Fishing Report

Good evening from the Quiet Lakes, mild temps this weekend and through midweek.  Tuesday looks to bring rain, and Wednesday, it may change over to snow with temps dropping and holding in the 30s.  Maybe late fall is finally going to arrive?!  Water temps are dropping, and fish are putting on the feed bag.  I am hearing water temps are down to about 43, and the fishing has been pretty consistent.  

Musky–Musky anglers are seeing fish mainly on suckers and most people are seeing at least a fish or two a day.  Fish are pushing to the deeper edges of weed and rock, and any points/bars that are adjacent to deep water.  If using artificial baits, SLOW them way down.  Glide baits with a few seconds pause, or dive and rise baits with extra weight added to slow down the rise of them.  

Northern pike–Pike are also putting on the feed bag and are swiping most anglers’ musky suckers.  Pike, too, are susceptible to any type of bait with a pause or slow fall.  Northern will still be in and around weed beds and on deep edges.

Walleye–Walleye have finally pushed deeper and have consistently been caught there.  Look for fish in 15-20 FOW and jig them up using walleye suckers or fatheads.  No bobbers needed right now, simply tie on a jig, give it a light cast out and jig along the bottom back to the boat.

LMB–I have not heard of anyone catching any largemouth bass right now, either on purpose or on accident!

SMB–I have not heard of anyone catching smallies, but they should be in pretty much the same areas as walleye right now.  Deep rocks, or very deep weed edges in that 15-20 FOW range.  The same baits will also catch smallies right now as far as live bait.  Jigs and plastics, such as swimbaits can also be very good right now.  

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–The panfish intel has been null lately and I have very little idea where to fish for them right now.  My best guess would be crappie and perch are starting to school up in deeper water, although if there are still green weeds they may hold in those as well.  Lake to lake may be very different as well, as some lakes generally have a weed bite and some have a basin bite.  Bluegill are most likely still in and around weed beds and slightly shallower structure.  Jigs and minnows would be the best bet for crappie and perch, while jigs and small plastics would be best for gills.

Ice is still a ways out, but next week we will be trending in the right direction for it!! Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it doesn’t appear any ice fishing reports will be happening soon😞. The extended forecast shows temps in the 40s for the next 15 days. Only chance of rain I am seeing is Wednesday, other than that clear. I got out and musky fished today on an area lake and we were seeing water temps right around 48-49 degrees. Fishing has been slow although we managed one fish today, a nice heavy mid 30″ fish.

Musky—Most musky have come by suckers lately, although our fish today came on a Bitten tackle Mag Warlock glide bait. We were fishing deep rock edges, but that fish was in 6-8 FOW off of a point. I still believe fish are holding shallower than they should be for this time of year.

Northern pike—Pike have been harassing musky anglers and hitting suckers half their size. Not much on an artificial bait bite, look for pike in and around deep weed edges.

Walleye—Anglers have found some nice ‘eyes on deep rocks in 15-20 FOW. Jigging walleye suckers has produced fish.

LMB—No report on a largemouth bite.

SMB—Anglers are having some luck finding smallies mixed in with the walleye (at least from what I am hearing). If walleye suckers aren’t working for smallies, switch to plastics jigged the same way.

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch—I have not heard too much on any kind of panfish bite as most anglers are targeting musky or walleye right now.

That’s all I have for this week’s report. I did spend Wednesday in the woods and did not see a deer….got a pic of a nice buck taken yesterday from a friend in Seeley. Other than that, it sounds like the woods have been pretty quiet. Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg