Last week I took clients smallmouth bass fishing out on the river.  It was mostly sunny with north winds and water temperatures 78-82 degrees.  The boys cast crankbaits in the active weed beds.  Lots of smallmouth were caught and released.  Twelve year old Luke landed the biggest fish at 18”.  Great job and release!  Walleyes were also caught on cranks.  Congrats to Alex!  He landed the biggest at 16”.  Northern pike were biting on cranks as well and kudos to Bob for catching a big dogfish!

The next day it was more sunny weather with water temperatures at 77-80 degrees.  This day we hunted crappies.  We cast soft plastics along the weeds.  Medium to slab size crappie were netted.  The boys caught plenty for a nice meal and released the majority.  The weeds also produced pike, largemouth bass, and walleye up to 18”.  Just ask 12 year old Luke as he “thumped” the old guys today!  Way to go Bob, Alex, and Luke!  We had a fantastic time!

The middle of last week brought more weed fishing.  There was more cloud cover during the morning.  We fished weed beds with plastics and spinners.  Largemouth bass were on the bite.  Everywhere we went bass were caught and released!  Crappie was our main target.  The bit was a little soft at the start but picked up mid-morning.  Then Chet and Matt, the father and son team, found themselves setting the hook and landing beautiful crappie up to the thick 13” slabs!  Congratulations!

Just before the weekend, clients and I fished crappie and walleye.  The weather produced sun, clouds, highs in the mid 80’s, with east to southeast winds at 5-10 mph and water temperatures at 77-81 degrees.  We concentrated on weedy areas with soft plastics.  Right off the bat the bite was soft and fishing was tough with only smaller fish being caught.  We squeaked out a couple slab crappies and a beautiful 16” walleye which was caught by 10 year old Brayden!  Largemouth bass were going also and we probably caught and released a dozen when we weren’t even fishing for them.   During the midday we toughed it out.  The clouds rolled in and the wind picked up during the midday and the boys got some slab crappies.  During this period the walleye went “bananzo” and father and son team ripped lips.  We also caught a nice little musky in this feeding window too.  Congrats to Chad and Brayden!  Great day on the water!

The next day I brought clients to the river for some smallmouth bass fishing.  There were some morning storms and then mostly cloudy with south winds at 10-15 mph and gusty and water temperatures 77-81 degrees.  They cast crankbaits in the cabbage beds.  The bite was slow and soft at the start, but Scotty pumped in a couple nice bass; one was in the 17 ½’ to 18” range.  We moved around and caught a variety of fish such as pike and walleye, but the fish were running small the first half of the day.  During the late afternoon, it was game on!  The boys were fishing hard for a trophy they named after me called the Buckster!  Dalton started catching legal walleyes, Scotty had the biggest pike, and Howard was Mr. Consistent with just catching fish.  We fished new places and caught more nice walleye and pike.  The last hour the sun came out and the wind finally stopped.  The smallmouth bass put on a good show and everybody caught fish, along with more walleye and crappie!  Congratulations to Howard, Dalton, and Scotty!  We had a great day of catch and release!  Special Kudos to Dalton for winning the Buckster Trophy for the second year in a row!

If you are looking for a day on the water, give me a call at 715-966-1821. Well that wraps it up for this time. This is Roman Derleth reminding you: don’t slack off, and always keep your line tight!