Fishing the June Boom

Every year, the first weeks of June see some of the fastest fishing of the season.  This season, with a warm early spring, the affect has been accelerated.  What species are we talking about you may ask?  The simple answer is that it doesn’t matter.  Whether you like gills in the shallows, or walleyes on the breaks, anything and everything that swims seems to have a favorable disposition this time of year.  As water temperatures warm, lakes, ponds, and rivers become veritable factories, churning out increasing productivity with each passing day.  From the bottom up, biologically speaking, varieties of vegetative growth spur phytoplankton and zooplankton to rapidly reproduce, and drive invertebrates, terrestrials,  and minnow species to the feast.  The fish we target are not far behind, with the exception of a few species that are actively engaged in the spawn.  Bottom line – fish are establishing summer patterns, and actively feeding amongst the array of developing food sources.  Demand is high, yet supply in terms of food resources are just getting into gear.

The sportsman’s dilemma then becomes a selection process of determining which bites to fish among the embarrassment of riches that presents itself.  I’ll describe a few of my favorite bites to target during this time period, in the hopes that even if weather, fishing funks, or particular systems aren’t producing that species, you’ll have more than enough other options to try-out.  No matter what species you’re after however, think aggressive.  Now is not the time for minutia and finesse tactics.  Cover water, find fish, and go right at them.

Nesting Gills – I hesitate to mention this one, as the negative impacts to bluegill fisheries by high-grading the largest bluegills in the system during this time of year are well documented.  Still, responsible angling for these beauties can be enjoyed, specifically by cruising shallows with polarized sunglasses while looking for the tire-sized depressions often made in large groups by the ever-so-important males.  My favorite way to target them is to cast a weightless #8 or #10 VMC hook with a chunk of crawler under a clip-on pencil bobber.  Should the bobber elevate off the water even slightly, you know you’re being bit, and the slow fall of the unweighted setup really does the trick even in heavily pressured waters.

Trolling for Walleyes Two Ways – Crankbaits put behind the boat and trolled at various speeds will really pull fish aboard during this period.  It’s an ultra-efficient method for both finding AND catching fish, but depending on the depth the fish are scattered, you may need to come at it from two different angles.  The first, when fish are in 8-10 FOW, either on overcast or windy days and earlier in the season, long-line #5 Shad Raps in Gold, Perch, Crawdad, or Firetiger patterns.  Experiment between 80, 100, to 120ft. of line or more behind the boat to dial-in the combination for when you’re fishing.  The second type of trolling that can produce fast action during this time period is leadcore trolling.  We’re not talking about dredging the 30 foot depths yet, but often, using leadcore in depths of 15 -25 FOW will more effectively keep the bait near bottom where the walleyes are.  My favorite baits on leadcore are the #5 Jointed Shad Raps in similar colors as above.  If you don’t have a leadcore setup yet, take the plunge!  It’s not as scary as it sounds and solves many of the problems of traditional weighting systems.

Cottonwood Seed Largemouths – A great phenological indicator of great bass activity annually seems to be the flying fuzz from cottonwood trees.  I can think back to many memorable bass outings on small ponds and southern Minnesota lakes that included a fair dose of picking the fur off of your line.  Keep it simple and fish top-water lures like buzzbaits, frogs, or Skitter Pops for maximum enjoyment.  Fish will very readily strike heavy plastics fished in a variety of depths and means as well, so if fishing with a partner, divide and conquer in terms of bait selection. 

Jerkbait Smallies – As water temps warm and fish activity increases, no species seems to respond as well as smallmouth bass.  On the front end of this time period, smallies are pre-spawn, with some of the males just starting to think about nesting.  At this point, they’re shallow, and eating a variety of prey, but will display some aggressive behavior towards stickbaits, slash-baits, or any neutrally buoyant bait worked quickly.  At its peak, this bite really turns on with X-Raps and similar slash-baits being worked extremely quickly.  “Ripping it like an idiot,” as it has been described to me, is not too fast to work these baits when the bite is prime.  The curiosity of a smallmouth is piqued, and its territorial nature demands an exploratory jaunt for what is making all that noise.  Fish will hit on the pause, and often already be hooked up as you go to make your next “slash.”     

