I need help. I have been hard water fishing for about 20 years, but never open water, until this past weekend. I build rods as a hobby and finally built a 6.5 ft rod. I am hooked (pun intended). We have a cabin on a crystal clear lake in Wisconsin and this past weekend, caught some smaller northerns and a couple sunnies. I do know that people target bass on the lake as well. Where do I begin with lures? I have my go-tos for ice fishing, but I have ZERO idea where to begin for open water.
Mainly target Bass and panfish, but there are also a small amount of walleye and northerns. There are three connected lakes, and one of the lakes is a bit more murky and that is where the walleye are.
I am starting on a rod for my wife, and am going to build a UL rod for myself as well, so would like to know a starting point. I get the “try a ton and see”, as I have probably $500 in ice jigs and spoons, but only use like 5-10 of them. It would be nice to have a “starting point” where I can go to a store and spend $100 or so and have a good starting point to target these species.
So again, I NEED HELP!! Where do I begin? Colors? Spinbaits? Spoons? I am beyond lost.
A day late, but happy fathers day to all the fathers out there!