My best CRAPPIE on a JERKBAIT since I started this channel. The bait used was a Lucky Craft SK 80 Jerkbait which they no longer make – but a close substitute is the Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP.
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My best LARGEMOUTH BASS on a JERKBAIT since I started this channel. The bait used was a Lucky Craft SK 80 Jerkbait which they no longer make – but a close substitute is the Lucky Craft USA Pointer 100 SP.
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My best LARGEMOUTH BASS on a JIGWORM since I started this channel. The bait used was a Lunkerhunt Lunker Stick on a 1/16 ounce Mustad Grip Pin Jighead.
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Largemouth Bass Fishing in Illinois comes with a fair amount of curveballs. Muck, for one thing, can foul trebles in clear water if you’re bumping rocks. Unexpected algae blooms can pop up overnight – turning your crankbait pattern into a swimbait (or even topwater frog) pattern. Some ponds that LOOK great can be completely “turned off”, while other nearby ponds of similar size can be active.
Some might be prespawn, others postspawn. Some are hungry, some aren’t. Some will bite, some won’t.
The moral of the story?
Not every body of water will be doing the same thing at the same time – even if the are geographically close to one another and look similar.
The same can be true of creek arms and different areas within the same massive body of water. This is something we’ll explore more once we migrate from Illinois to Arkansas.
So if you want to catch more bass… you have to be versatile! You have to be ready to make adjustments on the fly, and alter your plans so that you can catch more fish when others would simply say the ‘ol standby throwaway line…
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Largemouth Bass Fishing can be tough in cold conditions early in the fishing season – especially in Illinois. Some guys like to drag jigs… others like to pull a Carolina rig… but in my case, we have to navigate the rocks and the leftover MUCK. On smaller lakes, it can be difficult to develop any sort of pattern… but… can you develop a pattern on smaller lakes?
Sure you can.
Today we’ll be fishing a certain KIND of lake with a certain kind of structure, with a jigworm, a chatterbait, and a jerkbait. I have never actually caught a largemouth bass on a jerkbait… but that ends today!
I’ve had a Lucky Craft SK 80 (Stacey King) Jerkbait in Ghost Olive Green Shiner. Absolutely killer looking little bait. Nowadays I think I’ll have to look into the Lucky Craft Pointers as this bait has been discontinued… but it finally produced a big ‘ol chonk for me.
The jigworm was a stout little combo – half of a Lunkerhunt Lunker Stick on a Mustad Grip Pin Jig. I love these jigs because they are a little more stout and don’t bend as easily as lightwire hooks – some of which bent straight on mean ‘ol Mr. Smalljaw last year and cost me a few quality fish.
So let’s get out there and fish some cold water, and see if we can put together a bit of an early season pattern that will help us put more fish in the boat! … er… on the shore!
Quick little update on the homefront as well in this one as we continue to work and save up so that we can sell, move south, get a boat and a slip and get to learning all about Bull Shoals, Arkansas.
Let’s get to grinding.
Godspeed, Patriots.
Patterning Small Lakes for Early Season Largemouth Bass (Jerkbait + Jigworm)
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CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Illinois Time of Year: First Week of May – Afternoon Weather: Cold Overcast w/ Drizzle Air Temperature: 50°F
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Rock Bass Fishing with a Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail tipped with a leech is a deadly presentation almost any season of the year, any time of the day, any day of the week. This jig by Acme Tackle will catch anything, like crappie and aggressive bluegill, green sunfish and pumpkinseed – even largemouth bass – but nobody seems to love ’em as much as Mr. Smalljaw… and… well… Mr. Rock Bass.
While fishing smallmouth bass, we had a couple aggressive rock bass lunch our jigs… and when you consider I’m using a 7 foot heavy rod to set the hook… I mean you just gotta laugh!
Tight lines.
Blasting Rock Bass on a 7 Foot Heavy Fishing in Wisconsin
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Northern Wisconsin Fishing – especially near Minocqua – can be an absolute blast! BIG smallmouth bass and northern pike cruise these super-clear, cool waters. You’ll even find the occasional largemouth bass and musky. Other gamefish like crappie, bluegill and perch are present to round out your day or fill the livewell… and did I mention musky?
Wisconsin fishing at it’s finest.
On the previous morning we had decided to look for stable water in the 20 and even 30 foot range. Storms had plagued our trip, and the water temperature had actually cooled by about 10 degrees since we arrived. The search had paid off, and after finding some large clumps of weeds (with defined edges) peppered with scattered logs, we hit paydirt at a depth of about 15 feet.