These are broad bites, and dozens of other patterns are developing in a dynamic fashion during this time of year.  One gives way to another as fish begin to establish a more consistent pattern, so don’t be alarmed if it’s here today, and gone tomorrow.  Alas, it’s just like the fall hunting season, which comes and goes far too quickly, but it’s something to be thoroughly enjoyed when it’s hot.  That “get it while you can” seasonality of these pursuits adds to the allure of each and every one of these patterns, urging me to get out and fish as much as I possibly can during this period.

Targeting Mille Lacs Spawning Smallmouth – Should it be Legal?

The cat is officially out of the bag. Mille Lacs Lake, a vast and varied fishery of more than 130,000 acres in central Minnesota, is arguably the best trophy smallmouth water in the world. For years it has been in every top-10 smallie list that outdoors writers can scribe, and has been the focus of countless TV, video, photo, and fishing media events. While lake-hype may be alive and well with countless “hot” destinations both coming and going, the fervor surrounding especially the quality of this lake’s fish is very real.

Take into account the bags of fish pulled day-in and day-out for the Bassmaster Elite’s final event of the 2016 season. Despite a cold-front mid-tourney and some rougher water to contend with, Mille Lacs gave up more big smallies than any other event in Bassmaster tournament history. Consumate Pro, 7-time angler of the year, and smallie-genius Kevin Van Dam said it best when he wrote, “I’ve never seen so many big, old smallmouth in one lake.”

FISHING THE SPAWN – HISTORY LESSON

To Brad Hawthorne, long-time guide and Mille Lacs Lake resident, it’s ascent to greatness is not by accident. “We’ve enjoyed a 100% closed bass-season (no catch and release) until nearly the end of May for decades,” says Hawthorne, who describes the annual smallmouth spawn in Mille Lacs being nothing short of “epic.”  “I’ve encountered certain sections of the lake where beds are stacked for nearly a mile of shoreline.”  Hawthorne’s upcoming YouTube video series titled “Smallmouth Chronicles” focuses on the lake and its brown bass, detailing ways to catch fish during the entire season without initially targeting them on their beds. Hawthorne states, “There’s always a bite for big bass here that doesn’t include visually pitching to individual bedded smallmouth.”

As Hawthorne notes, in 2015, a statewide catch and release bass season was created during the traditional early May gamefish opener. Historically in Minnesota, the bass season was closed until the end of May with prevailing thought being that these fish needed a respite from angling pressure during a time where especially smallmouth are quite vulnerable to being caught. Given that both largemouth and smallmouth are nest dwelling species that adapt well and thrive in a variety of lakes and rivers, the decision was made to increase opportunity due to the burgeoning popularity of bass fishing in northern waters.

IS MILLE LACS DIFFERENT?

The focus then becomes the statewide regulation and its effect on a single fishery like Mille Lacs. Regarding bass spawning vulnerabilities, MN DNR fisheries consultant Al Stevens mentions that, “On an individual fish, there’s an impact, but on the population level, we can’t see any impact.”  Research nationwide seems to support the idea that on a gamma scale, overall regional populations of bass are unharmed by catch and release angling during the spawn.

While this may hold true regarding the vast majority of bass lakes in the state, is Mille Lacs an outlier that requires more protection based solely on the fact that it may be the single-most popular water in the state?  Enough fishing pressure could mean that targeting smallies on beds would potentially hurt the spawn, thus the fishery in the future. How much harm is debatable, certainly, but commonsense would dictate that it certainly doesn’t help?     

