on a moving lure. Water temp was 78 degrees.

Those are good-looking bass, @gim.

I was able to get out on Friday - I did that because holiday weekends here in lakes country get overwhelmingly busy/chaotic, so I will not go out on Saturday/Sunday - it started out with big winds/gusts/white caps but then settled down a bit, cloudy and about 78 - I did not have much luck until I got around some isolated grass/reed areas - I then caught 10 bass, all 15 plus inches, with two of them being 18 inches - one was caught on a Senko, the other 9 on a D-Style Geelacanth - not sure why they were so attracted to that today, but it worked well - Happy and Safe 4th of July to everyone !

Heavy rain, wind, storms have blown thru in the past week - lots of gunk in the water - along with the July 4th wake boat/PWC/recreational traffic the lakes are churned up - normally clear water has been coffee brown for a few days - hoping it clears up before the heat wave - Have you experienced this as well ?

I went for 4 hours this morning locally. Caught 17 largemouth ranging between 13-18 inches. Some of the fish have definitely started to move deeper with the increasing water temperature. Caught all of them in 6-12 feet on plastics.

I got pretty warm out there even early this morning. I couldn't tolerate it much past 10am. I will not be fishing again until we get cooler weather. Water temp was 80 degrees.

I found fish yakkin' up a lot of crayfish parts this week all over the floor of my yak, which let me know they were feeding down in the rocks. Water is very warm in Central Minnesota - so it's that time of season for the Ol' Ball and Chain!

Hit the Mississippi River today started later at about 10AM. The water temps was about 84 to 85. The fishing was slow. The normal spots were not producing and the water level and current were up from last year. I ended up fishing for 4 hour without a bite. I stopped a bridge with riprap and dragged a football jig and caught 4 about 12 to 14 inches. I decided to give the spot another pass with a Lucky Craft fat crankbait. I caught another 4 with two right a17 inches.

Went out for a short period of time today (Monday) - wind was blowing hard (which keeps the humidity down, but makes for a rough ride and tricky casting) - I caught two LMB, one 14.5 in. , one 15 in. - but not even a nibble outside of those two bass - it was hot, I finished the gallon of water I brought with me - I might try going out again on Tuesday or Wednesday if the wind settles down a bit and the temps are not too crazy - My guess is the bass will be deep as the DNR intern at the dock today said the Walleye guys were complaining that they were catching more bass than Walleyes because the bass are so deep - I don't have fancy electronics so it will basically be casting and hoping, probably throwing heavier jigs or worms with a heavier weight - any suggestions ?

We head up to the BWCA in three weeks and I am hopeful everything gets cleared up by then. It's such a bummer seeing others having to cancel plans and not be up there. It's something I always look forward to visiting.

18 hours ago, WaskaCrank12 said:

any suggestions ?

Wait until its not so hot. Its a blast furnace out there.

@Texas Flood I am not so sure your trip will be a go in a few weeks. There is really no significant rain in the forecast here. The temperature and humidity looks tolerable next week but I have a feeling these fires might be burning for a while. Its very difficult to contain them in such remote areas.

This sort of thing happens every few years. Seemingly more common than it used to be. Hotter and drier is the trend. A fire ban seems to occur every season now at some point. They said the last time there was a complete ban and evacuation was 5 years ago.

So me and the kid hit the local waters around Zimmtucky today (because she has weds off and wants to go fishing with dad).

OAT was 94* by time we left water at 1030

Water temp was 85.8* at 0615 and 87.1* by time we left..

Not a dang bite. Tried weed edge out to 18’, nada.. kid wacky wormed and I threw a Texas rig.. zilcharoonie!

What else could I have tried.?. this bass thing is new to me…

Like gim says, should prob wait for cooler wx..

Rod

More seasonal temperatures are expected next week. Highs will be in the low to mid 80's during the day time with much cooler night time temps.

Trying to get bass to bite in these bath tub-style temps is like pulling teeth. Not to mention how miserable it has to be out there too.

9 hours ago, gim said:

More seasonal temperatures are expected next week. Highs will be in the low to mid 80's during the day time with much cooler night time temps.

Trying to get bass to bite in these bath tub-style temps is like pulling teeth. Not to mention how miserable it has to be out there too.

Thank you gim.. yes, the conditions yesterday were less than desirable for human habitat, though it was pretty bizarre watching this wildfire smoke roll in. It was like watching a fog bank rolling on top of you.

38 minutes ago, gim said:

Wait until it’s not so hot. It’s a blast furnace out there.

@Texas Flood I am not so sure your trip will be a go in a few weeks. There is really no significant rain in the forecast here. The temperature and humidity looks tolerable next week but I have a feeling these fires might be burning for a while. Its very difficult to contain them in such remote areas.

This sort of thing happens every few years. Seemingly more common than it used to be. Hotter and drier is the trend. A fire ban seems to occur every season now at some point. They said the last time there was a complete ban and evacuation was 5 years ago.

One report I heard said that it’s likely they’ll be burning at some level until the first snowfall.

On 7/12/2026 at 7:04 PM, BassinBrett said:

Hit the Mississippi River today started later at about 10AM. The water temps was about 84 to 85. The fishing was slow. The normal spots were not producing and the water level and current were up from last year. I ended up fishing for 4 hour without a bite. I stopped a bridge with riprap and dragged a football jig and caught 4 about 12 to 14 inches. I decided to give the spot another pass with a Lucky Craft fat crankbait. I caught another 4 with two right a17 inches.

The Mississippi gets tough in the dog days of summer but still a good time.

8 hours ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

One report I heard said that it’s likely they’ll be burning at some level until the first snowfall.

That would be pretty insane but unless there's a big rain event to naturally put it out, I wouldn't expect standard firefighting methods to be very effective in such remote areas.

I've also been reading that it may be beneficial in the long run because some of those areas are very old growth forests with fallen, rotting trees all over. When it gets dry it's a tinderbox just waiting to ignite.

I have a co-worker who goes up there for a week every season and he's been there many times when there was a fire ban. He always says that ruins the trip real quick. Pretty tough to enjoy camping without being able to have a fire.

4 hours ago, gim said:

That would be pretty insane but unless there's a big rain event to naturally put it out, I wouldn't expect standard firefighting methods to be very effective in such remote areas.

I've also been reading that it may be beneficial in the long run because some of those areas are very old growth forests with fallen, rotting trees all over. When it gets dry it's a tinderbox just waiting to ignite.

I have a co-worker who goes up there for a week every season and he's been there many times when there was a fire ban. He always says that ruins the trip real quick. Pretty tough to enjoy camping without being able to have a fire.

Even crazier is how some of the Canadian fires stayed smoldering all winter underground in peat bogs. I remember learning about how native Americans would make "fire baskets" to keep embers smoldering so they could transport them long distances. They used peat moss to make them. Pretty much the same thing going on, on a much larger scale.