Andrew Ragas splits time between the Chicago area and Wisconsin's Northwoods. Based in Minocqua, WI, he specializes in trophy bass fishing and offers guided trips from May thru October. While big bass is the passion, he dabbles in multi-species as well. He may be visited online at www.northwoodsbass.com
Each spring, I preach fishing waters that warm fastest. To catch potentially the most active fish, and to tap into premier smallmouth fisheries whose populations are further and deeper established into the spawning season, I always fish and guide on the larger river systems and their flowages to begin the season.
Last May (May 15, 2022) on one of northern Wisconsin’s largest inland lakes, my customers and I launched to chilly 45-degree water temperatures. Cold water be damned, we weren’t going to let it prevent us a good day. Despite the lake’s cold water, what we had working in our favor soon after was sunshine
It’s no secret that backwaters attract and concentrate big bass on a seasonal basis. Their habitats can be thick and rich with diverse emergent and submergent plant species. Another characteristic of them can be the abundance of timber and wood cover, and the element of protection from fishing pressure and the rest of the
After ice-out, smallmouth undertake structural migrations from wintering sites to their staging locations, utilizing the lake’s contours and breaklines as their trail in order to reach these temporary destinations. Where they stage and hold until water temperature becomes ideal for invading the shallows will often be situated within a close range from their spawning