Largemouth Bass In Hayward
By Al Denninger © 2006

Bass, big bass, where to fish, and what lure to use? Questions all bass anglers will be asking themselves as the largemouth season peaks during the early June spawning period.

Time was when largemouth bass or black bass, which ever you prefer, would not even be mentioned in local fish reports. Musky and Walleye grabbed all of the headlines.

Not so today. With the birth of Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) and tournaments like the bass masters, the largemouth bass has changed in fishermen’s eyes. He has gone from ground round to fillet mignon, put on a pedestal, and pursued by numerous anglers, both in the south and in the northern part of Wisconsin.

Where To Start

The Hayward area has some very good bass lakes. Callahan lake, which is on Wisconsin’s top ten bass lake list, is a lake that produces well in both numbers and size. Nelson lake (Totagatic Flowage) also has a good population of bass. Using Rapalas or spinner baits among the stumps usually produces some nice stringers of fish. The Spider lake chain is also very good for bass. Working the weed line at the 15 to 17ft. depth and using plastic Worms works very well.

World’s Best Bass Bait

Whether you are new to bass fishing or an older bass master, the one bait all bass fishermen will come to rely upon at one time or another is the spinner bait. Spinners are the most versatile bait ever designed.

I am a spinner bait fanatic. I must own every design and color combination possible. After all the testing and the use of these baits, I have it narrowed it down to two colors in one style blade. More fish have been taken in my boat on a number 5 willow leaf blade than on any other type.

The reason it works so well is due to its flash. If you compare it to a number five Colorado blade, you’ll see that the surface area of the willow leaf blade is a lot bigger, so the reflection it gives off from the sun is greatly increased over other blades. Being a longer blade, it spreads out the flash more. A Colorado blade condenses the flash of the blade.

Let’s face it, a spinner bait does not resemble anything in the lake that a bass would normally eat. But with the long blade, it’s flash and shape could be mistaken for a bait fish.

The big advantage to spinner baits is you can fish them at all depths, and even changed depths on the same cast, and the bait will be fishing for you in every inch of the retrieve.

Example: You are retrieving the spinner bait over the shallows in thicker weeds. As it approaches the weed line or a drop off point, stop the retrieve, letting the bait sink towards the bottom of the weed edge. As it sinks, the blade or blades are still rotating. Many fish are caught as it helicopters down. It never stops fishing for you!

The number 3 willow leaf blade is also a good a blade but it tends to attract smaller fish.

Now the number 7 blade is great on big, and I mean really big, bass. The number 7 spinner blade can be a sleeper on Musky and Northern.

Picking a skirt color is also no easy task, given the wider range of choices now on the market. After endless testing, I have narrowed it down to two colors: chartreuse and white.

A simple rule of thumb for selecting blade and skirt colors is based solely on the water clarity. In clear water, use a white skirt and a nickel blade. In a dark water, such as rivers or flowages, use a chartreuse skirt accompanied by either a brass, gold, or copper spinner. If the water is a muddy, a fluorescent color blade or copper works the best. You will have to experiment to find out what color is hot when fishing those muddy waters. I would still stick with a chartreuse skirt in muddy waters.

Catch And Release

Bass are most vulnerable during spawning as the males fiercely guard the nest. Catch and release must be practiced as not to over harvest this valuable resource.

Look for bass to spawn when water temperatures are at 62 to 65°. Males fan out a large nest usually on a sand or gravel bottom in 18 to 24in. of water.

A sure fire bait for bass at this time of the year, is a night crawler hooked once through the nose with a number 8 or 10 hook. Add a small split shot for casting weight. Toss this offering into a bass nest and hold on; it’s a pure dynamite.

Judging from what I have seen in spring, the future of bass fishing in the Hayward area looks impressive. While touring back water bays on the Chippewa Flowage in late May, I saw school after school of 8 to 9in. bass numbering in the hundreds. This body of water has really come into its own in recent years as a largemouth bass fishery.

The story in other area lakes is much of the same. In talking with other area guides and the DNR, I think we can look for excellent bass fishing in future years.