I have fished the Chain for my whole life. There are tons of memories from youth to present day. Fishing the Chain for me is as much about the nostalgia as it is about the fishing. The last several years we have watched the water levels decline and take away some spots that annually have produced well. The last couple years we have been dealing with the aftermath of weed treatments which has eradicated a large majority of the weedbeds on the lakes. This year they were right in the middle of treating our favorite lake on the Chain, which gradually killed the fishing and turned the gin clear water into a mud puddle with dying weeds littering the surface. Tough to watch, but the Chain is not managed for fishing, its managed for the hundreds of boats that cruise its water having a good time every day.

Anyways, enough whining, there were still some fish caught. With the eradication of the weeds it became quite easy to find fish. Just find the clear water and remaining weeds. Overall, it was still somewhat slower then normal, but we fished much less then normal as well.

The first night in the boat my cousin and I had about 20 minutes of daylight left backlighted by a beautiful sunset.




The next few days were pretty good until the impact of the weed kill started taking effect.

























Ben and family is still up there, so hopefully the next few days produce some more nice fish.

Pike bass and walleye thats fun.

Nice!

Thanks guys. I was having some trouble with the text box in the original post, so i kept it short. #1 bait once again this year was the chatterbait in gold and black. In my opinion it produces mainly because it gets down to the fish, covers water, and is a decent crayfish imitation. Swim jigs also did fairly well early in the morning. Ben also found some success throwing a spinnerbait in a few spots. Other then that, leeches on light line with a fluro leader produced well too. Size overall was nothing to write home about. One of the bars did put an underwater light in which attacted schools of crappie. I had a fun time trying to figure out how to get them to bite. Tiny jigs with small plastics took fish, but only b/w 2-6 a night. At one point Ben got disgusted and through hits leftover plastic in the water. He watched in amazement as a slab came and sucked it right up. He throws another one in and we watched in amazement as another one sucked it up with seconds. Smart fish. Another highlight was getting on a pike pattern one morning that produced nearly 10 fish in an hour. No size, but it was fun to learn something new in a lake we fish quite a bit. Anyways, back to the grind for me next week. I'm looking forward to next year already

Awesome post and pics as it is every year. Still looking for some pics of Gramps with a fish.

Awesome post!!! Great pics!!! That first pikes’ fins are a little torn up. On a bass I would say that’s from spawning behavior. Is it the same with Northern Pike?

Nice!

Sad to hear that they are eradicating the weeds. Very soon, the same people who whined about too much grass in the lake will be whining about the lakes being dead and dirty. Its unbelievable they are allowed to manage our waterways so foolishly.

The reason why people flock to these waterways and build vacation homes along their banks in the first place was because of the beauty and clarity of the water. Whats so hard to understand? The grass beds not only are the most important part of the food chain, but they also filter the silt.

I grew up fishing a 10 mile long oxbow lake off of the Mississippi. 40 years ago it was lined with coontail grass along its shores and huge mats in both ends. 20 largemouth before noon was the norm. Eventually, more and more recreational boaters bought and built camps all along its banks. They whined about the grass because it would die off every winter and become an "ugly" mess of algae for a few months before the spring cycle would start s fresh growth.

Since they paid for most of the small towns tax burden, they were allowed to prevail against the fishermen at town hall meetings to discuss the "problem" Well, they succeeded in poisonong all of the grass. Finally it has caught up with them. Fishing is dismal, the water is dingy and stagnant, property values have plummeted.

They are drawing down the lake and starting all over again. Too bad they lacked the foresight in the beginning.

Way to go Matt!

My bet is you caught the most pike in either Dake or Miner !!!!

LOL, you are correct!!! Before Long Lake went down the tubes we were getting some bigger fish in there, but the most action was in Dake. 5 feet or 20 feet, there are a ton of snakes in there. No weed management either. Weedstalks that come up to the top in 10 feet in some places. Pike nirvana!

Choup, yep people think they know too much for their own good sometimes. Due to the composition of these lakes, they were never overun to begin with. Certain areas had good growth, but there is so much rock, sand, and marl bottom, they were isolated patches that did not effect waterskiers or pleasure boaters. We knew it was trending downhill when the homeowner at the dock next to us said they sprayed in front of his dock starting about 5 years ago. We used to cast at the weedbed off his dock and catch bass and pike all day. Nothing at all there anymore.

Mike, I left Wednesday and Grandpa John was thinking of coming Thursday. Health issues have slowed him down this year, so I am not sure if he made it up or not. I missed not getting out with him.

Setdahook, not sure why the pike had ragged fins. Maybe stress from the chemicals???

Thats a great post W/ awesome pics