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Early Season Bass Fishing: A Northwoods Gem!
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The waters around Eagle River, Phelps, Sayner, Conover, and Land O' Lakes are famous for the excellent walleye and musky fishing opportunities. The Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass fisheries in Vilas County are largely ignored by many anglers. I am here to tell you that the bass fishing in these areas is simply phenomenal! This article is intended to promote our wonderful bass fishery here in Vilas County and teach you how to catch them consistently in May and June.

Smallmouths:

My favorite bass species is the Smallmouth hands down! Their fighting ability is outstanding, often highlighted by frequent jumps and powerful downward pulls during the battle. Let's take a look at location and presentation for May and June Smallies. Our fishing opener here in Northern Wisconsin is always the first weekend in May. Bass season is open at this time, but it is strictly catch and release only until the third week of June. These regulations are designed to protect the spawning females from over harvest by anglers. We are blessed with an abundance of quality trophy Smallmouth lakes to choose from in a relatively small area. Let's take a look at tactics and location of Smallmouth Bass for the May opener.

When opening day arrives, most lakes are usually in the mid-fifties for water temperature. This is a little cool for the bass to migrate in heavily to shoreline areas yet. My best tactic for these per-spawn fish is to fish just outside known spawning haunts and cast rattle baits such as Rattle Traps, Rattlin' Raps, and other deeper running crankbaits. I key on depths of six to ten feet of water. These pre-spawn fish often travel in large schools as they stage in these mid-depth areas before the water temps climb to the sixties. Work these deeper hard bottom edge areas with slowly retrieved crankbaits, as you strive to locate the most active fish. When a school of fish is located and you have caught three or four fish on cranks, switch rods and grab a 3 inch natural colored tube and cast that into the school for the more neutral bass that passed up the crankbait. This one-two punch is dynamite for pre-spawn bass on opening weekend with a normal ice-out.

As spring progresses, the water temperatures in the shallows begin to heat up with the increased daylight and air temperatures. This solar heating effect draws the bass into the shallows like a magnet. Remember that the mid-day hours are tops this time of year rather than the early and late periods in the day. Why? Because all fish species are positively affected by solar warmth. Their metabolism is increased, causing them to be a lot more active. This is why, if your schedule permits, you should concentrate on the middle of the day as much as possible. Now, favorite shallow water locations for Smallmouths include sand, gravel, or a mix of both. The key is hard bottom. They prefer to build their nests on these firmer bottom types. If there are any fallen logs or concrete blocks or similar structure mixed in, then you have the ideal habitat to locate these shallow water fish.

I typically scout out these areas with a combination of my polarized sunglasses (which are critical to your success, I might add) and speed lures such as shallow running crank baits or spinner baits. I am always fishing clear water, which is typical of the best Smallmouth lakes in the area, so I can always tell when the shallow fish are present. I prefer Northland Reed Runner spinner baits, especially with tandem Colorado blades, in colors like chartreuse and white, with gold blades, all chartreuse, or white with silver blades. Preferred cranks include shallow running Shad Raps, or Rattlin' Rogues. If you pick off some active fish in these areas, then once again come back through with tubes in pumpkin pepper, watermelon, or smoke colors and you will catch a lot more fish. I once again want to stress the importance of using the right size tube here. I prefer and use a three-inch tube rather than the typical Largemouth tubes that are fatter and usually four inches long. The Smallmouths really show a preference for these smaller, finesse type lures. My favorite tube is made by Joe Bucher Tackle, and is called the Pro Finesse Tube (I helped design it when I worked for Bucher Tackle Co.). The colors and size of these tubes are simply deadly here in the Eagle River area. Other lures that are good for shallow Smallmouths are three-inch reapers and curly tail grubs on a 1/16th or 1/8th ounce black jig head. Colors for these offerings include chartreuse, smoke with red flake, black, and pumpkin pepper. These type of lures are more finesse in nature, and work great on pressured fish, during cold fronts, or after you have caught a bunch of aggressive bass on spinner baits or cranks.

