Northern Wisconsin’s top trophy producing bass fishing guide service & online informational resource.
Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures, LLC is Wisconsin's top trophy producing bass fishing guide service and bass fishing informational resource. Located in Minocqua, Wisconsin, Andrew Ragas fishes the waters of Vilas, Oneida, Iron and Forest Counties exclusively for trophy bass, and looks forward to hosting you. SCHEDULE YOUR FISHING TRIP WITH US TODAY!
100% CATCH AND RELEASE POLICY
Northwoods Ba
ss is Wisconsin's number-1 resource for world-class smallmouth bass fishing information, education, entertainment, conservation, and angling instruction.
01/08/2025
While the St. Croix Rods Legend Tournament pike rod comes in a wide variety of lengths, powers, and actions there is one rod I have specifically fished with these last two seasons – The Slop-N-Tail.
Approximately 7ft3in and with a MHM action, the Slop-N-Tail is built for handling surface baits and bucktails, but it can really throw anything with comfort up to the 1.5 to 2-ounce range. This heavy moderate fast power rod at approximately 7 feet 3 inches has been avidly working 5 to 7-inch swimbaits and twitch baits for most of this year.
The best pike rod on the market today, the St. Croix Legend Tournament Pike is available in 12 unique models. Here we review the 7-foot 3-inch SLOP-N-TAIL.
01/08/2025
Has anybody else seen this happen before? Our big fish that day were piled up within a hundred yards of where walleyes get dumped in from - the boat landing.
Is this a Wisconsin walleye stocking failure? Or just very smart smallmouths taking advantage of a food supply? Back in October, most Vilas County, Wisconsin...
01/07/2025
Can't wait for this TV segment to air later in 2025.
MidWest Outdoors TV airs on several stations throughout the Midwest and nationwide. Find a station and time in your area with this handy TV Guide. This hawg hunt will air sometime in summer 2025.
01/07/2025
Here's what to expect when fishing with us in 2025. Use this guide as your trip planner and scheduler too.
Use this guide as a reference for 2025 fishing trips with Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures, LLC. Please contact me directly to make your reservations by e-mail, or telephone.
01/01/2025
As a new year begins shortly at midnight, I want to express my deepest thanks to you - my anglers, readers, page followers and website visitors. Your support in the form of trip bookings, a digital subscription, email newsletter signup, and just simply contacting me at random for an inquiry or info has made 2024 an enjoyable and motivating fishing year. I am thankful to take people fishing for my favorite fish, and for your engagement!
2025 will be my 10th year of doing this. When it began, I thought the novelty of it would eventually wear off - it has not. Whether you’ve been with me in the boat from the start, recently discovered Northwoods Bass, are longing for a fishing trip and big fish, or have been a lurker from afar, your presence and interest is kindly appreciated.
As we turn the page on 2024, I hope you find peace and joy with loved ones, good health, and personally prosper to new heights.
As we also look forward to the next year, take a minute tonight to reflect on your blessings (and count them) and take a moment to remember all who are also no longer with us. I really wish we still had a few fishing dignitaries and family members who were still here.
For this upcoming year, I remain committed to putting you on your personal bests and educating on bass…. creating more fishing content…. writing timely and seasonally relevant articles and reports….. and continuing with the newsletter (January installment sometime next week?)
Because 2024 was impressive also for largemouth bass, the lures that caught our big fish deserved a story. You should want to try these top largemouth bass lures and the fishing methods we’ve shared for next year.
The best largemouth bass lures from the 2024 fishing season. Best Jig: Freedom Tackle FT Structure; Best Hardbait: Z-Man Chatterbait Elite EVO; Best Soft Plastic
12/24/2024
May the spirit of Christmas overcome the chaos of the modern world. So many blessings bestowed upon us, and may peace forever fill your soul.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Enjoy your holiday spent with family and loved ones.
Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures specializes in smallmouth bass and largemouth bass fishing trips in Vilas, Oneida, Iron, and Forest Counties. Based in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
12/17/2024
Appreciation post -
Due to how good and kind 2024 was for us, I could make at least 5 more of these collages depicting all the big, quality bass we caught this year.
Each day of fishing in my boat brings high expectations and very high standards. My objectives are for you to catch, and for me to navigate the boat, put you on the spots, and instruct and educate (and coach you up some!). Whether or not you caught a giant bass with me that day, I’m sure you returned home with a new outlook on fishing, information you can apply on your own, and acquired more knowledge and intellect that will make you a better angler for your next trip(s).