CATCH AND KEEP

There may be bigger fish to fry…err…release, indicates Jim DaRosa, Mille Lacs smallmouth guide and founder of the Mille Lacs Smallmouth Alliance, who supports catch and release regulations both spring and fall given proper handling of the fish. “Our group is focused on angler education, and ‘freeing the fighter’ as a slogan for greater catch and release awareness.”  Of greater concern to the Smallmouth Alliance are regulations that allow for the catch and kill of smallmouth bass. Before 2013, Mille Lacs was a “one-over” lake, meaning anglers could keep only one Smallmouth Bass, and it had to be 21”es or greater to do it. However, starting in that year, anglers could keep up to 6 smallmouth under 17”es, with only one over 20”es. Since then, regulations have been modified to allow only 3 fish under 17”es with only one over 21”es, but DaRosa considers this catch-and-keep regulation to be the Alliance’s #1 priority. “Fish on Mille Lacs can spawn well into June, leaving them vulnerable after the May 27th catch release season lapses, and we believe strongly that these fish under 17”es are the building block for tomorrow’s true trophies.”  While not opposed to selective harvest of smallmouth, the Mille Lacs Smallmouth Alliance is concerned that decisions are being made based on socio-political pressures, not good science.

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE

Long-time guide and Mille Lacs lake guru Tony Roach voices the same conservation concerns regarding the catch and keep of smallmouth, but also prefers not to fish for them when shallow and visibly guarding nests. “Most of my bites are active presentations for post-spawn fish, so I don’t drop a jig on a bed when I don’t have to,” state’s Roach. Similar to Hawthorne, Tony prefers fishing many of the other smallmouth patterns that involve either pre-spawn fish or bronzebacks that have worked past the short post-spawn funk immediately after moving from their beds.

For now, the legality of fishing for smallmouth on their beds in Mille Lacs, or any Minnesota lake is not in question. Bass season on Mille Lacs and statewide opens May 13th for this year, with a combined possession limit of 3, and all bass 17-21”es being immediately released, whether caught from a bed or not.

What is in question are the implications that targeting spawners may have for the best trophy smallmouth water the nation has seen. While the science may be clear when speaking of broad areas regionally or otherwise, it’s difficult to predict what a dramatic amount of increased pressure may do to the health of the lake’s smallmouth population. In the wake of national media attention and increased popularity from greater distances, no one truly knows how targeting these shallow bass at the peak of both their size and vulnerability may affect successive generations of Mille Lacs Lake Smallmouth.

There exists a sliding scale of opportunity versus resource concerns that lies at the heart of this issue, and while not all stakeholders may agree on targeting spawning fish on beds, nearly all agree that catch and release fishing for smallmouth bass regardless of season, is a cause worth supporting. All three guides interviewed for this article are catch-and-release only, all year, for Smallmouth Bass, which is a point worth noting whether you support targeting them during the spawn or not.    

Taking a Better Fish Photo

Oh the disappointment.  You just caught a monster, and your buddy running the camera found a way to make a massive fish look small, blurry, and blown-out overly-bright.  The hours and waited days of anticipating a great shot that speaks for itself, are suddenly broken by an image that begs explanation, excuses, and sometimes even expletives.  The aim of this article is to help you never be “that-guy.”  It’s not for photographers, promoters, or pro-anglers, it’s for EVERYONE.  You don’t need a high-end SLR camera or big-dollar glass to take a great photo, and you don’t need to be an expert.  At some time in your fishing career, someone will shove a camera in your face, or make you be on the taking end of the shot.  Here are some tips that can help anyone to properly honor the experience, whether you’re posing with the fish, or punching the shutter.

Preparation truly is the key to great fish pictures.  Big fish come quickly, at unexpected times, and are most often released in the boats that I fish out of.  These factors put un-ready anglers at a distinct disadvantage, and create the temptation for quickly devised and delivered snapshots that most often will leave you wishing you could do it over again.  Of course, the health and vitality of a trophy fish you plan to release holds the utmost importance, which is all the more reason that a bit of planning goes a long way.  When the fish does come, it’s often best to keep it in the net, in the water, and out of the boat, especially for larger predator species.  Good nets aren’t as hard on fish-fins, and keep the fish from injuring itself on harder and less-forgiving items inside the boat. 

