6 Bass Streamers to Help You Catch More Big Bass
Summer may be coming to a close here in Minnesota, however, that doesn’t mean that the bass fishing is wrapping up. With the cooling weather, bass go into a frantic frenzy to eat tons of food before winter sets in and their metabolism slows, making fall a great time to target bass on the fly rod. Bass, both smallmouth and largemouth, are one of the hardest fighting fish that I have caught. Due to their hard fighting nature, it is a lot of fun to chase them on a fly. While bass aren’t always super picky they can get in moods so there are some flies that outfish others. None of these flies are super original or revolutionary, however, we have found them to produce well when chasing bass. In general, like all bass fishing resources would say, I have found natural colors to work better in clearer water or…
Bass Opener 2014
I don’t think there’s a more highly anticipated day in our fishing season than the bass Opener, though this year it nearly didn’t happen. The plan was to hit the North Shore in hopes of catching the early stages of the steelhead run, but, like any event in nature, it’s a fickle phenomena that depends on a dizzying number of variables that even the best of anglers still don’t quite understand. The fish hadn’t yet entered the rivers, so we ended up calling off the trip with no small amount of anguish. It was a bittersweet decision, but it meant that we got to hit the lake for bass Opener, which isn’t exactly a horrible consequence if you ask me. I learned long ago to not form any serious expectations around fishing trips. Having a well-formed plan and high expectations (not to be confused with optimism, which is an entirely different…
Boundary Waters Pike and Smallmouth
I slid the canoe into the lake and stared out at the white caps. Across the bay, the pines were bending and straining to stay upright in the 30 mph gusts of wind. A light rain started to fall as Braden and I shoved off and headed for the tiny island a hundred yards off the campsite. Canoeing, let alone fishing, seemed downright ridiculous in the fierce, heaving lake. For the past two days, we were stuck in our tents as the wind howled and rain pounded our tent as temps approached record lows (in the high 30’s), weather more conducive to curling up and reading a book rather than fishing. But it was the last day. I couldn’t handle it anymore. At first, the wind seemed manageable as we started out from shore. But when we reached the open water it was obvious that it would be all I could…
Bluegills, Bucketmouths, and Bowfin on the Fly
We hit the lake last weekend for a couple days of chasing some bass and panfish. The fish have moved into their summer patterns but there were still a few bass to be had in the shallows. I caught this bowfin on a variation of Rich Strolis’ Hog Snare just before dark in the canoe. He put up a great fight on the fly rod. I caught a good sunrise–but not much else– early the next morning. The mist and the super calm lake made a very picturesque morning. Braden and I got out in the rowboat and fished docks for bass with spin rods later in the morning. He thought he snagged a log on his Rattle Trap, but then it started moving….he managed to land this beast of a 20″ bass after a good battle in the weeds. We paddled up the creek a few times to the outlet of another…