This same pattern worked well on the OTHER side of the lake. We worked similar situations across a large shelf, or flat, and looked for clumps of weeds and sunken logs while making sure we paid attention to where the massive balls of bait were… because the smallmouth always seemed to be right behind…
My Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail Jigs were responsible for the biggest smallmouth (tipped with a live leech) and I also used a 1/16 ounce Erie Dearie Hog Hunter Weedless Jighead with 1/2 of a Z-Man Hula Stick. I ended the day working a Strike King Swim-N-Shiner on a weighted swimbait hook through the weeds, landing the biggest pike I’ve ever pulled out of this lake.
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My best LARGEMOUTH BASS on a CHATTERBAIT since I started this channel. The bait used was a Z-Man CrossEyeZ Fire Craw w/ Razor ShadZ Trailer, also in Fire Craw color.
I love bass fishing… now, let’s work so we can break more PBs!
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Largemouth Bass Fishermen love chatterbaits. They are very popular in certain situations, and popular in the early spring. Here in Illinois I haven’t had much luck bass fishing with them – but I’ve decided the best way to gain more confidence in this type of bait, is to put in some work.
Monsterbass recently sent me a Z-Man CrozzEyeZ in Fire Craw, with some Z-Man Razor ShadZ for trailers. The combo pairs well together, but it is difficult to get the trailer on the chatterbait because of the stretchiness of the material.
That said, once it is seated properly the two Z-Man products make for an effective little combo that should work well for Illinois bass fishing…
Let’s get to fishing, and I’ll tell you a bit more about the goals here on this channel as we go. Illinois fishing for now… but soon… Arkansas…
It’s go time.
Godspeed, Patriots.
Early Spring Chatterbait Bass Fishing (Z-Man CrossEyeZ in Fire Craw)
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CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Illinois Time of Year: Last Week of April – Late Morning Weather: Overcast & Chilly w/ Slight Breeze Air Temperature: 50°F
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Smallmouth bass fishing with a Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail tipped with a leech is a deadly presentation almost any season of the year, any time of the day, any day of the week. This jig by Acme Tackle will catch anything, like crappie and aggressive bluegill, green sunfish and pumpkinseed – even largemouth bass – but nobody seems to love ’em as much as Mr. Smalljaw!
On this morning fishing trip with Dad, we were looking deep to find fish that had not been affected by the recent rainy weather and cold, dropping Wisconsin temps.
We found a few… and this hookset in particular was EXTREMELY satisfying.
Tight lines.
Fishing Smallmouth Bass Deep & HAMMERING ’em on a Kalin’s Jig! (Awesome Wisconsin Fishing!)
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Kalin’s by the Acme Tackle Company makes tournament grade tackle at reasonable prices for those of us that fish for fun. On a recent trip to Wisconsin (near Minocqua) we were presented with difficult conditions. Rain, temperature drops in both the air and water, and spooky fish.
Bass fishing at it’s finest.
We decided to look deeper for more stable water and work some weedy humps down 20 – 30 feet. After an hour probing the depths, we motored in to a stretch of shoreline with clumps of weeds separated by sunken timber and sandy bottom. After finding a few good clumps of weeds next to logs in about 15 feet of water – we hit pay dirt.
Later that afternoon we went out again to fish for smallmouth bass and northern pike, and we found some good fish in very similar locations. We also switched up to Z-Man plastics because of all the panfish – the leeches we were using in the morning were in short supply at the local bait shop. Guides took priority (as they should), so we had to use them sparingly.
My Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail Jigs stole the show though, landing the most fish on the day (tipped with a leech), but a few other presentations worked on bass & pike as well.
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THE HUNT FOR 250: Bass Count for the Season: 128
CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Wisconsin Time of Year: 2nd Week of July – All Day Weather: Post-Storm Clear Skies & Afternoon Showers Air Temperature: 52°F / 75°F
PRESENTATIONS: Power Rig: Baitcaster w/ 3/8 oz Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail Jig & Leech Finesse Rig: Spinning Rods w/ 1/8 oz Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail Jig & Leech, Z-Man Plastics on Weighted Wacky Hook, Jig and Mini Texas Rig
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The Z-Man Hula Stick is one of my favorite fishing baits. It’s versatile, you can use it on down-sized Texas Rigs, Carolina Rigs, Tiny Child Rigs, the F4 Rig – or you can keep it completely simple – completely minimalist – and fish it on a small piece of lead with a hook… known as a JIG.
