Fishing Report

Good evening from the Quiet Lakes, coming at ya with an early report as we will be down in Rice Lake early tomorrow morning, so Bryce can finish up his hunter’s safety course.  It looks like the weather will start to dip into more fall-like temperatures as the week progresses, and we will have some lows below 32 degrees for a few nights as well.  Water temps are cooling down with most lakes in the mid-50s, and cold nights will help that trend continue. We did get a little bit of rain the last few days, but we need way more to get the lakes back up to normal.  Most lakes in the area are down close to a couple of feet, so if you are not familiar with the lake you are on, make sure to use caution.  Fishing has been pretty good for the species anglers are targeting.

Musky–The musky bite has been pretty good, and the live bait bite is really starting to heat up.  Suckers, dive and rise, glide baits, and big rubber baits with a pull/pause retrieve are catching fish.  Work still green weeds, both on the shallow and deep edges.  Fish will most likely be slightly deeper to start, but come in shallow to feed in low light conditions.

Pike–Pike have been active in and around shallow weeds as well.  Working bucktails, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and live bait such as small musky suckers, northern suckers, or even walleye suckers can produce pike right now.

Walleye–The walleye bite has still been pretty tough, but with falling water temps, walleye should start to move into fall transition areas of the lake, such as deeper rocks, deep weed edges, and other structures adjacent to the deep basins of the lake.  Jigs tipped with fathead minnows or walleye suckers would be great live bait choices, while jig and plastic combos should produce for artificial baits.

LMB–I have no report on a largemouth bite right now, as very few, if any, anglers are targeting them.  Most likely, bass will still be related to weed beds, and using spinnerbaits or slowing down crankbait retrieves can be effective.

SMB–Not many anglers are targeting smallies right now, although walleye anglers may have success using the same baits and fishing the same locations for smallies.

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–Anglers are finding panfish schooled up in fall transition areas right off of deep weed edges in anywhere from 10-15 FOW depending on the lake and basin structure.  Minnows on small jigs or under a bobber are a good choice for catching panfish right now.  Small artificial baits such as beetle spins or mimic minnows cast out into these schools of fish can be effective, too.

That is all I have for this week’s report.  It looks like fall temps may start to creep in over the next 15 days, although it still appears to be quite a mild fall moving forward.  Have a great weekend, and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, another week of very warm weather for the Northwoods is on tap.  Temps in the mid 70s and touching 80 on Monday and Friday with no rain in the forecast until next Saturday. I’m not sure when FALL is going to show up, but I am sure ready for it!  Water temps are way higher than they should be for late September and the bite is reflective of that.  I was out Wednesday of this past week and we saw water temps top out at 70.4 by the afternoon.  

Musky–The musky bite is all over the place with some anglers finding success on lures and others having some success on live bait.  Fish are up shallow feeding on all sorts of bait fish on structure.  Mostly weeds as that is where the young of the year  and fingerling perch, bluegill, and crappie are still set up.  Jerkbaits, minnow baits, glide baits and even top water baits can still be excellent with the warm water right now.

Pike–Pike also are in and around shallow weeds, but they are chasing faster moving baits such as bucktails and crankbaits.  Focus on still green weeds work the water column anywhere from 3-10 FOW.

Walleye–I have no reports of a walleye bite as of late, but anglers should fish more summer patterns than fall patterns right now.  Crawlers, leeches (if you can get them), and minnows or plastics jigged through weeds and structure are good choices.  Lakes with good basin bites may have fish holding to deeper rocks where crankbaits, crawler harnesses and deeper presentations will work better.

LMB–Largemouth have been active and I don’t see that slowing down until the water temps cool considerably.  Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and even top water stuff like whopper ploppers and frogs will still catch fish right now.  Lily pads and shoreline weeds are good choices to look for largemouth.

SMB–In last week’s report, I mentioned smallies should be on deep rocks and on deep transitions from hard to soft bottom. I am not sure where they are this week, but I do have to eat some crow as last Saturday afternoon we went out fishing and I caught a very nice smallie in about 2 FOW in muck off of a shallow point.  Goes to show what I know about fishing, and I guess the point is to just go out and fish and try new spots and traditional spots.  Fish can be anywhere!!

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–Like I mentioned above, there are loads of panfish in and around shallow weeds right now and that shouldn’t change as long as the weather stays in this pattern.  Crappie minnows on small jigs or hooks will catch crappie and perch, while crawlers and leaf worms will still work for gills.

That is all I have for this week’s report.  A warm start to the duck season although I did hear quite a few shots this morning early so it may be a good one.  Next weekend is a big one with the Muskies Inc. tournament going on and the weather looks pretty decent for that, so it could be a busy one!  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg