Great discussion! Keep the feedback coming, I’d love to hear it!!

Here’s mine: Sunset on LOTW last August

Thanks for the info cspierings! Guess I won’t have much chance catching many smallmouth there. Do you know of any other rivers in the area that I would be able to wade and catch a few smallies?

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply Nic. Do you know if I would be able to wade the Oconto that far upstream? I don’t have a boat/canoe so that’s all I got. Also do you have any pointers on where to go? I see the headwaters are near Wabeno. Is there a bridge near there where I could park?

Thanks for the help!

F.S

Basket-23.77
Big fish-5.9

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Care to share your technique for catching these fish?

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The nice thing about smallmouth is that they will bite on just about everything. The bad thing is, is that they can be picky from day to day. One day it might be spinners and the next day jigs. You just have to take a variety of lures with you and have the fish tell you what they want. It usually doesn’t take to long to figure out what presentation they want.

I guess this doesn’t really answer your question Bill, but it just goes to prove that they will bite on many different things. You just have to be willing to experiment with a few to find the best one.

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Fly rodding for smallmouth in southeast Mn has been nothing short of awesome for a few months now.

D.A.

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I’m with D.A. on this one. Although we weren’t out with the fly rod, we were able to catch fish today.

I heard that the only touchdown the Colts would have is when they land in Miami!!

Sounds like you found a jackpot. I would keep that baby all to myself.

19″ Smallmouth

Thanks for the tips guys. P.B. that Cannon is right in my price range!!

Walleye great tip with the plastic bag idea. I have never thought of that.

Thanks again,
F.S.

Usually I do carry a disposable camera with me while wet wading, but go figure…it got left in the garage.

F.S.

Thanks for the replies guys. Looks like I should be able to catch a few this next weekend. Were there any signs of beds or do you think that they are done spawning?

F.S.

Was out on Saturday and Sunday evening with some decent success. Saturday we managed to find one school of crappies. Caught about 15 from that spot. Other than that the fish were scattered. We’d catch a few here and a few there. Biggest crappies pushed a pound on the digital scale. We caught two bonus carp that were lots of fun on light tackle. Did get checked by the CO’s. It was nice to see them out. Sunday we found the fish scattered all over. We’d catch 2 or 3 from a spot and then have to move on. Kept a few for a meal. It was a great time to be out both days.

F.S.

Mark pretty much said the just of it, but if anyone wants to read the whole article here it is.

GROUPS CLASH OVER ZUMBRO SMALLIES
Thu, Jan 12, 2006

Outdoors
By John Weiss

The Post-Bulletin

A long-simmering clash of fishing philosophies is ready to boil over catch-and-release smallmouth fishing on the Zumbro River from the base of the Lake Zumbro Dam to Zumbro Falls.

Several years ago, smallmouth anglers, led by the Southeast Minnesota Smallmouth Alliance, convinced the Department of Natural Resources to impose total catch-and-release regulations in that stretch. The idea was to have one place in the region where there was a better chance of catching a trophy smallmouth.

Now, a new group called the Southeast Minnesota Public Anglers Coalition has formed to get rid of that regulation. It says the change was made to satisfy “out-of-area elitist catch-and-release advocates,” while those who live in the area are left out.

They are seeking legislative support for a bill that would get rid of all special smallmouth regulations on that stretch and, after five years, hold a public hearing to talk about any changes. Those changes, they say, must be based on the rights of the angling public to harvest fish based on biology. They want to “deter special interest organizations from politicizing the MnDNR hearing process.”

This group is an offshoot of one that formed near Willmar, Minn., over special walleye regulations in Green Lake. The group got the Legislature to get rid of those regulations.

The new group formed locally “was made necessary when the DNR dismissed the primary stakeholder requests and aligned itself with the Smallmouth Alliance,” according to Jim Kehoe, the group’s legislative liaison.

The group believes the Smallmouth Alliance crowded the hearings and basically forced the regulations, despite a lack of biological need for them. Instead, the local catch-and-release is a social regulation, the group contends, based on the desires of one group to control a public resource.

