Well worth the dough, especially if you are looking to score on the lakers.

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One of many sources for this map...

mastertangler wrote on Jul 11^th, 2012 at 10:55pm:

You don't say.... 

Hint: Db turned me onto the topo of Basswood.........it has all but North Bay area.

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I'll be using a couple big jigs like that if we can find a mid lake reef or just a quick breaking main lake point. I have a couple hand pours I bought at the sports show a decade and a half ago that are about 9-10" long shad baits.
I was researching the lake I'm going to and I found out that there are a lot of 1-2# lakers in it, supposedly all over the lake. Sounds like primo forage for giant pike and big lakers.
I'll be hitting the Bayley Bay basin sometime during Aug. 4-10. I have a theory that the peninsula between the Burke and Sunday portages extends Southwest right across the middle of the basin to the point West of the bay that points at Manomin Lake (Rice Bay?). The general topography of the area is ridge lines in that NE-SW direction, look at the peninsula that makes up the Western shore of Bayley and the general shape of the lakes around there. Finding a sunken island out there would be dy-no-mite. It would have to be a very calm day to paddle out there a mile from any shoreline though. It's a really big area of open water.
I also always wanted to fish the main lake side of the island that sits in the middle of Sunday Bay and the narrows on either side of it. The wind was always blowing into it from across Bayley whenever I've paddled past it. It's just got to have a bunch of big predatory fish on it just sitting there chowing down on pelagic baitfish being blown in to them. Plus the proximity to both deep water and the shallow, weedy-ish, somewhat meso bay would be kickass even without the trophy potential of the big basin.

Did you know that the #2 North American record pike came out of Basswood? 45# 12 Oz in 2002.
There is only one claimed to be bigger - from NY, 46#2 Oz. in 1940.
"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Puckster wrote on Jul 10^th, 2012 at 2:13pm:


I'm thinking helmet cam...
And: I think the mann's baits will work well for you and have seen the smaller version of the 30+ work really well for LT.

Good luck!  Remember, pictures rule!

prouboy

I have done almost nothing but think about how I can dredge some big boys out of Basswood this upcoming August.

My thinking is that big fish have refined eating patterns and seldom deviate. I believe big pike are apt to eat outsized meals that may hold them over for a few days...........so the window of opportunity is likely to be narrow. Add in that they may spend considerable time in the deep during summer and the game gets exponentially more complicated.

While I love the kick and vibration of spoons (fleeing prospective meal) they can be tough to fish effectively in the depths. The first prerequisite I would opt for is braid. Smaller diameter will keep the spoon in the zone longer as the lure will be less apt to kite up (small diameter of braid vs mono). I like the husky devle...........Throw it on 50 power pro with a beefy baitcaster and your in business.

One of my strategies will be to troll a Manns stretch 30 which is essentially a saltwater wahoo lure (11 inches). With 65 power pro and a muskie rod depths of 30 to 40 feet will be easily attained. The only question is how long will I be able to keep the big bad lure in the water..........can you say popeye forearms? (arrrrgh......maybe I'll hope for a good stiff breeze and troll downwind)
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That will be experimental..........a tried and true tournament winner is the cobra jig/big shadtail combo. Definitely a big fish lure with outstanding versatility.
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I'm also looking to do some butterfly jigging if the finder can show me the right spot...........
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Can't wait. Had to reconfigure my packs due to the decked aspect............I'm now the owner of a 4ft waterprood duffel (watershed), slides up inside rather perfectly.

The trial run is tomorrow.........The primary reason is to see if the depth finder will shoot through the hull..........but I am sort of pumped to see how she does. Yeehaw.

Fireline never seems to twist for me, only mono.

You can tie on a mono leader if you believe you need mono near the lure.

On the line twist issue:
When I was young and dumb we'd cast and then start trolling. As you can imaging We'd get some twist from fowled lures now and then. I've tried the let the line out and paddle for a while fix with not great success.

These days to cure annoying line twists I'll cast out, reel in and let the last 4-5 feet of twist spin my lure and let it's momentum take it as far past neutral as it will go. Cast out again to even things out. Then I repeat until all the twist is gone. A few casts will take care of all the twists those little bass you don't notice right away can cause. A spare spool is small and light insurance.

solotripper wrote on Jun 21^st, 2012 at 2:17pm:

Definitely.
Anytime I use a spoon or inline spinner I use a good quality ball bearing swivel.
I add a split ring and a ball bearing swivel to all my inline spinners and spoons right out of the package even though I use a steel leader that may have a swivel on it as well.

I don't use snap swivels at all, unless you count steel leaders with a snap on one end and a swivel at the other.
A plain snap is good for switching crankbaits quickly, but adding a swivel to it just adds weight at the point that it kills the action of the bait the most. A 5-6" steel leader puts the swivel far enough away from the bait.

When I troll inline spinners like a Mepps I always add a small (or large if going deep) keel sinker a couple feet in front of the bait. Failure to do that has resulted in epic birdsnests appearing in my rod guides and on my reel. Plus it lets you troll a bit faster while keeping the bait down.

I am going for big fish on this trip, not looking for numbers. I'm looking for 40" plus pike and two handed lakers. That's the reasoning for the big baits. I've fished big baits up there before, but only big spinners for pounding deep weed edges for pike. Tried big 2 Oz Daredevil spoons on Basswood before but only caught about a dozen 5-6# sheepshead and no pike.