Good morning, cooler days and cooler nights are already changing some of the leaf colors. It will be a couple weeks yet before the colors really change, but it’s coming! The hot weather last weekend brought water temps up a little bit, but it sounds like they are back down to right around 70 degrees. They should continue to slowly drop over the next week as we don’t have any hot weather in the forecast. Some rain tonight will help keep the temps in check as well as help the lake levels. Fishing has been tough for all species since the cold front came through last week.
Musky–A few fish are still being caught, but the bite has slowed down a bit for musky. Fish should still be related to shallow water on structure, whether that be weeds, rocks, or timber. I would keep fishing bucktails to cover water, and slow it down to glide baits, jerkbaits or rubber baits if you aren’t getting any action of fast moving stuff. Live bait is also going to really heat up now that cooler weather is here. Dragging a sucker along drifts while casting is a great way to put big ‘skis in the boat.
Northern pike–Really nothing relevant to report on pike. Along with the musky, pike should be on shallow structure this time of year. Spinner baits, smaller bucktails, and live bait will all produce pike right now.
Walleye–Walleye have pushed deeper into the basins and are being caught trolling crank baits, and pulling crawler harnesses and bottom bouncers. Jigging with live bait will start coming into play here as the water cools as well.
LMB–Anglers have been doing well for bass on minnows and crawlers around here. Some musky anglers have also caught bass on smaller artificial baits as well. Largemouth should still be relating to shallow weed beds or other shallow structure.
Smallies–Anglers have been doing well on smallies on live bait also. Fish are in deeper water off of rocky points/shorelines. Most of the walleye anglers that have been in have reported to catch some very nice smallmouth while walleye fishing. Mostly on walleye suckers or fathead minnows on slip bobbers is what’s working.
Crappie–Anglers are finding crappie in the basins or on cribs or deep structure. Dropping jigs/plastics or minnows down to them and vertical jigging is working well. My guess would be slip bobbers with jigs getting deep would work too.
Bluegill/perch–Nothing new to report on a panfish bite. Focus on shallow weeds for bluegill and perch alike. Waxies, leaf worms, and crawlers are still the choice for bait to catch panfish.
Tough bite right now and in that transition between the good summer bite and the fall feed bag season! Hope everyone has a great weekend and we will talk soon!
Greg