When the fish actually start spawning, the best lure options based on my experience seem to be the finesse offerings. My top lure choices would be the reaper/jig head combos, 4 inch finesse worm/jig head combos, or even the 3 inch twister tail on a 1/16th of 1/8th ounce jig. A very important thing to point out regarding these shallow bass is the importance of stealth as you approach these spawning areas. The clear water combined with minimal depth can cause the big females to become ultra spooky, so this is where the quality polarized glasses again become critical, and slow deliberate boat control is an absolute must. When a bedded fish is spotted, cast your lure past the bed and slowly work it towards the fish. Very often, the fish will charge out of the bed to grab the lure. Other times, the bass will be extremely finicky and fussy. Here is where you need to hone your technique for triggering these fish into striking. My favorite method is to drag the lure right into the center of the bed, and let it sit there. Sometimes it might take three to four minutes until the bass picks up the lure. Other times, you will find out that you need to repeatedly drop the lure into the bed to aggravate the bass into striking. This might take ten to twelve attempts, but this can be very exciting if the fish you are working is a twenty-inch female! Now, it is also important to note that proper catch and release techniques are vital during this spawning time to ensure that the bass are released immediately so they can swim right back to their nests. This will ensure quality bass fishing for years to come.

As the spawning period winds down, the big females move out of the shallows to recuperate. The males will aggressively defend the nests, and will take a wide variety of lure offerings. You can use cranks, tubes, jig/reaper or jig/worm combos, or even top water lures. By this time of year, the water temps have progressed to the lower sixty degrees range, and these remaining fish are very active. A very fun and effective technique is to fish the shallows with spinner baits or top water lures such as Chug Bugs or Zara Spooks. Top water Smallie action is exciting and can be fast and furious at times. You can come back through these same areas and use a crank bait or a tube and catch additional bass that missed your top water lures.

Northern Wisconsin bass fishing offers opportunities for all ages! Here, the author's son, Matthew Dietz, poses with a chunky largemouth he caught on a spinner bait.

Largemouths:

Northern Wisconsin has some very impressive Largemouth Bass, if you know where to look! Fish up to twenty-three inches are very possible, with the average trophy fish hovering around the nineteen to twenty inch size. Many of our best Largemouth Bass lakes are known as "pothole" lakes, or lakes smaller than 150 acres. These smaller lakes are typically shallow, weedy lakes with lots of fallen trees and other shoreline structure. This makes for ideal Largemouth habitat, and we are lucky to have a lot of these lakes available in this region. We also have some larger lakes that produce some exceptional Largemouth, even though muskellunge are the primary predators in those lakes.

Largemouth Bass, like the Smallmouth, are attracted to warming water temperatures each spring. Largemouths will roam the shallows seeking warm water prior to the spawn. These fish are susceptible to tube jigs slowly pumped through the water, or slow rolled spinner baits. Warm, sunny days are best for these pre-spawn Largemouths. Also, it is critical to pay attention to surface temperatures this time of year. Often a two to three degree increase in surface temperatures will draw large numbers of bass into a concentrated area, which makes for fast and furious fishing action! Wind can blow warmer surface water into a particular bay, or it could be a northern bay with southerly exposure that captures more solar warmth. These little details often can make a huge difference to your success on the water. These pre-spawn Largemouths can also be caught on crank baits, particularly rattle type cranks such as Rattle Traps, etc.

As the spring progresses, the Largemouths move into their spawning areas. These are typically areas that have a softer bottom, mixed with some sand. Bull rushes, shallow fallen timber areas, or Lily Pad areas are favored spawning haunts. Now is the time to tie on your favorite spinner bait, and fan cast your lure over the top of the emerging reeds or pads, or around the timber. Largemouths will come out of the cover to strike your lure. I recommend Northland Reed Runner spinner baits in chartreuse and white skirts, with either gold blades or chartreuse blades for spring time Largemouths. Bedded Largemouth Bass can be ultra finicky! My best weapon for these fussy bass still remains the little three inch reaper with either a 1/16th ounce jig or simply a split shot in front of a Texas rigged reaper. If you are fishing heavy cover, utilize a Charlie Brewer Slider Head and again rig the reaper Texas style. This presentation is awesome on these shallow bass in snag filled areas. My best overall color is still black, although black neon and chartreuse will take their share of fish. As the spawning period winds down, the bass will migrate to inside weed edges and docks and piers. On sunny days, pier fishing can be absolutely outstanding! These bass are drawn to these docks because of the natural cover and shade they provide, as well as the smaller minnows that hang around them.

Tom Dietz is the Store Manager of the Baxter Minnesota Gander Mountain store, and resides in Baxter, Brainerd, Area Minnesota. He guides for muskies professionally in Minnesota and frequently fishes muskies in the PMTT Tournament Circuit each year. He gives seminars and writes articles on a regular basis. Tom is originally from Wisconsin, a multi species angler since 1988.

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