How are other Bass fishermen been doing lately ???

After a horrible spring season and a really slow start to the summer season, Bass fishing has finally gotten really good for me lately. Its been a really strange season this year for some reason. The good deeper weedline bite that normally kicks in in late June or early July most years seemed to take till early to mid August to get rolling this year ( For me anyway ) The last 2-3 weeks have been REALLY good fishing. Great #’s and size fish are finally being caught. Hopefully this current bite will keep going right up to the good fall bite – Hopefully no normal Dog days poor fishing we normally get in Sept. Hope everyone else has been able to get on a great bite lately. If not, get out there and get a few while the bite is HOT !!!

I had a rough Spring as well, but every since July hit it’s been crazy good for me. I haven’t been out as much, maybe that has something to do with it, but I haven’t been getting as many fish lately. My deep bite has turned off a little bit in the last couple weeks and I’m wondering if some are starting to make their way up into transition areas getting ready to put the Fall feed bag on. It has been cooler the last couple weeks so this makes sense in my head.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I had a rough Spring as well, but every since July hit it’s been crazy good for me. I haven’t been out as much, maybe that has something to do with it, but I haven’t been getting as many fish lately. My deep bite has turned off a little bit in the last couple weeks and I’m wondering if some are starting to make their way up into transition areas getting ready to put the Fall feed bag on. It has been cooler the last couple weeks so this makes sense in my head.

Normally by this time my deep weedline bite would be dying off as well. The last 5-6 outings over the last few weeks the bite has been incredibly good. I hope we can get another few weeks before the fish start the move to the normal Fall locations. I’m heading to Canada the 1st 2 full weekends in Sept. My guess is that the deep bite will be done by the time we return. But with the crazy season we’ve had who knows

I have had a fantastic season smallmouth fishing. Mille Lacs was great this spring and river fishing has been really good since mid July. Largemouth fishing in lakes has been inconsistent all season for me. One day is a shallow finesse bite and the next its nothing but dinks on moving lures. Then I can’t keep the pike off. I haven’t found a top water bite all season long for largemouth. Not sure what the deal is but maybe I should just stick to smallmouth because those results have been ideal this season.

gimruis wrote:

I have had a fantastic season smallmouth fishing. Mille Lacs was great this spring and river fishing has been really good since mid July. Largemouth fishing in lakes has been inconsistent all season for me. One day is a shallow finesse bite and the next its nothing but dinks on moving lures. Then I can’t keep the pike off. I haven’t found a top water bite all season long for largemouth. Not sure what the deal is but maybe I should just stick to smallmouth because those results have been ideal this season.

I hear you on the Pike. I’ve lost a Ton of jig worms and other baits to the toothy critters this summer. I’ve got to get more into the SM fishing on Mille Lacs next year. We had 1 outing there in late spring and did real well. I’ve just got to make time to get up there more next season – You just cant beat a good smallmouth bite.

These cold nights in the past week or so have really seemed to turn on the bite for the smallies and pike. Still not seeing great numbers but the quality is definitely there. I’ve really struggled all summer to put some patterns together on the smallies but last weekend was the first this summer where I was really able to dial in the bite.

The bite was outstanding for me yesterday on a small lake in central mn. Good numbers with four fish in between 19-20.5″.
Deep weedlines 10-15ft of water, more specifically transitions from weed to hard bottom. The steepest breaks on the lake seems to be holding most of the fish. Dragging a football jig has been the most productive for me, also picked up a few on a Texas rigged curly tail worm. The water temps have dropped and the fish activity level seems to be rising.

It’s been good for me all season so far. I do a lot of top water fly fishing, and it’s been productive since May. Dragging big streamers through the coontail has produced a lot of nice fish as well. In the east Metro, my favorite lake has seen a 9 degree temperature drop over the last two weeks. It’s still fairly warm but things are certainly changing.

Hopefully this will last into October like it has the last couple of years. The winters seem so long, and the summers so short

S.R.

Couldn’t agree more on how late some of the patterns have developed… last year the flippin/jig Bite was on fire late June through Fall. It’s just starting now it seems..

And usually skipping plastics under docks is on anytime after the spawn. This year it’s been so hit and miss until this past week. Last Friday I was on a lake that has a row of 7 boat lifts/canopies and I got a fish off of each one! I’ve fished that stretch of docks before and never got more than 2 fish.

Here’s to hoping for a looooooong, mild Fall and a consistent strong bite !!

