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Old 05-13-15, 01:24 PM   #1
WatterBoy
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Default Finally fishing again!

Our first ever Catch & Release Bass season opened here last weekend ("normal" opener is on May 23), so I was able to fish in MN earlier than I ever have before!

It was 35 degrees when I hit the water at 5:45 a.m., and all I did was back the boat off our lift and put down the trolling motor and start fishing right in front of our place. On my 3rd cast, still in front of our cabin, I landed my first fish since last October...and a good one, too! I measured this Smallie at 17.5" and it weighed in at 3lb 4oz. I was fishing solo, so all I could manage for a picture was this...



Before the morning was over, I had put 25 fish into the boat, but only one other one hit the 3 pound mark. I did have FIVE that were near misses, ranging from 2lb 13oz to 2lb 15oz.

My best one of the day came at 11:00 a.m., just before I wrapped up for the morning session. This Smallie weighed 3lb 6oz and was 17.25".



I made it out a couple more times before the weekend was over, but didn't have quite the same luck -- 8 fish on Saturday afternoon and 12 more on Sunday morning, but no more that were photo-worthy. Sunday morning was brutal...40 degrees with 20+ mph winds. I probably shouldn't have even gone out, but I forced myself to since it will be Memorial Day before I will have another chance to fish.

Hope you are all getting a chance to get out on the water and wet a line!

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Old 05-13-15, 03:45 PM   #2
mikechell
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Nicely done !!!
Beautiful Smallies. Details??? What lures, speed of retrieve etc. I can't believe how cold it still is up there.
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Old 05-13-15, 05:30 PM   #3
bassboogieman
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You are making me feel good Dean, we gave up wearing hoodies a month ago. Nice smallies.
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Old 05-13-15, 07:07 PM   #4
WatterBoy
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You are making me feel good Dean, we gave up wearing hoodies a month ago. Nice smallies.
Hoodie over a normal sweatshirt over a t-shirt, lined wind pants over jeans, wool socks, hiking boots...well, you get the picture...it was COLD both days. Saturday was better, even though the temps were lower, because it was fairly calm. My hands were ice the whole morning. The evening fishing with Kaye was much better because the temps were in the lower 50s by then.

Sunday morning was ridiculous. This is a relatively small lake (1500 acres), but there were white caps about as big as we ever see on the main part of the lake. Since I was alone and I didn't want to battle the high winds, I just fished where I could near our cabin. Even so, it was way colder than Saturday due to the wind, and I ended up wearing gloves for at least half of the 2.5 hours I fished.

Hope you feel REALLY GOOD now, Bruce!
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Old 05-13-15, 09:54 PM   #5
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Nice to get on water first time of new year glad to see you had good day
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Old 05-13-15, 10:39 PM   #6
WatterBoy
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Nicely done !!!
Beautiful Smallies. Details??? What lures, speed of retrieve etc. I can't believe how cold it still is up there.
Water temps were 58-59 everywhere both mornings and 60-62 late Saturday afternoon. In my 3 outings I fished a total of 10.5 hours and used one lure the whole time -- one I learned from Mac on this forum, what he calls a "Zoomie," which is just a T-rigged Zoom Speed Worm with the paddletail pinched off. I probably use it 80-90% of the time I fish during a given season. Just cast it out and let it fall. Maybe lift it once or twice and let it drop again before reeling it back in, but most often I just reel it back in for another cast after the original fall. My fishing buddy (Jeff) only fished once...with me for just under 4 hours on Saturday morning, and my wife (Kaye) fished with me for just under 3 hours on Saturday evening. They both used a Zoomie the entire time as well. We were fishing in under 6' of water the whole time.

I caught 45 fish in my 10.5 hours, Jeff caught 13 in 3.75 hours and Kaye caught 16 in 2.75 hours on the water. Jeff caught the 3 biggest fish of the weekend though.
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Old 05-13-15, 11:29 PM   #7
keithdog
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Way to go buddy! That first time out after the long winter is the best therapy there is!
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Old 05-14-15, 01:04 PM   #8
WatterBoy
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Way to go buddy! That first time out after the long winter is the best therapy there is!
Yep, you got that right, Keith...it was AWESOME just to crawl into the boat again, put the troller down and make that first cast! October 10, 2014 was the last time I had made a cast before last Saturday (May 9, 2015).
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Old 05-14-15, 07:29 PM   #9
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Nice,but if you want to come visit bring shorts,t shirt and sunscreen,largemouth are in the spatterdock thick.
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