Keeping your fishing vessel in order is top priority for a number of reasons, but also leads to a better fish picture.  A boat that’s free of clutter keeps the process rolling smoothly, and prevents random and distracting objects from getting a chance to ruin a good shot.  It’s also good to designate someone in the boat as a camera person, particularly if they have an interest in it or are detail-oriented individuals.  This person is in charge of the camera, stowing it, and knowing where it is.  That way, when you get a great photo fish, everyone knows their role in the process. 

Even if you’re not fishing trophy-waters for upper echelon species, know your tools.  Increasingly, our cameras are our cell phones, but no matter what your weapon of choice, make sure you know and understand the controls.  With the ease of digital transfer these days, if your friend is taking a picture of you, let them use both their phone and yours.  Chances are they’ll know their own far better and produce more appealing results, even if their camera’s capability is less than your own. 

If you’re holding the fish, your job is to make the photographer’s job easy.  Make sure your clothing is on straight, is clean, and you’re not holding, wearing, or otherwise have on your person anything that might take away from the shot.  That includes beverage cans, cigarettes/cigars, and bulky or “loud” clothing with a great deal of text on it.  Look presentable, and care about your appearance by quickly changing into a different hoodie, hat, or jacket should you need to.  Smile and look the part of a happy angler, even if some of the shine has already worn off and this is old-hat to you. 

If you’re taking the shot, you’re the quarterback.  You call the plays, make the big decisions, and at times need to take control of the game and call the shots.  Your eye is what’s seeing that which will ultimately be a long-lasting memory, so your view is the one that counts most.  Be decisive and tell your subject exactly how you would like the fish to be held.  Use your words, and take your time.  Your ability to direct the person with the fish will often determine how well you preserve the moment, and rushed, non-specific motioning and hand-gestures only confuses the situation.  Seconds matter to a released fish, but time slows down a bit here, and as long as you’re prepared and ready, you often have more time than you think. 

Take photos from multiple angles and positions, as well as zoom levels.  Get a face and fish-head only shot, then back up to get the whole enchilada.  Make sure to fill the entire frame of your view with the fish and the angler.  Scenery is great, and you can work in good backgrounds, but the focus should always be the fish.  Set your focus on it.  Snap a million pictures, especially if your format is digital.  There’s no penalty for more photos except the seconds it takes to delete a few here and there.  Be flattering to your friend’s appearance.  Think of yourself in the shot, and what you’d be proud to show everyone you know.  At this point, have the subject hold the fish in a different manner and recreate those same variations with that hold.  If you perform this process quickly and correctly, the fish has been out of the water less than a minute.  My goal is to not make that fish hold its breath any longer than I can.  Get the fish back in the water, and while your angler is reviving it, get a great release shot.  Often, those sequences are some of the best photos taken.         

Be prepared, take the time to do it right, and know your role no matter which end of the camera you’re on to turn the fish of a lifetime into a memory that lasts for generations.  

Ice-Out Crappies

It’s been an odd spring, and for that matter, and even more peculiar winter.  Open water in the southern part of the state has been around for a few weeks, while in the north, there’s still ice, albeit a poor version of it, clinging to memories of a winter that wasn’t.  Early season panfish bites are a rite of spring, typically happening in mid-late April for most lakes in the state as a precursor to the May opener.  This year due to the unseasonably warm weather, I’m happy to say, we’ll probably have some bonus time, with crappies already snapping in the shallows of Southern MN.  Here’s a few things to keep in mind when tracking down a good spring crappie bite.

