Bass-opener thoughts

Well, my friends, bass opener is almost upon, which to me means summer is almost truly upon us.

I have a few places mapped out for Saturday's opener, but the place I'm most looking forward to is Lake Ballantyne, mostly because I will be fishing with a friend who has never caught a bass before, but is awfully excited to get after 'em.

He's asked me a lot of questions lately, and a lot of what he's asked, I'd already been thinking about as I rigged my poles for the morning's opener. So I snapped this crude cell phone picture before I hustled out for work (sorry about the so-so quality), and for you, I'll break down my thought process.

Before we start, I think it is important to understand the one factor I am constantly working over in my head: weeds. Many people see weeds matted along a shoreline and instantly drive off looking for more manageable weeds (because weeds, after all, hold fish, right?).

Taking this approach might make your day a little less stressful because you will spend less time picking weeds off your lures, but I think more and bigger fish will be hanging in those weeds, in pockets, waiting to strike the baitfish hiding out in those same weedbeds. The four lures I tied on for my first outing of 2010 all deal with attacking the weeds.

Scum Frog
The Scum Frog, located in the far left of this picture, is an easy choice for me after watching the feeding patterns of bass the last couple of years. The Scum From can be tossed deep into the weeds, especially those that choke out at the surface top. Often a bass will follow the movements of the frog on top the water until it finds a place to explode through the vegetation for its meal (this same approach can be transferred to fishing lily pads as well).

The general rule here is reel up slack, wait two seconds, and then set the hook.

Texas-rig
To the right of the Scum Frog is my Texas-rig setup. I haven't added the worm yet because I like to keep them fresh by leaving them in the packages until I'm ready to use them. But the Texas-rig is a must when attacking weeds. Rigged to be weedless, this little baby can go anywhere with you on the lake and will do just fine pulling in all sizes of bass.

I like to fish with ribbontail worms, but I'm not against fishing with stick worms (no tail) or even crawdads or similar plastic setups. Colors vary, but for my money, I always have something blue (preferably a blue fleck by PowerBait), something red, something in a greenish/orange blend (the crawdad look) and something with a chartreuse tail. These colors have always worked, so I tend to stay in that category.

Spinnerbait
Second from the right, the spinnerbait needs little introduction or explanation. The spinnerbait works in a lot of ways, but casting and ripping through the weeds isn't the ideal use for this lure. But I still use it when attacking the weeds because I use this lure to roam the outer edges. Since the vibration from the spinner can attract fish from long distances, this lure works well to locate fish. Once located, I can figure out which of my four setups will provide me the best chance to land a lunker.

Flat Rap
Rapala's Flat Rap (far right) may be the best lure the longtime company has put out yet. This takes the best from suspended raps, and the best from the Original Floating Minnow and combines them into a deadly little lure.

Why deadly? The Flat Rap can be worked on top as a wounded minnow (sounds like the Original Floating Minnow, huh?), but the Flat Rap can be worked down to different depths to mimic an injured minnow (kinda like a suspended rap such as a Husky Jerk). It's built to rise slowly, so in essence, a 2 to 4 foot running Flat Rap can be worked down to 4 feet deep or so with the same action it had while struggling at the top of the water.

So far, I've had a northern strike at it, caught a few bass, caught a few sunfish, and pulled in a nice crappie. So the lure is versatile if nothing else.

How does that work to the weeds: Well, in this case I use the Flat Rap to work close to choked out weeds, or above lower, sparser weeds. Both scenarios have worked real well, and I anticipate this lure having a Joe Mauer-like career.

Well, I know that was long, but I hope it helps. Good luck, all!

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.

Knowing is half the battle

As a kid, I watched a lot of G.I. Joe cartoons. Yeah, I was that kid. But at the end of every episode there was a teaching moment; usually something about dealing with bullies or not cheating.

And after the kid had learned his lesson from the Joes, he or she would say, "I never knew that," to which a Joe would reply, "Well now you know, and knowing is half the battle."

The nonprofit organization Conservation Minnesota has taken that approach to the mercury content in Minnesota's lakes. The organization works on many projects to help the conservation of Minnesota's broad outdoor haven, but for the purpose of this blog, I'd like to concentrate on one of its websites, checkmylake.org.

This website is designed to give Minnesota water enthusiasts a quick, easy breakdown of pollutants and water quality of any lake in Minnesota.

The information that Conservation Minnesota collects comes from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and is broken down and made easier for you and I to understand.

I was troubled when I first visited checkmylake.org, because every lake I visited seemed to have a warning not to eat the fish. This occurred because of a several factors, but Marty Broan of Conservation Minnesota assured me it wasn't to scare people off from eating fish.

"It doesn't mean people can't eat fish," he said. "We recognize eating fish is an important part of people's diet, and that fishing is an important part of Minnesota's legacy."

But still, there are quite a few lakes with fish-consumption advisories on this website.

"For every lake that is tested and unhealthy levels of mercury are found, we provide a link that has lake specific consumption guidelines," Broan said.

Broan says the information obtained by Conservation Minnesota is information that comes from the testing of lakes, which occurs every two years. The website is then updated, which happened within the last month he says. Not all lakes, however, have been tested recently for their contaminant levels, so Broan says it is important people continue to use the DNR website to check consumption guidelines.

Broan also said there was some concern from anglers about the wording of some of the advisories for eating fish on the website, which is why, within the last week or so, the website was updated again to clarify that eating fish is ok, he says, as long as you know the lakes guidelines for fish consumption.

"We want people to make the wise decision based on what the Department of Health says," he said.

For more information on mercury and how it gets into our lakes and rivers, I encourage you to see what the MPCA says on the subject.

