Spring Lake / Pool 13 - May 9 & 11 2013

Fishing the Mississippi River last week, the water was high by a few feet, not sure for certain as it was my first time out there.  The weather was overcast with intermittent rain throughout the day.

May 9: 

I launched out of Big Slough Rec Area, and headed south fishing the docks and channel that runs along the launch side.  The current was moving pretty fast and the water was in the low 50s, no fish.  I headed for some back water, fishing in 2-4 feet throwing and managed a few pike on a chartreuse Revenge spinnerbait, I was looking for bass though.

Still further south toward the lock, I spent a little time checking out the water and noticed the carp spawing back in some flooded reeds.  Time to head north.

Further up the river, I managed a few keepers fishing the flooded trees and brush on the island and a small slough on a spinnerbait and a Rage Tail Eeliminator.  The fish seemed to be around the outside of the brush and tree limbs in 3-5 feet of water.

May 11 -

We headed north and fished around a larger island in Spring Lake.  The morning was mostly cloudy and the fish came on a black and gold spinnerbait with double gold willow blades.  Later in the morning, the sun came out and the wind started to pick up big time.  20+ mph winds from the north shut the fish down.  I switched to a tandem white spinnerbait and managed to put another fish in the boat.  My boater also landed 2 on spinnerbaits.

After a trecherous journey to Edich, we found that the wind was ripping across and we were moving down stream like a piece of drift wood.  It took a while due to wind/waves/navigational hazzards, but we managed to get back to the area we were fishing the morning.  We found some water that was partially protected from waves and wind and started casting.  

I tied on a Yum Crawbug in a spring craw color (blue/orange).  This is one of my favorite baits when the water gets muddy.  It has a big profile, and the color seems to be visible with a lot of particles floating through the water.  

I boated a few more fish, 2 being keepers,  dragging the crawbug through submerged sticks, reeds, and pads that were 20-30 feet on the outside of the brushline.  

Topwater Time! - Frog Fishing

When the bass come into the shallows during the first warm up period of the year can be a great time to get on the top water bite.

95% of the time I am going to a frog as my top water presentation.  Here are a few of my top baits to get a toad on a frog:

Jackall Iobee:
The Iobee frog is a small profile, hollow body walking style frog that offers a good hookup ratio.  While the bait is technically in the "frog" category, looking at the bait from the bottom, it could also be use to represent a mouse/rat/rodent profile. The bait still does everything the other baits in it's category, but the size allows the fish to get it in their mouth.  These frogs can be a lot of plastic, and I feel the Iobee gets a leg up especially for smaller fish and smallmouth bass. The body is soft, hooks are strong and sharp, excellent bait.

Scum Frog Big Foot (and little big foot):
The Big Foot is a hollow body hammer foot frog that I choose over traditional buzz frogs (e.g. Stanley Ribbits).  While when the Ribbits first came out, they seemed to catch every fish the passed by, then they quickly lost their novelty.
The advantages that the Scum Frogs have over Ribbit style, is that they float, they swim upright more often, and they are more customizable.  Since the bait floats, I feel they are more effective when adding a pause to the retrieve.  There is a hole in the rear of the frog for the water to drain out in between casts, or air to escape when a fish clamps down.  Also, you can add weight / scent inside the cavity to enhance the presentation.

Deps Basirisky Hard Belly Frog:
The Basirsky, while it is called a 'hard belly' it is mostly soft with a harder belly to the bait so when a fish strikes, the top collapses more than the bottom exposing more of the hook.  The Basirisky has a unique design where the legs come out of the back toward the head of the bait, resulting in a walk-the-dog action on a slow to medium retrieve.
While the protruding legs result in a larger profile, It doesn't seem to deter small bass or toothy fish from taking a bite.  At $19 a pop, you might want to be aware of that when deciding to throw it.

Using these 3 baits, you can cover all your bases to entice a bit from a fish depending on the presentation they are looking for.  Iobee is a great finesse approach to top water froggin' if they don't want too much commotion.  That being said, but don't count it out on catching big fish when they are lurking around! The Basirsky I like as a more moderate to aggressive approach when a big bait profile won't deter from getting a strike.  The Scum Frog excels at fishing over submerged vegetation, light vegetation matting on the surface, and when fish just want that noisy bait.

My current froggin' set up consists of a 7' MH St Croix Triumph musky rod, 6.4:1 BPS Pro Qualifier, 65# Power Pro in moss green.  The rod is great for connecting on the hook-up and getting them out of the thick stuff quick, fast, and in a hurry.  The downside to this rod, is that it weights a ton!  Walking baits is a chore, and even just throwing a basirisky - chucking and winding all day leaves the shoulder sore.

Tips for success top water froggin:

For open water fishing, I always throw white in clear to stained water.  If the water is dirty, there is probably a better bait option.

Throw black at night and during low light conditions.

Put weights inside the hollow belly baits when the mats are thick, to help the fish track it down to a place where it can strike.

