Bright, clear blue skies, no wind, but the fish were mighty active yesterday. My cousin and I caught and released over 30 bass all between 14″ to 18.5″. All on a jig & craw, wacky worm, topwater frog, and an inline spinner. Enjoy the video!
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Like old times…
Back to my roots! Working the shoreline last night on one of my favorite childhood lakes and this one grabbed my piranha swim jig. Some things never change. Fun times!
Big Largies on Independence Day 2021
A fine summer day of bass fishing on Independence Day 2021. Happy 4th everyone!
Big Turtle Lake Smallies 2021
Stacey, Joshua, and I made our fourth family vacation/fishing trip together to Arcadia Lodge up on Big Turtle Lake. This was probably by far our best trip to Arcadia Lodge! We stayed in the Rustic cabin for the second time.
Stacey was brave and went on the new big swing drop and big slide of the many water toys. Joshua loved swimming every day and floating around with his life vest. Ice cream in the lodge was our treat and playing foosball, billiards, and ping pong kept our family entertained for hours. Joshua created another Arcadia tie-dye shirt to add to his collection. Stacey and I are going to make our own shirts next year.
Weather was in the low-50s to mid-80s for most of the week. The first two days a cold front came through putting temps in the low 40’s. The smallmouth fishing was slow early in the week but as the week progressed the fishing got better. Most mornings started off slow but the action picked up later in the day, especially when we had a little bit of wind. The 1/8 oz. skirted jig or the 1/4 oz. mushroom jighead rigged with the X Zone Lures Muscle Back Finesse Craw worked slow with twitches and long pauses did exceptionally well.
The highlight of the week was on Thursday evening, July 24th the night of the full moon, I saw several nice smallmouth all packed on the point and channel where I happened to be fishing. Several surface activity spotted of bass slurping bugs and baitfish off the surface around the 8:30 pm mark. I quickly put on my favorite topwater, the Rebel Pop-R. With that tied on, I caught 4, lost 2 at boatside, and had 1 snapped off. Check video below for the full action.
We really enjoyed our stay, rebooked again for next year before we left. Looking forward to our next trip!
Deep Water Jigging for Bass in the Summer Heat
With the scorching heat the last couple days, the bass pushed deep in about 12-14 feet of water. Vertical jigging with X Zone Lures Adrenaline Craw, Adrenaline Bug, and Muscle Back Craw all got bit this morning.
JT in the Star Tribune Today
A roller coaster of a week. From his allergic reaction that led to being rushed by ambulance to the ER earlier this week, now gracing the back of today’s Sports section of the Star Tribune with his big bass. He is all smiles this morning!
The Adrenaline Bug
Dense foggy morning and the bass were biting. This one on a 1/2 oz. jig and the X Zone Lures Adrenaline Bug. The subtle tail action of the bug was the ticket!
JT’s First Lunker
A proud daddy moment. JT caught his personal best “Big Toad!” When he set the hook we watched the bobber stay down and deep moving along in the ultra clear water. Seconds later the bobber emerged and a big leap of the 5 pounder had daddy all panicked reaching for the phone and fumbling it in the canoe. (Wanted to get a video of him reeling it in.) JT stayed all calm and cool while the bass peeled line and surged under the canoe bending his ultralight rod in a perfect horseshoe. A couple of slow-mo head shakes underwater, the bass finally surfaced and I lipped it for him. I must have been way more excited as I quickly gave JT praises and a couple “daddy proud” pats on his shoulder. lol Anyways, the fish measured just over 20 inches. JT was awestruck! I will never forget his expression. A quick photo and JT put his trophy fish back in the water as he watched it swim away. I am certain this will be one of his many true fish tales and a memory that will last a lifetime.
Crappies!
All smiles. JT put on a crappie clinic yesterday morning! Seventeen fish altogether, 13 were crappies.
New hat, new season!
The many adventures that await. Good luck to all and hope you all have a fun and safe fishing season!
Nam Nguyen's Angling Adventures 