Open water in most locations across the Midwest is still at least a couple months away. Nevertheless, for this avid bass angler at least, open water can’t get here soon enough. The 2022 open water bass season saw fishing partners and I experience some of the best fishing of recent memory on several waters and I can’t wait to get back on open water with a big bass jig tied to a flippin’ stick or some other bass fishing rod/reel/lure set-up in hand!
Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota/South Dakota border is one water I write about quite a bit. Last fall, a partner and I fished a tournament on the lake where nearly a five pound per fish average was required to cash a check. Leading up to the tourney, a good bite on “moving baits” like vibrating jigs was happening. However, while practicing on the day leading up to the tournament, we could see that the moving bait bite was dying. With some experimentation, we were able to determine that big Texas rigged worms fished slowly across the same rock and weed cover we’d been fishing was a great alternative. The new Zeus Worm quickly became a “go to” bait for us and accounted for several big fish. Texas rigged worms have become a bit old school, yet this tournament reminded me of their effectiveness. This new worm is 9.5 inches in length and has a very fish appealing tail action that has me excited to use it more. Texas rigged worms will certainly move back in the forefront of my 2023 bass fishing techniques.
Mid summer of 2022 saw partners and I catch fish, including lots of 3 to 4 plus pound bass, in good numbers on moving baits like vibrating jigs and squarebill crankbaits fishing a couple lakes in the Alexandria, MN area. One day when our bite using 2.5 squarebills slowed, I tied on a bigger 4.0 version and quickly caught a couple quality bass. Not to be outdone, my partner tied on a magnum 8.0 version and quickly got in on the big fish action. That experience has me anxious to experiment more with bigger baits for bass during the coming season.
Another eye-opening experience also happened a bit later during the 2022 season. Another lake near Alexandria had been producing lots of quality bass on vibrating jigs tipped with plastic trailers. However, a calm, sunny day saw the bite slow and so we decided to sample other baits. We were fortunate to have a few samples of a new for 2023 bait called a Tungsten Thunder Cricket in the boat. This bait is smaller in profile than a traditional lead bait of the same weight. Thinking a smaller offering might be more appealing in the pleasant weather conditions, we also downsized our plastics trailers. Immediately we started catching quality fish like we had caught on the same lake on previous fishing outings. Once again, I have another bait that I can’t wait to use in more situations during 2023 fishing trips. In particular, I’m anxious to sample this smaller bait in some of the good smallmouth bass lakes that I fish.
Anxious anglers anticipating open water have lots of good fishing action to look forward to in 2023, at least if the 2022 season was a precursor of things to come. If you’re like me, you have good fishing action using new baits or maybe forgotten baits on your mind and can’t wait to get back out there. When you do, consider some of the experiences just detailed and you might experience more good catches too!
Good luck on the water and, as always, remember to include a youngster in your next outdoor adventure.
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series on the Sportsman Channel and several other networks. Visit www.fishingthemidwest.com to see all things Fishing the Midwest.
PHOTO Caption – Mike Frisch with a big bass he caught in 2022. He can’t wait to get back on the water in 2023 and chase bass again!
