Good morning, it looks to be a wonderful weather weekend here in the Quiet Lakes. Sunny and 80s for today and tomorrow should make being on the lake pleasant. We did get some rain yesterday, and we look to get more throughout the week. Monday looks to be a soaker, with chances again on Wednesday and Thursday. Air temps look to stay in the 70s and 80s for the week, so I don’t think the fishing will be too affected by the weather. Water temps are in the low to mid 70s just about everywhere from what I am hearing, and fish are pretty much on a summer pattern.
Musky–The musky bite has picked up a bit, and anglers are seeing fish in and around green weeds. Cabbage is preferred, but pencil reeds and lily pads can hold fish as well. Bucktails and faster-moving baits like spinnerbaits can help anglers locate aggressive fish, while glide baits or jerk baits can get neutral fish in the bag. Look for musky in anywhere from 3 to 15 FOW right now, depending on the structure you are fishing.
Northern pike–Pike have been active lately and they are haunting shallow weeds as well. Mepps #5s or baits of a similar size seem to be accounting for a lot of pike as of late. Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are working well too. As with musky, look for pike anywhere you find good weeds and work the weed beds from all the way up tight to the shoreline out to the deep weed edge.
Walleye–The walleye bite has slowed down a bit, and walleye have pushed to slightly deeper water during the mid-day high light periods. Look for those fish on rocky/sandy bottom adjacent to deep water. At dusk, walleye are pushing up onto shallow flats or shorelines, and anglers will have great luck rigging leeches under slip floats or on jigs to catch them.
LMB–Largemouth are active and anglers are doing well on wacky rigged senkos or other plastics, such as craws or ned rigs. Live bait has been working as well in the form of walleye suckers or fatheads. Topwater baits such as whopper ploppers or scum frogs should really start to take off soon as well. Look for bass in all manner of weeds and work the entire water column.
SMB–Smallies seem to be everywhere in the water column right now. A few anglers in the shop had been catching a few here and there on fathead minnows while walleye fishing, and our niece Kate just caught one off of the dock on a wacky rig setup with a plastic worm!
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–The crappie bite has slowed down, as they have finished spawning and are now scattered a bit. Anglers are catching a few from spot to spot mostly on crappie minnows or small plastics such as Gulp! minnows. Look for crappie anywhere from 6-10 FOW. Bluegill have moved into the shallows and should be starting to, or are spawning by now. Waxies, leaf worms, and chunks of night crawlers rigged under a float are all great options to catch bluegills now. Perch will be mixed in weed beds as well and can be anywhere from 4-20 FOW depending on the lake.
Have a great weekend, everybody, and we will talk soon.
Greg