IG Saturday

I would love to go, but I'm going to be in Bloomington the next two days for a meeting. I was at IG a couple of weeks ago and got skunked as far as bass fishing goes. I ended up with using some nightcrawlers and only catching a couple of panfish. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thanks. The problem was the nightcrawlers...I rarely catch bass there on them. It's really worth the trip to get minnows. With the minnows...either large fatheads or baby roaches (on a bobber, like 2 feet down), I've caught bass, catfish, bluegill, and even lost a few northern there (because I almost always fish with a UL). I've caught my biggest bass there on plastic worms. If I try on Saturday, I'll be going after big bass and northern. What would be my best bet with live bait...guessing large roaches?

Large roaches or even a gill under a float would be a good bet. As the water cools the fish are looking for big, easy meals. I here there are some absolute monsters in there, and most likely they are probably munching on panfish this time of year.

The thing is that it is a catch and release only lake. I'm not so sure that they would let me use panfish as bait...even if I did, DNR comes around regularly and looks in my minnow bucket to see if I have any fish. If they see bluegills, they might think that I'm keeping gills. I could get away with large roaches. How big of a float/what kind of float do you use for large roaches?

I had a monster muskie a couple years ago come up 10 feet away from the boat following my white spinnerait. I ofcourse didn't figure-8 and freaked out b/c it would've been the biggest fish of my life... Yeah, I didn't want to leave that weedbed for a long time, lol

Oh yeah, and I've pulled out a couple bass using nightcrawlers on a bobber, but it would be like 10-15 bluegill for ever 1 smaller bass, so I'd say get those minnows......

I would rig up a medium size slip float. That way you can probe different depths. If you use a small circle or octupus hook and hook the roach lightly through the back behind the dorsal they will stay fresh and active. I bet you could get a mixed bag out there on roaches this time of year.