Opener

[Macsimus]

Kicked off the 2018 campaign on a lake south of the metro. We launched at 5:45, successfully avoiding opening day ramp madness. I fished with two sons and a grandson, 4 of 5 members of Team Mac. It was a surprising mixed bag day. I fished with my youngest son and we had several nice northerns with his biggest going 36". Also, we each caught a 20" walleye (mine came home for Mother's Day dinner for the missus). Also, several big crappies caught on bass gear and twenty LM (our actual target species) from 13 - 193/4". Slow rolled horizontal baits (chatterbait, small spinnerbaits, and small swim baits) combined for a little over half of the bass with a tx-rigged tube producing the rest. With the recent cold weather, as expected, the LM were not on the beds and were not very shallow. After hunting and pecking around a little, we eventually located a nice school in a small depression out near the opening of a large spawning bay. The depression had cabbage which was no doubt holding them with a depth of 4-5'. We boated eleven from 16 to the 193/4 before they turned off. I would've killed for some power poles as we were constantly on the troller trying to keep in position in a gusty east wind. Grandson boated a plump 19" LM and numerous smaller fish on swim baits. Water temps were 54-59. Just a very enjoyable day on the water and a great start to the season. Heading to Fergus area Wednesday for a long weekend.

Anyone else enjoy some good action?

[basscla]

Sounds like an excellent start Cal

[Dubtee]

Macsimus, I experienced the exact same thing as you - I mean exact! Took me a couple hours to figure where they were but once I found them, the bite was on. Seemed like cabbage and the first green milfoil held a pile of them. Ripping a Red eye shad off the vegetation did most my damage, boated a few of those slimers as well - one big one. My best 5 bass were real close to 20 lbs, suckers are totally fat and staged to spawn.

[MinnBasser]

Pretty much the exact thing for me also. Bass were in 4-6” sitting in vegetation getting ready to spawn. Most productive lure was the Jackhammer, even caught one on my first cast with it so I’m a believer.

[DrewFlu33]

Amazing how different different lakes can be. I didn't get out until after 10 am due to being up until 2:30 am getting the boat ready to go (late storage pick up due to the late snowfall and procrastination all week...), but I struggled like I've never struggled on an opener before on a smallish lake south of the Metro. They definitely were not shallow. Finally ran into a group of them at around 2:30 on an isolated weed patch and pulled in 5 between 3 and 4 lbs in 10 minutes before having number 6 get off and shut down the school. I was able to run that pattern a little bit before having to leave and caught a few more. The jerkbait of all things was the only thing I could get them to bite.

[basscat tyler]

Now that’s how I like to see them eat a jerkbait!

[Dubtee]

Hit it yesterday during the rain, small west metro lake. Water was already 65. Too much chop to really see beds, but caught a lot of bucks shallow on the chatter. Ran into some females just out from the bank on different types of structure. I think they are moving up any day now on this particular lake.

[Macsimus]

I have yet to catch a fish on a chatterbait. It's one of those confidence things. I tie it on, make a dozen casts, don't get a bite, and put it back down on the deck. I need instant gratification! Sounds like this is a good year to give it another go!

[DrewFlu33]

Now that’s how I like to see them eat a jerkbait!

Absolutely! They all seemed to eat it like that too!

I have yet to catch a fish on a chatterbait. It's one of those confidence things. I tie it on, make a dozen casts, don't get a bite, and put it back down on the deck. I need instant gratification! Sounds like this is a good year to give it another go!

This is a great time of year to get some confidence in it I think! For what it's worth, I had a ton of success on it last spring around the spawn fishing it through wind blown reeds. Steering it with the rod tip to bang it into anything and everything possible seemed to be ticket most times. Wind is the key, else they seem to be too spooky up that shallow to eat it. Of course ripping it through coontail and milfoil sort of like you'd do with a lipless or even a squarebill always works as well. That just seems to be a little more effective later in the year once all the slimy stuff goes away and you can fish the weeds a little more cleanly. My $0.02 anyhow!

[Macsimus]

This is a great time of year to get some confidence in it I think! For what it's worth, I had a ton of success on it last spring around the spawn fishing it through wind blown reeds. Steering it with the rod tip to bang it into anything and everything possible seemed to be ticket most times. Wind is the key, else they seem to be too spooky up that shallow to eat it. Of course ripping it through coontail and milfoil sort of like you'd do with a lipless or even a squarebill always works as well. That just seems to be a little more effective later in the year once all the slimy stuff goes away and you can fish the weeds a little more cleanly. My $0.02 anyhow!

Appreciate the tips

[Dubtee]

Good tips Drew. Same thing here, love it this time of year over submerged vegetation. Let it get hung for a second, then once it comes free they'll nail it. Like Drew said, wind is key. I like it better than the treble hook baits around vegetation as it seems to swim through grass really well. You'll have to deal with the loose stuff/slime a little, but it's not too bad. Skips like a dream too around docks. I have a buddy who makes them for about $1.50 each in material, we've caught literally hundreds of bass with them all over the country over the last couple years.

[Macsimus]

Thanks Jeff. Welcome to BBC.