It’s the weekend of Wisconsin’s gamefish season opener. As I tortuously wait for up to 24 inches of ice and slush to melt, I have nothing better to do than fantasize over the plethora of 5 pounders I am set to catch thereafter. Fishing in the north country is shifting from ice shanty to boat. As ice melts away, anglers like myself will hit the water for a festival of trophy smallmouth bass.
Continue reading Ice Out Smallmouth, Early Season Presentation Picks
It was a typical early May morning in Wisconsin’s northwoods. Air temperatures were in the high 40’s, water temperatures not much greater and windless with the skies lacking cloud cover. Despite this coldfront and within a week following ice out, sunlight penetration was warming the water temperatures, making the bass on my home lake less sluggish. As I was casting my way down the lake’s deepest sun exposed shoreline, my soft plastic swimbait was engulfed by a bass in mid-retrieve. As I set the hook with a Bill Dance accent, a four pounder erupted from the water and made its way to my landing hand. A few years later, catching largemouth bass of this caliber on compact soft plastic swimbaits has become a common scene for me each spring season wherever I fish. Continue reading Spring Largemouths and Downsized Swimbaits
The wind plays a role in determining the outcome of all outdoor sports, including fishing. For smallmouth bass anglers in particular, a wind capable of warming water temperatures plays a significant role in determining early spring fish locations and feeding habits. A beneficial wind and its corresponding warming water temperatures drive feeding patterns in early spring and wake smallmouths up from their dormant winter state. Anglers who fail to understand wind patterns, and lack a sense of spring smallmouth lake locations, learn to embrace the skunk. Meanwhile those who follow the wind and have learned to use it to their advantage will experience the hot early season bite. Continue reading Spring Meteorology and Smallmouth Bass
