Big
Country Smallmouth Bass.
Northern Wisconsin's Six Weeks of
Spring.
By:
Andrew Ragas
Date Posted: May 11, 2011
Imagine
the quality of fishing in Northern
Wisconsin. Probably the first ideas
coming to mind are its legendary world
record muskies, and the thoughts of
walleyes sizzling on the frying pan.
Although
muskies and walleyes aren’t my most
frequently fished quarries up north, I
still spend significant amounts of time
each year catching them like the locals
do. While these two gamefish species are
the most pursued and popular amongst
Wisconsin anglers, another prominent
fish species is usually overlooked and
far too often ignored.
Wisconsin is a great state for catching
smallmouth bass. In fact, it’s even
better for catching giant smallmouth
bass during the spring season.
Illinoisans are significantly limited to
a handful of productive rivers and
streams, and only a few select lakes
that are sustained through stocking. We
are privileged enough to have neighbors
to our north that have healthy fisheries
that are home to tremendous populations
of big fish. Best of all, several of
them are within reasonable traveling
distances, with enough class to offer
worthwhile fishing getaways.
There
are literally hundreds of lakes and
rivers to fish where big smallmouth bass
can be caught. If you want to catch some
of the biggest and most exciting fish of
the year, head north of highway 10 to
where the lakes are clear and the fish
run big
Springtime offers eager anglers
something so great that it can only be
experienced once each year during a six
week long specially-regulated season.
For me, personally, this is a six week
bass fishing holiday. From opening
weekend of May through the third
Saturday of June, Wisconsin has a
mandatory catch and release spring
season on bass. These regulations were
first established in the mid-1980’s to
protect the vulnerable and spawning fish
populations. During this period, some of
the largest fish of the season are
caught and released, and enjoyed by
conservation-minded trophy hunters who
fish purely for the sport and love of
the game.
Who
wouldn’t want to catch four, five, and
six pound smallmouth bass in a
repetitive fashion as if it were a video
game?
There
are over 2,300 different lakes to choose
from in the region I fish in Oneida,
Vilas, and Iron counties. Although
having a lifetime of fishing
destinations and opportunities within a
50 mile radius is troubling for folks
who operate with limited schedules, what
makes this area special is that there
are too many good places to fish in such
little time.
Since my
youth, I have fished hundreds of lakes
containing smallmouth bass. Nearly all
of these places have differed in terms
of size (acreage), growth rates, and
fishery.
Although
good populations of fish are present in
most places, some of the best lakes I
fish possess a number of variables,
enabling them to contain fine smallmouth
bass fisheries that consistently produce
big fish year after year.
Nearly
every productive smallmouth lake I’ve
fished contains clear to moderately
stained cola-brown water, and features a
habitat comprised of sand, rock, gravel,
wood, and some weedgrowth that is mostly
occupied by baitfish and other juvenile
species.
First
and foremost, smallmouth bass usually
relate to certain areas of the lake as
opposed to others due to the forage
factor. Big fish reach their sizes for a
reason; they gorge themselves on what is
available in front of them. The best
lakes are late oligotrophic to
mid-mesotrophic, are fertile, and
contain a diverse fishery of both
predator and prey species. Most lakes
are home to crayfish, and some lakes are
more abundant with them than others due
to infestations of non-native rusty
crayfish. In my opinion, the more native
and rusty crayfish available, the better
the quality of fishing is. However, it
is important to note that the best
smallmouth bass lakes are ones that
contain both crayfish and pelagic
baitfish species that includes shiners,
smelt, juvenile ciscoes, and even yellow
perch. In any healthy smallmouth bass
fishery, the lake better have a full
fridge, as it takes a number of
available forage options to rear big
fish in large numbers.
Traditional smallmouth lakes offer deep
and cool water. However, the best lakes
contain depths of everything from
shallow to deep, and somewhere in
between.
Some of
the most incredible bodies of water I
have ever launched my boat at possess a
maze of transitions from shallow to deep
water and underwater contour. Such
examples are shelves, drop-offs, rock
bars, sand bars, sunken islands,
trenches, and fields of boulders. Any
time you are faced with a lake offering
all of this, it will be a smallie
paradise. In my opinion, lakes offering
too many specific spots to fish in one
single day are the places worth spending
your most time at.
Although
smallmouths are present in most lakes
containing the aforementioned variables,
big water and lakes larger than 1,000
surface acres are places that will
usually contain the bigger fish along
with substantial numbers of them too. As
opposed to smaller lakes, 50 to 200
acres, that might not receive as much
angling pressure, lake size and
available habitat are the deterring
factors that limit the number of big
fish being present. One of the most
common axioms in fishing is that big
water grows an abundance of big fish. In
the case of smallmouth bass, this goes
undisputed
Once you
have your lake selections made and
defined fish locations figured out, it’s
time to enjoy the six weeks of spring.
The
North Country spring season is defined
by stereotypical winter weather that,
without any pauses, rapidly turns into
summertime heat. Quickly, within a few
short weeks beginning the first week of
May, the 40 degree water temperatures
that are synonymous with the ice-out
period warm themselves into the cool 60
degree range. In essence, during most
normal years, the calendar bypasses the
spring season altogether. Therefore, the
pre-spawn period associated with 50
degree water temperatures rapidly
progresses into the spawn and post-spawn
periods taking place late May through
early June.
