How To Catch Bass: Green Bay’s Smallmouth

Posted on May 25, 2012 by HavalonKnives

Surefire Smallmouth Tactics, Part 3: 

How to Catch Wisconsin’s Green Bay Smallmouth Bass

By Darl Black

Image of smallmouth bass taken from Green Bay, WI

Wisconsin's Green Bay holds a great population of smallmouth bass.

Sturgeon Bay, Little Sturgeon, Sister Bay, Sand Bay, Fish Creek, Egg Harbor, Eagle Bay, and others were simply names on a map. Well, actually names I had read over the years in articles about smallmouth bass fishing in Wisconsin’s Green Bay area.

That’s why I was so excited about heading to Green Bay for the first time last June. I didn’t even take time to study a map in order to understand the lay of the land – or should I say lay of the water. That was a rookie mistake. I was confused for three days as to where I was and where I was going.

Fortunately, I was with a group of hardcore anglers under the guidance of one of Wisconsin’s most reliable fishing hosts – Matt Bichanich. Matt knew exactly which of the many bays and inlets we should be fishing and what we should be using.

Being a Lake Erie bass angler, I am accustomed to clear water and windy conditions – that was good because both were in ample supply on this trip to the Green Bay area. High winds and waves battered us on day one, keeping us penned in where we did not want to be.

I also learned that the passage between the northern tip of Door County peninsula and Washington Island has a treacherous history of wrecking ships. (No, I didn’t learn that by firsthand experience!) So many ships went down in this strait that early explorers named it “Death’s Door” – a name that doesn’t encourage tourism! Fortunately, when the wind died, we found the smallmouth to be sassy and the scenery of Door County to be picture perfect.

The #1 Bass Presentation for Green Bay

Fast action with smallmouth bass fishing in Wisconsin's Green Bay

Wisconsin's Green Bay is famous for cheeseheads and fast and furious smallmouth bass fishing.

One lure has claimed the top spot among Green Bay smallmouth fanatics for years during the spring and early summer period – the curl-tail swimming grub. Actually, one brand name dominates all tackle sales in the area:  Kalin’s Lunker Grub. Cast it out on a jighead, let it find bottom and then slowly swim it back – “slow rolling,” we like to call it. Head weight will range from 1/16-ounce to 1/4-ounce depending on depth and wave conditions. And don’t forget to include 3/16-oz size in the mix – it’s my favorite all-around jig weight.

Swimming grubs is one of my favorite tactics at this time of year, so I was very comfortable with it. This technique produces smallmouth moving up towards spawning flats as well as smallmouth moving away from beds, covering depths from 4 to 20 feet. Every angler has his go-to color, but I like to experiment with an array of natural-like preyfish hues to let the smallmouth pick the one they want on any particular day. But be sure to always have never-fail Smoke with you!

Additional Presentations for Green Bay Smallmouth

  • With the water slow to warm in the more northern inlets on the west side and all the inlets on the east side of the Door County peninsula, smallmouths generally do not begin bedding until June. Although not my cup of tea, bed fishing appears popular with many area anglers. An effective clear water presentation is to pinpoint a clean swept nesting site, toss out a white or chartreuse tube jig and drag it over the bed.
  • As bass finish up spawning chores, Matt Bichanich begins slinging a baitfish colored swim jig to isolated rocks and weed clumps on the flats.
  • Once bass have moved to offshore deeper water structure towards in the later part of June, Bichanich switches to a drop shot rig with a minnow-imitating small worm.
A beautiful sunset on the lake at Green Bay, WI.

You'll enjoy great smallmouth bass fishing and a few beautiful sunsets like this over Green Bay.

