zumbro river questions….

Does anybody have any tips on catching smallmouth, carp, suckers etc… in the zumbro or any other river for that matter, how big of sinker? what size hooks? baits? artificials? techniques? any help or advice would be greatly appreciated…..

Hi Seanmn,

Welcome to the forum!
Good old nightcrawlers are likely to get you a variety of fish. Small cranks like rapala or yo-zuri will get you bass. Hook size will usually be small – around a size 8. Use just enough weight to keep you near the bottom.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Welcome. Great to have you with us. Please feel free to share and post all you want. I have found the bass bite on Lake Zumbro to be a shoreline bite. Cast #5 shadraps and fat raps works well. Some guys will cast spinnerbaits and plastic worms too. For carp I have caught them using worms and also one time when trolling on the Mississipi River I caught my biggest on a shadrap. My x-wife caught her biggest on lake Zumbro using a hair type jig fishing for crappies. Yesterday Mike Smith from Hooked On Fishing and I were fishing on Lake Zumbro and he caught a nice size carp while wec were fishing plastics below a bobber for crappies and gills. Some guys have good luck putting several pieces of corn in a hook and casting it out. Thanks, Bill

Thanks for the advice and the welcome, I’ve fished on and off my whole life…but would like to take a more serious approach at it. Do any of you notice that nightcrawlers aren’t as productive this time of year? or is that just an old wives tale….. I see Berkley now makes a carp bait, haven’t had a chance to try it though, for having the reputation of being such a stupid rough fish they seem to be even more wary than trout.

Fishing for carp is very under-rated in the USA. In several countries in Europe, carp is king. They grow large, fight very hard, and can be difficult to catch.
Nightcrawlers are usually good in most open water situations, but at times other bait works as well or even better. There are several carp baits on the market now and I suspect they probably work well some of the time. We used to fish for carp on Lake Zumbro with corn and nightcrawlers on the same hook. I’ve had carp hit jigs on several occasions. Good luck and let us know how your fishing goes.

Good Fishing,
Mike