I'm taking the side of Conservation Minnesota here, and pushing for knowledge of mercury and its effects on our lakes. And I'm glad that Minnesota has already stepped up and passed legislation to help reduce the amount of mercury in our waterways.

I encourage anyone who is concerned about our lakes and rivers or the fish they consume to use the resources available to them. The DNR puts out lake-specific consumption guidelines on its website, and used with checkmylake.org, guidelines about fishing and swimming become a lot clearer.

After all, as the Joes say, knowing is half the battle.

Madison's the opener champ

After a few quick calls Monday, it became quite clear to me that Madison Lake was the place to fish locally for the opener.

Fishing action in general was strong over the opener weekend on Madison, with plenty of people fishing Church Bay and the narrows.

Action in the shallows produced a few small northerns, plenty of largemouth bass (which aren't in season I might add) and a few small walleyes.

Late-afternoon action picked up in the shallows, but a lot of the walleye action came in deeper water.

River fishing was also strong, according to the folks out at The Bobber Shop. Unfortunately, I only was able to garner most of the action came from the Minnesota River, with no actual spots mentioned.

Action on Washington was slow. Both Washington and Madison Lakes are clear right now, with reports of water clarity reaching 5 to 7 feet on both lakes.

An early crappie tournament on Madison produced good crappie action and some walleye action in Church Bay, and the site of boats swarming the deep hole was evident on Saturday.

As for my action — slow. Skunked at Tetonka, Elysian and Madison for northerns, and only sunfish and bass (on a Rapala Flat Rap) at Lake George. Hopefully Wednesday will be better.

Do we cheer?

As I sit here to type out a few thoughts, the fishing opener is three minutes old. And while there is still a short-night's rest for this angler before I test out the 2010 fishing opener, I'm breathing a little easier.

Winter can be a long time to wait to chase serious game fish in Minnesota. And while the ice allows for us to still fish for walleye and northerns, nothing quite beats the feel of casting a line, watching as your lure takes flight, cuts the air and splooshes into the open water.

Tanner and I will be out early in the morning, and barring an 0-for day, one of us will post an update to you (hopefully with pictures). For any of you that'd like to brag about your opening-weekend action or send in pictures, we'd be more than willing to share it with the other anglers out here who happen by our blog.

It's pretty simple. e-mail Tanner, Doug or photos@mankatofreepress.com, and we'll take care of the rest. Just give us some information to make things complete ... who's in the picture, where you were fishing, what day, that sort of stuff.

Until then, good luck, and may the fishing gods work in your favor.

Countdown to opener: Family-friendly fishing

Few shorefishing spots in southern Minnesota can rival Bray Park, Duck Lake Park and Lake George Park in terms of family-friendliness. All are located in Blue Earth County and all feature amenities that cater to the attention-challenged.

First, and perhaps most importantly, all three lakes — and especially Lake George — boast terrific panfishing. (Bray Park on Madison Lake offers the best chance to tie into something more substantial.)

When I was in college, I strapped the waders on a few times to flip worms around the shorelines on Lake George. And every time, I spent hours doing little more than peeling palm-sized panfish off my hooks. A few crappies, and a few with some size.

For the youngsters, though, nothing is better. If you're taking the kids out for a little angling action on opener, tip a small hook with a waxworm and a bobber and they'll catch fish at all three parks, all day long.

But if the youngsters get tired, bored or run out of bait, there's plenty to do. Lake George Park and Duck Lake Park have playgrounds and more than enough room to burn up some energy. Bray Park has a nature trail and boat rentals (canoes and paddleboats) are available for $5 an hour at Bray and Duck Lake.

And for the truly adventurous, there is always the swimming beach.

Countdown to opener: West Jefferson

The fishing pier provided by the German and Jefferson Lakes Sportsmen Club at West (Little) Jefferson is a local hotspot for shore fisherman.

The panfishing next to the pier, primarily sunfish and crappies, is a big draw and a good place for an outing with the family.

Bass and northern pike can also be found along the entire south shoreline, especially to the east of the pier. To the west of the pier, extending to the opening of the culvert-like walkway that goes under Le Sueur County Road 105, the shoreline fishing is tight, with sharp rocks making standing near the water difficult with the exception of a few entry points. But fishing from the elevated position is still manageable, and the tight shoreline provides excellent casting angles to drop your lure into the 12-foot or so hole in front of the pier.

Now, back to that shoreline extending east of the pier. When the water is high, it'll take some walking along the shoreline to find a good entry point to cast. Now, if you're fishing panfish, none of this matters all that much. 

But this stretch of West Jefferson is excellent for northern, and, in the not-so-distant future, bass fishing. And 30-inch pike or 4-pound bass aren't unheard of in this stretch of the lake. So finding a spot down to the water where you can land a fish is a must.

The shoreline stretches a good ways until you come to private property, so I'd highly recommend working your way down as far as you can. There's a red, thorny bush of some sort far down that east shoreline. Work as close to it as possible and you might pull in a nice northern this weekend. 

Two things of note with this stretch of shoreline fishing: Rocks are plentiful on the lake floor, so expect a snag or two if you don't keep your bait up off the floor; plenty of locals will flock to the pier early in the spring with reports of walleyes being taken out of that deep hole in front of the pier.

Is this true, or is this a good piece of fiction? I'm going with a combination of both. Walleye exist in West Jefferson, no doubt about that. I watched Tanner pull one in while we were fishing plastic worms for bass. 

And I know a local who lives just down the road, and he assures me people are catching an occasional walleye off the pier. But if you're after walleyes Saturday or whenever you are out fishing, this hotspot probably isn't the best spot for you.

Good luck!