Good morning, up and down weather for this weekend (it is currently raining). The weather looks to even out by mid week and stay pretty consistent after that. The fishing has been good overall, with plenty of crappie limits being caught and nice walleye being found. The musky season starts today and that bite should be good as well. I have heard multiple reports around the quiet lakes/spider lake chain of inadvertent musky catches and plenty of big fish hitting crappie as they were being pulled to the boat. Thats telling me fish are active and probably will be until they get pressured.
Musky–Musky fishing is upon us and all other fish are just bait at this point!! I kid, I kid…Musky fishing should be pretty good and you will find active fish pretty shallow in and around weeds feeding on the baitfish that are all going to be spawning soon if they haven’t already. Smaller bucktails, smaller musky sized swim baits, and spinnerbaits will all work well this time of year. Heck, even Walleye set ups can catch musky, which is proven every spring……
Northern Pike–A lot of pike are being caught on walleye set ups as well. Pike will be in and around the weeds as well, and bass spinnerbaits, chatter baits, any kind of Rapala or crankbaits will work. Pike are abundant in a lot of the lakes in the area and overall pretty easy to catch.
Walleye–The walleye report is good, with lots of fish being caught. Lots of cookie cutter 14-15″ fish with some 20″+ fish in the mix. Fish are still pretty shallow and hitting jigs tipped with fatheads and leeches. Look for shallow sandy shorelines that are adjacent to weed beds and basins. I would start in 3-5 FOW and work deeper until you find them.
Largemouth Bass–I have not heard a whole lot on the largemouth bite, but if you are targeting them, warm shallow bays is a good start. Spinnerbaits, soft plastic swimbait bodies on jig heads fished quickly are good. Not quite the time to finesse fish bass yet, but nightcrawlers in weeds and plastic worms rigged weedless always seem to catch fish.
Smallmouth Bass–Some very nice smallies are being caught right now, although I have not been told where or how. My guess would be the same jigs tipped with fatheads, or plastics or whatever guys are using to target walleye. I’m not sure the smallmouth would be in the same spots as the walleye until later into summer, but you never know until you get out on the water!
Crappie–The crappie bite has been hot, except for the day after the cold front and rain last week. I’ve been told the crappie are still way up shallow around weeds and shorelines and pounding baits like tattle tails, crappie scrubs, plain hooks tipped with minnows and small spinner rigs like beetle spins.
Perch–I haven’t heard much about the perch bite, but they are always common to be caught while crappie fishing. Plain hooks underneath floats tipped with crappie minnows is a very good way to catch perch. Fish in the weeds in 5-10 FOW and there is a good chance you will run into them.
Bluegill–Nightcrawlers underneath floats in and around docks, shorelines and sandy beaches are prime areas for bluegill. Keeping it simple is the best way to approach bluegill and dropping baits on spawning beds will fire them up and make them aggressive.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend!!
Greg