Published articles by Andrew Ragas. The most comprehensive bass fishing library for Wisconsin bass fishing and across the Midwest.
Simply Crappies
Saturday, 01 July 2023
All throughout the Midwest, crappie anglers are superstars when fish are shallow, vulnerable, and abundant in spring. For a few weeks, everyone is catching them it seems, and it’ll be the only time of year they get targeted by the majority. But come summer, the game changes. The waters warm and shallows get vacated,
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Crappie Fishing
Rise and Shine Largemouths
Saturday, 01 July 2023
Rise and shine! Multiple alarms sound off, prompting me to get out of bed. It’s 3am, and pitch-black outside. I sleep-walk into the kitchen, and fire up the coffee pot. To wake up and get my day started, I’ll need more than just a few copious cups of high-caffeinated coffee.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Largemouth Bass
Catch Smallmouths Quickly
Thursday, 01 June 2023
By Andrew Ragas – with Cory Schmidt Time – (noun) is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity in material reality or in the conscious experience. It’s also the single greatest fishing tool to have.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Smallmouth Bass
Favorite Plant Species
Thursday, 01 June 2023
Across most North American waters, aquatic plant species form the foundation of healthy and flourishing underwater ecosystems. Underwater vegetation will not only protect water quality and lead to healthier habitats, but they also produce life-giving oxygen and play host to several fish species.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Largemouth Bass, Muskie Fishing
Tips for Bigger Summer Largemouths
Thursday, 01 June 2023
No creature is wiser, wittier, and more deceptive than a trophy largemouth bass is. Once summer peak settles in, which for me is by mid-July, my bass fishing desires and motivation revolve greatly around the whereabouts of big largemouths.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Largemouth Bass
High Water Strategies for Largemouths
Monday, 15 May 2023
With over 100-plus inches of snowfall this winter, I would expect high water fishing and its strategies to be in everyone’s bass fishing considerations these next several weeks. Here’s the deal of what happens as largemouths are eager to push into newly formed flooded shoreline habitats.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Largemouth Bass
Rivers and Flowages for Spring Smallmouths
Monday, 08 May 2023
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.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Short Stories and Timely Tips, Smallmouth Bass
Microwaves
Monday, 01 May 2023
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
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Smallmouth Bass
Top Spring Smallmouth Patterns and Tactics
Monday, 01 May 2023
Ice melt is ongoing as we speak. Some lakes such as mid-size lakes, flowages, and river systems are open and ready to go, while the largest waterbodies will be opening within the coming few days. Undoubtedly, the best few weeks of the year are now here.
- Published in Bass Fishing Articles, Smallmouth Bass