Your weekend fishing report

Sunfish action is the big draw on area lakes right now. Madison Lake continues to kick out sunfish in roughly 8 feet, and bass action remains strong along the shorelines and in weedlines under 10 feet of water.

A few walleyes are hitting crankbaits along the shorelines of Washington in low-light hours. Sunfish action remains excellent on Washington in water less than 8 feet. Small northerns are being taken on Washington as well.

The fishing pier on Little Jefferson is kicking out a consistent sunfish bite on waxworms. Bullhead action is also strong next to the pier, and some crappies are being taken on minnows.

Bass action on Little Jeff remains strong along docks and overgrown shorelines. Concentrate on weedlines in 5 feet.

Northerns are going crazy for buzzbaits on Ballantyne, and the bass action has been strong there as well. Concentrate on the weedlines in 5 to 10 feet of water. An important note here is action was stronger when those weedlines ran near deeper water, such as the deep basin on the northeast side of the lake.

Francis is giving up northerns along the weedlines, but few with good size.

River action is slow. A few anglers are starting to get back out on the river, but fast currents and deep water levels have kept the anglers at bay. Expect the catfish action to pick up in a few weeks.

Some observations from a morning of fishing

There's always a few things to observe on an early-morning trip to the lake.

Pulling up at Buckmaster Bridge at Madison Lake early Thursday morning, I noticed how calm the water was. The wildlife was the only thing giving off sound, which I found to my liking because this meant I owned that little spot by myself.

At 5:30 in the morning, life can seem very peaceful. I snapped off a few photos of this peace before wetting a line. I meant to take some video to capture the stillness, except for a few birds chirping behind me and a few fish popping bugs off the top of the water, but then again, I was wetting a line.

After an hour and a half at Buckmaster, I moved over to the German-Jefferson Lakes fishing pier on Little Jeff. A few guys were fishing there, making jokes about taking their whopper catches to The Free Press for photos.

I suppose I could have walked over and offered to take their pictures with my cell phone, but again, I was wetting a line, and when the opportunities are too far and few between, pulling up a line to take a photo of a few guys fishing is low on the list of to-dos.

I did, however, give up on the fishing for a bit after they left, only because I noticed a man and a woman, both with wonderful fishing hats, settle into the pier for some panfish/bullhead fishing.

They looked very complete, the two of them fishing on the pier, standing side-by-side, talking quietly. I admired their togetherness and thought of how I could stand all day with my wife, Mollie, fishing, talking, loving life. Of course, with our son Tyler, we'd never be able to stand side-by-side and talk, because like all children, he has plenty of energy for all of us.

I asked the two of them if I could snap a couple of photos, and needless to say, Diane Fetzer and Doyle Schneider, both of New Ulm, were happy to oblige me. Diane joked she didn't know she'd have to be in a picture when they left for their weekly outing to Little Jefferson. They did, however, get their revenge when she took a few photos of me fishing.

Turnabout is fair play, right?

The quality of the photos I took of them aren't all that great, but that's mostly because I am learning how to maximize the quality of pictures taken with my Blackberry. I think, however, you'll get the point.

Anyhow, Doyle said they catch quite a few sunnies and bullheads from the pier — Diane's favorite, he assured me — and they've seen some nice crappies come off minnows there.

"There was a fellow out here who just left that caught a big bass," Fetzer said.

Must have been the fish they were joking about taking to The Free Press. Too bad I was wetting a line.

At least it was a pike

Not much happening with me on the fishing front.

I wish it weren't true, but it is. That's life I guess. As things start to pile up, and family responsibilities get the best of us, sometimes I guess we have to give up some of the things we love.

In this case, it's unlimited time on the water.

Nonetheless, I made it out to Madison Lake on Monday with my brother-in-law. We spent a good five hours at Madison, although an hour of it was spent enjoying a fine burger and a few cold ones at The Boat Landing before heading back onto the water.

Dave, my brother-in-law, pulled in a northern, a bass and a sheepshead on our outing, and just before the day gave way to night, I pulled in a 3.6 pound pike. Not bad. Could have been better, but not bad.

I'm hearing only scattered reports on the fishing front as well. I've had several people tell me that Lura Lake south of Mapleton is difficult to fish right now because of all the weeds. I know I've fished the south bay twice in the past month, and the weeds seem to be clearing on that end, so I'd recommend concentrating my efforts toward the Lura Lake Sportsmen's Club landing on that south side.

Sunfish action is out of control on some of the area lakes, if that is your thing. Walleye reports aren't coming across at all, so if you're still hooking into the 'eyes, feel free to drop me a line.

On a side note, John Cross spent some time with a few die-hard catfish anglers. He has something planned for this Sunday's print edition, and I believe he'll have an audio slideshow of the event. I'll post a link here when that is available.

Until then, chase some bass, the weather is perfect for it.

The tale of three bass

The bass action on area lakes has been excellent, to say the least. If it hasn't been excellent, then you're probably not fishing for lunkers anyhow.

I've caught my fair share of largemouths already this year, but three of the bass I've caught, from three different lakes, have boggled my mind, slightly.

The first bass, caught the Sunday of opening weekend in the rain while fishing at Buckmaster Bridge, came in at roughly 19 inches, and hoisting it up I thought that it'd catch 3 1/2 pounds on the scale — or 2 pounds, dead on. I was surprised by this, but I surmised it must have been a postspawn bass, fresh out of eggs and finally ready to feed again.

