Lovertail 2, April River fishing, Dunkin Frogs!!!

Above, James Gang Fishing Pro-Staffer and KBF Kayak Tournament angler TYLER THEIDE with a giant largemouth caught on our Lovertail 2, which shot him to 1st place on the leaderboard in April. Below, Small Craft Outfitter guide Chang Lor lands a tournament largemouth on our Firetiger Lovertail 2

LOVERTAILS, BABY SQUID BAITS, SPRING RIVER BASS, BABY STURGEONS, & DUNKIN FROGS......

With the off-limit game fish season still upon us in Wisconsin, our only options for bass fishing remains in the Mississippi River and the feeding rivers up to their last dam. Our General Lee boat motor is currently torn apart with bad seals and starting issues, so I contacted James Gang Pro-Staffer & FLW BFL angler Jaz Duncan to fish out of the back of his boat on Pool 6 of the Mississippi River and experiment with my first ever bass trip in April. I was very nervous being that I have no experience in cold-water spring conditions, but Mother Nature decided to create a very unique situation, a very warm thunderstorm with heavy rain arrived when our trip came up. We cancelled and uncancelled within the first two hours of our planned departure time, and found a small window of 2.5 hours to drive around scouting and throwing a few casts in attempts to find a river bass. Our warm rain shot the water temperature up very quickly, and we were sitting at a 50 degree water temp when we launched. This combined with slightly higher water levels pushed the small bass into the sloughs very shallow and tight to shore. We messed around with a few small pike on our Flappin Jig and small bass on a small spinnerbait. We eventually gave up and searched for tournament quality legal keepers down river. We made a run to the Wabasha Dam, fishing heavy current along a rip rap boulder shore line. We were hoping for big smallmouths there, but only had one fish hooked up - a small pike on a Baby Squid Bait. We were running short on time, and Jaz wanted to hit the rip rap near the main river channel, in which I was opposed being that I felt they would need much warmer water to get aggressive enough to battle currents to feed. We gave his shoreline a try, and hooked into 4 more bass, three of them the right quality we were looking for. Jaz landed about a 2 lb smallmouth, I landed a 2-12 largemouth and a 2-2 largemouth, both on the Baby Squid Bait (white/chartreuse.) I believe a full day trip would have resulted in a killer day of fish if we could run a pattern with our lure choices and cover/structure that we found.

Pro-staffer FLW BFL Angler Jaz Duncan with a solid Mississippi River smallmouth bass

BABY SQUID BAIT hooks a 2-12 Mississippi River Largemouth

The following day, Small Craft Outfitters guides Tyler Theide and Chang Lor decided to get out on the Chippewa River backwaters with their kayaks and compete in the KBF tournament. Their reports were that they had experimented with a few lures, the bites were strange, but the combination of our Lovertail 2 and some Power Team soft plastics, soaked in JB FISH SAUCE, seemed to be the ultimate pattern for their day. They landed a high number of largemouth bass, propelling Tyler to the WI KBF lead for April, and putting Chang in second place. These guys really understand their favorite fishing spots and seem to put a successful pattern together on most days. Check out www.smallcraftoutfitters.com and cxfishing on Facebook, and book a trip if you would like to get into the most intense form of bass fishing available. Nothing gets you in the secret spots better and nothing gets you closer to the wild than a kayak. Also check out JBs Fish Sauce and maybe you can use scents to increase your hook-ups when the fish aren't fully committed to bite. These guys know how to have fun!! Check out the slob Tyler landed on the YouTube video below:

KBF Angler Chang Lor of CXFISHING

KBF Angler Tyler Theide of Small Craft Outfitters kayak guide service

www.jbsfishsauce.com

Our Dunkin Frog has sold out again, contact us at [email protected] for orders. I will order buzz blades in bulk for May and get them out to customers before the hot topwater bite arrives around late May. This lure is $12 each via PayPal plus shipping, or $13 each on our website via Stripe. I know this lure will produce big time, the action is incredible and the bass will go crazy over it. We offer the smaller baby ribbit version for all bass, and a larger version for giant bass, pike, and muskies. Both sizes are the same price. We use very spendy Stanley Double Take Mustad Ultra Point weighted double frog hooks and Stanley Ribbit bodies. This setup will prevent rolling, is perfect for hook location, and will reduce lost strikes that usually happen with hollow body frogs. Both sizes are available in natural green and watermelon colors, and a full white color.

And the best part of spring fishing...............accidental Lake Sturgeon landings!!!!!!

CHECK OUT THIS 8 1/2" BABY DINOSAUR I caught on a nightcrawler in the Chippewa River!!