With the
winter season progressing into the early
summer period as it seems, a number of
big fish catching tactics may work on
any given day. Thus, it is important to
be well versed with power fishing
tactics that are best employed during
the pre-spawn and post-spawn periods, as
well as light line and finesse that is
frequently used on calm days when trying
to coax readying pre-spawn and spawning
fish.
There
are several ways I like to fish during
the six weeks of spring. During the
pre-spawn period as water begins to
warm, nothing beats locating them with a
power fishing approach.
At this
time fish are staging, and transitioning
themselves from deep to shallow. As
water temperatures begin to warm from
the upper 40’s into the mid to upper
50’s, my favorite methods are to fish
with rattle baits, and shallow to
mid-range crankbaits. Some of these
early spring days may feature a reaction
bite while on other days the fish will
be feeding. On lakes that have a
dominant forage base of crayfish, craw
patterns are the best. Meanwhile certain
lakes feature baitfish more than
crayfish. In these situations, where
open water feeding habits take place,
matching the hatch offers best results.
As soon
as water temperatures encroach into the
58 to 64 degree range, we finally enter
the spawn period. At this time, it is
important to employ shallow water
tactics and paying attention to detail
seeing whether or not fish are moving
throughout the shallows and bedding.
Of all
available methods to catch big fish
during the spring season, my absolute
favorite is sight fishing the shallows
for staging, cruising, and spawning
fish.
For
instance, last May I fished a 1,000 acre
lake in Vilas County for the very first
time. The lake was deep, crystal clear,
had rocks and drop-offs all around, and
several off shore points, sunken
islands, and deep water hangouts. In
addition, it had a serious infestation
of rusty crayfish.
Due to
the crayfish factor, most anglers would
normally resort to sight fishing for
shallow pre-spawn fish with weighted
tubes or jig and craws being dragged
along the bottom. After not catching
anything with either crayfish imitators
for over an hour, I stumbled upon the
wizardry of a weighted stick bait.
What I
began to fish with was a 4.25 inch
stickbait produced by Travis Crosman at
Stankx Bait Company. It was a custom
color, one of the first I suggested to
be created in 2009 to be produced in the
color lineup to resemble big juicy jumbo
leeches, a smallmouth favorite. The
color quickly became known as “HGH
Leech”, a plastic formulated in a
translucent dark navy/grey color, and
contains specks of black pepper. This
color contrasts so well in clear and
murky waters, and when presented
properly, it performs better than the
real deal itself.
Fishing
this simplistic bait with six and a half
to seven foot medium action spinning
rods and 6 to 8 lb. copolymer line, I
experienced a day of epic proportions.
In six
hours of fishing, I caught over 100
pounds of smallmouth bass. Every
specimen caught was over 18 inches long
and between 19 to 22 inches, and in the
range of four, five, and six pounds
apiece. If there wasn’t any proof of
evidence, my day of fishing would have
seemed unreal and unbelievable to most.
For
sight fishing like this, probing the
shallows by casting to all of the nests,
depressions, rock piles, and sighted
fish, I recommend fishing stickbaits on
weighted worm hooks. The best weighted
hooks I’ve found are produced by Owner
and I prefer using them in 1/8 oz. and
size 1/0.
Since
this discovery (made out of desperation
and for the fact that anything
resembling a craw was not working) I
have begun utilizing weighted stickbaits
on other smallmouth bass waters that are
similarly dominated by a crayfish forage
base. I keep questioning whether
smallmouths ever get tired of seeing and
eating crayfish. They eventually must,
because when presented alongside live
and artificial crayfish, it seems like
big smallies can’t get enough of
plastics that are made to resemble jumbo
leeches.
Following spawn, we enter the post-spawn
period and this signifies that summer is
fast approaching. By now, fish begin to
disperse from the shallows, and become
less-concentrated throughout many areas
of the lake. Moving on from fishing with
plastics, I eventually progress to power
fishing mode again by fishing
exclusively with jerkbaits,
spinnerbaits, and topwaters.
Good
fishing will still take place throughout
much of June. However, once water
temperatures peak at 65 degrees and
remain warm for extended periods, the
fish head deep and then the six week
holiday of spring catch and release
concludes.
To date,
some of my favorite bodies of water are
the large lakes and flowages found in
the towns of Minocqua, Mercer, Lac Du
Flambeau, Boulder Junction, and Sayner.
Several lakes in the region are home to
smallmouth bass. However if you fish
many of the larger ones, you will
quickly find that they possess several
of the same characteristics I have
described of having great smallmouth
fisheries.
Thanks
to the special regulations set in place
by the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources, and for several lakes being
able to grow and support numbers big
fish to create world-class inland
fisheries, conservation-minded trophy
hunters are able to enjoy the pursuit of
catching the gamest fish that swims. Of
all the species and places one can fish
for up north and get lost in, I wouldn’t
trade these big smallies for anything
else in this world.
