WgFishing04UpNorth

[Wgoodrich]

I am back and have been recharged. Had a great time fishing in Minnisota by border. I will feed a couple of posts as a teaser just to make you all wait to see. First in my announcement that I was heading on vacation I said where the eagles fly and we hear the loons sing. Well I heard the loons singing their song and loved every minute of the wild and fishing. Had a great time. See pictures below of the eagles not flying but they did also a surprise I got a picture of and one fish picture ruined by the background of me in the pic. Just to add a personal touch. Will post more pictures tommorrow for you all to enjoy. Boy I loved the 10 days up there !

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/eagles04.jpg

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/deerswim04.jpg

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/warrenfish04.jpg

I know that last pic may be a bit hard to take but at least now you know what I look like when I am not working, Ha Ha !

Hope you enjoy and more to come

Wg

[Roger]

Great photo's!! Did you have a certain lure that produced the best on the largemouths? Gosh those fish are sure healthy looking, so is the guy holding them...Ha! What kind of water visibility do you see up in these waters? The general rule of thumb down here is the fish become spookier but I personally dont go overboard with that theory. Only time I have noticed fish to be more spooky is when they are on nests. Bass especially but we dont get the visibility to "sight fish" around here much as the water hardly ever has that good of clarity. Do you guys use artificial lures the most or live bait? Guess it would depend on species your fishing for. As you can tell I have too many questions so I will stop for now and ask some more after viewing the rest of your pictures. Glad your trip came out well. Those eagles sure let you get some good pictures......Roger

[Wgoodrich]

Well my picture of the deer swimming across the lake generated a reply by personal email from a friend of mine I ran around with in high school named John. He has been living in Louisiana for several years. He sent me these neat pictures taken in a lake on a point he regularly fished. Just thought you would enjoy seeing them. He gave me permission to post them for him on this forum.

Hope you enjoy

PS Doubt I will be going swimming in Louisiana any day soon !!!

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/gator1.jpg

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/gator2.jpg

Now how is that for being upstaged ????

Wg

[Wgoodrich]

OK NOw for the long waited fishing report of my Minnisota vacation. Please be aware a few of us on that trip have fished bass tournements for decades and are quite slick at locating fish deep underwater by electronic sonar. I fished 7 days. We limited out on each species we fished for plus many we released while fishing for a second species the same day still catching the first species while chasing walleye. First day we arrived after a 14 hour drive at our lodge and unpacked then hit the lake about 3:00 PM. Quit fishing the first day at around 6:00 PM. My partner and I hit our limit of bass [small and large mouth combined as one species 6 limit] in those three hours with nice sized bass totalling 12 bass and a couple of pike using a zara spook, mepps spinner, pumpkin colored medium deep crankbait, and devil's horse. We used these same artificial baits for pike and bass all week replacing the ones we lost to the big ones and one bait I hurled into the woods when I did not retie my baits often enough. Second day we fished for bass again and hit our limit again and then fished for pike for fun. We cleaned larger pike cutting out the wye bone releasing the snake fish but keeping for eating 24" and large pike for cleaning. We hit our limit including smaller pike with the cleanable pike considering the wye bone. Third day we went to a second lake about 20 miles away we fished before going after after walleye in my boat. We were all over the lake and caught no walleye from 9:00 AM to around 3:00 PM. I was using minnow on erie deary and he was using bottom walker and spinner bait with worm. We found no walleye during that time frame. I marked a large school of fish about 30 feet deep 2 acre size area during the above time frame. We noted the location of these concentrated fish of decent size and about 3 PM we went back and tried to discover what fish was down there. We tried fishing it slower with the live bait we had. We picked up a large blue gill. We then changed rigs using a bare #6 gold hook and a split sinker with a 1/8 ounce worm slip sinker normally used on rubber worms. This allowed the fish to hit without feeling the heavy sinker with the split sinker holding it away from the bait. We dropped the line straight down off the boat down to the 30 foot bottom then cranked up 2 cranks and held. WE hit blue gill.

