Spent sometime this afternoon on Lake Zumbro jigging for both white and green bass while my mission for being on the lake today was completely different. With the temp in the 50s I just had to have some fun too.
With the weather forcast calling for temps of only in the 20s starting Wednesday 11-29-06 I just had to get in one more day of open water before the cold comes upon us. My mission for today was to try determine just where I want to put my rod holders on this boat and where to put a few other toys too. I wanted to figure out just which one of three places I would be sitting in when pulling 3-ways or long linning crankbaits before mounting my rod holders. My last boat was run by my son Nate for 5 months before I got it so it was rigged the way he wanted it and then I had to add a few more just to get it where I wanted things. So with this boat I want to get it right the first time and mount alot less rod holders. lol. Don’t get me wrong, that Lund was my dream boat of many years and its a great boat but this one is going to have a few less bells and whistles added to it. At least thats what I say now. lol.
As for fishing I started out jigging a black bucktail along a rocky area for some green bass [largemouth]. I found a few in around 6 feet of water out from the rocks. The fish weren’t large but were fun. The two I’ll show pics of were 14” and 14 1/2” inches long. Not large but were thick. They were caught on the sunny side of the lake where the water was alittle warmer. The odd thing was that the water temps became colder as the afternoon wore on. I started with water temps of just over 44 degrees and the temps gradually dropped to 41 degrees later in the afternoon. The time spand was during the peak warm times too of noon to 3:00pm. After that the water temp held at 41 degrees till I took out at 4:30 pm. The day was a very peacefull time to be out. I saw one other boat driving around the lake possibly for the last hurrah of the year and only one other fishing boat on the water. He had pretty much the same idea I had and was also fishing deep water at the time I saw him.
I checked out some deep water with bucktails and a crappie minnow added for the whitebass like the ones shown in the first two picks. They weren’t as numbersome as the outtings before but could still be found. Theres just something magical about setting the hook with a bucktail and a St. Croix Avid rod in deep water into a nice big white bass that loves to fight. Its something I could do day after day after day. I love fishing bucktails if I’m going to be jigging. The fish love to hit them. I think next year I’m going to apply some more good o’l walleye type presentations on the fish at Lake Zumbro. I’m curious as to how well I can do pulling 3-ways on the lake and catch fish. Most people seem to fish for bluegills, crappies and largemouth bass on Zumbro in the what we call normal ways but I like to experiment some and see just what I can do different down there and still catch fish. It makes it fun, educational and keeps a person always striving to learn more about a body of water and the fish that live in that body of water. We learn from each other. So don’t be afraid to share and post about your outtings on Lake Zumbro or on any body of water you fish. It doesn’t matter how great or how not so great your day was. We ALL learn from each others sharing as none of us will ever know it all and I sure hope to learn something from your sharing about your outtings. We all can help each other that way and sharing helps others to enjoy their time on the water more.
Thanks, Bill
Bill,
It looks like you had a good day! It was certainly a nice day for this time of year. Thanks for sharing and encouraging us to do likewise.
Now for the 64 thousand dollar ?, did you get that new boat all figured out for the rod holders
dave
PS – I want a pic of you dragging 3-ways next year
Glad you got on the water Bill..
Nice report.
Not really yet Dave. lol. I’m going to have to see how much roon I have in my gas tank floor section first. Where I would really like to have my seat would be over part of the floor where my gas tank is under. I don’t know how much clearance I have under the floor to the top of the gas tank. Its a 40 gallon tank so there might not be alot of open space between the floor and gas tank. If not then will have to check into a half size floor plate where the pedistal goes into or look more closly at options B and C. I had it positioned perfect in the last boat but it had a smaller tank so there was space for it. I’m being fussy on how I set this up as it will determine just where the rod holders go. I love pulling 3-ways. I’m a tiller man at heart so I love being in the back of the boat. Lately though I have been spending alot more time on the front platform of the boat for alot of multispieces fishing instead of just chasing walleyes. This boat has a huge front platform compared to my last boat. The past 14 months Mike [HOF] Smith and I along with Ron [RHW] have been spending alot of time promoting the fishing opportunities in and around the Rochester Mn. area. There are alot of different bodies of water in this area and bringing them to the eyes and knowledge of the area residents is what we are trying to do. This includes reports, seminars for Boy Scout groups, and on the ice fishing events. The latest brochure put out by the Zumbro Watershed Office has a pic of a great looking 14 year old gal [my grandaughter] fishing on Lake Zumbro. There are alot of activities that both adults and kids can get involved in and we are trying to encourage people to make fishing become one of them. Its a very worthy cause to give up some of my walleye fishing for and have had alot of fun being involved in it. I look forward to next year doing the same but will sneak a few Lake Pepin walleye and smallies fishing reports in too. Fishing has been such a fun filled blessing in my life that I want to give back to it by helping others to get involved and hopefully help others to enjoy their time on the water more. I certainly don’t know it all but am more than willing to share what I do know.
Thanks, Bill
Hey Greg, I hear you sure have had a great time on the water the past couple weeks. And caught some very nice fish too. Thanks for your reports and pics.
Thanks, Bill
Bill,
Nice to see those green ones!
John
Bill,
Nice report, Green Bass, Silver bass, and ice right around the corner..
Might be time soon to switch over to ice fishing.
Do you do much of that???
Thanks for all your Great reports and Pics during the year..
Jack..
I had been away from it for quite awhile but the last few years I’ve been getting back into it. Still LOVE my open water time though. I just love being on open water but will have to settle for hard water for a few months now. I want the good hard thick safe ice that these really cold temps can give us so the ice is safe for everyone and everyone can have fun on the ice.
Can you say FISH ON!!! 
Thanks, Bill