April Bass Fishing - Only 2 poles needed

When you can yank a 4# 
river bass out of a beaver hut,
you know you have the 
right Lew's Combo

April has once again been a mystery with the weather patterns.  2024 was much of the same, up and down temperatures, dry conditions and then a lot of rain.  It almost seems to be on repeat for 2025 as Iowa has gotten quite a bit of rain lately.  Many times I think anglers make it more difficult to catch bass this time of year than they need too.  Sure, there are a lot of great baits that can catch fish this time of year as we swing towards May, but if you want to keep things simple and go out and catch some bass, make sure and have these to combos ready to go.

1- Pitching Stick: this rod can be used to pitch jigs or a Texas-Rig plastic of your choice.  My favorite has become a Lew's Custom Pro 7ft 3in rod with the SuperDuty reel offering the flipping switch.  This Med/Hvy fast action rod can handle heavier jigs as well as 1/8oz Texas-Rigs.  

2- Bladed Jig/Spinnerbait rod: A rod that can handle these baits need to have a little backbone to it, but a lot of flex to get your bait where you want it.  The Custom Lite Rod in the 7ft 3in length offering medium/heavy power and moderate action is the one you want.  I pair this rod with the all new Custom Pro reel from Lew's.  This combo has served me very well around heavy cover and rocky shorelines.  The balance of this rod/reel combo allow my to throw it with ease and pick out small targets to hit during this cold water period. 

These two rods have been used heavily the past 6 weeks on the water chasing largemouth and smallmouth bass.  It is critical any time of the year to properly match your baits with the correct rod.  Using the correct rod will help you make longer and more accurate casts with your baits.  Make sure and check your reel gear ratio as well.  This will control how much line you are bringing in with each turn of the handle.  Some baits you will want a slower retrieve, like a crankbait, while other techniques like a jig or Texas-rig will require a faster gear ratio.  

Take some time this month to align your combos to the baits you will use with them.  Memorize the actions and power of your poles so you can make quick decisions on the water to allow you more fishing...I mean "catching" time!

Spring...where are you?

 

Iowa is certainly a state with four seasons.  Unfortunately, we can experience all four seasons in the same week in March.  This no doubtably puts fish in negative moods at times, and at other times can really make them feed up.  One tip I can share about late March fishing is the amount of sunlight.  Sunny days are no doubt the best this time of year.  The extra warmth on the water gives the system an extra jolt of energy and livelihood.  Another advantage this time of year is a steady wind.  A steady wind from the same direction can help position predatory fish.  They will use windy shorelines to feed up as the wind stirs up bait and can position smaller foods in the food chain.  

You cannot count on much for the weather during the month of March in Iowa, but one thing is for sure.  If you don't like the weather, give it a couple of hours, it might be completely different.  

The End to the 2024-2025 Ice Season

 

What a season!  After last winter...if we can even call it a winter, I was so eager to get out on the ice this year.  The year started on December 6th at the Mississippi River and came to an end yesterday on West Lake Okoboji, March 9th.  Three months of ice fishing in the state Iowa has become more rare in the past few years so I am happy that we had a nice long winter this year.  My group was able to explore many lakes and river sections throughout the season, I was able to make it out 27 different times (including several short little trips).   The weather and ice conditions were great along the Highway 20 region and north, however the southern part of the state did not have very good ice most of the winter.  Unfortunately, I did not travel south of Hwy 20 very much at all with the unpredictable ice they had.  

Ice fishing is a great sport and I like how it can be done in large groups, not just one or two people in a boat.  It is a great social activity and my group had a lot of that this winter.  Catching fish in fantastic, however when you can do it with a bunch of friends or family, it just makes it that much more enjoyable.  Not only does ice fishing allow time to talk and be with friends it allows for some great food to be put in the freezer.  Several fish frys, fish tacos and fish cake meals have already happened in 2025 thanks to ice fishing, and several more to come as well.  

A huge thanks to a few of my sponsors for allowing me to use the best equipment on the ice.  This year was the debut year of the Vexilar FLX38.  This was really fun to use and fine tune to make catching easier.  This year I also used the Lew's SpeenSpin reel.  With 10 ball bearings packed into this size 10 reel and a drag system that let the big fish run, it was a delight to say the least. Last but certainly not lease is the Cedar Falls Scheels Store.  When it comes to fishing, if you need it, they have it.  Stop on in or order online for everything outdoors.

It is always a bit sad to put the gear away, but the anticipation of floating in the boat and swinging long bass rods makes it a little easier.  

Pool 7 Mississippi River PERCH

 

I finally did it...I went out on a fan boat for some perch fishing.  This is something that I have wanted to do for a few years now.  I have been able to catch some perch on Pools 8 and 9 of the Mississippi River and this trip took me a little further north to Pool 7.  The air boat experience is something else, literally there is nothing like traveling on a boat over ice, then open water, then back onto the ice to catch some fish.  It was a weird feeling, for sure.  The fishing on this particular day was good, we caught quite a few eater sized perch and couple real big perch around that thirteen inch mark.  

I utilized a 36in Jason Mitchell Dead Meat Stick the entire day with my Lew's Speed Spin reel.  A smooth drag is so important with these perch.  Another key piece of equipment was the Vexilar FLX38.  Most of the day we were in water less than five feet deep.  With the adjustable depth on this unit, I was able to use the whole screen and adjust it to as little as five feet.  This was key for early detection of these perch as they cruised around the large flat.  A variety of spoons worked, I really didn't see much difference from one color to another on this day.  When perch fishing, I always go with a spoon, bigger the better.  I have learned that these hungry river perch feed heavily on 1 year old bluegills, so a spoon is the perfect size to trick them. 

This was a trip to remember, hopefully this can become an annual thing to explore unchartered Mississippi River perch.

Go BIG or go FINESSE?

Ice fishing has always been about using the smallest of jigs, small worms and small plastics.  Sure, they work, and at times they are the only things that work.  However, on a recent trip to catch some crappies it was proven again that big baits can, and will catch more fish than smaller presentations.  I was using my favorite ice combo at the time for bigger baits.  I have the Jason Mitchell Black Meat Stick in the 36 inch version.  I have paired this up with a Lew's Speed Spin reel.  I like to use spoons or the new Tika Flash when hole hopping for deeper crappies.  I can fish this combination so quickly moving up the down the water column as well as from hole to hole finding the next group of hungry fish.  This day, like many this year, the bigger baits are what the crappies wanted on this day.  The catch rate was so much higher on the bigger baits compared to jigs.  There was one stretch of the morning that I did not even need to tip the baits with spikes...they were that attracted to the larger baits. Another thing that using larger baits does is to keep away the smaller fish.  Smaller crappies and bluegills didn't' mess with me for the most part, allowing me to focus on the bigger marks and catching fish that I wanted to catch.  On this day the crappies were holding about three feet off the bottom of the lake, utilizing my Vexilar FLX38 in the zoom mode made it so easy to pick off these crappies.  Medium power 1 with the 180 frequency was fantastic for seeing nearby crappies and getting my bait directly above them.  Give it a little shake and gentle ride up...the crappies couldn't resist. 

It was a fun day on the ice, my equipment made it so enjoyable to fish, almost too easy?  It was great and everyone in the group had a great time that day.  Don't forget to think BIG when ice fishing, it might just get you a few more bites, and bigger ones too.