THE BEST SMALLMOUTH BASS FISHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN
By Mike Yurk
We had only been fishing for about five minutes when I felt a bump. I pulled back to set the hook and could feel a massive weight on the end of my line. The fish took off and the drag on my reel began to whine as it gave out line. It was a dogged, stubborn fight, but a couple of minutes later I had the fish, a wide bodied smallmouth bass, next to the boat. Every time my buddy Doug tried to net the fish, it pulled away again, pulling line off the reel.
Finally, I led the fish into the net. The fish was an 18-inch smallmouth bass and our first fish of the day. It was a great way to start a fishing trip.
Twenty minutes later Doug said. “Here is a fish.” He extended his spinning rod, waited a moment and then set the hook. His spinning rod was bent double as the fish raced off. The fish rocketed out of the water, throwing itself into the air. It was another spectacular fight by the time that Doug got the fish next to the boat and I was able to net it.
“What a pig,” Doug said as he held the fish while I was taking a photo.
Within the first 20 minutes we caught two huge smallmouth bass, and we had a whole day of fishing in front of us yet.
Where do you catch smallmouth bass like this? The answer is Chequamegon Bay.
Eight of us recently spent a long weekend fishing Chequamegon Bay near Ashland, Wisconsin. Our group consisted of Steve Aeilts of Eagan, MN, Ben Aeilts of Woodburry, MN, Jerry Davis of Balsam Lake, WI, Bob Kroone of East Bethel, MN, John Davis of Eagan, MN, Jeff Davis of Big Lake, MN, Doug Hurd of Eagan, MN, and this reporter.
If you are looking to catch lots of big smallmouth bass, Chequamegon Bay is the place to go. It is a huge bay off of Lake Superior. It is about 12 miles long and six miles wide. Ashland, Wisconsin, sits at about the center of the southern shore of the bay. Ashland is a good place to headquarter your fishing trip on the bay, as it has lots of motels and restaurants to choose from to make your fishing trip comfortable and enjoyable.
We found most of our fish in relatively shallow water. We seldom fished in water any deeper than six feet and caught fish all day long. Our best fishing was anyplace we found submerged wood the smallies were using for cover. Jerry pointed out that submerged wood was the consistent key to finding bass.
Later in the afternoon Ben and Steve drifted by us. Ben reported that he had caught a 20-inch and a 21-inch fish. He told us they were his personal best on smallmouth, adding, “This is the best smallmouth fishing I have ever seen.”
Steve also reported that he had caught a 35-inch northern pike. Fish just grow big in Chequamegon Bay. Big walleyes are also found in the bay.
But it is hard to beat the smallmouth bass fishing. “They are all big fish,” Jeff stated while we were eating dinner after our first day of fishing. As we checked around the table among the eight of us, none of us had caught a fish under 15 inches and it seemed that most of our fish were in the 16-inch to 19-inch category.
We caught all our fish on plastics. “There didn’t seem to be any pattern to them,” John said. He had tried all sorts of plastic baits and “they all caught fish,” he said.
Doug and I caught most of our fish on sinking stick worms. Doug had also tried a light 1/32-ounce jig with a 4-inch finesse worm and caught fish with that. Color didn’t seem to matter. Doug and I had used probably about half a dozen different colors from black and blue swirl to lime green and white and they all caught fish.
Bob said that he had caught fish on tube jigs, and John had used a plastic crawdad on a jig, and they all caught fish. John pointed out he found that harder plastic baits worked better in the submerged wood, as they had a tendency not to hang up as much.
In and around the Ashland area are several boat landings. We launched from what is called the Second Landing, which is found a couple of miles east of Ashland. The landing is wide enough to launch two boats side by side with a breakwater to protect the landing from waves and wind, which can be a huge benefit in launching or loading boats on trailers when the water is rough. As well, there is a large parking area available that can handle a major volume of traffic.
If you are looking for great smallmouth bass fishing, go to Ashland, Wisconsin, and fish Chequamegon Bay. Use plastic baits and fish submerged wood for the best smallmouth bass fishing you have ever seen.