The conflicting philosophies leave the Legislature and DNR caught in the middle. Neither particularly wants to be there.

State Sen. Dave Senjem of Rochester said he has been asked to introduce the bill this spring. While he hasn’t made a decision, he said legislative action should be a last resort for such decisions. “It probably is not the best place” for the issue to be resolved, he said. Such decisions should be made locally, with anglers and the DNR meeting to find some kind of common ground. If it gets into the Legislature, it will get political, he said.

He met with both sides, and the DNR, last fall and thought a DNR compromise would keep the issue from boiling over into the Legislature, he said.

Kevin Stauffer, DNR area fisheries supervisor in Lake City, was surprised when he heard about what the new group was trying to do. He thought the compromise was a good one. It would have kept special regulations in place for two more years to give the DNR time to find out just how well they work.

The DNR usually wants eight to 10 years to fully evaluate such regulations, but under the compromise, the catch-and-release rules would have been in place for just five years.

The proposal would have special regulations through 2007, with a creel census that year, as well as electroshocking, followed by public hearings in 2008, he said.

The DNR agreed to the regulations because of public input, he said. “There are people who definitely wanted the regulations,” he said. “The people were generally supportive of it.”

Stauffer said he doesn’t know what the DNR’s position would be in the matter went to the Legislature.

To learn more about Southeast Minnesota Public Anglers Coalition legislative initiative, call Jim Kehoe of rural Pine Island at (507) 356-4622; for more on the group, send an e-mail to [email protected]

Does anybody else think it’s a coincidence that you turn purple when you choke???

GO PACK!!!!

We have been fishing both the Root and the Zumbro. We have tried many different stretches of both and haven’t had a good size day yet. The numbers of fish caught overall hasn’t changed, just that the big ones are missing.

As for the green bridge…haven’t been there in 3 or 4 years.

I didn’t fish after the flood. My last few trips out were in the later part of August.

Do you think that it could have wiped out many of the bigger smallmouth? I’m curious to hear what other people have to say about this.

F.S.

The only times I’ve seen big bass out there is in low light hours, either early or late. They have also been very shallow like 2-3 ft. Caught one (17″) when I saw it by casting out a minnow on a plain hook.

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I feel that most of the smallie fisherman that read these reports share my concern for the fishery in our area.

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I agree with you on that note, but the problem is that it only takes one or two people to ruin it for everybody.

My dad and I used to share where we fished. But, after we reported that the fishing was quite good on a particular stretch of water there was an increase of fisherman out there. We never did have real good luck out there after that. Maybe it was just a coincidence that that part of river saw an increase in pressure, but I think it was more from the fact that we told people where we were. And it wouldn’t be so bad if they practiced C&R. They unfortunately kept their limit. If that keeps up it doesn’t take long to get fished out.

The bottom line is that personally seeing a favorite stretch of water go kaput…well that was enough for us. We just don’t say where we fish anymore.

Going by what Lew has just reported to us, the best I can give you is that it’s within an hours drive of Rochester

Thanks for the replies guys. That will give me a good start.

You can put in at Ponderosa. It has a nice public ramp. It’s on the other end of the lake than Fishermen’s Inn is on.

Went out yesterday evening. Caught about 15 crappies, 2 sunnies, and 1 30″ northern that was lost by the boat.

The smaller crappies were up shallow relating to cover, but we did manage to get some bigger ones deeper.

Color played a big role in catching fish, so if you aren’t cathing anything don’t be afraid to switch colors. What was hot one day might not be the hot bait the next.

Good Fishing
F.S.

If you go to the FTR article library there is an article entitled “Wingdam 101”

Hope that helps.

I also didn’t have a very good outing today. I was out for an hour and caught 4 smallmouth (14, 12, 10, 10) and a 12″ trout. They were all caught in or around the rapids. The water was low and clear.

How did everyone else do this weekend?

F.S.

Nice fish smtroutchaser. They must be eating well, they look very healthy. Keep the pics coming.

F.S.