As the weather cools, largemouth are harder to find up shallow, and when you’re bank fishing like I often do, this can make things extra challenging. Still, slowly dragging a jigworm along the bottom of your favorite lake (with a few twitches and hops here and there) can be can effective way to get the attention of lethargic bass.
Even though it’s always fun to catch largemouth bass… fishing in 35 degree weather is… challenging.
I can’t wait for summer.
Cold Weather Largemouth Bass Fishing (Illinois Bank Fishing)
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Wisconsin bass fishing can be fun… and it can also be extremely challenging. This year when we went “up nort”, we were greeted with extremely hot temperatures – and 80 degree water. That was followed by storms, cool mornings, and a drop of about 10 degrees, all within 3 days.
Couple that with the fact that we were fishing an extremely clear, spring fed lake with extremely clear water… and you’ve got a recipe for one heck of a challenging trip.
But, we did what we had to do, put our heads down and kept grinding.
As you can see here, a handful of techniques worked, and we were able to make contact in areas that were similar to where we caught just a few good fish the 3 or 4 days prior.
Hard work makes victory so much sweeter!
Wisconsin Bass Fishing for Timid Biters
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THE HUNT FOR 250: Bass Count for the Season: 124
CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Wisconsin Time of Year: 2nd Week of July – All Day Weather: Bright, Clear Skies & Evening Storms Air Temperature: 50°F / 76°F
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Fishing a YUM Dinger is something I’m new to – believe it or not. Despite the immense popularity of this bait, I’ve never really used it all that much, tending to opt for a Strike King Ocho or Zoom Zlinkys, which are both loaded with salt and work well on a weightless Texas rig when I’m hunting largemouth bass.
The YUM Dinger has scent and it sinks on a weightless rig… but, very, very slowly… in some cases, this is good. On this particular morning it was extremely hot (as you can see from all the dead grass) and the water was VERY low. A slow sinking bait was the deal, and the YUM Dinger helped me land 3 or 4 fish on a morning that would have otherwise been a bust.
Was it hot?
Yeah.
Was it fun to catch bass?
Yeah.
Largemouth Bass Fishing a YUM Dinger Stickbait on an Extremely Hot Morning (Bank Fishing)
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Wisconsin fishing for the mighty Smallmouth Bass – and his close friend, Mr. Walleye – near Minocqua, WI. We fished for 3 days straight with some success, but nothing to write home about – casting every bait in our arsenal. Spoons, jerkbaits, jigs, bobbers, cranks, swimbaits, plastics of every kind – you name it. However on the third day, during an afternoon outing with my son, we came across an area with a ton of boat and swimmer traffic… and a HUGE load of panfish.
Crappie, pumpkinseed, bluegill, rock bass and perch…
Guess who we saw swimming underneath?
Yup. Big smallmouth. BIG SMALLMOUTH. The big smallmouth that had not been in the “regular spots”, like mid-lake humps, rock bars, sandy flats with scattered logs, or even the deep inner weed edges of isolated coves – and when we started to work the new area, we caught ’em, along with their sneaky friends, the walleye.
We had success with jigworms, leeches, finesse Texas rigs and weighted wacky worms.
Perseverance was the name of the game, and even though it took us several days to find them after the water temperature had dropped drastically with summer storms, the effort made success all the sweeter.
Wisconsin Bass Fishing
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THE HUNT FOR 250: Bass Count for the Season: 120
CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Wisconsin Time of Year: 2nd Week of July – All Day Weather: Cool & Clear Air Temperature: 42°F / 78°F
PRESENTATIONS: Power Rig: EVERYTHING Finesse Rig: Z-Man Plastics, Zoom Plastics, YUM Plastics & Powerbait on every delivery system you can imagine.
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Z-Man TRD MinnowZ can be very effective on a wide variety of gamefish. I’ve used them to catch panfish like crappie and aggressive bluegill, green sunfish and pumpkinseed – even largemouth bass – but nobody seems to love ’em as much as Mr. Smalljaw!
Smallmouth bass are suckers for jigworms. Especially jig worms with scent and salt… which was what made this catch a little surprising. Z-Man TRD MinnowZ are just plain ElaZtech. They do not contain salt like the traditional TRDs or Hula Sticks – but they can still work well in different situations.
On this warm afternoon I was fishing the tail end of the Manitowish Chain o Lakes up near Minocqua, Wisconsin. We had fished for about 90 minutes with just a few tiny bites, and my son had broken his pole.
Well… I broke his pole when I was trying to snap his jig out of a tree he caught… but let’s not point fingers…
We continued to finesse fish along a beautiful woody shoreline – and as you can see, while finesse fishing can be slow, it can also be very productive!
