Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it looks to be a beautiful Labor Day weekend with temps in the mid to upper 70s and very little, if any chances of rain.  That looks to change Tuesday with afternoon thunderstorms and then Fall shows up in a big way with highs in the 50s to end the week.  The fishing has picked up a bit for some species, while others have still been tough to find and catch.

Musky–The musky bite has picked up quite a bit with these cooler water temps (low 70s by evening, and down in the mid to upper 60s to start the mornings).  Bucktails, topwater baits, and jerkbaits have all produced fish over the past week and should continue to do so.  Weeds, rock, and some shallower structure seem to be holding ‘skies right now.  Most bait shops do have some smaller live bait (suckers) available, but personally I feel water temps are a bit too warm to be dragging suckers around right now.

Pike–Pike action has been decent, mainly on spinnerbaits, small inline spinners, and shallow running or floating crankbaits.  Weed edges and weed beds are still holding pike, and anglers should start there to put pike in the boat.  

Walleye–The walleye bite has been tough, although I did have a group in yesterday and they were finding ‘eyes right in the deep weed edge.  Slip bobbers with a jig and a crawler worked best for them so that would be a good place to start to chase walleye right now.

LMB–Largemouth have been active eating spinnerbaits, nightcrawlers under bobbers and topwater baits such as whopper ploppers.  Lily pads, weed beds and shoreline structure are all holding bass right now.  Plastic worms worked through these areas can work well also.  

SMB–Anglers have done well catching smallies on deeper rocky transitions.  Points and mid lake reefs/humps are holding fish, and both live bait and plastics are working.  Minnows seem to be the choice for live bait, while drop shotting shorter plastics are the choice artificially.  

Crappie–Crappie are all over the water column depending on the lake and how the lake sets up.  Some anglers are finding fish in and around weeds, while others are finding fish deep in the basin.  Minnows (both crappie and fathead) rigged on jig heads will catch crappie.  If the lake has deep basins say 20-25 FOW, check those and if you are on a shallower lake focus on weeds or weed beds.  

Bluegill/Perch–I haven’t got much of a scoop on a panfish bite as most anglers aren’t too focused on them right now, but we still have green weeds and warm water so crawlers or leaf worms rigged under a bobber and fished through weeds or off of docks are great choices.  

That is all I have for a report this week.  Bear season gets under way mid week so if we have anything to report on that next weekend I will let you know.  Have a great long weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, we got a fair amount of rain out this way yesterday, right around three quarters of an inch.  We could use way more than that, as the lakes are still way down in the area.  It does not appear we will see much if any precipitation over the next week and the weather looks pleasant with temps in the 60s and 70s for the 15 day forecast.  Overnight lows range anywhere from the low 40s to the mid 50s.  This should really help water temps cool down and get fish more into early fall patterns.  Fishing overall has been pretty slow, but it should get better as the water cools down and we have stable weather.

Musky–The musky bite has been hit or miss, and anglers seem to still be having more success than not on small baits.  Small bucktails have put a few fish on the board this week here, however an angler did put a fish on our board and caught it on a double 10 yesterday before the storms rolled in so that is a good sign!  Fish are still related to weeds and edges.

Northern pike–A few pike have been caught lately, but they have slowed down a bit as well.  Pike are still too related to weeds and edges and fast moving baits such as bucktails or shallow running crank baits and slow moving stuff like live bait is working too.  

Walleye–I have honestly not heard much on a walleye bite this past week, as most anglers (here at least) aren’t targeting them as much as say musky or pike.  Walleye should be relating to basins this time of year and coming up shallow towards dusk.  This does change from lake to lake as some lakes hold walleye in weeds vs. the basin.  For basin fish, trolling crankbaits can be effective, and in the weeds, jigs and plastics or minnows snapped through cabbage can be excellent.

LMB–Largemouth have been active on everything from jigs/minnows all the way up to topwater baits.  Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits are working too and those fish might start to slide deeper as the water cools down.

SMB–Anglers have done well catching smallies on deep rocks.  Slip bobbers with crawlers anywhere from 12-20 FOW with rocks have been good for smallies right now.  

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–The panfish bite has either slowed down, or more anglers are fishing other species and not targeting panfish.  I have not really heard much of an active panfish bite, although they should still be in green weeds and shallow.  Minnows and crawlers with jigs or under a float are great choices to target panfish.  Plastics on jigs can work as well.  

Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg