Good morning from the Quiet Lakes. The open water season is off to a SLOW start, both in terms of anglers catching fish and just anglers out fishing in general! Cold windy weather started the week, and word from the anglers in the bait shop said they saw very few boats out fishing during the past week. This weekend and next week look nicer with temps in the 50s through mid week and a warm up into the 70s by next weekend. A good chance of rain on Tuesday, but that is all I am seeing for precipitation this week.
Musky–I had one angler in the bait shop this week and he caught a nice musky right off the dock of the shallow bay where the cabin he is staying in is located. He caught it on a small Rapala while throwing for walleye, so maybe the old adage of throwing small baits in the spring for musky is spot on! ‘Skies should be hanging around shallow cover feeding on small bait fish getting ready to spawn.
Northern pike–Anglers on the Spider chain have been catching a fair amount of pike while fishing walleye. Simple jigs tipped with minnows are working, as should smaller minnow/jerkbaits. Anglers should look for pike mainly around shallow weed beds or bays holding baitfish.
Walleye–The walleye bite hasn’t set any records to start the season, but anglers are finding and catching them. Anglers are finding them in around 12 FOW and are catching them on leeches and minnows. Rapala and Berkley jerk baits fished on those edges and shallower as fish feed up onto shallow flats and points should produce as well.
LMB–Largemouth are also in slightly deeper water and also relating to the deep edges, whether weeds or rocks or stumps/wood. Live bait such as fathead minnows or tuffies have been working as have leeches. It’s a little early for crawlers, however after a week or so of warm weather, crawlers should start to get better for all species, including largemouth bass.
SMB–Smallies should be located around rocky points/shorelines/or reefs. My guess is they will still be holding to those deeper rocky areas during the day and pushing slightly shallower at dusk and into nightfall. Jigging with live bait or plastics would be good choices to try for smallies right now.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–All of the panfish should be in shallow cover both to get ready for spawning and hiding from predators. Live bait such as crappie minnows and leaf worms are great choices this time of year, but for anglers that don’t want to deal with live bait, smaller baits such as Beetle spins, Mimic minnows, and small jig/plastic combos can be excellent as well. Anglers should look for fresh green weeds anywhere from 4-10 FOW right now to target panfish.
That is all I have for this week’s report. Hopefully this weather change fires the fish up. Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.
Greg