North Star, Turtle or Spider for spring Bass and Pike

[Spinner1]

First post here. This is a great forum. Thanks for the help already. Heading up to Deer-Pickeral-Battle Lakes near Effie on June 5th. I would like to try a new lake or two this year. Primarily interested in quality LM Bass and Pike. How do North Star, Turtle and Spider compare this time of year? Or other lakes for that matter, but no too far south of Marcell area. I won't be so bold as to ask for your personal hotspots, but just a little location detail would be greatly appreciated.

[Jason Boser]

right now I would stick with a jig and minnow throw it up on the shallow part of the flats the water temps are still cold deep you get some walleye and shallow the bass. I fished wabana the other day and that was great on that lake in the shllows there were bass all over.
Jason

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[Spinner1]

Thanks Jason,

That sounds promising. Deer lake near Effie is over 50% shallow and fairly clear. I tried to time my arrival with the LM bass pre-spawn/spawn. Sounds like I might be close. Weather forecast will help if it comes true.

[Iron Man]

Well, you named three great Smallie lakes. Turtle and North Star also have good largemouth fishing. Spider to a lesser extent in my opinion.

Turtle is one of my favorite lakes in the state. Lots of fish and a lot of fun to fish. Work the islands, rock points, and weed beds with topwater, spinners, and/or cranks for some great bass fishing. This time of year is ideal for that. Good luck!

Fish On!

Iron Man

[Spinner1]

Thanks Ironman. We'll skip Spider then this year. I leave in 8 hours and I am pretty stoked. Getting ready for a little trip to Iraq later in the summer. Going to make the most of my last MN trip for a few years.

I don't claim to be a smallie angler, but we slammed them in 2002 on the spawn. Caught 8 or 9 of them in the 3-5 LB range in a VERY small hole in a creek connecting two lakes. Nailed them on buzz baits about midnight. Yes, we were LM hunting. One of those once in a lifetime experiences for a guy that only gets up there 7 days a year. Hard to find smallies like that where I live.

I'll let you guys know how we do.

[Spinner1]

Just returned. Lots of road construction and some problems with the tow vehicle so I was confined to Deer Lake chain near Effie(Not the Deer Lake near Grand Rapids)

Weather was tough but we did OK all things considered. Three days of stiff East winds and several storms. Still caught LM bass every day. Mostly on spinner baits but a few on Johnson Silver Minnows. Largest were 18" and about 3 1/2 lbs. I believe they were trying to bed but the water keeps chilling off with the cold evenings. We'll call it a win, I usually get skunked on LM at least a couple days out of a week.

I may have set a new record for hammer handle northern pike yesterday. They sure love spinner baits.