Door County, Wisconsin at a Glance

  • Location:  The northeastern peninsula of Wisconsin extending into Lake Michigan and creating Green Bay.
  • Where to Fish:  Spring and early summer smallmouth fishing takes place in relatively shallow, somewhat protected bays and inlets primarily on the west side of the peninsula.
  • What to Expect:  Extraordinary options for fishing in both inlet bays and on the shallow shelf of Green Bay proper. We found incredible numbers of 2- to 4-pound smallmouth; however, beasties over 5½ pounds were not to be found.
  • Smallmouth Season:  Green Bay is open to smallmouth fishing from early May to March of the following year; check the specific dates each year.
  • Lodging:  An extremely popular tourist destination, Door County offers a wide variety of places to stay including small hotels, quaint inns, bed & breakfast lodging, waterfront condos, rental homes or cottages, and campgrounds. Visit www.doorcounty.com for more information.

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How To Catch Bass: Lake Erie Smallmouth

Posted on May 24, 2012 by HavalonKnives

Surefire Smallmouth Tactics, Part 2

How To Catch Lake Erie’s Eastern Basin Smallmouth

By Darl Black

How to catch bass photo of lake erie smallmouth

Want to catch husky bass like this? Fish the eastern basin of Lake Erie for smallmouth.

When conditions are right in May or June – a sun-filled day during a multiple-day warming trend with a south or west breeze of between 8 mph and 12 mph – I head for Lake Erie’s Eastern Basin for smallmouth. If I’m accompanied by a new friend on his first Erie smallmouth outing, I’ll begin humming theme music from the movie “Jaws” as we work lures on a known big bass area waiting for that first solid thump.

Newbies may wonder what the deal is… until confronted with the biggest smallmouth bass they have ever seen on the end of their line.

Likened to the line from Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, “All of Gaul is divided into three parts…” – only in this case, Lake Erie is divided into three basins: Western, Central and Eastern. The Eastern Basin covers the portion of the lake from Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle Peninsula eastward to Buffalo.

Today, this is the basin where “the Big Bass” grow – lots of 5- to 7-pound smallmouth. The back story on these oversize smallies involves zebra mussels, gobies and global warming, but it’s too involved to detail here. Suffice to say if you are interested in catching multiple big smallmouths, you need to make the trip to the Eastern Basin during the spring or early summer.

Hot Fishing Tips for Late Spring into Early Summer

How to catch bass image of lake erie smallmouth with tube jig.

Make sure you have a tube jig; it's a killer bait on Lake Erie.

The earliest shallow-water movement of smallmouth occurs at Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle Bay, which is the natural harbor for the city of Erie. Smallies typically move onto the flats in early May to begin their spawning routine. Meanwhile, things are just starting to warm up farther east on the Lake near Buffalo. Waves of smallmouth move in and out of spawning habitat up and down the southern shoreline of Erie during May and June.

In the main lake, spawning generally occurs deeper than the protected bays, harbors and inlet areas along the shoreline. Out in the Lake, I’ve witnessed smallmouth on beds in 20 feet of water as late as early July. Yes, some years the water is clear enough to see bass in 20 feet, but sandy silt stirred by storms and algae growth often reduce visibility.

I’ve never endorsed targeting bass on beds. Ample pre-spawn and post-spawn smallmouths roam the Erie waters throughout this period, making that unnecessary.

My Favorite Patterns for Pre- and Post-Spawn Bass, and How to Use Them:

(1)   Pre-Spawn Deepwater: Call me old fashioned, but my early season vote goes to a 4″ tube jig or 5″ swimming grub for bass in 18 to 30 feet of water. Run a few passes over a deep flat or extended point to spot check, but don’t be upset if you don’t actually see bass on the screen. Many times they hug the bottom so tightly beside rocks that you miss them. Either drop visible structure markers or GPS icons at interesting sites, then set up a drift that allows you to fish by these icons or markers. Use a sufficiently heavy jig head to occasionally bump bottom on the drift, and remember to deploy a drift sock if breezy.

(2)   Immediate Pre-Spawn: As water temps warm and waves of smallmouth begin moving toward shallower water (less than 18 feet), suspending jerkbaits often reign supreme. Be sure to carry both normal models (dives to 3 to 5 feet) and deep suspending models (dives to 6 feet or deeper). Fish your favorite colors, but be sure to bring Clown.

