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Big Ugly?
Moss…you should have patented that name… you could have made millions!
I have one called the “Big Sexy” because they like it on top, but they love it on the bottom 
Experiment with your jig trailers and plastics for carolina/texas rigs 
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Otto,
The more I think about the study may have been on the Fox River.
John
Some sections of the fox and wolf are very similar. Do you think these fish would travel all the way from New London/Shiocton to the Winnebago system? I will have to do some searching to see what I can come up with. Thanks for the help.
Ben Otto
Good luck Glenn. I wish I could join you down there.
I was out on Wednesday, and caught two three pound largemouth on a ribbit. Both the fish just pasted the bait. I think the fish are still in a feeding mode, but they have repositioned themselves out of the current.
I probably caught ten fish with only those two being keepers, but if you can find the cleaner water in the area, you will find the fish. All the cleaner water that I found had been filtered out by the lake.
Good luck to those fishing the MSBC
Ben Otto
It was a great weekend, but believe it or not the numbers and size were actually down from last year. If the weather would have cooperated and been sunny and calm, I would have bet we could have caught about 250-300 (like we did last year). Now is the time to go and fish the northeast side. If you are going out to different lakes, the fish are in different stages of spawn on each lake.
I do have a question though. This weekend I saw at least 5 beds with big fish on it (over 3 pounds), but we never saw or caught the smaller males. Were the 3-4 lbers. the males protecting the fry? or do the males move off for awhile and then come back?
I will be back out fishing for the smallies this weekend, so I will give the results when I return.
Ben
Last one. Biggest fish of the weekend. We thought it was around 5 or so, she still hadn’t spawned yet. It looked like she was ready to pop.
biggest smallie of the weekend a little over 4
another big smallie caught on a prop bait
big smallie
Another
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If you are going to fish the Boom lake area in Rhinelander fish the river portion. The lake itself is okay for bass fishing, but the river is the place to go for the nice smallies. Good luck.
You cannot get up the river yet because the rice beds are not up so you cannot see where the main channel is. There is a landing in McNaughton if you want to fish the river.
Kevin,
I would either fish Minoqua chain for both largies or smallies. The bite on Mid lake can be great this time of year. If you want some area, then just pm me. Boom lake is good in Rhinelander, Butternut and Franklin are both ggood lakes for monster smallies. Gin clear water, but it can be a great bite.
When are you going to be up there. I will be up in that area the next two weekends for a fishing trip and a bachelor party/fishing trip. Let me know if you need anything else.
Ben
Thanks for the help guys. I might go try to get some of those fish tonight or tomorrow. They should be in full swing with this warm weather over here.
Good luck on the water,
Ben Otto
John, in regards to the EWG hook, it was brand new. I just could not believe that after a few hours of fishing it would open up the way it did especially with very little pressure. I did end up switching to the superline version after that.
Darrin, we through the kitchen sink at those fish. Swim jigs, rattletraps, jigs, tubes, senkos, wacky worms, flukes, and even topwater frogs and prop baits, but the fish would just nose the bait or just sit there and look at it. Now that I think of it, I should have tried a drop shot on them. I guess you just live and learn.
Ben
Wisconsin has some great fisheries that is for sure, but there are some northern lakes that do not see much fishing pressure for bass. Pine lake in northern WI is a great largemouth fishery. I have caught several fish close to 7 lbs there. Last year a caught a 6.5 on a chug bug, but once I started to unhook it I noticed it had a 1.5 lb bullhead curled in its mouth. Every time you will have the chance at catching a fish over 6. For smallies there is Long Lake near Eau Claire and Butternut lake and both are full of 5-6 lb smallies. The water is clear, but both lakes have a great topwater bite in the morning and evening. I believe that Long Lake has a 17″ size limit for the smallies because the DNR is trying to make it a trophy lake for smallies.
I have never really fished for bass outside of WI, but would like to possibly try some new waters this year.
Good luck on the water,
Ben
Sugoi is unreal at how sensitive it is, and how abrasion resistant it is. Just like Jimmy mentioned it is expensive, but you do not need to replace it at often as mono or braid. About every two weeks, I will tie my line to my trailer hitch, and then walk the line out till all the flouro is out, and then pull hard for about 2 minutes, and the line is like new. This is a great way to say some money with this expensive line.
