Smallmouth Tips from James Linder

On March 3rd, the MN B.A.S.S. Federation held their banquet to raise funds for the coming year, recognize the talented youth participants, and bring the MN B.A.S.S. fishermen together for food and drinks. A silent auction was held and items that were included were numerous rods and reels, spa packages, custom rods, a 788ci Humminbird depth finder, and an 101 lbs thrust MinnKota trolling motor. Social hour with drinks preceded dinner where I enjoyed a great steak, salad, and veggies.

After dinner, James Linder, from Linder's Angling Edge, gave a great presentation on smallmouth bass fishing. I would like to simplify his message here, as he made some really good points that I can use in all of my bass fishing. James broke down tournament smallmouth fishing into 4 parts, which I have outlined below.

1. Know the nature of the fish you are targeting. 
Linder said we need to know the seasonal movements of smallmouth bass and what their forage or food consists of. According to his experience, smallmouth are much different that largemouth, stating that smallmouth act much more like walleyes. Smallmouth will travel miles overnight to follow food or to move into the warmer water during the spring. A smallmouth's diet is much more diverse than a largemouth's, consisting of crayfish, perch, shiners, ciscos, other minnows, and yes, bugs. Smallmouth tend to follow baitfish schools in schools of their own, so locating large schools of baitfish is a great indicator that smallies are near. Obviously, it is crucial to know how the fish will move as the water temperature fluctuates with the changing of the seasons.

2. Understanding and utilizing your electronics.
This is a fairly obvious topic, but I would like to point out a few tips that Linder shared. When setting up his Humminbird unit, he does a shallow water shade of 0-3 feet. He said it is always good to have an idea where all the real shallow water is located. It can save you a lower unit. Next, he does a color shade where the fish are active. For instance, if he wants to fish in 8-10 feet of water, he will highlight or shade in that area so he can see all of that water in the entire lake on his map. He will mark a gps waypoint for almost every fish he catches when practicing for a tournament so he can see if there are any patterns with regards to movement during his prefishing and tournament days. He showed us images from his map with waypoints and you could see what the fish were doing. It was extremely interesting. 

3. Understanding and utilizing your baits and lures in your tackle box.
During this part of the presentation, Linder went through his favorite smallmouth baits and presentations. If he had only one lure to use for all situations and seasons, his go-to bait is the jerkbait. He had an absolute favorite color, but I think I will keep that to myself... He recommended using a prop bait for great topwater action. Also, he highly recommends that we all try hair jigs if we haven't already. He said that the hair jig is one of the best to get fickle, cold water bass to bite. The secret presentation that works the best for him when using the hair jig... cast and count down the jig until it is about a foot off the bottom. Then reel a straight retrieve as slow as you can. Don't jig a hair jig like a jig, you jig fishermen.

4. Using all of the information to make quick and efficient decisions on the water.
What makes a great tournament fisherman? Obviously, he needs to perfect the mechanics of the sport. He needs to be able to be a great caster and know a lot about his bait and tackle. There are thousands of fishermen like this. What separates the best is their ability to analyze the water and make decisions that put themselves around tournament winning fish. These decisions are almost gut reactions to the information that is constantly being processed throughout the tournament. The decisions are quick and most often correct, and experience and one's ability to analyze situations are key. Linder said not to fish spots, but to fish the fish. Search where they are currently located, not where they once were.

Overall, it was a great night that ended with raffle prizes and the conclusion of the silent auction. Our club had a full table and it was fun to have a night all about bass fishing. If you have any specific questions about the topics above, please leave a note or send me an email and I will do my best to answer them.

Thanks for reading! 

Bassmaster Classic Fantasy Fishing Picks

There is much anticipation for the Bassmaster Classic this year namely because all eyes are focused on Kevin Van Dam. KVD has been such an unstoppable force, so consistent that over 50% of the fantasy fishing participants have chosen him for their team. I won't dote on his accomplishments, as you can visit Bassmaster and read all about him for days. I will say, though, that I am not picking him this tournament. Why? Mainly because I like to separate myself from the rest of the field with the hopes that I can gain an early edge in fantasy fishing points. Below are my 5 picks for the Bassmaster Classic on the Red River. Good luck to all players and let's get show on the water!

Edwin Evers

I think Evers is one of the best shallow water flippers in the game. I hope that the Red River is murky and the water is rising from recent activity to allow Evers to work over the shallow cover. Also, he has been one of the best on tour for a few years now and I think this could be his big year. I hope to see a battle of the Nitro Pros, with Evers on top.

Terry Scroggins

Another great flipper and shallow water fisherman. With a nickname like "The Show", you know that he is going to bring the heat. He has been very successful on tour and is constantly a threat. I think Group B is a very tough group to pick from, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Denny Brauer

Denny Brauer is clearly one of the best bass anglers of all time. He has 79 top 10 finishes with 17 1st places. The guy is a living legend. A friend of mine was a marshall for him at Fort Madison, Iowa a few years ago, and he said that his flipping and pitching accuracy was unbelievable. Also, he seemed to be an extremely nice guy, which gets points in my book. With 1 Classic win under his belt, you know he wants to experience glory one last time before he retires, whenever that may be.

Shaw Grigby

I love Shaw's laugh and excitement when he catches fish. My dad was his marshall down in Fort Madison and Shaw took the time to show him how to tie a few different knots that he uses, a couple of times even. I really like Shaw, and I know he wants a Classic win just as bad as the young guns trying to make a name for themselves. I think experience is a huge factor in these big events, when key decisions need to be made quickly and with confidence. I believe Shaw has that ability.

