Good morning, the weather looks unseasonably warm next week with temps in the 50s everyday and very little to no chance of rain. Fishing should be great right now, not sure what this warmup will do. Most lakes’ water temps are low to mid 40s right now.
Musky–The musky bite has still been good, mostly all fish coming on live bait. Fish have been caught on weed edges, rocky points adjacent to deep water.
Northern pike–No report on a pike bite, but they too should be relating to weed edges in both live and dead vegetation. Smaller suckers or crankbaits should be great baits to try for northern pike right now.
Walleye–I have not had many anglers in the bait shop that are targeting walleye right now so where they are and how to catch them is only an educated guess. I would be using live bait on jigs and pitching them deep and working them slowly back to the boat.
LMB–No report.
SMB–No report.
Crappie–I would have to think crappie may still be in the basins too. Again, I have had no anglers in the bait shop targeting them so I cannot give an accurate report. My guess is with water temps where they are fish may still be schooled up out there or starting to push a little shallow as we get closer to ice. Its 50/50 though with this warm front coming, it’s a major change and looks like it will last for at least a week. Surely that will move fish around as seasonally they are expecting water temps to continually cool until ice arrives. I would again go to live bait and not use flashy stuff. Simple set ups to catch neutral/negative fish.
Bluegill/Perch–Panfish should still be in weed beds and around shallow structures to hide from big fish. I would use simple set ups to target them as well.
Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.
Greg