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I use to fish a TON of docks. I don’t fish them much anymore. I don’t like having to deal with grumpy homeowners. if I were to go back to tourney fishing I’d probably go back to fishing a lot of docks again. On lakes without a lot of other cover docks can be the best place to get not only #’s but often the biggest fish. Now I enjoy running into a nice school of fish out in deeper water and catching lots of fish and a few nice ones in a small location.

gimruis wrote:

I have had a fantastic season smallmouth fishing. Mille Lacs was great this spring and river fishing has been really good since mid July. Largemouth fishing in lakes has been inconsistent all season for me. One day is a shallow finesse bite and the next its nothing but dinks on moving lures. Then I can’t keep the pike off. I haven’t found a top water bite all season long for largemouth. Not sure what the deal is but maybe I should just stick to smallmouth because those results have been ideal this season.

Topwater has been brutal for me this year as well!

OK, I have to ask. When you guys say “top water” what are you using? Buzz baits? That kind of stuff?

I’m catching 15-20 top water Bass every time I go out. I’m throwing Poppers, Deer Hair Bugs, Dahlberg Divers, and some gruesome looking things I made out of craft foam. The thing they all have in common is that they are worked very slowly. I’ll drop one into the zone, and then work it back at a snail’s pace with lots of long pauses in between.

Maybe it’s a matter of speed?

S.R.

fishthumper wrote:

I use to fish a TON of docks. I don’t fish them much anymore. I don’t like having to deal with grumpy homeowners. if I were to go back to tourney fishing I’d probably go back to fishing a lot of docks again. On lakes without a lot of other cover docks can be the best place to get not only #’s but often the biggest fish. Now I enjoy running into a nice school of fish out in deeper water and catching lots of fish and a few nice ones in a small location.

One alternative to skipping under docks (and getting hung up and ticking off the homeowner) is to throw a large, high profile Neko Rig very near the edges of docks. That way you usually don’t clang off the dock, pontoon, etc but the vertical twitching worm eventually gets noticed by the bass underneath..

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Steve Root wrote:

OK, I have to ask. When you guys say “top water” what are you using? Buzz baits? That kind of stuff?

I’m catching 15-20 top water <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Bass every time I go out. I’m throwing Poppers, Deer Hair Bugs, Dahlberg Divers, and some gruesome looking things I made out of craft foam. The thing they all have in common is that they are worked very slowly. I’ll drop one into the zone, and then work it back at a snail’s pace with lots of long pauses in between.

Maybe it’s a matter of speed?

S.R.

Frogs, Spooks, Poppers, ploppers…..you name it Steve. I’m about ready to tie on some of your flies…..

I should clarify more specifically the lack of success for largemouth using topwater. I got on to a good smallmouth bite using them in the river. What Steve is failing to mention is that he starts fishing at 4am in the morning when it’s still pitch dark out. Maybe if I got out there during the middle of the night and threw some topwater I would catch more.

gimruis wrote:

I should clarify more specifically the lack of success for largemouth using topwater. I got on to a good smallmouth bite using them in the river. What Steve is failing to mention is that he starts fishing at 4am in the morning when it’s still pitch dark out. Maybe if I got out there during the middle of the night and threw some topwater I would catch more.

My Tournaments have started a 6 am when the sun is just starting to rise and I still haven’t caught many on topwater. It’s just been a slow bite for me this year.

Fry mentioned throwing Nekos close to docks-Often you can throw even high profile stuff very close to docks but you only get bit when you shoot under the dock.( under pontoons is good too)

gimruis wrote:

I should clarify more specifically the lack of success for largemouth using topwater. I got on to a good smallmouth bite using them in the river. What Steve is failing to mention is that he starts fishing at 4am in the morning when it’s still pitch dark out. Maybe if I got out there during the middle of the night and threw some topwater I would catch more.

Good point. Top water usually is a shallow water bite, and depending on shoreline cover it can quit abruptly when the sun comes over the trees. My favorite local lake suffers from the lake association’s application of herbicide a few times every year. It does a real number on the shallow weed beds and once it gets bright out it’s time to head for the deep weedlines. On the other hand I spent 10 days on a lake near Aitkin that has very clear water and beautiful thick weed beds and had a lot of action during the day with top waters.

S.R.

tim hurley wrote:

Fry mentioned throwing Nekos close to docks-Often you can throw even high profile stuff very close to docks but you only get bit when you shoot under the dock.( under pontoons is good too)

Agreed. And if I see a pontoon parked with the bow towards shore and the motor tilted up… I start to salivate. Anyone should be able to skip that gap successfully with the exception of the Chicago Bears kicker

FryDog62 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tim hurley wrote:</div>
Fry mentioned throwing Nekos close to docks-Often you can throw even high profile stuff very close to docks but you only get bit when you shoot under the dock.( under pontoons is good too)

Agreed. And if I see a pontoon parked with the bow towards shore and the motor tilted up… I start to salivate. Anyone should be able to skip that gap successfully with the exception of the Chicago Bears kicker

I use to love Pontoons – For me the harder the cast to get under one the better – Those are usually skipped by most other tourney fishermen and almost always had the best fish.

