Lake Zumbro Update 4-15-07

At 5:00 when I left the ramp after putting the boat in the water I noticed that the water looked alittle bit dirty. There were a few sticks scattered around alittle bit but was mosting clear of junk. At 7:00 I noticed alot of junk along some shorelines. By 8:00 there was ALOT of sticks, a few big logs and a TON of empty plastic pop bottles floating around on the lower part of the lake. What a mess from Ryans bay area on down to the dam. I’m guessing the wind and current blew all that junk down lake towards the dam area.

The good news is that the surface temp was 50.4 degrees to 51.9 degrees so the water is heating up. [last Thurs night was only 41 degrees]. But the fishing was slow. Talked to one guy at the ramp when taking out who had caught one small crappie, another guy from another boat had caught a nice smallie, and I only caught perch and one bluegill. Spent my time driving around checking water temps in different areas, made sure everything was working ok on the boat, and spent alittle bit of time fishing different areas to get a feel of whats going on in the fishes world. The bite is still slow but after this coming week of nice temps we should see alot better action come the following week I would think. Its going to take some time to get the bite going but being out on the lake sure feels great.

For those of you who are fishing Tylers event Monday night I felt fine in the jacket I usually wear but at 7:30 it cooled down. So a sweatshirt and warm jacket should be fine. Its much better than last Thursday night but does cool down once that sun gets behind clouds or the hills as it starts to go downward. Good luck and let us know how everyone does.
Thanks, Bill

Good to see you got out Bill. Was out yesterday and today as well. Saturday was a fine day to be on the water with a lot of fish seeing the inside of my boat. Some nice big gills and a bunch of crappie most of which were 7-8″ but half a dozen went 10″. Today was a different story though. Still quite a few fish in the boat but they were all smaller except for a couple of decent gills. 20′ down on a paddletail was the recipe. I did hear a report of someone saying they caught over 100 fish today 25% of which were over the 13″ mark. That same person always reports semi-consistent action resembling these results on what seems to be an OK day for others. Gonna start following him around I think .

I do have to make a comment in regards to yours about the trash in the lake. Right now it is VERY clean compared to what it was just a week ago. The stuff floating around is probably 25% of what it was . The wind and current did a lot over the past week.

On another side note, the wildlife on Saturday was fantastic. Some of the highlights were turkeys crawling all over the banks, a bald eagle, and a loon . This morning we saw the eagle again and the loon had two friends with him. This didn’t last long though since the boat traffic was at least 3-fold of Saturdays crowd . Man, seeing a loon on the Zumbro sure is cool. It felt a bit like being up north with the steam coming off the lake (cooold morning) and loon sounds.

Chris

Last Thursday night was pretty clean. Sure wasn’t that way Sunday night though. Sounds like you have been down there alot this year and having fun. And the season is just beginning with lots more to come.
Thanks, Bill

Chris….

Our days were f;ip-flopped foe production. Saturday two of us zipped and had only two bumps that we were sure were fish. We fishd high and deep…everywhere in the water column and in many areas, just no fish. We had a tough time marking fish.

I started off the deep stuff at the banks and rattlesnake but found only a few smaller fish, 8-9 inches, where the water showed up at 47 degrees. The drop-down thermometer showed 46 at eight feet where I got these little guys. As soon as I found some water being pushed along a south shore that showed 48 degrees at 8 feet, I instantly found large fish about three to four feet down, over deeper wood. The water temp at the three foot mark was about two degrees warmer yet. The wind help diffuse the light pernetration and I’d imagine that those fish were coming up to hit at the top of what was their comfort zone.

I saw two sunfish yesterday that were decent but poorly hooked and came off before the net found them. I tried some of the sunfish haunts and sized the baits down but didn’t find any, so the ones I hooked up had to be accidents for me.

One piece of shoreline about 150 yards in length where the water was dropping into 12-13 feet and that had some wood down deep gave up the bulk of my fish. This spot resembled more of a race track than a fishing spot with boats tearing up and down the channel. I came off the water at aaround noon and at that time had had no luck with the shallow water. I am certain the by afternoon crappies were most likely stacked along shallow water where a break would give them access to deep water quickly. Today should be wild, but I’m taking a breather. Tomorrow though…..

Both Tuesday and today were good, but the wind today was something else. Size was a factor today with more small fish showing up and they were deeper today than Tuesday and Sunday.

Water temps are up in the mid-50’s and that has got the sunfish bite on the go. The largest between that last two trips is 9″ and today they were plentiful. An orange Flicktail on a 1/32 head did in the sunnies while a chartreuse-tailed, junebug Culprit Paddletail on the light head under a float was the ticket. I tried free-lining a power minnow, but the wind put so much bow in the line any hits went un-noticed….couldn’t even feel a tap with the wind whipping the line.

I know HOF has Culprit Paddletails on order in the best of colors for our area waters, so a quick call might be in order if you are looking for them. He is the only place to obtain them commercially.

Its good to be back on the briney again. Even with the wind, it was a fine morning to spend on the drink. My eagles and ospreys were playing and putting on a show again this morning and today I saw several large rafts of cormorants [for joy, lol] moving thru.

A couple loons were out on the water Wednesday night Tom. Reminded me of when I use to watch Babe Winkleman and you always heard a loon at the beginning. I’ve seen a couple here the past few years. Its neat. Yep, was windy alright but felt good to be out. Spring is here. Its a great time to play on the water with the fish and enjoy the sunlight. Seems like as I get older I appreciate the spring and fall more than I use too. Not real hot but not cold and lots of open water in the southern part of the state. Its fishin time guys. Hope to see ya on the water.
Thanks, Bill

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I know HOF has Culprit Paddletails on order in the best of colors for our area waters, so a quick call might be in order if you are looking for them. He is the only place to obtain them commercially.

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My order of Culprit crappie baits has arrived! Paddle Tails, Tassel Tails, and Paddle Tail Minnows. Packs of 20 for $3.69.
Of course, we have many other popular plastics including my favorite Mini-Mite jigs.

should be there bright and early tomorrow to pick my supply up tomorrow for Zumbro all day

Erick, what did you buy for a new rig and what color? Must be a senior moment as I can’t remember.

Concerning the Culprit paddletails for panfish, to my knowledge HOF is the only store who sells them that I know of. Even Tom says that and he should know as hes on their Pro Staff. We are lucky to have a place like HOF here in Rochester than carries the kind of baits/lures/plastics that Mike does. He knows what catches fish and he finds a way to get them into his store. THANKS Mike.
Thanks, Bill

ended up getting a 1750 dark grren fish hawk with a 115 mercury optimax on the back of her…should be built at the factory by the first of May heading out with a guy from work tomorrow in his Green Lund hope to find a few gills and crappies.