Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, a chilly one as I am typing this! Saw some frost this morning, but that looks to be short lived as the extended forecast looks to bring warm temps for the week. Aside from today’s high of 64 the rest of the week looks to be in the 80s with very little chances of rain until next weekend. Water temps are still holding in the low 70s and that shouldn’t change too much even with the warmer temps. I would say fishing has been decent, but not great.
Musky–Anglers are still seeing musky on all sorts of baits. Small bass sized baits, bigger rubber baits, and suckers are all getting hit. It sounds like musky are in pretty shallow water yet, mostly on weed beds and around points/islands.
Northern pike–Pike of all sizes are still active and eating mostly faster moving blade baits. Pike are also in and around weed beds or on shallow structures. If you prefer not to cast, walleye/northern suckers would be an excellent live bait choice right now for pike.
Walleye–I have not got much info on the walleye bite as of late, but a good place to start would be on the deep weed edges or deep rocky ledges/points. Deep diving crank baits, lindy rigs, or crawler harnesses dragged in 15-20 FOW should find fish. Even jigging minnows or plastics on these spots can work well.
LMB–Not many anglers are targeting bass right now, but those fishing for them seem to be using soft plastics for suspended fish. The topwater bite should remain good with the temps staying warm, however fish are starting to transition a bit to more of a fall pattern (bass included). Going back to plastics rigged in any presentation and also spinnerbaits and even live bait can be excellent choices.
SMB–Anglers are targeting smallies using jig/minnow combos, jig/plastic combos and similar rigged presentations and working transitions from hard to soft bottoms. Look for deep weed edges or where points extend into the basins.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–Anglers are still finding all sorts of panfish in and around weed beds, both on flats on big lakes and bays on smaller lakes. Look for fish anywhere from 4-10 FOW and target them using minnows, crawlers, and artificial presentations as well.
We are kind of in that weird transition from summer to fall as far as fishing goes even though the weather does not correlate to that! Have a great weekend everyone and we will talk soon.
Greg