2024 was an outstanding year on big fish. From ice out until mid November, we were on them weekly and often daily. My success is measured by the number of 20-inchers we catch - that's just how I am programmed. The total below:
Smallmouths: 63 (20" and larger)
Largemouths: 34 (from 19 to 21.5")
What made this year stand out: No dinking around. We fished quality waters almost daily. Love the challenge and everyone's willingness for lesser bites. Next, early ice out helped to prolong the spring feeding, but by mid May the bass all wanted to begin nesting. Luckily we had great fishing in April. Good fishing continued into summer, but we had far too many days that were horribly windy or uncomfortably flat calm. Summer was great that daily conditions became repetitive and consistent - more largemouth trips in summer, please. Fall was the best of them all, with the prolonged season. We caught the most big smallmouths from Labor Day thru early November. If you continue fishing with me, we have prioritized the fall months.
Biggest bass of the year were dandies. Several 5 pounders, including 1 topping 6.
2024 Biggest Fish of the Year Awards
-----------------------------------------
Biggest Smallmouth (by length) – 22", Jesse Raymaker May 2024
Heaviest Smallmouth - 21.5" Mike Loehr (5.7 #) October 2024
Heaviest Smallmouth #2 (bc the guide don't count) – 21.75" #6.19 Andrew Ragas October 2024
Biggest Largemouth – (2) at 21.5" Andrew Ragas April 2024
New Customer PB’s – 18
Priceless photos, video, and memories. So awesome.
An absolute masterclass on best lures from 2024. Several newcomers made the list.
Learn the where's, when's, and why's and how each of them contributed to the catch. Some of them accounted for new customer PB's, or just simply shattered a boat record or two.
Whether the goal is a trophy or numbers, you should want to try some of these smallmouth bass baits and tactics for next year.
The best smallmouth bass lures from the 2024 fishing season. Best Swimbait: Z-Man Diezel MinnowZ; Best Jig: Beast Coast OW Sniper Jig; Best Hardbait: Z-Man Chatterbait Elite EVO
12/12/2024
Spring trips are highly sought after due to high probability for big fish, numbers days, and quality trophy outings. We are now booking spring dates, and fingers crossed we can get out starting in late April. All spring trips (ice out thru May) are full day.
You may visit the online calendar to see availability & openings, and the weeks we are planning to fish in 2025.
2024 - an absolute banner year for big largemouths..... unlike last year, which was a massive dud for them...... I cannot remember a single year prior where I caught several of them in the 19 to 22-inch range like this one. I will look thru photos to get the official head count. From end of April through October, they kept showing up for me. I find big largemouths to be far more elusive, combative, and educated than smallmouths.
New for this year, because the big buckets treated us so well, I will be revealing the top largemouth baits in a series of its own.
I took a break from seminars last year, but we are angling to get back into a few as time and interest allows. Events are pending for winter and spring and later in 2025. If your club, organization, or special event is seeking a presenter, please contact me immediately.
Did you know I am a public speaker and presenter too? Every winter and spring I offer seminars and presentations to clubs, organizations, and sport shows.
12/11/2024
Video days hosting MidWest Outdoors are always a treat. A few aerials from recent adventures.
12/09/2024
In the last week I've updated nearly everything throughout the website........ which means I can finally start rolling out 2025 content and new stories, very shortly.
In the mean time, if you've caught big fish, or contributed some form of a good photo or video session aboard the boat this past year, you've qualified and made the website designer's cut [mine]. You can find yourselves and your quality catches all throughout the website. Obviously, there is still some media 5-10 or more years old that must remain for either legendary status or sentimentality.
Excellent fishing in 2024, maybe the best one yet.
I built this site and operate it daily because I want customers, visitors, readers, and anglers from everywhere to utilize it for their own learning and benefit.
Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures specializes in smallmouth bass and largemouth bass fishing trips in Vilas, Oneida, Iron, and Forest Counties. Based in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
12/05/2024
2025 fishing schedule is out [mostly]. In the process, I've also revamped the availability calendar and reservations process to make it more user friendly.
Scroll thru calendar:
Green - Open
Red - Not Open
Grey - Unavailable
Pick your day and then submit your reservation thru the form below.
