Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, the 4/10ths of an inch of rain we got yesterday out towards the bait shop most likely won’t help bring the lakes back up to a decent level. Water levels are down a foot to a foot and half or more on most lakes so be cautious if you are trimmed down and don’t know the water. Looks to be a great weekend in the Northwoods, with temps topping out in the upper 70s and nights down into the mid 50s.  Chances of rain on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday so far but I won’t hold my breath on that. Fishing has been pretty slow lately for most species, and water temps have creeped back up into the upper 70s on most lakes.

Musky–Anglers were starting to target musky again over the past week since water temps did cool to a reasonable level to not have fish die during the catch.  Blades are probably the best producing baits right now, followed by twitch/jerk baits.  Look for ‘skies pushed up onto the tops of flats/bars during low light conditions and off of the deeper edges during the day.

Northern pike–Pike action has been consistent and anglers are finding them in and around weeds.  Thick cabbage, grass, and coontail will all hold pike this time of year.  Chatterbaits have been lighting up pike lately and should continue to do so.  Small inline spinners and crank/jerkbaits will also work.

Walleye–The walleye bite hasn’t been on fire, but some fish are getting caught.  Trolling deep edges of rocks and weeds, jigging with leeches/minnows/crawlers all seem to have a time and place to pick off a few ‘eyes here and there. The last few hours of the day into the first darkness really seem to be good windows to catch walleye right now.

LMB–The bass bite either has not been as good as it should be or anglers aren’t talking too much about catching them.  Plastic worms or frogs would be the top two choices I would use to catch bass right now, and spinnerbaits would be a close third.  Work through cover, whether that be lily pads, bulrushes, timber, or cabbage and look for fish anywhere from 3-10 FOW right now.

SMB–Smallies will most likely be in deeper water hanging around deeper rock or weed transitions out into the basins.  Jigs and leeches or plastics are great choices for mid-day presentations, while topwater baits such as whopper ploppers can be excellent early morning or evening presentations.  

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–The panfish bite has been okay and somewhat predictable.  Gills and crappie are in the weeds anywhere from 3-12 FOW and perch seem to be relating more to the deeper edge in 10-15 FOW.  Minnows, plastics, and crawlers all seem to be catching panfish right now, so whatever your favorite presentation is go with that! 

Having confidence is key to a mid summer bite, as fishing can get pretty discouraging during the doldrums.  It should be a pretty pleasant week to be enjoying the Northwoods regardless of if the fish are cooperating or not!  That is all I have for this week’s report.  Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it was nice to have the air conditioners off for a few days, however the roller coaster we call Northwoods weather looks to change that starting today.  All week I am seeing mid to upper 80s, low temps creeping back into the 60s, and very little rain forecasted until late week.  Water temps have cooled considerably since last week and fishing has picked up quite a bit.  I kind of have a bad feeling it may get worse as this week warms up and water temps climb again.  Water temps are low to mid 70s now, but we will see them get closer to 80 by the end of the weekend if we get the heat they are calling for.

Musky–The musky bite has picked up this past week and the cooler water temperatures are certainly the reason for that.  ‘Skies have pushed up a bit shallower and anglers are seeing follows and converting on smaller bucktails and smaller baits in general.  It does seem like smaller fish are more active than the big fish.  Water temps are still warm enough to say it again……please be mindful when chasing musky in warm weather/water…..have the right tools, a good sized net, don’t measure fish unless absolutely necessary, and keep the fish in the water as long as possible!  I did hear a report from Lake Namakagon that they have had like 5 or 6 good sized muskies floating over the past couple of weeks.  Some of those may be natural and just old fish, but certainly a few are also delayed mortality after a catch and release.  

Northern pike– Pike have been active again, and anglers are finding them anywhere there is weeds.  Spinner baits, crank baits, live bait such as crawlers and leeches are all getting pike to commit to eating.  Not a lot on big pike, but they are around these same areas and can be caught.   Look for pike anywhere from 4-12 FOW in weedy bays or big weed flats or even small mid lake reefs that top out with weeds.

Walleye–The walleye bite has been pretty tough lately, they have pushed to deeper water on most lakes and kind of scattered in basins.  Trolling crank baits or crawler/leech/minnow harness rigs on bottom bouncers or lindy rigs will help you cover water and find fish.  Running baits anywhere from 10-20 FOW depending on the lake is a pretty good starting point.

LMB–Largemouth have been active and they are hitting a number of different presentations.  Top water baits such as frogs or poppers, plastic worms such as senkos or ned rigs, spinner baits, and even small bucktails anglers are using to musky fish.  Work through weed beds, shoreline weeds such as lily pads or bulrushes.

SMB–Smallies got really fired up since water temps dipped a little bit and anglers have been doing very well on live bait.  Some anglers had luck with the biggest walleye suckers they could get, while others said the biggest leeches were accounting for all of their fish.  They kept the locations close to the vest, but my guess is they were finding them on deep weed edges or rock edges that pushed out into the basins of main lakes, anywhere in that 10-16 FOW range on most lakes.

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–All of the panfish have been active lately and anglers are finding them all over in and around weeds.  Piles of gills, crappie, and perch have been anywhere from 4-12 FOW and anglers have been doing well on crappie minnows, leaf worms and chunks of crawlers.  

That is all I have for this week’s report.  We are fully into the summer doldrums and this weather is keeping fish scattered and anglers guessing.  Towards the end of the 15 day forecast, the weather looks to cool down a little bit and stabilize which should help the fishing, but that is a long ways out!  Have a great weekend, take care and we will talk soon. 

Greg