Good morning, chilly nights are trying to make ice but we aren’t quite there yet. Water temps are right around the mid 40s on most lakes and with high air temps in the upper 30s and 40s it will be a few weeks before we see ice yet. Rain is in the forecast Sunday, Monday and Wednesday which will also keep us ice free for a bit. We did manage to get about 2-1/2″ of snow last week which was just enough to make a mess and hamper everyone’s fall cleanup plans!
Musky–The musky bite has continued to be good, almost exclusively on a live bait bite right now. The fishing pressure has been down, but the anglers going out are catching fish on all sizes of suckers they are putting out. Depending on the body of water, some fish are deeper and some are still up in shallow water. Look for still green weeds and fish those deep edges if you find them.
Northern pike–Not hearing a whole lot on a pike bite, but one angler got a nice pike deep while walleye fishing. I am not sure that it is very common to see pike holding in deep water but they are opportunistic so if there is forage there, pike will also be there. Walleye suckers and small musky suckers would be great baits to entice pike right now both around weed lines and deeper points/mid lake structure.
Walleye–I am getting reports all over the board with walleye right now. Some anglers are still finding them in deep holes on bigger/deeper lakes and some anglers say they have moved out of the deep holes on other lakes. It sounds like the bite has been tough with most anglers only seeing one or two fish here and there. Live bait seems to be the best way to catch walleye right now. Anglers may have to use other resources to get a better location on where the walleye are on lakes they fish.
LMB–Nothing to report on largemouth right now.
SMB–Nothing to report on smallies right now either.
Crappie–Not getting much on a crappie bite right now either. It sounds like crappie have moved out of the basins and up into shallower water as well with the walleye. First ice usually sees fish up in shallow water so crappie may be transitioning into those areas now.
Bluegill/Perch–Panfish will also be in these areas for first ice, so they will probably still be in these areas now. Simple jig and a minnow will work to fish.
We are fully in that awkward transition time where there are fewer anglers, fish scattered and everyone anticipating that good first ice bite! Sorry for the report lacking a bit, but it will be this way for the next couple of weeks. In other news, the woods are buzzing right now and we seem to be getting into the rut pretty heavy. Lots of doe moving and I finally got to see a nice buck while in the stand. He was a little far for an ethical shot, but it was cool to see him in person! Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.
Greg