Mississippi River Pool 7 Bass Fishing Report

If you read the other fishing report I made, you’ll know that our plan of attack for Saturday was to target primarily Bass while searching for some Panfish.

This report follows up on the Bass we’d caught throughout the day.

We started in one of my favorite bays looking for post-spawn Bass. We were almost immediately rewarded with a couple decent sized fish. Our baits of choice were Terminator spinnerbaits, swimjigs, inline spinners and the Johnson Silver Minnow.

The first Bass pictured here is one I took off a post spawn area throwing a Brovarney swim jig. They were really on these baits throughout the day, it didn’t matter if I was burning it, slow rolling it or bumping it off cover, they were in a full-tilt feeding mode.

In the second pic here, Bret caught this nice-sized LM Bass on a Johnson Silver Minnow combo-ed with a 5" orange grub. That combo put more than one nice fish in the boat Saturday. Honestly, with all the new "innovations" in the fishing industry, I think a lof of guys forget that those "old" baits can still put good numbers of big fish in the boat.

In some of my Pool 7 Reports we were throwing slower baits like Brush Hogs to catch the bigger fish. Saturday, they didn’t seem to mind chasing the faster paced baits. We did try the slower paced tackle, but the bite seemed off and we had to make some key adjustments.

As many of you know, Bret’s more of a Catfish, Panfish and Walleye guy. Try as I might, I still find it immensely entertaining to get Bret out after my favorite species Bass.

The challenge is to prove to him they are a lot of fun to catch, and you don’t have to use cutbait, Bullheads or waxworms to get the job done. All you really need is a good baitcaster and a handful of Bass/Pike Tackle. All of which, Bret has in his arsenal. I think I actually heard him say he recently purchased some new Bass tackle. Although, I could be mistaken.

Speaking of Pike, I always seem to run into more than my fair share of those toothy critters. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. Saturday, I won. This pike taped out at 34" long. It hammered my Terminator Spinnerbait in about 12-18" of water. When it struck, it looked and sounded like someone detonated my lure with C-4. This fight was on and in a few tense minutes, this awesome fish was in the net. After a few quick pics, she was back in the water and off to eat some of my Bass and Panfish.

Bret and I had a great day fishing. It wasn’t as good as some of my reports I posted in the Mississippi River bass Forum, but the action kept us busy.

With the post spawn conditions we’re seeing, it’s not all that uncommon to see males cruising the shallows protecting the spawn beds. These fish are really easy to catch, but be sure to get them back into the water as quickly as possible. They have a very busy lifestyle this time of the year keeping their fry safe from hungry predators.

I took this pic as Bret struggled to remove his Silver Minnow from a Bass’ face, while trying to keep his fingers "clean."

Thanks for spending a day on the water with me Bret! I hope to do it again soon!!