My week at TFF 6/6-6/12

[smallmouth99]

Stayed at one of Mike Sabec's places called Flowage View. What a wonderful place. This is located about a mile north of Fisherman's Landing.

Headed up from Ohio on the 4rth. Spent the night just north of Madison. Got up early Fri morning and stopped at Tomahak lake. Spent 4 hrs there and caught over 20 Large mouth and 20 rock bass. All came from a couple humps that went from 20 to 10 feet. Nothing big but what a way to start the week. (all fish came on a watermelon seed Venom tube)

Spent the night in Mercer at Northwoods.

Sat. Once again got up early and traveled to Trude lake (Could not get into the cabin til 3:00) This was my 3rd trip to TFF and Trude. The day was a bust. Fished from 6-noon with only a rock bass and a small smallie (BTW I was targeting bass for my entire trip)
Pulled the boat and headed back to town for final supplies. Arrived at the cabin only to find the wind really blowing and 2 foot waves beating the dock. Did not bother with putting the boat in.

Sun. Got up to a nice rain. Waited til it stopped around 8 and headed to the ramp. Fished the small island right in front of the ramp. On the 4rth cast landed a nice smallie. WOW I was thinking it was going to be a fun week. Fished for another hour with-out a bite. Looked like rain moving in so headed back to the cabin. After retriving the truck and trailer, headed back out for some more fishing. Went into Merkle and did not even get bit once. Back to the cabin for a beer and a nap. Wind blowing again. Later sun night heded to the stump fields around the corner to the south of the ramp. Was able to get 3 nice smallies out of the stumps in 5-7 feet.
Sun night around midnight a really bad storm hit. Almost sunk the boat with so much rain. Good thing for a 750gph bildge pump.

Fished many places on Mon both woods and rock with-out a bite. Later in the morning I made my way into Blair lake. Along the south shore I was able to catch 10 smallies and 4 "hammer handles" in a hour. (this turned out to be the best i did all week) (every fish I caught for the week came on the same tube. I tried almost everything in the tackle box) Back to the cabin for lunch. beer and a nap. Mon eve went back up to Merkle. Was able to catch 3 off the rock pile on the south side of the lake.

Tues. Headed to Lake Ten. nothing. Tues afternoon a storm came in. Did not fish that eve,. Got drunk during the storm.

Wed. Back to Blair. Hit something on the way there. Luckly no damage. Made the mistake of catching a 3lb smallie on the very first cast. Went the next 3 hours without a bite. Did catch a 4 lb large and 3 more hammers later in the day. Nothing in the eve.

Thurs. Fished right out in front of the cabin. This was the first time all week that there was no wind and was able to vertical jig the stumps that line the entire area. Did manage to catch 4 smallies and several 15-17" eyes. After loosing many tubes I headed to town and got some weedless jigs and some crawlers. By the time I returned the wind had picked up and that made it difficult to fish. Took a nap (got one in every day) Headed out in the evening back to the stump field south of the ramp. Fished a slip bobber with a 1/2 crawler, weedles jigs, and my favorite tube. Nothing.

Friday woke up to 20 MPH winds. Ended up packing and headed home back to Ohio.

I really enjoyed my week. The fishing was not what I had hopped for. This was my third time on the lake. I hate to say but I do not think I will be back. For some reason I just can not figure out the smallies their. Also, all three times the weather has not been stable. I guess you pays your money and takes your chances. Whe you have to plan 6 months out it is hard to get it right. This year was a late spring. I Think that had the fishing off.

[greylundman]

Just got back from the Flowage today and had a great time fishing. We caught a lot of fish but used live bait and "got vertical" in the heavy wood. It seems to be a difference maker when it comes to catching fish on the TFF. Maybe live bait isn't your thing and I understand that, just saying it helps. Also, Trude and Merkel would not be my 1st choice for fishing this time of year. They are good lakes and I know there are big fish in them, just not great fishing from my personal experience. Blair is a great lake too, but I prefer it later in the year. It seems you like Smallmouth and I can tell you in all honesty that there have been days where my boat caught well over 50 fish in an hour, so I know they are there. Again though, live bait. Don't give up just yet, just know that its not the type of water where you can always count on casting weedlines and be consistent.

[ski2313]

Two problems with your fishing methodology on the TFF:

1. Not fishing with live bait (althought that can be overcome)

2. Not fishing during the crappy/windy weather!