The year so far... a fishing report

We've been pretty dedicated to fishing our stretch of the Fox for the last 5 years or so.  For the first few years we kept fairly detailed logs of what we were catching, what we were fishing with, where we were catching fish, and what the conditions were like.  What we've learned is that every year is a little different, but these things are in common:

• We don't usually catch a lot of fish in March/April
• When the lilacs bloom in May, when the water gets up past 65F, we start being consistently productive
• Morning bite and evening bite are both good, but you can catch them all day
• It's best when the weather is consistent (good or bad)
• We can stay productive through October

To date, from our little stretch, we've got different 14 species in the boat.

A couple of years ago, we caught a ton of carp in the morning May-July - this year none. 

Last year the evening bite was filled with eater-sized walleye May-July - this year none (yet). 

So far, this is the year of the crappie.  Since we're mostly finesse fishing, and given the size of the lures we use (our own products), we might see 1 decent-sized aggressive crappie per year.  So far this year we have 4 over 12" - 3 of them were over 13"!

Among those crappie and a ton of other bass, we also landed a new boat record smallmouth - about 4lbs and a bit over 20" - a trophy in our area.  

This is one of the many great things about the Fox.  Truly a moving target, and truly mixed-bag fishing.  

Go-to Worms (both colors, but especially watermelon) and the Go-to Grubs (bluegill and money) have been on fire. 

If you're catching fish with R9L gear, send us your pictures and stories! If you're not, or if you need to restock, use the promo code IREADTHEBLOG for 20% off your next order!