Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, a little bit of light rain last night looks to be the only precipitation we will see for the next week. The weather is still very mild for this time of year with most of the week in the low to mid 50s. Even the nights are staying pretty warm with only Wednesday night dipping below freezing. The current weather is holding water temps right around 50 degrees on most lakes and water levels are way down making angling a little tougher than it should be for this time of year.
Musky–The musky bite has been okay lately and most fish are hitting the net while fishing suckers. Casting dive and rise jerkbaits, pull/pause rubber baits and trolling crank baits are also good choices right now. Look for musky on deep weed edges or rocky edges/points/reefs adjacent to deeper basins.
Northern pike–Pike should also still be relating to green weeds and weed edges. Any live bait or casting baits are fair game for catching pike right now as they should be aggressively feeding for winter. Look for pike anywhere from 5-15 FOW on those edges.
Walleye–The walleye bite has been pretty good as of late with anglers doing well on deep edges on both live bait such as walleye suckers rigged under slip bobbers and running crank baits in that same water column. Look for ‘eyes anywhere from 10-20 FOW depending on where the deep edge is on the lake you fish.
LMB–Still nothing to report on a bass bite.
SMB–I have not heard much on a smallie bite lately as most folks just aren’t targeting them right now. Smallies should be on deep rocks off of points or reefs. Jigs/minnows or suckers or plastics are a good choice for targeting smallmouth right now. Look for fish anywhere from 12-20 FOW on those deep rock edges right now.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–I have heard reports of crappie schooled up in deep basins right now. Perch should also be schooling up in deeper water, but I haven’t heard of much of a report on a bite. Very few anglers are chasing gills’ right now although they may still be relating to weeds that are still holding oxygen. For crappie jigs and minnows are key. Fish are in 15+ FOW so slip bobbers or just tight lined jigging is the best way to get down to fish.
Have a great weekend and we will talk soon,
Greg