Fishing report 26 August 2023
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