Weather continues to play tricks on fish, fishermen

By Bill Bartusek

The merry-go-round of Minnesota weather continues. For the Memorial Day weekend, area Anglers got a good dose of some very warm weather. I'm sure they didn't mind, but it did have an effect on the fish. Bass were especially vulnerable and it was the bass opener.

The reason the weather really impacted them is because it was so close to spawn. On a normal year the weather in early May is cool and so are water temperatures. As the month progresses the weather warms and so does the water. When this happens the bass slowly move into shallow water. There, the males build a nest and join with a female and progress with the spawn.

This year the waters warmed up in early April, cooled down in early May, and then warmed up again. I'm sure you can see how confusing this could be for the bass. This weather also affected growth in area lakes. Some of the weeds responded well to the weather while others did not. So, weeds and weed-lines are not all the same in any lake at any one time. The bass find this confusing. So, as we go out and look for the bass we must remain open-minded. We've also encountered several different patterns at one time. There is a different puzzle on every lake and anglers will have to put them together.

When fishing at the cabin we found the fish very cooperative. The northern pike were really hitting this past weekend. My best fish pushed the scales over 13 pounds. Walleye fishing also picked up at the cabin. Brenda had a great weekend landing several walleye. Her best was a 29 1/4-inch monster that weighed over nine pounds. We took photos of the trophy fish and promptly put her back where she came from.

Congratulations to Billy Bartusek and Bob Hennen for their fifth-place finish at the Minnesota Bass Classic on Lake Minnetonka. One hundred twenty-four anglers participated in the event last Saturday.