This past Saturday, while fishing the shoreline to the east of the fishing pier at West Jefferson, I pulled in another whopper of a fish. When I hoisted it out of my net, I started thinking that very few fish bass I've caught had the length of this baby (using the pliers in these pictures, I was able to give some scale; the pliers is 6 1/2 inches long). But when I threw this bucketmouth on the scale, it came in just over 3 pounds.

Seriously?

Well, Monday I took to the shores of Lura Lake, and I pulled in the best of them yet, and this one measured shorter but weighed in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. A good fight, too. Later I caught about a 15 incher that weight just over 2 pounds. Go figure.

Everyone asks me why I'm seeing such a difference in the fish, and honestly, I don't have a good answer to that. The postspawn, empty belly scenario seems most likely, but the two bigger bass on Lura definitely had full bellies, and the 2-pounder looked as though it might still have had eggs in its belly.

Whatever the case, I'm just glad to be able to pull in quality fish from our area lakes.

Fishing report

I talked with the folks out at The Bobber Shop. I'm aiming to hit up area bait shops this year and provided better fishing reports.

In some cases, this works, in some cases, I might just have to drive out to the landings of local lakes and talk with some anglers.

Anyhow, the guys at The Bobber Shop also make time for me, so here is what they gave me for you, good fishing friends:

Walleye action, overall, is slow. Small walleyes are being taken in 14-20 feet of water on Madison Lake. Lake Hanska is also giving up some walleyes; river action for 'eyes has been slow.

Crappies are still pretty active on Lake Washington, and channel cats are starting to really take off in the Blue Earth river. No northern pike action is really being reported.

Personally, I worked West Jefferson for pike near the German and Jefferson Sportsman fishing pier, and while the pike action was slow, a lot of bass and some pretty big sunfish hit my Flat Rap (this should be good news for bass fishermen looking forward to Saturday's opener). A quick move over to Lake George drummed up a nice swirl on the Flat Rap, and because the water was so clear, I saw a second strike by a pike.

As always, if you have a fishing report you'd like to share, post a comment or e-mail Tanner or myself, and we'll pass it along.

Countdown to opener: Madison Lake

Today, John Cross wrote a column and interviewed Minnesota Department of Natural Resource Waterville Fish Hatchery manager Hugh Valiant about the upcoming walleye opener.

John's column and Hugh's Top 10 list of area lakes were good information for people venturing out, presumably, in a boat. But what about those people who either don't own a boat, or have a boat with a motor on the fritz (that last one I threw in to describe me!)?

So as our anticipation rises, Dear Reader, for the 2010 inland water fishing opener, we'll take time in this blog to preview area lakes and rivers with great shore-fishing spots. Feel free to chime in with a comment or two if at anytime you feel there is a great shore-fishing spot we've missed.

Today's lake: Madison Lake
Is there anyone who enjoys fishing that doesn't enjoy stopping out to Buckmaster Bridge of Blue Earth County Road 48 for a morning or afternoon of fishing?

Buckmaster, as stated here numerous times in this blog, is a great spot to fish from shore, especially if fishing with a family. Sidewalks, concrete fishing stations and ample shoreline make this a great destination.

Buckmaster also offers a natural current that runs under the bridge, between the much larger lake and the subsequent bay. Weedlines run along the shoreline on the main lake, providing cover for a large variety of fish, including the ever-so popular walleye and the feisty northern pike.

The one pitfall with Buckmaster is that everyone knows it is a GREAT fishing spot. So traffic, especially on weekends and nights, can be pretty heavy, which means learning to share the shoreline with others (in the coming weeks, Tanner and I will take a closer looks at shore-fishing etiquette, but for now let's concentrate on the lakes).

Farther down the road, just past the entrance to Bray Park, is another lesser-known fishing spot. It can best be explained as the section of 48 that is squeezed by Madison Lake, and a small pond on the opposite side of the road (the DNR website just calls it unnamed lake).

Once the weeds and algae swallow the small bay, shore fishing can be difficult here, but until then, anglers will hook into panfish with an occasional walleye, northern and bass. (But remember, the bass opener isn't until May 29, so throw them back.)

For what it's worth ...

The family and I got out for a bit on Friday night. Went to the public boat landing on West Jefferson and I missed a few on a yellow jig and wax worm while I was chasing the boy around. The fellas down the way were catching a few, though.

As a sidenote, we stopped first at Buckmaster Bridge on Madison Lake and there must have been 100 people fishing from shore. Looked like some had been camped out for some time. 

Although it can get a bit crowded, I love fishing at Buckmaster. It's as good as there is when it comes to shore-fishing. Plenty of flat shore space, additional cement walk-outs and, of course, the good fishing structure.

Guess that's why it's no secret.

As far as public fishing docks go, the only other that I fish often is the one on West Jefferson (which features an under-road tunnel connecting the dock to the parking area for the safety-conscious). That, too, is an excellent place to catch fish all year-round and has enough room for plenty of anglers to spread out beyond the dock. I grew up fishing on West Jeff and the rock wall along that shoreline has always been a nice spot for spring crappie, too.

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing water temps this weekend were in the 45-50 degree range - probably a few degrees below spawning temperature for panfish. Fishing should be picking up on most area lakes.

Feel free to chime in with a good place to get 'em.

 — For what it's worth, motorists can pick up this semi-taunting and location-free fishing report on a roadside marquee outside a gas station in Madison Lake: 

"The crappies are biting" ...