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/fish045.jpg

This post will be extended to the next reply for length limiting of post. See you on the next reply same subject.

Wg

[Wgoodrich]

We were catching blue gill seen in the pictures below so fast that when you baited with half a nightcrawler sinking to the bottom and realed up you expected to have a fish on. Each boat had a hand held radio to be in touch with each other. We caught about 15 fish and radioed the other two boats and they came over. We [in my boat] caught blue gill in the largest nest about 2 acres I have experienced. One of the other boat caught two walleye at the first two casts to the bottom. Now that ain't fair but they did. We hunted walleye all day and they step in and caught them right in front of our eyes first two cast with worms. Those two walleye were all that were caught that third day. Each boat limited out 20 blue gill per person quickly and we fished for walleye releasing as many blue gills as we already caught will fishing the rest of the time to quitting time. Below is some pictures to enjoy up to this third day. This 3rd day we caught the bass you see and 120 blue gill for 6 people.

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/fish042.jpg

[Wgoodrich]

4th day we fished for walleye again and again with sonar marked larger fish about 30 feet deep about 100 yards from the first nest. We again found no walleye but just a few here and there but we went back to that marked concentration of fish and tried them to see what we had. We again tried worm and caught nothing. We then tried minnow and caught a nice crappie. We started fishing for this species [crappie] and limited out. We again called the other two boats and they two limited out. While they were fishing 100 yards away we were already limited out in crappie [nice sized ones] so we went back to the blue gill nest and caught blue gills again because we had already ate most of the blue gill the night before. We again limited out on blue gill. Below is a picure of 60 crappie [limit 6 per person] and blue gill limited out [20 per person] in my boat. The picture is both species with a few bass mixed in from the other boats. That night we ate bass and froze the blue gill and crappies to take home. Please keep in mind we stayed within our limits and released as many of both crappie and blue gills as we caught.

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/fish044.jpg

Nest day we went for pike and only caught a few worth cleaning and released them all. Caught pike all day but released them all. Caught bass all day same day and released all bass that day.

Last two days we went for bass and pike and released all fish to be caught another day. We caught 1/2 and 1/2 small mouth and large mouth bass all week. We only kept large mouth because the people in that area look at large mouth as nonsport fish same as blue gill and crappie. Largest large mouth bass was around 4 pound for the week. Largest small mouth bass was about 3 1/2 pounds with several coming in at around 3 pound small mouth. We practiced a mix of eating three meals while there of fish and take home 4 bags each. We released all other fish for all to enjoy another day. Please practice catch and release. If you catch a big trophy take a picture up close and record weight, length, and girth and then release the fish for another day. Your taxidermy can then make a mount matching the recorded weight, length, and you can not tell the difference but left that trophy for some small kids future big catch of the day for him or her. Give our kids a future in fishing by catching and eating the fast reproducing fish and releasing the sport fish for our next generation of fishermen.

Hope you enjoyed my vacation almost as much as I did and believe me I enjoyed the time in the up north wilderness.

2 more weeks of vacation still to go this year if I can find the time. May go down south to Alabama Tennessee river empoundment area next.

Till then

Enjoy the pics

Wg

http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/fish041.jpg


http://www.homewiringandmore.com/storage/Sports/fish043.jpg

[Wgoodrich]

Roger

I think I answered most of your questions in my posts except clarity of water and spooking.

I have fished Teledo bend Texas, Ocachobee Florida, Lake of the Woods Manaki Canada, Land of Lakes Wisconsin, Boundry waters Orr Minnisota, Lake Barkley and Kuntucky twin lakes Kentucky and Tennessee, Dale Hollow Kentucky and Tennessee, Lake Cumberland Kentucky and Tennessee, Patoka and Monroe Resevoir Indiana, and many other lakes in other states I have forgotten to mention.

