I do all of my fishing in the summer and early fall, on a lake in northern Minnesota where I have a place. Since it is northern Minnesota, the bass do not grow to jumbo size, but I have caught some 4 pounders in the lake and my neighbor (who is out there fishing just about every evening) says he has caught 5 to 6 pounders.
The lake is only about 200 acres, and not very deep. The deepest part is 22 feet. There are a lot of lily pads and weeds.
There are only 5 species of fish in the lake and no trash fish at all…..largemouth bass, northern pike, crappies, bluegills and perch. The fishing pressure is light because most of the people who live on the lake seem to only be interested in circling the lake in their pontoon boats.
I don’t think I have ever once gone out fishing on the lake and not caught something. I usually take my kayak out since I do catch and release anyway. The kayak can be a bit of an issue when I hook a large northern because they pull me around until I am able to land them.
Or until they break the line, but that is why I use a leader so at least their teeth don’t sever the line. I also have pretty good luck just casting from my dock.
I have found that the lure that works best…..in fact I don’t remember ever really catching anything on anything else….is a black Beetle Spin. Other colors don’t seem to work at all, and I think it is because the black color mimics the bass, northern and perch minnows in the lake.
I know that the Beetle Spin is an “old,” passe lure and has been around for probably over 50 years, but it works so I plan to keep using it. The problem sometimes is finding them in black.
Anyway, my technique is just to cast to the lily pad lines and reel in slowly, and I almost always catch quite a few fish. If there is a crappie school in the vicinity at the time I can catch a crappie on just about every cast, and I also catch the larger bluegills who are able to get the lure in their mouths. I don’t enjoy catching the northerns but there is no way to avoid them because they inhabit the same areas as the bass. Trying to land those suckers and then get the hook out in a kayak is not much fun.
But the bass are plentiful and almost always eager to bite, so I have a great time.
