Fishing Report

Good morning, cooler days and cooler nights are already changing some of the leaf colors.  It will be a couple weeks yet before the colors really change, but it’s coming!  The hot weather last weekend brought water temps up a little bit, but it sounds like they are back down to right around 70 degrees.  They should continue to slowly drop over the next week as we don’t have any hot weather in the forecast.  Some rain tonight will help keep the temps in check as well as help the lake levels.  Fishing has been tough for all species since the cold front came through last week.  

Musky–A few fish are still being caught, but the bite has slowed down a bit for musky.  Fish should still be related to shallow water on structure, whether that be weeds, rocks, or timber.  I would keep fishing bucktails to cover water, and slow it down to glide baits, jerkbaits or rubber baits if you aren’t getting any action of fast moving stuff.  Live bait is also going to really heat up now that cooler weather is here.  Dragging a sucker along drifts while casting is a great way to put big ‘skis in the boat.

Northern pike–Really nothing relevant to report on pike.  Along with the musky, pike should be on shallow structure this time of year.  Spinner baits, smaller bucktails, and live bait will all produce pike right now.

Walleye–Walleye have pushed deeper into the basins and are being caught trolling crank baits, and pulling crawler harnesses and bottom bouncers.  Jigging with live bait will start coming into play here as the water cools as well.  

LMB–Anglers have been doing well for bass on minnows and crawlers around here.  Some musky anglers have also caught bass on smaller artificial baits as well.  Largemouth should still be relating to shallow weed beds or other shallow structure.

Smallies–Anglers have been doing well on smallies on live bait also.  Fish are in deeper water off of rocky points/shorelines.  Most of the walleye anglers that have been in have reported to catch some very nice smallmouth while walleye fishing.  Mostly on walleye suckers or fathead minnows on slip bobbers is what’s working.

Crappie–Anglers are finding crappie in the basins or on cribs or deep structure.  Dropping jigs/plastics or minnows down to them and vertical jigging is working well.  My guess would be slip bobbers with jigs getting deep would work too.

Bluegill/perch–Nothing new to report on a panfish bite.  Focus on shallow weeds for bluegill and perch alike.  Waxies, leaf worms, and crawlers are still the choice for bait to catch panfish.  

Tough bite right now and in that transition between the good summer bite and the fall feed bag season!  Hope everyone has a great weekend and we will talk soon!

Greg

Good morning, it looks like mild temps and cool for the next fifteen days, and do I dare say little to no precipitation!? Seems like every time I write that we get some rain every day. We got NONE of the super hot weather they were talking about last week here which kept the water temps at a good range. I am hearing right around the low 70s on most lakes right now. I am told water levels are also in a good spot and close to normal for this time of year. I was out on a local body of water Wednesday night and the water seemed a little low but not terrible. The fishing is hit or miss right now but this next round of stable weather should help that.

Musky–The musky bite continues to be good, we have filled the 2nd board and have a few fish down on the 3rd already! The bite hasn’t changed a ton as yesterday I had a couple of guys catch a nice 35″ fish on a Mepps musky killer. Fish still seem to be after smaller baits, although I have heard of a anglers having success on bigger baits such as Medussas and Bulldawgs. Fish still seem to be hovering around shallow weed cover from what I am hearing.

Northern pike–I don’t have much for a specific pike bite as it seems most anglers are catching them while fishing other species. Mostly bass and musky anglers that are having pike hit those lures. Shallow weed beds seem to be holding the most pike right now.

Walleye–I was fortunate enough to get out Wednesday night and chase walleye. We found fish deep and did pretty well trolling crankbaits. We marked a lot of fish we didn’t catch and almost all were suspended around balls of baitfish. My guess would be slowing down and using bottom bouncers/harnesses or lindy rigs along bottom would work well too.

LMB–I haven’t heard a whole lot on the largemouth bite in the last week or so, but with water temps where they are and most all other species being caught in and around weeds, bass should be relating to weeds as well. Look for lily pads along shorelines and work spinner baits, frogs and poppers. Working plastic worms in and out of weed beds can be great also. For suspended fish work spinner baits, small inline spinners and chatterbaits.

SMB–Not a whole lot to report on a smallie bite. I know they were hitting on topwaters for the last couple of weeks but not sure if that is still happening. Fish should be in deeper water right now stacked up on rocky bottoms off of points/humps that extend out into the basins. Deep running crankbaits should do well for smallies right now.

Crappie–Like I said we found piles of marks suspended deep on the graph and most likely those were crappie or other panfish. I have heard other anglers finding crappie out in the basins as well. Working small jigs close to bottom seems to be catching crappie right now.

Bluegill/perch–Bluegill and perch are still in shallow water and crawlers and leaf worms seem to be the most popular way of catching them. Waxies aren’t too far behind as far as live bait goes. Small jigs under bobbers in and around weed beds seem to be the way to go.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and we will be back next week with another report!

Greg