Visibility in the Northwoods is commonly about 10' with a coppery vision in the water. Great visibility to attract fish without spooking risk. Dale Hollow and Cumberland has visibility of about 60' [crystal clear] Night fishing with lights is most common due to easily spooking of fish. Teledo Bend, Barkley, Kentucky, Ocacobbie, Monroe, Patoka and other lakes in the like have a varying visibility of zero to 10 feet depending on the season, weather, etc. Many times in these lakes visually attracting fish is not an issue but vibration and smell is how they prey their takes of food often not being able to see very far at all. Commonly these lakes have about a 10' visibility to about 10' from bottom then the lights go out.

Spooking fish in very clear water is a strong concern if you want to catch fish. Trolling and gas motors commonly does not shake the fish because they hear that sound constantly. Radios playing in boats in my thoughts do not even creates little adverse affects again they can hear and feel these sounds from everywhere they go. Heavy boat traffic will drive the fish down till the boaters leave then they come back up to feed.

Now I know you wish to understand how I know these things. I have been a scuba diver for 30 years also. I have been where they live. I have watched these fish up close and personal. I have watched lures go by, bass backed into the sides of weed beds waiting for prey, wiggling my finger at blue gills on their nest to see them strike my finger with vengence. I have seen the big cat fish laying on the bottom backed into a sunken log as well as the huge carp on bottom. I can tell you by swimming with them they do not fear a scuba diver but look at them as one of their own. They only watch for sign of the scuba diver profiling to stike at them as prey. I have watched minnows swimming right beside large bass not feeding almost all day, then in a split second you see a flitch of the bass detected by the watchful minnow then the bass stikes and one less minnow. If you ever get a chance to dive among them you can learn a huge amount of knowledge not only in fish and their habits but in structure and beauty that is undiscribable. Also the spider webs of fishing string and snagged lures people leave behind as well as coke cans and other debris that marrs that beautty. I have been swimming with the sea rays, lobster, sharks, and others in the Bahamas. I have made dives for recovery of motorcycles, safes, cars, snowmobiles all sunk in the water either by accident or theives. All this makes me to have learned a lot that others will never get to see or understand. Scuba diving takes you to a world few get to see. It is dangerous but if you are trained, careful and not acting irrisposibly it is a great way to find how the fish live and what makes them tick.

I can stake my word on one thing to be a fact, 90% of the fish are in less than 10% of the water of a lake or pond or river ! That you can take to the bank. Learn to read the terrain, likes and dislikes of the hangouts of each fish species relating to the ever change of the seasons making a big difference. Fish may be 2' deep one day and a week later 30 or 50 feet deep depending on species and thermal cline of water. Then comes the fall turnover of the lake that changes everything again. Fishing is like electricity or building industry. Never changing, unlimited amount to learn. Die of old age and guaranteed you will never know all of any subject in life.

Want to know about women, THE MORE I KNOW THE MORE I KNOW I DON'T KNOW. There is the real challenge in life you will never know it all !! Ha Ha ?

Great way to understand fishing

Hope this helps

Wg

[Roger]

Wg, great bunch of pictures! Yes, you answered my questions and then some. Your knowledge is very rare indeed. Thanks a bunch for sharing it.
I agree with those things you say about spooking fish, the other things you speak of I had no idea. I didnt know I didnt know as you say so often. Also you are absolutely right about 90% of the fish being in 10% of the lake. Most people refuse to believe this fact. I used to also say that only 10% of all fisherman knew how to use their electronics to find them. I still believe this though fisherman are diffinitely getting better. As you say you never know it all, but you can save years on the learning curve by a few days on the water with someone who has pieced a large part of the puzzle together. I have been fortunate in that respect. Glad your trip was safe and you and your buddies enjoyed much earned vacation. Looks like I'm going to be taking up scuba lessons soon!! Cant wait for the wifes reaction to that.....Roger

I'll probably have more questions about your trip but is kinda late so need to get some rest
Oh yeah, that gator would be something on light tackle