Tight lines.
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Fishing a Mann’s Baby 1-Minus is what allowed me to go from a crankbait novice, to a crankbait… well, not novice but whatever 1 step above that would be. I have a long way to go, but catching fish on crankbaits has quickly become one of my favorite ways to fish for largemouth (and smallmouth) bass!
Summer largemouth bass fishing comes with it’s fair share of challenges. Take sloppy, disgusting algae blooms for example. They’re gross. Now reduce the amount of water in a lake because of the heat, and that thick snot on top becomes a disgusting green blanket of dead bugs and line-discoloring stink.
The good news though, it it provides a lot of overhead cover for largemouth bass that are sitting up shallow, or even a bit further out from shore – like where this bass was caught. The thick snot blanket also hides YOU from the fish, which is a nice added bonus.
I can’t wait for summer.
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Summer largemouth bass fishing comes with it’s fair share of challenges. Take sloppy, disgusting algae blooms for example. They’re gross. Now reduce the amount of water in a lake because of the heat, and that thick snot on top becomes a disgusting green blanket of dead bugs and line-discoloring stink.
The good news though, it it provides a lot of overhead cover for largemouth bass that are sitting up shallow… and it also hides YOU, as you approach them. This sloppy bass was caught on a simple jigworm 2 or 3 feet off the bank. I was using 8lb fluorocarbon but my entire spool was colored green after just a few casts, and this was on a spinning reel combo. Actually, it was the BBFF pole that we fixed in a previous video.
I can’t wait for summer.
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Northern Illinois Fishing for Smallmouth Bass? Let’s do this. The following are my TOP 3.4 BAITS FOR ILLINOIS SMALLMOUTH that will put more of #bronzebacks in the boat (or on the shore)!
Illinois has a lot of issues… but one thing that we are blessed with is an abundance of smallmouth bass – and also sauger, saugeye, largemouth bass, drum, green sunfish and crappie – and some surprisingly beautiful areas to fish. If you know how to catch ’em, it’s JUST about enough to make you want to stay…
… not quite… but real close.
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Let’s get better.
Get Articles & Videos First
Catch More Fish Than Your Friends. Laugh At Their Tears.
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Summer largemouth (and smallmouth) big bass fishing at it’s finest! On a recent trip to Wisconsin (Rice Lake) my Dad and I were fishing jigs as the sun came up over the trees. It had been a slow morning of fishing, but for whatever reason when we rolled into this area we immediately hooked into two active fish – a largemouth AND a smallmouth at the same time!
Then Dad made fun of my GoPro… or “Ned Camera”, as he called it.
We caught several other fish on this Wisconsin fishing trip, but this was the most memorable moment of the morning.
Fun stuff!
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Northern Wisconsin Bass Fishing a Beautiful Spring Fed Lake with my Dad in the morning – then my son & brother in the evening. We caught a variety of species on this trip (which makes sense, as we were using jigs & spoons and even small wacky rigs) along both deep & shallow weed edges, but the best fish were smallmouth bass and a HUGE rock bass that my son landed.
Minocqua Wisconsin offers some of the best fishing, eating and atmosphere that you’ll find anywhere. We are huge fans of The Cheese Board and many of the downtown shops… and while these places near the lake help us enjoy the middle of the day… the morning and evenings are for one thing, and one thing only… fishing.
The Manitowish Chain O Lakes has a lot to offer up in that regard – and we specifically target areas shared by multiple-species like smallmouth bass, walleye, panfish, northern pike, and even the occasional largemouth bass – although the Wisconsin largemouth are usually not as large as what we grow in our neck of the woods.
We use fishing techniques that appeal across the board. Spoons flash like injured baitfish, while plastics resemble natural forage – or at times, chartreuse flash at dusk to get the attention of hungry predators in low light conditions.
If you’re in the area, make sure to use the tips & techniques shown in this video to catch your fill – and if Paul Bunyan’s opens back up – make sure to visit. That’s a good time as well.
Pure joy.
Northern Wisconsin Bass Fishing a Beautiful Spring Fed Lake
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THE HUNT FOR 250: Bass Count for the Season: 112
CONDITIONS: Location: Northern Wisconsin Time of Year: 2nd Week of July – Morning & Evening Weather: Cool & Clear Air Temperature: 44°F / 72°F
PRESENTATIONS: Power Rig: Long Cast & Retrieve w/ Repainted Spoons Finesse Rig: Spinning w/ 1/16 oz Mushroom Head Jigs & Hula Sticks + Weedless Wacky Rigged YUM Dinger (small)
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Fall Bass Fishing in Illinois can be off the charts fun. Fat largemouth bass are cruising, and even though they might be a bit lethargic… they know that it’s time to feed heavily to prepare for the cold, cold Midwest winter.
