Tadd & Upper Tadd Lakes

Calling Tadd and Upper Tadd "lakes" is somewhat of a misnomer. They really aren't lakes at all but 2 small ponds connected by a canal right on the edge of Atwater. These lakes or ponds or whatever you want to call them hold very fond memories for me though. This is basically where I learned how to fish for bass. Growing up my dad was strictly a walleye fisherman, as so many folks in Minnesota are. I didn't have anyone to teach me bass fishing so I learned myself. These ponds were loaded with bass so it was a great learning ground for me. You could pretty much fish any way you wanted and catch fish. There is no boat access so it is strictly shore fishing but you really don't need a boat anyway because they are so small. Lafe and I would have one of our parents drop us off in the morning and then pick us up later in the afternoon. We would have a blast trying different things and catching bass on most of the techniques we tried. 90% of the fish were under a pound but it didn't matter. Even though most were small we have caught bass up to 5 lbs there.

These ponds are also responsible for my 2 best numbers days. One day when I was about 14 my mom dropped me, my brother and Lafe off in the morning. By the time she got back Lafe had caught 112, I had caught 107, and my brother had caught about 80 bass. A lot of those fish came on the old Flying Lure from TV if you can remember those. They really do work LOL. 300 bass in one day for 3 people is pretty unbelievable but it happened. My other best numbers day came about 5 years ago. I went out in the spring with an ultralight rod and a beetle spin and stood in one spot and caught exactly 150 bass. I quit at 150 because it was getting late and I figured that was a nice round number. I have no doubt I could have caught 50 or maybe even 100 more. My thumb was a bloody pulp after that but I'll take that kind of pain any day. Again most were under a pound but probably 25 of them were between 2-4 pounds. What a fun day!

Today was not nearly as productive. I went to what I consider to be the best spot first. Which is maybe not a good idea because if I don't catch them there I know I probably won't catch them anywhere else. I came armed with only my ultralight rod and a beetlespin which is all you really need out there. I started casting and pretty much knew right away it wasn't going to be going. After about 10 minutes I finally caught one but it was only a tiny crappie. I tried a few more spots but I knew it was an exercise in futility. That little crappie was the only bite and only fish I caught today.