(3)    Shallow Roamers During Pre- and Post-Spawn: Only need two baits for shallow smallies – a Green Pumpkin sinking worm rigged wacky style and a Hot Pink soft jerkbait. Wow, what a fun time to fish!

(4)   Post-Spawn Moderate and Deep Smallies: Very often in bays, harbors and inlets, smallmouth will hold on offshore humps to feed before actually migrating out to the main lake. This is crankbait time, thereby allowing you to fish fast and check a lot of territory. You want baits that have a sharp dive plane and reach 10 to 12 feet.

(5)   Post-Spawn/Summer Deepwater: This is the best time for the increasingly popular drop-shot method. Gobies are very active by now and smallmouths are feeding heavily on them. Rig a goby-like fish shape, tube or 4-inch worm on a drop shot rig and probe rock piles, sharp drop-offs and odd rocky bottom structures at depths from 15 to 30 feet.

Lake Erie Eastern Basin at a Glance

  • Where the fish are:  Roughly 100 miles of nearshore waters to fish between Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY. Vital depth for bass in spring and early summer ranges from shallows to about 40 feet.
  • Season:  The Lake Erie spring smallmouth season is geared to catch & release with minimal harvest. PA: 1 bass, 20-inches from mid-April to mid-June; NY: 1 bass, 20-inch minimum from early May to late June. Regulations are subject to change, so check before you fish.
  • Safety:  Lake Erie can quickly become a very dangerous place when winds shift or increase in velocity. Be sure your boat is big-water seaworthy with all required safety equipment including Coast Guard Approved Signaling Devices for Great Lakes.
  • Launching: Safe harbor launch sites are limited, but adequate. In Pennsylvania, launch sites include several in Presque Isle Bay at city of Erie, Shades Beach Park (small boats only) and North East Marina near town of North East. In New York, safe harbor launch sites include Barcelona, Dunkirk, Angola and Buffalo Small Boat Harbor.
  • Lodging:  Variety of lodging near the lake. Contact www.visiterie.com for PA info; www.tourchautauqua.com and www.visitbuffaloniagara.com  for NY info.

Next post: How To Catch Smallmouth Bass – Part 3, Green Bay

Click here to See How to Catch Smallmouth Bass – Part 1 

About Darl Black…

A lifelong freshwater angler and veteran writer/photographer, Darl tackles a wide variety of fishing related stories for print publications and websites.  Of all fishing, angling for smallmouth bass is his favorite pastime.  He may be reached for assignment at darlblack@windstream.net.

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How To Catch Bass: Spring to Summer Smallmouth

Posted on May 23, 2012 by HavalonKnives

Surefire Smallmouth Tactics, Part 1

By Darl Black

In the next three posts, follow Darl Black as he takes us on a tour of three great places to fish for smallmouth bass while revealing expert techniques and tricks worth trying in your favorite smallmouth waters. 

How to catch bass: smallmouth taken with topwater plug

Throw topwater plugs past cover in late spring - early summer to catch smallmouth like this bass.

“Over there… wanna bet there’s a smallmouth guarding fry around that submerged bush?” queries Jim Duckworth while making a gesture of his rod towards a fishy looking spot in the back of a pocket on the lower end of Center Hill Lake.

“Jim, you’re the guide and this is your lake. I’m not going to make that sucker bet,” I respond with a smile.

“Bet? That was a rhetorical question, not a bet,” says Jim. “I don’t want to take your money on a sure thing!”

Good place to fish for smallmouth Center Hill Lake TNJim fires his surface plug beyond the bush and works the bait up to the cover. When the plug edges around the right side of the bush without incident, I’m beginning to think I should have made the bet. But then, about two feet past the cover, a large swirl appears on the surface and the prop bait disappears as if being flushed down a toilet. Jim rears back on his rod, and the water explodes as a brown fish rockets skyward.