This is my least favorite time of the year… but leading UP to this time… it can be lights out.
On this morning I took the jon boat out to a lake not far from my house and worked the shoreline for about 3 hours total. It was close to November but still October, I think. While I did catch 4 or 5 largemouth bass total… it was a slow morning. Crankbaits that had worked previously came up short. Topwater was not happening. Even larger worms rigged wacky were not getting the attention they usually did… but then I downsized and started working a simple 5″ jigworm tied straight to my mainline.
This bruiser made the morning, and after a quick net + photo, she was released back to the depths to fight another day.
It’s freezing as I write this, and I can’t wait for the snow and ice that covers the lakes to thaw so we can get back to work…
This too shall pass.
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Smallmouth Bass Fishing in Minocqua Wisconsin. Dang! It don’t get much better than that! This smallmouth fishing tip (the trailing “bonus leech” under a bobber) is a nifty little trick that will put more fish in your boat… or livewell… and Wisconsin fishing with family?
EVEN BETTER!
On this morning my Dad and I had started bright and early throwing leeches on hair jigs. We also wanted to use a trick that a guide had shown us a few days earlier and put a third rod out with a slip bobber and a simple ballhead jig (with a leech on that as well) trailing far behind the boat. We would just pick it up if we saw the bobber drop, and the hope was that we might snag a “bonus” walleye or two for dinner. We worked our jigs all through some thick weeds anywhere from 8 to 15 feet deep, not really seeing a definitive edge, with the wind constantly pushing us here and there. It was a comfortable, cool breeze. Crisp. We soon found ourselves floating over a big sandy flat that came up shallow. The water was crystal clear, and we could pick out several sunken logs scattered throughout the sparse vegetation below. Then all of the sudden we noticed that a HUGE ball of tiny baitfish that had moved into the shadow of our boat… and a sizable group of smallmouth was following right behind ’em. They acted like sharks. As you can see when I noticed them I became silent, dropped my jig in the mass of bait, and almost instantly got bit by one of the SMALLER fish. A much larger smallmouth tried to take the jig from the fish I was fighting, and Dad tossed his jig in to try to get her attention as well, but no luck – and then to make matters worse, my small bass popped free and my leech fell off the jig during the fight. CRAP! I remembered the bobber floating behind the boat and reeled it in as fast as I could so the “bonus” leech would float right through the ball of bait… and fortunately this gal decided to inspect it… and inspect it… and inspect it again… until finally, she couldn’t take it and pulled the bobber under.
Tons of fun on the Manitowish Chain o Lakes.
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Minocqua Wisconsin offers some of the best fishing, eating and atmosphere that you’ll find anywhere. We are huge fans of The Cheese Board and many of the downtown shops… and while these places near the lake help us enjoy the middle of the day… the morning and evenings are for one thing, and one thing only… fishing.
The Manitowish Chain O Lakes has a lot to offer up in that regard – and we specifically target areas shared by multiple-species like smallmouth bass, walleye, panfish, northern pike, and even the occasional largemouth bass – although the Wisconsin largemouth are usually not as large as what we grow in our neck of the woods.
We use fishing techniques that appeal across the board. Spoons flash like injured baitfish, while plastics resemble natural forage – or at times, chartreuse flash at dusk to get the attention of hungry predators in low light conditions.
If you’re in the area, make sure to use the tips & techniques shown in this video to catch your fill – and if Paul Bunyan’s opens back up – make sure to visit. That’s a good time as well.
On this particular trip we learned a very important lesson: before you go ripping across the lake to look for greener pastures, make sure to thoroughly explore the area right by the launch. Whether it’s public or private, chances are it’s often passed over as fishermen come and go… be smarter than the average Joe & let’s get fishing!
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Minocqua Wisconsin is a beautiful place to fish for walleye! Walleye are some of the best fighting – and best tasting – fish that you’ll find anywhere you fish for things that swim. This walleye fishing tip is a nifty little trick that will put more fish in your boat… or livewell… and Wisconsin fishing with family?
EVEN BETTER!
On this afternoon we were simply floating leeches on jigs, suspended beneath slip bobbers to pick up a few extra fish. Pike, walleye, smallmouth bass, rock bass – tons of fun on the Manitowish Chain O Lakes.
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