It's that easy :)
Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures specializes in smallmouth bass and largemouth bass fishing trips in Vilas, Oneida, Iron, and Forest Counties. Based in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
12/03/2024
Top smallmouth bass baits of 2024 - These are just a few of the top producers that caught the most and/or biggest fish in my boat this year.
Tubes and neds - did not qualify or make the final cut!
Coming soon - Learn more about what they do, what we did, and where we fished them. And you'll see all the rest.....
When the original skirt falls apart, do you retie a new skirt or retire the jig ?
Saved these few and brought them back with some skirting material I kept aside from previously trashed lures. Colors are random - used what I had and what could contrast and look good.
Left to right - Freedom Tackle swim jig; Strike King Bitsy Bug; Random skipping head; Terminator Finesse Jig
Rubber bands warp. I have no idea why jig makers don’t simply tie skirts with wiring, or braid line + liquid cement like I did here. Both are far more durable…..
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Videos
In the lab. Shooting some media for upcoming stories that will be only available at www.northwoodsbass.com
TW Black Friday sale week
TW Black Friday sale week - It’s a good time to stock up on odds and ends.
This was swimmer heavy. My new favorite plastic paddletails (Non Z-Man elaztech) are XZone Lures and Big Bite Baits. Both exceed most everything I’ve been throwing prior.
Berkley Cull Shads catch el gigantes. Wait till you see what happened on Midwest Outdoors next summer 😮
#wintersucks
THE October 2024 Newsletter has been sent out. Please check inboxes and spam boxes for this latest installment. Happy reading!
Not a Subscriber? Join here - https://www.northwoodsbass.com/newsletter/
This week’s video check-in and a current report and other state of affairs. Thanks to all who’ve come aboard the Ranger and had great trips for the past month. Turnover time is (mostly) here…..
Bass Bling - Fall transition and turnover time is here and that means my tackle selection becomes greatly reduced. Bring your artificials, but also get those livebait setups ready in case you want to drop some
hard working suckers and chubs beneath the boat and also pretend to musky fish like I do 😉
www.northwoodsbass.com
Good morning and it’s been a while since I’ve done a video report !
Lots of PB’s this week
Michael scores his PB, and is in disbelief. It’s been that kind of week for every angler. This week’s report will get posted online in the next few days. www.northwoodsbass.com
The waters surrounding the Minocqua, WI lakeland region teem with largemouth and smallmouth bass. The mission of this specialty guide service is to showcase Wisconsin's Northwoods as a premier world-class bass fishing destination. With our trophy regulated and well-managed inland lakes now populated with more big fish than ever before, we invite you to join us on our big fish adventure of catching, conserving, and chronicling the trophy smallmouth bass of Northern Wisconsin.
Our guided fishing trips and northwoods tours are committed to providing the most successful, informative and educational fishing experience possible. Bass anglers who fish with me (newbies, veterans, or pros, whichever you choose to be) will learn how to locate, approach, and catch smallmouth bass and largemouth bass on our region’s waters. Catching and releasing big smallmouths is each day’s mission, but cannot be made possible without the desire to learn and become a better bass angler. I will teach you my game, and how to fish at a level to succeed.
When hosting guests for smallmouth fishing, I don’t have a preference with whom I am fishing with. I enjoy fishing with men, women, and children who have a passion for fishing, a willingness to learn, and want to experience a day in my life as a northwoods bass angler.
I preach open-mindedness and positive attitude to all guests who fish with me. Despite my high standards, I also keep expectations realistic, as not every day will be as good as a weekend fishing TV show. For instance, some days of fishing are better than others. Each lake also contains more or less fish than the other, or smaller or bigger fish than the other.
I will cater your requested outing to the type of fishing experience you’d like. I am also a proponent on lake hopping for 8 to 12hr full day trips – meaning fishing multiple lakes per day in order to maximize productivity, stay on bites, and maintain time. I only fish for bass and guide from second Saturday of May through second Saturday of October.
Northwoods Bass Fishing Adventures is Wisconsin's number-1 resource for world-class smallmouth bass fishing information, conservation, and angling instruction. Located in Minocqua, Wisconsin, your host and instructor Andrew Ragas fishes the waters of Vilas, Iron, and Oneida Counties exclusively for trophy bass, and looks forward to hosting you. Schedule your fishing trip with us today!
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