Water temperature is a key contributing factor to everything crappies in the spring.  Cold nights below freezing, cool-water runoff from melting snow, and heavy cloud cover can all contribute to the death of a seemingly un-killable bite.  As black-bottom bays and rock-laden shorelines store what solar energy they can, crappies flood to the shallows as water temps hit 45 degrees and above.  In most of the lakes I fish, this seems to be as close to a “magic number” as I can find in helping to predict not only locations, but mood of the crappies I’m after.  Anything south of that value, and shallow water crappies become much more rare and hard to find.  Even after locating them, you just don’t see the large congregations of fish that are willing to eat like you do in the 45-50 degree range and above.  That said, spring is a rollercoaster of conditions, full of false-starts, short intense feeding periods during warm weather, and then eventually spawn and post-spawn behavior.  Your best bet is multiple trips that allow you to track changes in water temperatures, such that you don’t hit before the front end, or after the spawn.

Regarding location, when warm water is scarcer in the early season, those shorelines that are even a few degrees warmer can be full of fish.  This is true even when they lack good cover, provided you’re fishing the warmest water in the lake and it’s still early.  Black bays on the north side of a lake are a good start, and don’t hesitate to fish shallower than 5 feet, especially in systems with poor clarity.  Even as water temps rise into the 50’s, fish remain shallow, feeding on baitfish drawn to the warm water and emerging life that’s brought upon by warm afternoons and an even more aggressive sun angle. 

Cover is king for pre-spawn crappies, and while any wood or timber is good for finding them, brush is better.  An isolated log or stump may hold a few fish, but large concentrations of fish will be found where they can bury themselves within and along brush piles.  Unfortunately, most anglers miss the bonanza by fishing only around the edges, rather than within the heavy cover.  Occasional fish are to be had this way, but to do well in these situations, you’ll need to be prepared to fearlessly fish inside of the heavy stuff, not just around the edges.  For that reason, especially in darker, more turbid water, I’ll fish 8lb test mono or heavier, as small jigs and small line are an exercise in brush-fishing frustration.  In northern natural lakes with broad and shallow shorelines, timber can be hard to find, so crappies focus on bulrush and pencil-reeds for cover.  Whether wood or vegetation, getting in the middle of it seems to pay dividends. 

What to use is an important factor during this time of year, with water temps again dictating presentation and lure selection.  Especially early, the temptation is to fish fast and cover water to find larger schools.  Just coming out of winter, locations can be a mystery, and bobber-fishing shallows is simply too slow for most anglers.  That said, especially during the early season, crappies will rarely chase to eat moving baits presented on the edges.  Fish with floats, and use meat.  Crappies are carnivorous little beings, and you’ll be surprised how savagely they’ll strike a minnow offered on a jig with hair, tinsel, marabou, or flashabou.  This larger profile requires some aggression, and hookups seem much more sure as crappies are required to fully inhale such a presentation.  Keep in mind however, that bluegills which can be found in the same areas this time of year, are less likely to be able to eat such baits.  I have been pleasantly surprised by large perch, especially when fishing backwaters bites, that will be more than happy to eat a 1/32oz jig with a minnow.

Plastics bites are still to come, but typically require warmer conditions yet.  It’s unfortunate that minnows are best fished when your freezing fingers would otherwise want you to use artificials-only, but it seems like warm weather and glove-less hands are about the best predictor on when to start looking to retrieved plastic presentations.  For this reason, bring bait until moving presentations readily out-perform more stationary live-bait options. 

It’s a great time of year to be on the water.  Wait till a warm afternoon, and pick apart the shallows until you find some fish.  Keep it simple, have fun with it, and save the ultra-serious stuff for later.                

Walleye Line Selection

Line Selection for Walleyes

Fishing line for me is like shoes for my wife.  I need different kinds for every occasion.  Braid for throwing hard-baits, leadcore on the trolling rods; to the point where heading out to buy some line gets confusing.  Ever get to the retailer and stare at that kaleidoscope of pretty shapes, colors, and brands, wondering which ones you’re going to try this year?  Eenie, meenie, minee….NO!  Stop.  We can do much better than randomly stringing up whatever has the most convincing packaging.  This stuff’s important.  Don’t skimp on the most direct link between you and the fish, and don’t leave your selection to chance.  Here’s how I get ready for the season.

