Surprise, surprise, surprise

Well, the self-proclaimed bass addict had a good opener, netting eight bass, three at 15 inches and another at 16 inches. Not bad.

Seven of the bass came on a white, triple-bladed Strike King buzzbait. One came on a blue-fleck, 7-inch PowerBait worm, Texas-rigged of course. Most of the catches came in close to the shore under heavy overhangs.

Caught a nice walleye on a jig-and-pig. Didn't see that coming. Also caught a nice crappie on a Chatterfrog. Didn't see that coming either. Could it be more fitting that a guy who craves fishing bass came away with two fish that most Minnesotans chase after?

I bet the walleye anglers who give me crap about fishing bass are getting a good chuckle over this one. I got a good laugh over it, too.

To read more about my misadventures in walleye fishing, check out the Sunday, May 24, print edition of the Free Press or check online early Sunday morning. Check back for updates tomorrow on the bass action, as I'll be heading out to one of the Jefferson lakes.

One note about the photo: You never realize how lucky you are to have photographers like John Cross and Pat Christman on staff untill you have to rely on someone else to take a photo for you. Needless to say, this is the best of what was available.

The game plan

Looks like Memorial Day weekend is shaping up to be a nice one. It rained shortly after 1 a.m., enough to push back the humidity in the air. The rain was quick, painless, and I see it having little to do with the bite in the morning.

For the last two weeks, I've watched bass come out of slightly deeper water than normal. Instead of the good shore bite, a lot of what I saw caught was on slow moving presentations — crappie minnows, beetle spins. But Thursday, while banging the shoreline for crappies, I picked off two bass, back-to-back from nearly the same spot, and both were on the shoreline. The catches came at the tale end of the fishing outing (early afternoon) when I was just trying to catch one more crappie for the stringer.

Have they move into the shore? Are they heavy into the spawn? Will they suspended on the edges of drop offs? Will they get tucked under brush and trees overhanging the lake, like they did so often last spring and into early summer?

Wow, that's a good load of questions to start with. I'll sleep on it and get back to you after a morning of fishing. Feel free to let me know how your bass opener went.

Pregame jitters

Well, I've got a good night of designing and editing ahead of me here at the office, but before I hauled myself in, I made sure to go through the prep stages for tomorrow's opener.

Four poles, all restrung, tied up and ready to go. On my smallest pole, a 6-footer, I have 8-pound test. I am tied up Texas-rig style with this one. Tomorrow I will top it off with a TriggerX, chartreuse worm to start with.

I own two 6-and-1/2-foot poles, both rigged with 10-pound test line. On one I have a white and green Chatterfrog, on the other I have a white Strike King Bitsy Bug, which I'll tip with a white, Uncle Josh pork trailer tomorrow. Finally I have a bait caster set up with 15-pound test line and a heavy, 1/4 ounce football jig, blue, which will also be tipped with a pork trailer.

On the first day of bass opener, I fish slow. Colder water means slower presentation, which is evident by three of my four setups for the morning. But I like a locator bait as well; something I can rip through the water for reactionary bites. The Chatterfrog, a first for me last season, has quickly become the bait of choice, though I don't mind throwing a buzz bait or spinner bait, either.

Just a few thoughts to help pass the time till opener. I'm sure I'll have one last post after work tonight ... something to help burn the last, anticipation energy before bed.

Countdown to bass opener

You'll have to forgive me for a second if I get a little gushy talking about my favorite fish. I've sat through the walleye opener and watched as my friends left for fishing excursions for their favorite fish ... well, now it's my time.

If you happened to catch my column in the Sunday, May 17, print edition, you know I'm a stickler for preparing myself before I ever hit the water — new line, pole maintenance, reel maintenance. I also take a good gander at what I have in the ol' tackle box and restock what needs restocking.

Today I'll purchase new line. I am leaning toward P-Line's new Halo line, which I've heard is pretty strong. I've fished P-Line now for the better part of the last five years, and I've come to really like its low memory, and the line also seems to be better at staging off abrasions. I'll let you know how Halo measures up.

Until then, check back for a few more thoughts on the bass opener later today.

Wind wipes out tourney

The first Tuesday Nite Walleye Tourney of 2009 suffered a setback when wind forced organizers to postpone the opener. Tim Hobbs, president of the Southern Minnesota Walleye Association, said there was no way they were going to send boats out on Lake Elysian Tuesday.

