APRIL 2004

April 27

I took my chiropractor fishing in the afternoon and we caught one Master Angler wiper at 26 inches, plus smaller wipers between 15 and 19 inches, and a few white bass. These fish were caught on suspending jerkbaits around main lake points and underwater humps. The surface water temperature on the main lake is in the upper 50s.

April 26

I guided on Red Willow Lake and we caught two Master Angler wipers (30 and 26 inches) and one largemouth bass at 22 inches. We caught these fish on suspending jerkbaits around main lake points and humps. We also caught smaller wiper between 12 and 18 inches, and a few white bass on jerkbaits and a Carolina rig using shiners. The surface water temperature on the main lake is in the mid 50s.

April 25

I took my brother Tim fishing at a private sand pit in the afternoon. We caught over 30 largemouth bass between 10 and 18 inches, a few crappies up to 12 inches, and one walleye at 22 inches. We caught these fish on a Strike King 3X plastic Zula, a jighead and Berkley Gulp Crawler combo, and a medium diver crankbait along the drop-off near points.

April 24

I guided on Red Willow Lake and the fishing was tough today. The water temperature dropped to the lower 50s, and the water clarity changed from clear to stained, due to the rain, wind, and cooler weather we had the last few days. We did catch a Master Angler largemouth bass at 22.25" on a crankbait and a nice 13-inch crappie on a dropshot rig using a shiner. The bass was caught on a main lake rocky point and the crappie around a brush pile near the mouth of a cove.

April 23

My brother Rod and I went fishing at a private sand pit in the late afternoon. We caught two Master Angler largemouth bass at 20.25 inches and 20 inches, plus we caught over 25 smaller bass between 12 and 19 inches. Most of these bass were caught on a Strike King 3X Plastic Zulu and Terminator Snapback Super Plastic Jerkbait (weighted to make them suspend or slowly fall to the bottom) along the drop-off next to points. We also caught a few largemouth bass slow rolling a spinnerbait in the same locations.

April 19, 20

My brother Rod and I went fishing for a few hours in the late afternoon at Red Willow Lake. The wind (35 mph and higher gust) made it hard to fish the main lake points and humps, but we did catch smaller wipers, white bass, largemouth bass, northern pike and a walleye using suspending jerkbaits, homemade spinnerbaits, and lipless crankbaits around mouths of coves and points back in coves. I also caught a  largemouth bass pitching a jig-plastic craw combo around a beaver den back in the cove. The surface water temperature is in the mid to upper 50s.

April 18

My brother Tim and I went fishing at a private sand pit in the afternoon. We caught good numbers of largemouth bass between 10 and 18 inches. They were caught on suspending jerkbaits and slow rolling a homemade spinnerbaits along the windy shoreline points. I also caught a 24-inch walleye on a jerkbait.

April 17

I went fishing at Red Willow Lake in the afternoon and caught one Master Angler wiper at 28.50 inches. I also caught smaller wipers between 12 and 22 inches, and largemouth bass between 12 and 17 inches. I caught the wipers around main lake points and points around mouths of coves on suspending jerkbaits. I caught the largemouth bass pitchin' a jig-plastic craw combo in the flooded grass along the shoreline back in coves. The surface water temperature is in the mid 50s on the main lake and in the upper 50s to low 60s back in the coves.

April 16

I took my brother Rod fishing at Red Willow Lake in the afternoon. We caught six Master Angler wipers (30, 29, 28, 26, 25, and 24 inches) and one Master Angler largemouth bass at 21 inches. We also caught good numbers of smaller wipers between 12 and 19 inches, a few white bass up to 12 inches, a 12-inch largemouth bass, a 33-inch northern pike, and a 24-inch channel catfish. Most of these fish were caught on suspending jerkbaits around an underwater hump, main lake points, points at the mouths of coves, and secondary points back in coves. The largemouth bass was caught on my brother's homemade spinnerbait, slow rolling it next to a stump along a drop-off near the mouth of a cove. The catfish was caught on a jerkbait along the dam. The surface water temperature is in the mid 50s on the main lake and in the upper 50s back in coves.

April 15

I guided at Red Willow Lake and we caught one Master Angler wiper at 28 inches. We also caught good numbers of smaller wipers between 12 and 18 inches. We caught these fish on suspending jerkbaits fishing around the mouths of coves and back in coves. The surface water temperature is in the lower 50s on the main lake and in the mid 50s back in the coves.

April 12

I guided on Red Willow Lake and we caught seven Master Angler wipers between 26 and 30 inches and one Master Angler largemouth bass at 20 inches. We also had another largemouth at 14 inches and a northern pike at 27 inches. The wipers were caught around main lake underwater humps next to the drop-off using a dropshot rig with a live shiner. The largemouth bass was caught on a spinnerbait slow rolling it along the drop-off next to a secondary point back in a cove. The pike was caught on a dropshot rig using a shiner near the mouth of a cove, back in a pocket next to a drop-off. The surface water temperature is in the lower 50s.

April 10

I took my son Jeremy and my brother Tim fishing at a private sandpit in the afternoon for a few hours. We caught good numbers of largemouth bass between 12 and 19 inches, two walleye around 18 inches, a 35-inch channel catfish, and a 30-inch flathead catfish. These fish were caught on a dropshot rig using a live shiner, and a jig head and live shiner along the drop-off  near points in depth of 10 to 25 feet.

April 8

I took a friend and his wife fishing at Red Willow for a few hours in the afternoon. We caught a few walleye up to 15 inches, northern pike at 28 inches, and a wiper at 18 inches. We caught these fish on suspending jerkbaits, and slow rolled spinnerbaits, along the drop-off around the mouths of coves to half way back in the coves on secondary points. I also lost a largemouth bass over 20" that jumped and threw a spinnerbait next to the boat. The surface water temperature is in the 50s.

April 6

I took my chiropractor fishing in the afternoon and we caught two Master Angler largemouth bass at 22 and 21 inches on spinnerbaits. We also caught smaller largemouth bass, northern pike between 28 and 34 inches, and a wiper about 18 inches. Most of these fish were caught slow rolling a spinnerbait along the drop-off around the mouth of coves and back in coves on secondary points. The surface water temperature is in the low to mid 50s.

April 2-4

I went fishing at Red Willow Lake (my brother Rod went on April 4 with me) and caught a Master Angler largemouth bass at 21 inches on a jig-plastic combo and a 37.50 northern pike on my brother's homemade spinnerbait. We also caught other largemouth bass between 13 and 19.50 inches, northern pike up to 32 inches and wipers up to 18 inches. These fish were caught around main lake points, standing timber next to the creek channel, and back in coves. They were caught on my brother's homemade spinnerbait, suspending jerkbaits, and lipless crankbaits. The surface water temperature on the main lake is in the lower 50s and mid 50s back in the coves. The water clarity is between 12 and 18 inches.

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