Inspect – Hard lines like braid and leadcore can be fished for much longer than people realize, even after the dyes that color the fibers fade.  I’ve got some Sufix 832 on rods that I’ve had for about 3 years, and though it’s slightly faded, it performs just like it did when I put it on the reel.  Deterioration, separation of the fibers, and fraying are what makes me toss it.  Mono and various polymers have a much shorter spool-life, so as a general practice, I replace annually at least.  I know many tourney fishermen and guides that re-spool as often as weekly.  The key with these line types is to look and feel for grittiness, hard kinks, and excessive memory.   Leadcore holds up well, but is simply subject to a bigger beating with it always being near bottom.  Look for small loops of protruding lead coming out of the braided sleeve, and replace when you start seeing more than just a few of them.

Select – Think situation-specific here.  How do you like to fish?  I’ll admit, there is an element of personal preference here, but I’ll highlight the line I spool up with, and the applications it excels with. 

·         Nano braid – Early season is about pitching shallow, and has the potential for long casts.  Nano is superior in situations where you need to get small baits a good ways from the boat, like light jigs in wind.

·         Superline/Braids – I’m a big fan of the sensitivity and low-stretch of these line-types, so I fish them on the bulk of my rods.  Jig-fishing, live-bait rigging, and even bottom bouncing can be improved with these lines, so I usually buy bulk spools of 10-20lb test.  Why so heavy?  Because braids can, in smaller diameters, be too small to effectively cast hard baits and even jigs without tangling or wind-knots.  The effect is exacerbated in a stiff breeze, or with baits that tumble on the cast. 

·         Fluorocarbon – If you fish braid for walleyes, your fluoro leader material should always be handy.  In most applications, I’ll have a 3 – 6’ fluoro leader tied off of my main-line braid with an Albright Special or Uni-to-Uni knot. 10lb Sufix is what I’ve always used, and if you buy 100 yd spools it’s a real value compared to the smaller leader, pony-spools.

·         Mono – I’ve always got at least one or two mono rods in the boat, typically with hi-viz coloring, and I reserve it for fishing jigs in current or for crankbaits if I’m having hook-up issues.  Mono doesn’t cut the water like braid, and provides more lift to jigs in moving-water situations.  This translates to smooth and contiguous bait movements rather than sharp “bop, drop, and plop” jigging movements.  Because I’m typically working wing-dams, wood, or other structure in a river, I prefer something that’s extra abrasion resistant. The problem with most mono is the high-stretch, but this Advance mono I use has cut back on stretch-big time, so it’s alot closer to fishing a braid than it is a traditional mono.

·         Leadcore – The newer Advanced leadcore dives deeper, is thinner, and is more sensitive than standard leadcore, so it gets the nod from me.  At a 7 foot dive per color vs. 5 foot per color, the Advanced means less line out to get to the desired depth.  Smaller diameter means I can fit more line on smaller reels without having to go to sizes typically reserved for Great Lakes Salmon or Saltwater.

Detect – Strike detection is different for the various line types as well.  Due to the stretch of mono, I’m more of a line watcher, and I also am heavily reeling on the hookset to take that rubber-band effect out.  For braid, there are bites where I’ll actually pause, just to make sure fish have a jig fully inhaled.  For the most part however, strike detection on the hard lines is much easier than with mono.      

Do yourself a favor too; try one spool of one of the major categories outlined above, and mix it into the rotation.  If you find yourself pickup up that rod more often and enjoying everything about the line, you’ve got a winner.  Your new favorite line might not be something you’ve ever fished with, and those old “tried and tested” versions you already have great faith in were never to be until you tried buying them, and tested them out!