The Leaves Are Starting to "Fall"

Today marks a big turn, the first day of fall! Summer seemed to last 4 days this year, but I am not gonna argue cause now archery season is open and we have been hard after them in WI.

Check out a great photo that made the Mathews FB page, taken by my buddy Ben. Since switching to a hand release I have fallen in love with my Stan shootoff release!

Post by Mathews, Inc.

Kenora Bass International Shows Off

Post by Kaycie Marie.

Spent the past week fishing an amazing fishery and event on Lake Of The Woods out of Kenora Ontario. Above is a video of the day 3 weigh in where they pull the top 10 boats through town and into the tent. It was a great experience and my partner and I ended up finishing in 8th place(out of 139) with a packed field of local stud sticks. Already planning and looking forward to next year. Will be posting more info and tournament wrap up in the next day or so. Will have info on how we caught our great bags of smallmouth each day on a lake the size of Texas. Until then, Fish On!

Cause We Can

The great bite on Lake Mille Lacs continues to kick out both #'s of smallmouth but also great overall size.  I am still encountering lots of fish in the 19-20" class and still finding some fish on beds or around beds.  Pretty amazing to think that fish are still spawning the last week of June and first week of July, but it is happening and may continue for another few weeks.  These clients came up from Kansas and brought their daughter out to experience the great fishing, and that they did! 

The fire hot gravel lizard action we were having has slowed a bit.  Lots of those fish have left the shallow haunts and moved deeper for summer now and we haven't continued to chase them.  We have continued to catch all of our smallmouth and walleyes on artificial lures including tubes, speed craws, crankbaits, and swimbaits.  It shows no signs of slowing down and I think we are seeing some of the best years of fishing Mille Lacs has ever shown.  I know many people say the fishing is "no good" cause they aren't catching eater walleyes, but it is still one of the best lakes in the country for walleyes and smallmouth.  

In the time between Mille Lacs outings we have been chasing the largemouth on Lake Waconia and Lake Minnetonka.  Both lakes are under a no wake situation but both are kicking out great fish.  The fish we are catching are starting to get to some of their summer areas making a easier to target them with weedless baits.

The kids seem to be the lucky charm this year.  

Jaycob also managed a pike in the 36-38" range on the last trip we took on Lake Waconia.  

As many of you know, the water keeps me away and not able to update this as often as possible.  Make sure and "like" my fb page for updates from the water and instagram.  Until next time, Fish On!  #grabyourrodandfish 

Smallmouth, Walleyes, Largemouth, Crappie Oh My!!

This is one for the record books, Lake Mille Lacs is on fire and one of the greatest lakes in the country.  Yep, I said it, one of the greatest fisheries in the country!  The fishing has been so good as of lately I can't even put it into words.  I have been chasing Smallmouth, Walleye, Largemouth, and even Crappies.  All of the mentioned have been willing partners and wanting to play the past few weeks. Getting to guide on Lake Mille Lacs is something I will never take for granted.  So here goes the latest fishing report including some stops at Lake Minnetonka, Lake Waconia, and Lake Mille Lacs

We have had some 100 fish days and lots of giant gravel lizards and smallmouth coming over the gunwale and into the new Ranger Z521 on a regular basis.  For those that I have been fortunate enough to experience this magical few weeks with-thank you!  Every laugh, smile, and new personal best was worth it.    

Our best bite has been on pre-spawn and spawning smallmouth.  The best gravel lizard bite is all post spawn fish.  We are catching all of our fish in 12 feet of water or less on artificial.  We have not fished live bait and haven't needed to.  If you have been thinking about booking a trip or getting on the water NOW is the time.  Not sure how long this great bite will last but it has been a good ride either way.

When it comes to what artificals we have been using, I would say that tubes, drop shots, and jerkbaits were the best at fooling these fish.  

The bite has been best for us when the sun has been shining high in the sky and the wind is light to variable.  

Did I mention that the smallmouth are really fun to catch and GIANT!  Not to mention they pull really hard.

We have had many walleyes in the 20-30" range over the past few weeks.  Like previously mentioned, they all came on artificial lures.  

Did somebody say 2lb crappies....  Yes, I did manage to find an area holding some of the biggest crappies known to swim in the MN area!  This is a sample of a few we managed to wrangle on a recent outing.  One was 2lbs even and one was 1.14!  

Erik Rasmussen has hung up the hockey skates and now enjoys his time fishing.  This was one of 15 largemouth he was able to entice into biting during a morning outing on Lake Waconia.  

Yesterday we finished the day with 7 smallmouth over the 20" benchmark, those are fish in the 5+lb caliber and made for a fantastic day.  The guys also managed 40+ fish in the 18-19.5" range throughout the day.  

Will do my best to keep the updates coming and not be too many weeks between updates.  Until next time, Fish On and get out and stretch the string.  Signing off for now....have to get some rods rigged for the next adventure.  Any specific questions please contact me or to book a trip.