Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, happy 250th Bday to this great country! We had some pretty nasty thunderstorms roll through yesterday evening, and there are some chances today but overall should be a great weekend to celebrate the 4th. The week looks pretty nice overall with Wednesday looking to be the only rain day from what I am seeing. Temps start in the low to mid 80s and then drop off to the upper 70s as the week goes on. Water temps were starting to creep back up into the mid 70s with our recent warm up, however the 1-1/2″ of rain we got yesterday and cooler nights should help keep them from getting too warm. Fishing overall has been hit or miss, and the weather certainly is not helping that.
Musky–The musky bite has been pretty good lately and ‘skies are still eating most everything thrown at them. Bucktails, glide baits, jerk baits, and I even got a video of a good sized musky chomping on a walleye as the angler was reeling it in. We also have one on the board from an angler catching it on a jig and minnow while fishing for walleye. Look for musky in and around weed beds or bars that top out with rocks and weeds. Don’t be afraid to try new baits or any and all size baits right now.
Pike–I have not heard anybody bragging about the pike bite, but anglers are catching some decent ones on spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and smaller musky lures. Pike can be found in all manner of weeds, be it weed beds, weedy bays, or shoreline weeds such as lily pads or bulrushes.
Walleye–Walleye have pushed into their summer patterns it seems, and anglers are finding them off of deep structure adjacent to deeper basins. Trolling baits like shad raps or flicker minnows are working, as is jigging leeches and suckers off of the deep edges of structure. Look for eyes in anywhere from 10-20 FOW depending on the lake and type of structure in the lake.
LMB–The largemouth bite has probably slowed down the most with the weather patterns lately, but typically July sees the largemouth bite get hot. Top water baits, such as buzzbaits, frogs, and old school weed demons or zara spooks are great choices for largemouth. For suspended fish spinnerbaits, and any kind of nightcrawler or plastic rigged worms or creature baits are also great.
SMB–Anglers have been catching smallies on live bait such as crawlers and leeches, on top water baits such as whopper ploppers, and even jig/plastic combos whether that’s ned rigs, drop shots, or wacky rigged. Look for smallies around mid lake reefs or bars and fish both the top sides and edges of those. Deep rocky points or shorelines can be excellent spots for smallies as well.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–All of the panfish are catchable pretty easily right now with either live bait such as minnows, crawlers, or leaf worms, or on baits such as jig/plastics, beetle spins, or simple hair jigs under a float. Crappie and perch are kind of scattered throughout weed beds or out on the deeper weed edges, while bluegills and sunfish will be up shallow or around docks or fallen trees on shorelines.
That is all I have for this week’s report. Just a reminder we will be closing at 3 p.m. today so we can enjoy some time with family/friends. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend no matter how they spend it!
Greg