I Have A Hunch...

[MSUFisherBear]

I've got a hunch on a technique that might work well this weekend if some of the rain that we get is warm. However, I don't want to mess with it if the water turns to chocolate milk. I've heard there is a 50% chance for Friday at this point. Has anyone heard how much?

Also, anyone who has been down to the lake this week: Has the two recent snow amounts jumped the water up a whole bunch?

[jbtiwns30]

Water is up but its not dirty... what do you think will work well over there this weekend?

[MSUFisherBear]

Depends on area and rain amounts that we get. I'm partial to stayin in the areas of somewhat moving water, so staying nearer the river section of the lake seems like a better guess. I've been catching most of my bass lately on craws and jigs, but I was thinking that it's just about time to break out a few square billed cranks and bounce the rocks and timber. I really don't like to fish cranks like some guys do when the water is cold because I get a little antsy and pull the bait too quick (talking super cold water here, and dead sticking to barely moving cranks), so I have better luck on the aforementioned baits. Give me water that hits the low 50's and it seems the fish are a bit more reactive, thus I do a little better.

Also, I have some homemade spinnerbaits that I would like to try out on the fish. Not anything special, but it's always a huge thrill to catch a fish on a homemade bait. I got hooked by remaking cranks by spraypainting my own in patterns that resemble our native baitfish a little more. The first bass I caught on one just made it sink in more.

[MSUFisherBear]

One other item to tack on here.... I want to try the Berkley Gulp nightcrawlers. I thought I may let a hungry bluegill or cat possibly tell me if they like them. I got a trial pack from a friend, so I don't want to invest in 'em if they don't work, but they would be great for the girlfriend, or her kid brother when I take them out. Basically, it's a trial run, but I don't want to skew my results because of the weather.

Depends on area and rain amounts that we get. I'm partial to stayin in the areas of somewhat moving water, so staying nearer the river section of the lake seems like a better guess. I've been catching most of my bass lately on craws and jigs, but I was thinking that it's just about time to break out a few square billed cranks and bounce the rocks and timber. I really don't like to fish cranks like some guys do when the water is cold because I get a little antsy and pull the bait too quick (talking super cold water here, and dead sticking to barely moving cranks), so I have better luck on the aforementioned baits. Give me water that hits the low 50's and it seems the fish are a bit more reactive, thus I do a little better.

Also, I have some homemade spinnerbaits that I would like to try out on the fish. Not anything special, but it's always a huge thrill to catch a fish on a homemade bait. I got hooked by remaking cranks by spraypainting my own in patterns that resemble our native baitfish a little more. The first bass I caught on one just made it sink in more.

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

ill be out on Springfield lake friday, prob throw a square bill for a bit, always seem to get a few hits on them, crappie seem to like trying to fit them in there mouths too. i drove over today and the water looked good, it usually only stays muddy for about a day then it goes right back to normal

[MSUFisherBear]

True arch. At one pont in time I came across an article that said that lake Springfield is one of the quickest bodies of water to completely replace its water from it's stock source. Lakes of the same size could only replace their water completely twice a year whereas Springfield was around 6 times per year. My problem will be that I have a very small window on Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon to wet a line or i may be forced to wait a couple more weeks.

[Matt King]

I bounced a large deep diver over by the warm water outlet tonight and caught two largemouths around 15 inches. The cats werent biting so I got the bass rod out and within 30 minutes caught those two. The key was crankin it REAL slow

[MSUFisherBear]

I bounced a large deep diver over by the warm water outlet tonight and caught two largemouths around 15 inches. The cats werent biting so I got the bass rod out and within 30 minutes caught those two. The key was crankin it REAL slow

That's what I was afraid of. I love the hard strikes but I have a tough time slowing down. Twitching a shad rap may be a hot ticket too.

I drove by this morning to look at water color and feel temp. It looked good, but I guess I can let the fish tell me that on Sunday :-P

[Chief Grey Bear]

You're a day late. We were catching them on cranks two weeks ago in the rivers.

The weather has kept me off of the water since then. Once they started biting, about noon time, it was game on. And they were very aggressive. Should be as good where you are headed.

[MSUFisherBear]

Chief- thanks for the report. Ma have to fish some moving water soon.

And for the report from today. Took the little red yak out and did fairly good. Not on what I thought I would though. The lake was chalked full of anglers today, and I seen that most were doing one of three things... Flipping jigs, cranking crankbait /spinnerbaits, or fishing Texas worms. So, figuring the bass had been about beaten to death with those three, I switched to a wacky rigged BPS Stick-O. I caught 6 in about an 2 hours of fishing. Not anything of great size, but they inhaled it. I did try out the berkley worms as well. I caught 4 big red eaR on four straight casts all within about 5 feet of each other.

Beautiful day, and the fish biting never hurts.