1. Swim Jig
2. 4″ Tube
3. Chompers Grub
4. Senko
5. Crank bait
Only a month away till the first tourny.
Cade, completely agree with you on worms and jig for summertime bass. In the spring, I absolutly love the Spot Remover because of its stand-up capabilities. Take that jig with a small craw and springtime bass and hold on
I forgot to mention why I believe this: I have caught largies on lakes in mid to late April that were on beds. I have also caught a few during memorial weekend, but a lot of the beds are empty, where as you go across the lake and the smallies are spawning and almost every bed has a fish on it.
For example, a lot of the fish caught during the Frigid and Not So Frigid Open are caught in shallow water areas where they spawn. Those tournaments are the second and third weekend in April. I know it all depends on the year, but is there a general rule?
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Great looking rig Ben! Are you going to be back in LAX for the Summer??
I will be back and forth between Shawano and LAX. We will have to do some fishing together when I get back to LAX.
One more.
Last year in mid April I was catching bass on frogs and the water temp was only 45-47 degrees. If you can find the right areas, you will be able to duplicate that technique. When doing this though, I like water that is no deeper than 2 or 3 feet. You also have to make sure that you are casting paralell to the shoreline. When I use this technique this early in the season, my boat is almost hitting the shore sometimes.
I do something similar on clear lakes in the fall for smallies. You tie a 3-way swivel to your main line. Off one of the swivels you tie a 24″ leader with a Chug Bug on it, and on the other swivel you tie an 8″ leader with a small tube jig. You would be amazed at how often you get two fish on one cast. My partner caught a 4.5 and a 5 on the same cast last year. It was unbelievable.
My goals for this upcoming season would be:
1. Get a New Boat
2. Learn new bodies of water
3. Become a better deep water fisherman using deep cranks, finesse baits, and carolina rigs
4. Win the Boom Lake Open since I have finised 6th, 5th, 4th, and 2nd the last three years
5. Fish at least one tournament a month
What deep cranks does everyone use for deep weedlines in clear water?
Glenn,
I will be fishing some of the Fishers of Men East tournaments, as well with a few other opens mixed in. I am looking at buying a newer Ranger (2003 185VS) this year, but I have to get rid of mine first. Are you or anyone you know interested? I can get you a good deal on it. If you are living on this side of the state, we will have to hook up and fish a team tournament together. Maybe one on the Madison Chain.
dhnitro- I have crossed over from a river runner to a puddle jumper now that I moved across the state. I am in Shawano now, so I am looking forward to see what this side of the state has to offer.
Who is all fishing the frigid? I like fishing that tournament, but I have prefishing for it because it always seems like it is either snowing out or there are 30 mph winds, but the fishing makes up for it.
I miss my Stout days. Hey Glenn, how has everything been going up there? Which bar did they bust this time? Man, I cannot wait to get back there sometime this spring for a little relaxation and hydration.
Great point D-Nort!! I was fishing a tournament out of my partners boat last summer, and by 9 we were culling, but I went to grab his culling system, and his response was I left it at home 
. We ended up having a great tournament with 6 smallies weighing just under 19 pounds, but when you are holding up three fish and do not know which one to cull, then there is a problem. We ended up getting 2nd by a few ounces. A culling system could have made the difference. Expensive mistake that will never happen again .
I would agree with the muskies pushing bass out of the deeper weedlines, but I fished a tournament last fall in September, and the dock bite was the only thing we could get going. We talked to several muskie anglers who had little or no luck fishing the weedlines and flats, but my partner and I boated 10 muskies plus several break offs fishing for bass in the docks. I think the muskies will sometimes follow the bass into the shallows to feed. We did terrible in the tournament, but we had a blast hooking a ton of muskies.
I agree with JAllen. I have fished Balsam, and other lakes that get a lot of pressure, and the deeper docks do not really hold fish, and the deep docks that do hold fish are often filled with dinks. On pressured lakes, I like finding the shallow docks with a dark bottom, and the ones that have weeds around them are even better. You would not believe the quality fish you can pull out from a dock that is less than a foot deep.
Anyone been out bass fishing yet?
Ben Otto