[Roger]

Ok more questions...Are those black crappie? Here in Kansas mostly the white version. Have caught some I thought were blacks but have never verified them. Was also wondering if the DNR stocks the boundry waters area lakes or do they use possession limits to keep up the quality fishery? I havent caught any smallmouths over 2.5 lbs. in my lifetime as just dont fish for them much though we do have several lakes that have good fisheries for bronzebacks. I will try to find the picture of the first smallmouth I ever caught and post it. It came from a nuclear power plant lake. I caught it on a buzz bait fishing for largemouths, it was quite an event for me.
About electronics I was shown that on LCD graphs (I have a lowrance X-50) if you are trying to look 30 or more feet and be able to define fish close to the bottom try disabling the digital feature on your command menu and increase the grey line about two or three bars. the fish will show up just inside the top of the grey line. Dont know why this is but was shown to me by a fellow down on Table Rock Lake Missouri several years back. His name is Stacey King now fishing professionally.
Last question.. when you were scuba diving in lakes during this time of year (still hot summer anyway) where did you experience finding the quality largemouths? Specifically were you seeing any on big rocky bluffs going pretty much vertical into very deep water. I have a fellow that is telling me that he has used a suspending wiggle wart tuned to run left or right into the bluff wall and is catching some very impressive largemouths. This is his kicker fish pattern after catching limit of smaller fish in tourneys. I have had very little luck fishing bluffs I usually am fishing tree rows on flats near channel swings to catch my fish. Now these lakes with the bluff pattern are highland type lakes probaly structured like Dale Hollow I would guess, very rocky and clear water. Just wondering .....Roger

[Wgoodrich]

Yes those are what is referred to as black crappies. Problem is coloration and light influx of lakes. If sunlight get to the fish they turn dark, If sunlight do not get to fish they turn light colored. Look at the bass. The bass we caught in the shallows or on rock walls shallow were dark in color but those caught 10' deep or more were light colored being the same species. This makes it sometimes hard to difine black crappie and white crappie.

Yes both Canada and Minnisota have an extensive stocking program. The lake we were in a lodge at were stocked with 80,000 walleye last winter. What they do up north is collect the stock that has been raised by the DNR and take them to lakes during late winter while the lakes are frozen over about to thaw. The lakes both in Canada and Minnisota that are remote back in the deep woods are also stocked by helicopter landing on the frozen lakes drilling a hole in the ice pouring the stock into the lake during late winter before spring thaw. This allows them to get into deep woods areas, stock the lakes without dealing with the wilderness concerns of the area making it much easier to get to those lakes. Without an extensive stocking program we would have depleted the fish to a loose of tourism because those fishing would not be catching fish enough to travel to those remote areas. Expensive but remember much of the up north areas rely on income from the southern states tourism. Your license bought up there as well as businesses chipping in tend to support that extensive stocking process. Remember though if we all take limits of fish everyday we are there then the fishing would still be ruined. They also do use possesion limits. Canada offers a discount rate of fishing license if you agree to take no fish home. Minnisota has a daily and possession limit of 6 bass per person, crappie 10 per person, bluegill 20 per person, pike 6 per person but only one over 30" is allowed to be kept in most cases. Some special experimental limits are in effect in Minnisota such as a 42" minimum size allowed to be kept for pike in one lake with a limit of one fish per person.

Bear last I understood allowed 2 bear per person in some areas and 1 bear per person in other areas depending on population. Few big trophy bear are taken. Most are about 160 pounds.

Reading fish and structure on electronic graph depends much on quality of equipment and many hours of use learning a knack for it. Reading a graph is much like playing pool or golf. The more you experiment and more often you reuse what you learned as well as much reading and practice the better at it you get. Few get really good at gaining the nack of reading an electronic graph accurately.