When the bait lands in the water, I give the bait a few quick pops to imitate the frog/mouse/whatever disoriented, and then I let it sit for 3-5 seconds.  Strikes will come either on the pause, or when you start working the bait.  This technique works both casting toward the shore, or out into open water.

A good frog fisherman not only can get the bait in to tight places (frogs skip well!) but also have nerves of steel when the strikes come.  The sights and sounds of vicious strikes can cause you to set the hook to early, try to wait a second or two before rearing back on 'em.  One thing that helped me with this is to just let a few bites go and/or shake them off without setting the hook.  They won't inhale the bait and you'll learn to control those nerves.

Have fun out there, there is nothing more fun that catchin' a bunch of fish on a frog!

Tackle Grab April 2013

It's always a great day when you open the mailbox and see a Tackle Grab box.  As soon as I opened the end, I was totally excited when I saw an AR Lures box neatly tucked in the corner.  I have done a little balsa wood whittling, and have been curious about buying some of their baits.  This is why Tackle Grab we need Tackle Grab!

The bait sent is the CRANK-D50, in 04 Smallmouth Bass. The D50 is a hand crafted, 6-8' medium diving wood (not specified, probably bass or balsa) crankbait with a tight wobble.

The stubby (50mm)  bait sports  a spot on paint job that no photo can do justice to, and hard 3d eyes you could gaze in to all day. The paint is expertly blended from dark brown along spine, orange-ish brown on the top quarter, golden in the middle, and pearly sliver belly.  On top of that, the small scale pattern top to bottom is red to orange and a yellow lateral line in the middle and white over it's little pot belly.  There are some translucent smokey black tiger stripes running vertical from head to tail.  Absolutely gorgeous!

The bill is a clear firm plastic that  has a bit of flex to it;  off the top of my head, I cannot think of another bill shares the same qualities.  Also unique to the bait is the line tie comes up through a small rounded rectangle shape cut into the bill, but it is actually screwed into the body.
The D50 comes with two super sticky sharp #6 hooks with a black finish bringing the weight to 1/3oz.

AR Lures (http://www.arlures.com/) is a Japan based company founded in 1996.  Recently they have been fighting for their piece of the American market share.  The D50, as most of AR baits, retails for $18.99 which is around the entry level price for Japanese imports, but I think the hand crafted quality is much superior to the other at the same price point.

 The excitement didn't stop there!  The next bait I pulled out were the 5" Split-tail (#20 Alewife). Previously to opening the box, I was not familiar with the baits or company fishbelly (http://www.fishbelly.com/).

I am not sure these are the same ones that are available on other sites (e.g.Tackle Warehouse).  They seem to be a different, but in a good way.  The look super realistic, and very clean! The colors are divided on the lateral line, and the top color extends through the tail.  There is also a light slanted line pattern on divided by the lateral line, which seems to add just the right amount of texture to the bait.  I am pretty impressed at this point!

 Fish belly opted to use hard eyes, which usually is a deal breaker for me.  However, They seem to be very well attached and will not fall out when a hook is put in, or after a cast or fish.

According to Tacklewarehouse.com, the baits are actually made from a silicone, different from your typical soft plastics which are made from plastisol.  Using the silicone results in a ultra soft / flexible plastic that is almost too good to be true.  I feel conflicted, because I don't know if I want to drop shot or wacky rig one first (maybe wacky drop shot?).

As an angler that usually has a fluke tied on, it isn't a question of if it will catch fish, but how many and how big!  And we still aren't done...

Next out of the box were the 4" Kill Shot (152-Watermelon Grape) from Anglers Choice, a Canada based company  (http://www.anglerschoice.ca/4-Kill-Shot_p_64.html),.

A ringed reaper style bait, made of a hand poured durable soft plastic and garlic scented.  The color on the bait are on the lighter side than you'd usually expect based on the name.  They actually appear more as a teal color with standard purple glitter; probably more of a clear water bait -  not surprising being a Canadian company catering baits to their water conditions.

When ordering from the Anglers Choice website they have a variety of pack sizes: 8, 25, 50 and 100.  I wish more companies offered bulk package sizes. Available in a variety of Killer drop shot colors.

Lastly, Were a pack of Cruncher Baits 4" tubes (#110 Erie Gold), a pumpkin colored plastic with gold and chartreuse flake.

The baits are a traditional tube bait.  The head is durable, yet streamlined so it won't get fouled up on the hook.  Also, the body:skirt is approx 1 to 1 which gives it a classic, sure catch presentation.

The place where Cruncher Baits really stands out is their colors, and color selections. Crunchers Baits come in every color you could want at a great price of $4.29 for a 10 pack.

Tackle Grab came through big this month!  They confirmed for me that AR Lures are worth the investment, and should be in my everyday tool set.  They introduced me to a great dropshot /wacky (probably Texas too) shad/fluke profile bait. And they gave me 2 new baits to try out, and might have been just what I was lacking before.  Looking forward to spring coming this week to Chicagoland , and next month's box, but most importantly catching some fish!

Until next time Tight Lines and full limits!

BONUS - They also sent an unlabeled 3pack of 10" ribbon worms, in watermelon red.