Hot!

The weather is not the only thing that has been hot, the fishing has also been HOT!  I have been guiding Waconia, Minnetonka, and also Lake Mille Lacs and all 3 have been treating me well.  This photo comes to you from Lake Mille Lacs where the smallmouth and the walleye have been snapping.  This smallmouth measured in at over 20" and was one of many that we landed on this outing.  After catching this giant Jen was happy to get a photo and let it go to fight another day.  

Most of our day was spent chasing big smallmouth on the rocks.  Our rig for smallie fishing was a G.Loomis BSR803 GLX outfitted with a Sustain FG 2500 spooled with 8lb power pro braid in green color.  Ideally you want to tie a 8lb fluorocarbon leader to the braid to act as a shock tip-it and also it is completely clear so in clear water it can not be seen by the fish.  We had our best luck on tube jigs and also fishing a drop shot rig.  Most of the smallmouth we caught were just finishing the spawn.  

We also managed to catch a few nice "raw ryes"!  We left the bank for the deeper water of the middle of the lake and found the "gold rush" was on out on the mud.  Jen caught this nice one along with a few others dragging a leech on a 8 ft snell with a #4 Octopus Gamakatsu.  

Gavin even enjoyed catching some gravel lizards of his own.  But he was not going to hold one on his own.  :)  The rigs I like to use for dragging snells are 7' G. Loomis rods that are med heavy action.  Depending on the size of the weight I will determine the action of the rod.  We were dragging 1/2oz weights and so we opted for a bit heavier rod.  You can use a 7' medium as well.  I prefer casting rods and reels but some prefer spinning set-up's, completely your choice.  The reel I outfit these rods with is a Shimano Chronarch 200E7 (high speed) so I can pick up line as quick as possible after getting a bite.  I will try and keep the updates coming a bit quicker but it is tough this time of year.  When the weather is hot and the fishing is hot it is hard to find the time to get online and update this darn thing.  Ha.  Until next time, Fish On and get out and stretch the string!