“Got him! I got him!” shouts an elated Duckworth as if this was his first smallmouth ever, even though he has taken thousands of smallies from Center Hill – including one over 8 pounds.

Bass Fishing Tip: Late Spring into Early Summer Means Topwater Action

I first met Jim Duckworth during a trip to Dale Hollow Lake near Tennessee’s border with Kentucky about a decade ago. He invited me down to fish smallmouth on Center Hill, a little farther south, the following spring and we caught brown bass on Bandit crankbaits until our wrists hurt. I’ve been back several times, always enjoying the smallmouth experience.

This most recent trip to central Tennessee included the opportunity to test Jim’s new handcrafted topwater baits – the Splashing Pup prop bait and the Duck’s Dawg walking bait.

The water level in the reservoir was higher than normal due to an unusually rainy spring. The first wave of smallmouth had already spawned, eggs had hatched and males were guarding bunches of fry.

“This is the ideal situation for a prop bait,” explains Jim. “When smallmouths are guarding their offspring in shallow water before fry dispersal, they are nervously aggressive. If you go with too large or too loud of a lure presentation, fish will spook. A finesse topwater presentation is the answer. The single rear propeller along with the Bleeding Red treble hooks on my Splash Pup are key triggers. Unlike similar molded plastic topwater baits, my wood bait will cast a long distance and dance perfectly on the surface with a slight twitch. It’s just the right combination for shallow smallmouth. My clients absolutely love fishing topwater all day long at this time of year!”

Pack These Lures for Center Hill Lake, Tennessee

Early Spring

Post Spawn

Summer

Next post: How to Catch Lake Erie’s Smallmouth Bass

About Darl Black

A lifelong freshwater angler and veteran writer/photographer, Darl tackles a wide variety of fishing related stories for print publications and websites.  Of all fishing, angling for smallmouth bass is his favorite pastime.  He may be reached for assignment at darlblack@windstream.net.

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How To Fish Walleye In The Weeds – Part 2

Posted on May 22, 2012 by HavalonKnives

How to Catch Walleye in the Weeds (Part 2 of 2)

By Bernie Barringer

How to catch walleye in the weeds image of walleye with jig.

A simple jig fished vertically is often all you need to catch walleye in thick weeds.

Now that you know why weeds attract walleyes, whether it’s cabbage, milfoil, or your local variety of pondweed, how do you catch them?

Three Tips for How to Catch Walleye in Weeds

Obviously fishing walleye in the weeds presents its own set of problems. Some people get annoyed by continually stopping to remove vegetation from their bait. If that’s you, this might not be your best technique for how to catch walleye. But if you’re willing to put up with this little inconvenience in exchange for a nice batch of walleyes, then read on.

1.  Fish walleye vertically. This might mean sneaking up on an opening in an otherwise congested weedbed to drop a jig into the hole as vertically as possible. In fact, that’s the way I catch more walleye from weeds than any other technique. Drop the jig to the bottom, bounce it up and down a few times, and then move on to the next spot and drop the jig again. Usually, if the spot holds a fish, it will hit the jig in the first 15 seconds. They tend to hit it on the drop, so keep a tight line as you drop the jig down.

2.  Target the cruisers. Walleye in weedbeds tend to be loosely schooled and cruising through the area, looking for a pod of baitfish. When you find one fish, work the area over well – others are sure to be there. I’ve often taken a limit, or enough for a shore lunch, in an area the size of the hood on my pickup.

3.  Aim for ambushers. Another great spot to catch walleye is along the deep edges of weedlines on a steep drop-off. The steeper the drop, the more distinct the weedline will be. You can search the area with a deep-diving crankbait, then spin around and drop your jig down when you contact a fish. In this case, walleyes tend to be ambush feeding rather than cruising. They find a good-looking spot and back themselves into the edge, facing out. When something that looks like an easy meal comes by, they slide out and grab it. Again, catch one and a half-dozen more walleye are likely to be there.

