Filed under: Adventures — admin @ 9:18 am
This is a bit tardy, but I thought I’d share the beautiful weather we had camping in northern Minnesota for the 2008 walleye fishing opener on May 10th. We set camp during a rare clear sky respite, the next day it was cloudy - good for fishing. That night is snowed.
In Minnesota we close the season for a couple weeks to allow northerns, muskies, and walleyes to spawn. This period of time has become shorter as special interest groups extend the ice fishing season to increase their revenue streams. Fishing for major game fish used to close in February, now they’re fishing through March.
Here’s a quick little video of Brad and Bruce Miller after a productive afternoon jaunt for walleyes on a secret northern Minnesota lake. The ice cleared completely off the lake the day previous. We were warned by fishing pundits the fish would not bite in such cold water.
Filed under: Reflections — admin @ 10:16 pm
Memorial Day 2008 brought funky weather with some decent fishing in between fronts. On Saturday I took my ten year old nephew out for largemouth on the small lake I live on. He hit a half dozen bass on a spinner bait and I took that many as well. I pulled out the fly rod and had some pretty nice fish roll on my popper. The boy who joined me was symptomatic of many youth today:
- too much time in front of a monitor
- a parent who has difficulty putting the kid onto fish
- a kid with an interest that needs to be fostered into a passion.
After bass fishing I set him up on the dock and put him through Uncle Brad’s panfishing boot camp. The crappies were biting - off the dock, so we caught and kept some of them. I showed him how to clean them and had him clean some himself. He did a pretty good job. Then we went in the house and I showed him precisely how to pan fry those delectable morsels.
On Sunday we floated down a small river in central Minnesota. The weather was overcast and misty at the start and the smallmouth were crushing poppers. Unfortunately, the weather cleared and the fishing came to an abrupt halt. Most of the 3 1/2 hour trip was relatively uneventful, especially after the way it started. The water was still pretty cool, probably high 50’s, too cold for consistent topwater action. Another couple weeks and things will be back on track.
The Good News: The first few bass of the year were taken on our fly rods. The first of many more that will follow in the glorious 2008 season that awaits us all. Email me at: info@flybass.com and let me know how your season is starting out!
Filed under: Reflections — admin @ 1:52 pm
As the spring fishing activity perks up, it won’t be too long and bass will be spawning and protecting beds. I am opposed to fishing bass spawning beds. I lived on a big recreational lake west of Minneapolis for many years. I’ve seen every conceivable tactic to catch bass, especially during tournaments. Any angler cruising the shallows with polarized glasses, looking to rip a fish off a bed for fun or to toss it in the live well - should think twice.
In nearly every instance the bass are protecting their future brood of eggs when they are stationed on a nest. Smart anglers realize most of these guardians are smaller males, but females can be found on or near beds as well. When a fish is removed from the bed, other predators move in and eat the bass eggs - jeapordizing future bass populations.
I know most “bed rippers” could not care less what someone else thinks about their “bass-slob” techniques. We all know there are anglers who specialize in bed ripping - all in the grand name of winning some meaningless fishing competition.
I ask anglers everywhere to resist the temptation to take these very vulnerable fish. If you take a bass during the spawning season in extremely shallow water, fight them in quickly and return them immediately to that spot. Do not cart them all over the lake to be dumped back in the lake - miles away from their natural spawning territory.
Filed under: Observations — admin @ 8:46 am
Here in Minnesota, not everyone is enamoured with smallmouth bass - fly fishing or otherwise. Why? Many anglers feel the introduction of or special regulations on smallmouth can lead to proliferation of the species to the detriment of other others - mainly walleyes.
On Green Lake near Spicer, MN an ugly battle has raged for years when special slot regulations protected smallmouth. While smallmouth grew bigger and more abundant, walleye numbers declined below their long-term average. Many anglers believed the dastardly smallmouth were eating young walleyes and pushing adult walleyes from prime habitat.
The DNR disagrees saying clearer water, due to effective land stewardship, has sent the walleyes deeper making them harder to find and catch. Meanwhile, the increasing numbers of smallmouth bass began using the shallow-water habitat.
DNR managers believe it’s a coincidence that Green Lake walleye numbers have declined while smallmouth numbers and size have increased. “We can see how anglers might think that the two are related,” says Ron Payer, DNR Fisheries section chief, “but there has been no documented case in Minnesota or any other state where smallmouth have harmed walleye abundance.”
However, I have personally witnessed a once super walleye lake in northern Minnesota - where small undersized smallmouth have literally taken over the shallow reefs once occupied largely by walleyes. We find the walleyes off the drops now - five to ten of water deeper than before, and not as many of them.
What do you think? I personally believe walleyes and smallies generally work well together. In most waters I fish there seems to be plenty of room for the proliferation of both species. It’s very easy to blame poor fishing technique on something other than “pilot error”.
We live in a finger pointing society that loves to look elsewhere to for the cause and solution to problems.
Next time you think smallmouth bass are hindering your walleye fishing efforts, why not try a different technique than long-lining a Lindy Rig or watching a slip bobber? Why not attempt to discover a different location pattern rather than the good old top of the reef?
Why not look in the mirror for solutions to your problems?
Long live - changing fishing environments that require adaptation for success.
Long live - the synergy of wildlife species trying to survive and proliferate under the constant constraints of a mankind that continually undermines their very existence.
Long live the Smallmouth Bass.