Hot summer I found bass just above the thermal cline backed into a wall of weeds for ambush, deep in the weeds where the water is clear much like the canopy you find in a deep woods. The moss mats on top in say 3' of water but the water is clear 2' of that 3' below that mat of moss. Watching say a mouse moving across a matt of moss is much like pressing your finger on your skin making an indentation at the same time showing a dark shadow of the form of the mouse. Bass will follow in the clear water below that lure until it decides it wants that prey. It is then an explosive strike punching through the layer of moss grabbing the lure and back down into that clear water below. Much moss area is matted clear to the bottom but those pockets you can not see under the moss of clear water are like caves the fish easily move through.

Rock and mud cliffs have indentations much like caves in a woods where wild hogs back into only in the water the hog bass backs into. Again hot summer time the fish are cool and confortable as well as feeling safe backed into these pockets and reluctant to move out. From what I saw over the years these fish will watch prey swim by for a very long time not going after it. They then will pick a time to become active ready to strike anything but at that time they have come out of those wall pockets are are cruising normally about 10' or more away where the thermal cline lies and a drop in the bottom creating a short ledge or they go into the shallows to feed. Hard to entice a strike on those walls down deep. Up near the surface such as a tiny torpedo or devil's horse bounced off the wall of rock with a soft landing in teh water with a twitch continued each time the wave circles dissipate seems to entice those shallow to the water along the wall. Otherwise I see little success in enticing those bass backed into the dark depression caves in the wall of that mud or rock wall until they are ready to feed and leave those pockets. Just my experience from what I watched. By the way a minnow swimming nearby is aware but not afraid of that bass backed into a rock or mud wall but if that bass twitches that minnow knows it is time to head for cover because that is the sign they watch for to tell them that bass is getting ready to go on a frenzy. Weeds are different. Weeds have a definite cooling in water temp protected from the heat of the sun. Those fish backed into the weed seemed readily waiting to strike and then go back into the cool of the weeds again backing back into the same place they came. Split second they stike and back into teh weeds if almost faster than your eye can follow.

Smaller fish tend to be up high and the bigger fish tend to hug closer to the thermal cline deeper. Thermal cline you can usually see as a faint line on the electronic graph of a cheaper graph picking up this thermal cline as fish markings all being level all across the lake. This is how you can tell how deep the thermal cline is. This thermal cline will move up and down in a lake seeming to follow barometeric pressure movement. I may be wrong but I related the two movements thermal cline and barometric pressure at the time.

Personal thoughts during the hot of the summer I would fish along the weed wall line or over the mat. This is where the cooler water is. Then if no weeds I would use your graph and look for a stream bed depression where cooler water will lie and use marker buouys to mark that stream be turns. The big bass will lie on the points of that submerged creek bed. Remember bass are structure related fish using points and depressions where they can find a comfortable water temp as well as being able to hide for attack and protection.

Clear water is very hard to fish. Most often you will do better at very first light still dim barely able to see and last light same light level. Otherwise night fishing is the key to clear water. Then again don't forget the affects of pleasure boaters stirring the water driving them down.

Many will have other opinions. As a scuba diver you get to live with your querry. Great to learn. Many read the actions differently. Kind of like talking to 5 electricians wiring one bedroom with 10 different ideas to wire the same bedroom. Those watching those fish while scuba diving though they see the same thing they interpret much different.

Hope this helps

Wg

[Roger]

I am going to add all this to my memory and want you to know I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. My own experience with bluff fish mirror yours though not able to see them as you, in their home. Only once in all my years did I get a good bite fishing on bluffs. This was a late September day. Very early fall as water much cooler than the norm and they were clobbering white buzzbaits and (you said it) devils horses. Only time I can remember this happening and they were good quality largemouths. Dont think I'll ruin my wiggle warts just yet. Yes electronics take many years of practice and you need good equipment. Dont want to get to windy....Roger

[Ohm1]

Somethings wrong with this picture! Answer: I don't have it this good!!!!


WOW! Great! Wish I had it like you guys!