FryDog62 wrote:

One alternative to skipping under docks (and getting hung up and ticking off the homeowner) is to throw a large, high profile Neko Rig very near the edges of docks. That way you usually don’t clang off the dock, pontoon, etc but the vertical twitching worm eventually gets noticed by the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>bass underneath..

That may work sometimes. I often found that unless you get a bait back into the Darkest hard to hit spot the fish either would not see your bait or were not willing to move to get it. I know in the fall when a lot of the other cover in lakes start to die off and some of the homeowners start pulling their docks the remaining docks can often hold a ton of fish. The less overall cover there is on lakes the better the docks become. Often in the late fall you don’t need to get near as far back under then. Often a jig pitched to the corners or Wheels is all that needed. In the fall they are not so much using them for shade to escape the warm water they are just using them for cover. There is often a big difference from summer docks to fall docks

Ok I have to ask now. Who here can consistently skip docks using a bait caster? I have tried it but about half of my casts end up with a back lash so I often switch to a spinning setup. The problem with a spinning outfit is the lack of power. I want to horse a big bass out from underneath those sharp edges quickly and spinning gear sucks for that.

gimruis wrote:

Ok I have to ask now. Who here can consistently skip docks using a bait caster? I have tried it but about half of my casts end up with a back lash so I often switch to a spinning setup. The problem with a spinning outfit is the lack of power. I want to horse a big bass out from underneath those sharp edges quickly and spinning gear sucks for that.

After a couple of years trying to get various baitcasting reels dialed in to skip lures (Lews, Shimano, Abu) I was also about 50% success rate before creating a rats nest.

I switched to the Daiwa SV reels 3 years ago and have never looked back. You still have to work to get them dialed in based on the weight of your lure but they’re the real deal. I’ve gotten better at skipping over time and since going with the Daiwa SV spools, but have gone back to the other brands occasionally and they still eventually end up with a backlash – and I also don’t get the distance probably because I’m paranoid and braking more with my thumb.

Yes the SV reels are more expensive than a lot of other options, but if you skip enough they are worth it IMO. I totally agree that a baitcaster is much better than a spinning setup to get the fish out and away from cover once hooked.

Least expensive SV spool is the Tatula which you can get online for usually $160. I think if you’re skipping anything 1/4 oz and heavier the Tat is plenty adequate. If you are skipping weightless plastics or even 1/8 oz wacky jigs the SV reel options get more expensive. Tat could do it but you’d be more consistent with an Alpha SV or Steez SV.

Grant, if you want to meet up sometime and try out the various SV spools let me know…

gimruis wrote:

Ok I have to ask now. Who here can consistently skip docks using a bait caster?

Im not the greatest but im decent at it after a couple years of practice. Shorter rod helps and so does the tatula SV as mentioned. World of difference there. The biggest thing that helped me was watching youtube videos of Andy Montgomery. granted i usually am throwing a 1/2 ounce jig so when you mess up the whole lake knows

gimruis wrote:

Ok I have to ask now. Who here can consistently skip docks using a bait caster? I have tried it but about half of my casts end up with a back lash so I often switch to a spinning setup. The problem with a spinning outfit is the lack of power. I want to horse a big bass out from underneath those sharp edges quickly and spinning gear sucks for that.

I have gotten pretty good at it where I maybe backlash once a day when I’m skipping docks. You have to make sure you have your tension knob and brakes dialed in and practice practice practice. It’s all about the roll cast and thumb pressure. Oh, and use a Tatula…..Seriously.

My topwater bite has been absolutely PHENOMENAL this year. No idea why, but that’s all I can consistently catch em on.

Which topwater has been best for you lately (Plopper, Buzzbait, popper, Frog, etc)?

I had good luck on the river for smallies with the small Choppo, but largemouth I’m getting ready to switch to Buzzbaits as the ToadRunner and frogs have been poor of late.

Fish have started to move slightly shallower for me good thread here. I think the good fishing is right around the corner the water temps are sure dropping fast may be a early fall? Spinnerbaits have started back up again for me.

Chatterbaits have working for me. Never really used them much, but my son swears by them so I gave them a shot. Cranks on the deep side of the weed line have been decent, too.

I haven’t been getting out consistently lately. Tonight I only got 3 bass and they were well scattered out on a huge weed flat with lots of isolated rice and pad patches. A couple nights ago I only got out for an hour and didn’t get a single bass. It has been a long time since that has happened in the boat for me. The trip before that was short too and I only got 1 bass that time. So I’m struggling right now. All the wind we have had lately put the damper on my desire to go fishing because I am such a topwater junky.