"By the sound of it, they wouldn't have done too well," Hobbs said of the bite. He said the wind was just too much for the few who ventured out.

The first tournament has been pushed back to Tuesday, May 26. I've reflected the change on the schedule on the left under my profile.

Braggin'-sized catches
Before the 2009 walleye opener, we at The Free Press asked our readers to send us pictures of their catches from the weekend. While the experiment didn't go exactly how we'd hoped, we did get a few pictures, which John Cross has compiled into a photo gallery. It would be nice if we could get more pictures from our readers throughout the summer, so I'm soliciting your help once again. Send us your photos, and we'll make sure to add them to our "Braggin'-sized catches" gallery on the Web.

Staring down the bass

Wouldn't it figure that on a beautiful day such as today, I'd come across a nice little patch of water with a bass staring straight up at me. Now, the few lures I was pitching today work for bass, but all were meant for other fish and bass just happened to be a byproduct of the lure.

Well this bass just stared at me. It stared at my lures, stared at my presentation and occasionally it swam in a small circle to reposition itself and then it would stare some more. But not once did it hit my lure.

Now, during this time, I longed for my tackle box and my full arsenal of bass weapons, yet, in the end, I too could only stare. I've long wondered if seeing fish actually is a jinx for catching them. Plenty of bass fisherman, especially in clear lakes, are considered sight fishermen. They spot for spawning beds or bass suspended next to structure or perched in a weed patch and they go to work, watching the bass to see what kind of reaction they get.

If I'd had my druthers, I would have worked finesse baits first, such as the Texas rig or a jig-n-pig, and then worked up to reactionary baits like chatter baits, spinner baits, buzz baits or crank baits. Of course, I did throw a beetle spin or two past the bass and managed to scare it, but only enough to make it move a few feet, regroup, and stare.

When things go wrong with the Vikings, I always say the football gods are punishing me. When a bass stares at me two feet off the shore with only days to go before the bass opener, I can only assume the fishing gods are punishing me, as well. With that said, the fact that I didn't intentionally and illegally fish for the bass should translate into a happy opener.

One last thing, I bring up site fishing because I've been on three area lakes in the last week — Washington, Madison and my honey hole that shall go unnamed — and all have been relatively clear in the shallows. Add this warm weather and the bass on most area lakes should be in the heart of the pre-spawn.

Tuesday Nite Walleye Tourneys

The Southern Minnesota Walleye Association is gearing up for its annual walleye tournaments, which kick off Tuesday at Lake Elysian. There are eight tournaments, with a season-ending tournament Sept. 2. The tournaments are open to everyone, but there is a $10 entry fee per person, and tournaments are usually fished in teams, although if you're alone, you fish alone.

The neat thing about these Tuesday night walleye tourneys are the fact that the association keeps track of the points anglers earn, and one person will be left as angler of the year at year's end. The points each night break down as follows: 10 points for first, nine for second, eight for third, seven for weighing a fish and five points for showing up.

To qualify for the season-ending tournament, anglers must place in the top 10 for points or fish all eight tournaments throughout the season.


Tim Hobbs, president of the association, says the tournaments have always been a good draw, but new DNR tournament regulations in the last year have the association limiting entry.

"We usually shoot for around 30," Hobbs says.

Thirty is the magical number where the association would have to pay a permit fee, which would be roughly the amount collected each night of the tournaments. So show up early if you want to fish.

A complete list of rules can be found at the Bobber Shop. I'll post the entire schedule to the left under my profile. Starting times each night are at 6 p.m. and all entrants must be registered by 5:50 p.m. Weigh-ins are 9 p.m. sharp. If you're team is late, you're disqualified.

For more info, contact Tim at 507-380-2131.

Water temps
Went out fishing to Lake Washington yesterday. Nothing to report from our boat other than scattered water temps. We saw a range of 52 degrees up to 60.9 degrees, depending on our depth. In around 5 feet of water, we were seeing 57-59 degrees.

I talked to a few guys on the shore and they came up empty on the walleye end of things. One guy said he saw another fellow pull in a small one, maybe a 12 incher, back in the deep water of Baker's Bay around the first point out from Westwood. We fished this area for a while, and I didn't see anyone pull anything out of there. In the shallower water, fishing panfish, my buddy pulled in two nice bass on crappie minnows. We were fishing between 4 feet and 7 feet during the catches.