[phil]

Depending on the kings, I might be going to IG on Saturday. Anyone else thinking about giving it a try? There's some huge bass. My personal biggest is around 6 lbs, but have seen them as large as 9!

 

[toothdoc]

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.

 

[phil]

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?

 

[FishinMatt]

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.

 

[phil]

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?

 

[krnfishboy7786]

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......

 

[FishinMatt]

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.