Jamie Horton

I am hoping that Horton's previous Classic experience will serve him well as his first Elite season begins on the Red River. He is hungry to kick off the season on the right note and it is always fun to see a rookie succeed. He has been a popular choice among fantasy fishing players, so I am hoping that all the good vibes will rub off on him and the pressure will elevate his game. The best thrive on pressure, let's see if Jamie Horton has what it takes to win this Classic.

A "Wacky" Cliche

This past weekend I was fortunate to catch open water largemouth, a rarity during the winter months in Minnesota. I won't disclose the location, but you already new that. How often does a bass fisherman relinquish his favorite honey holes?What I can tell you is how I caught them. A wacky rigged Tonka Tackle Dead Stick.

The wacky rig is one of the most simplistic set ups in bass fishing. It is literally using a hook to bisect the middle of a plastic worm. One of the most effective ways to fish this bait is to just let the worm fall on slack line. The action is subtle and enticing. Typically, I use 6-8 lbs fluorocarbon line to make the presentation as natural as possible. This past weekend I bulked up to 15 lbs line, as the fish proved that my 6 lbs line was a bit skimpy.

This weekend brought up an interesting topic of conversation regarding fishing lures. Is there a bait or presentation out there that you will not use because you feel it is too cliche? As an example, my buddy Dan smirked when I mentioned that I was planning on throwing the wacky rig if the fishing got tough. In fact, I was confident that I would be making casts with this set up at some point, so I had a rod pre-rigged for just the right time. After prodding Dan a bit about his smirk, we came to the conclusion that some baits reek of simplicity and ease of use. This in turn leads some anglers to disregard certain presentations, in my opinion, because they don't want to seem elementary. Or, they want to be creative, innovative, and technical with their lure choices.

So how do we make a worm on a hook creative? How can we modify a spinnerbait to gain the extra edge? How can we feel comfortable as anglers and competitors casting the simple lures, when we are always trying to find the latest and greatest, new high-tech lure? I believe that all lures can be modified to create a unique presentation each day out on the water. For example, the placement of the hook on a wacky rig directly affects the direction and rate of fall of the worm. We can change the type of worm we use: floating, sinking, large, small. Colors, scents, and dyes can all play a very important role in finding the pattern that takes home the cash.

The bottom line--we always fish to catch big fish. Whether you catch them on an Alabama rig, swimbait, or Tonka Tackle Dead Stick, who cares. The only thing that matters is what you bring to the weigh in tent. Next time you rummage through your tackle box and are thinking of what bait to try next, pick the one that you have discarded as the inglorious fish catcher. The one you put away when you bought that $20 dog walking lure. The one that calls your name and catches your eye every time you glance past it, recalling that one big fish you will always remember. Pick that lure and hold on... I sure did. 

Smallmouth Bass, Mississippi River, Minnesota

With borrowed waders snugly clamped to my legs, I trudged along into a strong head wind along the shores of the Mighty Mississippi. Early January in Minnesota is a great time to fish for smallmouth...right? Right.

Rocks. I slipped on rocks. I lost a newly purchased finesse jig on a rock. And I caught a few fearsome smallmouth bass off of these rocks. I love rocks.

I was very fortunate this day to get out with a friend and fellow BASS Member, Dan, for a morning of great bass fishing. I sought Dan's guidance, as he has spent much more time than me on this stretch of river. I stepped where he stepped, nearly made casts to where he cast, and tried to follow suit with the tackle I was using. My personal gear consisted of a 6'6" spinning rod and reel with 6 lb Seaguar fluorocarbon. As I mentioned, I was casting a 1/8th finesse jig with a round head with a 3" Strike King Rodent trailer. It seemed I was snagging less than Dan with a round jig versus his football head jig. After I lost this finesse jig to a hungry rock, I dabbled with a tube jig and I was snagged up almost every cast.

Dan's 19" Smallmouth

Our presentation was very basic. Cast and let the jig bounce along the rocks with the current. We had to constantly pop our jig while it was rolling along to hop, skip and jump between and off the rocks. The smallmouth bit very light on a few occasions, and I was fooled a few times thinking I caught a rock until it was trying to shake its way free.The fights were tough, a mix of smallie genetics and a constant current. Awesome.

My largest fish of the day was about 3.5 pounds on the smallmouth, thumpin' richter scale. Dan caught a nice 19" bass that we estimated to be around 4 pounds. It was great to catch bass with open water fishing tackle as floating chunks of ice cruised down the middle of the river and the shores were lined with a layer of snow. Just think, the week before I was fishing on 14" of ice on Lake of the Woods. Minnesota can be awesome. 

Great colors on Carl's Smallmouth Bass

Lake of the Woods Fishing Report

Walleye was on the menu last weekend after our first successful day on Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota. My fishing trip was based out of Sportsman's Lodge, an overall great experience anchored by 3 great friends, a lot of laughs and competitive Risk games. Our experienced guide set us up in a large, well-heated fish house in approximately 24 feet of water. Armed with the provided fathead minnows, we landed and kept 8-10 walleye and sauger mix. Our largest slot fish was 21 inches with our best keeper being a solid 19 inches. I caught a great 16 inch sauger that tasted great that night on the frying pan. The second day we caught less keepers totaling out at 4 total. We were hoping to slam them, but from our guide's reports, it was a slow biting day. We did hear from our other friends that the fish were biting better in deeper water and that shiners were the ticket. Our best producing jigs were gold redeyes, green glowing jigs and sometimes buckshots would pull in a fish or two. We caught a lot of smaller fish over the 2 days and schools of tullibees gave us some surprising and much needed action. A guide in the next house down landed a 40-50 pound sturgeon and I have a few photos of that coming to the blog soon. The bite was light, however, when we jigged hard, we were able to call in a few biting fish. It was a great couple of days and I really needed to catch a few fish. Mission accomplished!