Well, I got caught in between fishing boats and had to make do. They’re definitely not that easy to control and I hated not having a trolling motor but otherwise it worked and super comfortable!

Fished again last night since Sunday evening was so good but not one fish. The water levels went down about 1 to 1-1/2 feet from Sunday.

Nice work. I’ve run into the perch before too but it’s been a while. Nice job.

bigpike wrote:

Awesome job! I never fished the dells at night, do you ever hook any of the bazillion sturgeon?
Yes, sturgeons are pretty common to hook. You always see a few caught just about every day.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Don’t cha just love it when the unexpected happens!
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<P>I’m sure those kids… all three of them will remember that trip for a very long time! </P>

There’s no doubt we will remember. I have to tell you Brian, there are a lot of big flatheads in this area and I really don’t think their targeted at all. Most fish we see and here about come from incidental catches by walleye guys and other fisherman. I haven’t really catfished since I was a kid but this has my interest up and I might just have to get serious about it and see just what this system has to offer up!

boone wrote:

The past couple of years I’ve really taken a liking to small top water baits such as the Rebel Teeny Pop R for white bass. It seems like this lure primarily works when they’re busting on the surface and when they’re doing that, it seems most things will catch the fish. But to me, top water is the most fun. I’ll usually keep two rods ready… one with a Rattle Trap and the other with a Pop R.
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<P>As for taste, last year at my extended family’s fish fry, after all the walleyes were deep fried, I had my mom cook a quart of white bass fillets in exactly the same manner with the same coating. I polled everyone and the decision was unanimous… the white bass were good but the walleyes were better. I did remove all the red meat from the white bass fillets and the fish were well cared for… same as for the walleyes.<BR>Boone</P>

I agree with the top water. I used to do it a bunch but now only seem to do it once in a while. The taste comment is pretty accurate also. I never claimed they were better than walleye. I just think that most of the people that talk bad about the white bass aren’t being accurate.

I did some of the same process. We used to ust the double hair jig rig years ago. But now I love the 1/2 oz. rattle traps. They seem to jump all over them and the average size of fish is bigger. The only negative is all of the hooks.

Hey John,
I’m actually a bass guy that has transitioned over to mostly walleyes over the last several years now. There is some pretty good walleye fishing their year round but the pleasure boats, for me, are too much to hastle with. And I think the fishing is better down on the lake. I did catch a walleye on 3 of my 4 outing there the 3rd week of August… 2) shorts, 1)17″ & the one in the picture was a 25-1/2″ slot. All were caught while throwing crankbaits to the shore for bass so I would think that actually targeting them might provide some decent results.
The smallmouth that congregate up there in the summer is a different story though and the river is pretty quiet early in the morning and later in the evening. Hope your having a good summer and good fishing this fall.

You can use almost anything you want but really the only 2 baits I use are 1/2 oz rattle traps and 1/4 oz. blade baits.

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Unreal. I was sure I was just early for t he run but apparently not.

Last year the week before Labor Day was possibly the best I’ve ever seen it. Fished 4 nights in a row and every night there was at a minimum 1-1/2 hours of non stop action of huge white bass. One thing I noticed 2 weeks ago is that the huge schools of shad that keep the white bass concentrated weren’t around. Best of luck to you. I’ll be looking for your report.

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I was wondering the same thing. We are coming up on Wed and really would like to have some fun with the white bass. It has been a long time since they really went crazy.

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I wish I could help but I only make one trip a year for the white bass and as I said in my report, this year I missed them for the first time. I live 3 hours away and would love to have a reliable, local resource to check the run. People just don’t follow and report on them like they do other species. I feel like so many people look down on the white bass or talk bad about them that people don’t report on them. I think they are one of the funnest fish to go after. There’s nothing like it when one of the massive schools of white bass that Pepin has erupts around you’re boat in a feeding frenzy. It’s great fun for all skill levels of fisherman. The whitebass will typically run for about 6 weeks at the end of the summer. They usually start about 2-3 weeks before Labor day and run to around the end of September. I go the week before Labor day because it fits my schedule. I also think the cold August had them behind their regular pattern this year. The fishing should be good for them right now.

Nice looking fish!

I had to coax her a little bit to hold them like that but she did a good job. She was the only one of my bunch that wanted to go out Friday night and it turned into a fun evening. She realed in almost every fish and I kept her pretty busy for most of the night. Good time for both of us!

I’ve never not seen a white bass run around Labor Day on the lake and can’t imagine that they won’t eventually go. That being said though, it feels like it will be a smaller less productive run than most years. I didn’t target crappies but have found them this time of year around some of the points along the Minnesota side of the lake fishing 7-15 feet deep(sometimes in 10 feet but as deep as 20-25 FOW). Crappies even when close to the bottom will always want to feed up. When fishing crappies you do not want to have your bait below them!

Bluegills can be found along the main lake ledge off of Deer Island in 10 -15 fow but can be found in many other places in the lake along with wing dams in the river.

Just posted a report but we were there this week and the white bass fishing has not taken off yet and seems way behind for this time of year.

I would suggest to hit the main lake for white bass. I’ll be there next week with my kids because they and I have a ball with them. I’ve been doing it for 30 years and the fish are alawys there. Look for feeding gulls and the white bass are under them. You can catch them on just about anything you throw at them.

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Way to go Jeff!

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Thanks Gary. I haven’t seen you recently. Have you been out?
Oh Yeah, still going.

I’m still sick over it. I don’t have an I phone and just a construction work phone that can niether take pictures or send and reeive texts. Because of that I always have my camera but had mine charging at home and was rushing to get on the water so there it sat. It will be hard to top what happened last night.

Nice work John! Glad to see I’m not the only one to run into that posting problem. But that does it. No more crappies for me. I’m going walleye fishing.

Good to hear from you Joel, I was starting to get worried about you. Fishing has been good for me here recently and we were able to do better on Crappies this last Saturday as well.

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Nice. Watching kids catch fish is more fun than catching them yourself.

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No doubt about it. If I would have read your post before going out we probably would have been walleye fishing though. Talked to Gary last night on the way in also and I have to say you walleye guys are making it hard to concentrate on crappies.

Nice job John!

Very nice fish Jack!

Just for clarification, I agree and didn’t mean that I was looking to change it but more that there are different slots that can work. I would like the Lower Wisconsin River size limit changed to protect the 4-7lb females that aren’t that favorable to eat anyways.

Really?
I think they are a great way to keep a fishery healthy. I actually like the Lake of The Woods slot that is (don’t quote me because it’s been a while) but keep 5 of any size up to 20″ and 1 over 28. I think that throwing everything back under 15″ can keep small fish genes in a system also. There are a lot of variables to consider and every system can’t be treated the same but I would like to see and discuss data before having regulations mandated. Back to your point I think that’s fine to not want a slot but let’s discuss it. I think we all want the same thing and that’s the healthiest fishery we can have.

I emailed both of these guys about changing the slot below the dam and asked if it could be discussed this spring. Jim responded to say he would repond to me at a later date and Gene never responded. I think the slot below the dam is the most rediculous thing I’ve ever seen or heard of and would like to help correct it.

Nice job. Just got back from a little spring break with the family and can now get back on the water. Fishing should start heating up quickly!

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Nice mount! How much did it run you and did you get a weight on the fish?

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I have always felt like she was heavier but my digital scale weighed her right at 11 pounds. $450 with the driftwood.