Reelin’ ’em in

How to catch walleye - Sterling Barringer

The author's son, Sterling, has obviously learned a thing or two about how to catch walleye
in the weeds.

Once you catch a walleye in thick weeds, you might have a challenge getting it out – especially if it’s a big one. I prefer a stiff fishing rod with lots of backbone and a fast tip. I spool it with 10- to 20-pound superline so it won’t stretch. Crank your drag down pretty tight and when you hook a fish, quickly wrestle it to the top. The key is to lift it as straight up as possible to avoid getting wrapped around the stems of weeds.

The best time of the year to catch walleye in the weeds is June and July. If you are looking for a meal of tasty walleye fillets, go snooping around a bed of cabbage this summer.

Click here to see The Best Fillet Knife for Walleye  

About Bernie Barringer:

Bernie Barringer is a lifelong angler who has competed in professional walleye tournaments. He enjoys fishing for all species and writing about his experiences for many outdoor magazines. He is current editor of Bear Hunting magazine.

What’s your secret for catching walleye in weeds?  Share with the Havalon nation.

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How To Fish Walleye When They’re In The Weeds

Posted on May 21, 2012 by HavalonKnives

When they abandon their usual habitat, here’s how to find…

Walleye in the Weeds  (Part 1 of 2)

 

By Bernie Barringer

How to fish walleye in the weeds

Learning how to fish walleye in the weeds has its benefits, as the author demonstrates.

Walleye are known as the fish of deep water, edges, humps, rock piles, and what pinpoint fishermen call “the spot on the spot.” If you read books about how to fish walleye and watch DVDs you won’t notice more than a passing mention of walleye in relation to submerged vegetation. Yet walleye, like all fish, go where the food goes. And sometimes, the food is in the weeds.

Most fish spawn in the shallows in the spring. They’re looking for warm water and cover in the form of vegetation that will give their young a fighting chance at survival. By early summer, young-of-the-year prey fish move out a little deeper and that’s when the deeper weeds hold the most fish. Predatory walleyes follow in large numbers. They’re actively feeding and relatively easy for fishermen to catch.

1. Find Weeds That Hold Walleye

Two primary types of weeds attract fish, Pondweed and Milfoil. Other types of vegetation will hold some fish at times, but these two types are the most consistent, and pondweed tops them all. Most anglers refer to pondweed as “Cabbage.” I have no idea where that name came from because it looks nothing like a head of cabbage, but the name sticks so that’s what we will call it.

Don’t assume all cabbage varieties are the same. Of the several varieties, the wider the leaf the better; wider leaves create more shade and cover. Curly-leaf pondweed comes up quickly in the spring, but begins to die off in midsummer.

Milfoil can be good at times, particularly if you find it in a lake with little or no cabbage. Northern Watermilfoil is called Coontail in many places. This is not to be confused with Eurasian Milfoil, an invasive species which has a bad reputation among fisheries managers and water skiers, though not so bad among fish.

2. Use Search Techniques in the Weeds

If the food is in the weeds, and the walleyes are in the weeds, how do we go about finding them and getting them out? I can give you literally dozens of instances where bass fishermen – I or someone I know – have discovered a walleye hanging off a spinnerbait hook, a bass jig or a crankbait while fishing for bass in the weeds.

So the best place to start learning how to fish walleye in the weeds is to use a search technique – using a bait that moves fairly fast. Then when you contact a walleye, slow down and work the area over thoroughly with a jig. You can tip your jig with a minnow, a Powerbait, or just a twister tail. When you get the bait in front of a fish, they will bite it.

Next time… Specific tips on how to catch walleye in the weeds.

See More Tips from Bernie on How to Fish Walleye, Click Here

About Bernie Barringer:

Bernie Barringer is a lifelong angler who has competed in professional walleye tournaments. He enjoys fishing for all species and writing about his experiences for many outdoor magazines.  Bernie is also editor of Bear Hunting magazine.

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