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Recent Fish (pics)
I remember making a few posts of catches last year so I figured that with almost three weeks into my season right now, I should probably re-start my tradition again.
I try to fish the TFF at least once a week now. I get these benefits by being an unemployed recent college graduate :)
Been fishing mostly in the stretch from Turtle River inlet down to the Four Mile Creek area, and then a lot out of Fisherman's Landing in and around those islands and beyond. I'd like to make my way down to Beaver Flats and out to Blair Lake in the coming few weeks. Never been to either!
Anyways:
First outing was on May 18th. We caught too many Smallmouth Bass to keep count of. Largest up to 18" with most in the 16-17 inch range. HEALTHY year classes of these 15-16-17 inch bracket fish. Holy cow. The fish were just getting ready to spawn then, so we found them just in time. Rocks in some depth were the key focal points.
Crankbaits/ swimbaits / red tubes / Rapala X-Raps.
My previous outing was last Saturday on May 29th. Boat traffic wasn't so bad but the landings were a mess full of rigs who were waiting in lines without much organization. The fishing was slower and I attribute that to the warmer weather and high skies, but a number of fish were caught once again. At this point, the spawn was finishing up. The action was slow so it could have been attributed to the "post spawn blues".
Creature baits / jig & craw trailers / tubes / X-Raps / Chompers twintails.
Everything to this point has been on a rock and deep wood bite. Nothing much yet from the river channels or stump fields. I'm sure that will change by the middle of this month.
I am not a walleye angler by any means, so as a tradeoff for you guys - I will leave you all the Walleyes in the world as long as you leave me the rest of the Smallmouth Bass to clean up. Deal? :) I wouldn't mind trying for Muskies next time out either.
We'll be back out there at some point this week. Thinking Tuesday or Wednesday. If you see a red/white fiberglass Lund out of Fisherman's Landing, come say hi.
I know Blue Ranger and Mark and a few others mentioned a strong topwater bite. I'll have to give that a try. We catch a lot of fish with those on our Wisconsin River float trips. We'll see. Thanks.
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall.../may54%7E3.jpg
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall.../may57%7E2.jpg
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall.../may59%7E2.jpg
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall.../may61%7E2.jpg
the stockiest 12-incher i've ever seen in my life.
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall.../may64%7E2.jpg
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall.../may68%7E1.jpg
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Fish
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Great Smallies!! Thanks for sharing your pictures.
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Nice job. Fyi save blair for a time when the water is higher, or be ready for a portage.
Chris
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This is definitely my favorite place in the state for big Bass. Still on the 2-year search for that first 20-incher.
Good luck with that! Over the years we've gotten a few dozen fish in the mid to high 19's, but never cracked the 20" mark out here. They sure are fat though!
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Thanks guys.
Was out there in the middle of one of last week's many bypassing coldfronts. Thursday. Had the worst outing of the year.
Focused on secondary points and deeper rocks throwing crankbaits.
All we could pop was this 17-incher my buddy got. After 4-hours of nothing and not being able to come close to any signs of life, we called it quits.
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall...june15%7E4.jpg
http://fishing-headquarters.com/gall...june16%7E4.jpg
I'll be back out there somewhere again next on the week of June 25th.
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Nice Catches
Nice catches on the TFF. Was up in the area last week and talk about cold front after cold front! Yes, top water was a good hit. Try trowing a perch colored popper. Was a dealy combination. You know it's a good trip when you don't have lower unit damage to your motor thanks to GPS! I highly recommend it to anyone who lives or visits the flowage. It will keep you in the old river and creek channels. But use caution (Slow). Still seen lots of upright wood and floaters in the channels.
As for the Beaver Flatts, it's a rewarding area to get to once you have navigated through that area. Lots of rocks and boulders. Ended up hitting one once I navigated off the channel to get to the cover that the area provides - log jams. Once your off the river channel, track your route in and mark any hazards on your way in. On my turn around to get back to the big water, had that sucker marked as a waypoint and went slower then I did the first time! Thanks to GPS! But if you plan on venturing to that area think twice if you don't know the channels, depths, and hazards. Also try crows nest. That is loaded with log jams and it is easier to get to for log jam fishing. Once you fish the jams, move off about 100 yards and fish the flat with a beatle spin. Also try the coves over in the Bastine area. Fish it though when you have a south breeze blowin in there. Bait fish get traped inside those coves. Hopfully fishing picks up over there. Going out on the Kanakee river on Saturday! Cant wait!
Bob
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thanks for the updates - we're headed up the first week of July. Curious about 2 points you mention - were you fishing the popper on a flyrod? Where is the crows nest area that you refer to?
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Was using a bait caster with the top water popper. As for crows nest, it's southeast past the dam and across the big water. (More east then south) Fish the camp site right off the point, which I belive is campside d-13. Run some divers or rattle traps on the drop off for smallmouth. Then move into the coves. You'll see a lot of log jam's in the area. The first two jams are kind of on the small side which are the ones in the north east corner, if you move to the southeast corner, there is a long continues line of log jams and submerged logs to fish. It's an easy area to get to withouth screwing up your boat/motor and sould satisfy your needs for log jam fishing. Offers pretty much what the beaver flats offer. The only difference is, the crows nest is protected and the beaver flats is open big water.
If your feeling gutsy, past crows (south) youll see 3 islands just south out of crows off the the d-13 point. I usually make that my cutoff for running on that side of the flowage. I cut back west across the big water and run in the old beaver creek channel south past the 2 islands and cut back east very slowly using a saved safe route on gps and that will get me to the southern edge of the beaver flats. While your on the southern tip of the beaver flats, take a run into the cove south of beaver which is no more then a 5 min. ride going slow. Good place to throw spinners for northern if your looking to have some fun. Mine as well if you make it that far south withouth lower unit damage or a hole in the boat! LOL Well good luck to you guys and stay safe.
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Thats helpful, thanks. I have fished those log jams before - just wasnt aware of the nick name. Lots of water to explore - always have a spare prop & pin on board!
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Thanks for the word, Bob!
Still debating where I should fish next. . . . . . . . . .
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Normally I'm up at the Flowage right now but I wasn't able to come up this year and the rest of the guys are up there. They said the fishing is rough right now. They go for mostly smallies. If you have any tips on where they should go to find em that'd be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to check the fishing reports and giving them some pointers up there but they're still struggling. Any tips as to where to find some good smallies right now?
