Fishing Report

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, another warm week of weather on tap with temps right around 80 until next weekend. Slightly cooler today (75) with a chance of rain this afternoon. Almost zero chance of precipitation after today’s rain so it should be a nice week. Water temps have stayed right around the 70 degree mark and will probably continue through this week. Fishing has been pretty good with the consistent weather for most species.

Musky–Anglers are still seeing fish on faster moving baits such as bucktails and topwaters. That trend should continue this coming week with the warm weather, and fish should still be relatively shallow in and around weed beds. Good throw back baits on raised fish would be Suicks, Bulldawgs, and gliders such as Warlocks.

Northern pike–Pike have still been active and hitting most everything. Anglers are finding them in and around weeds on all sorts of baits. Spinner baits, chatter baits and even smaller baits such as crappie minnows are all working to catch fish.

Walleye–Walleye have been elusive lately as I have just not heard much on a walleye bite. Time of year and weather would say walleye should be in deep water on rocks or bottom transitions from hard to soft bottom. Jigs and minnows or walleye suckers anywhere from 12-20 FOW may find fish. Trolling deep crankbaits or using bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses could work well too.

LMB–The topwater bite should get good again for largemouth with warm weather and warm water temps for this time of year. Whopper Ploppers, frogs and buzzbaits would be good lures to throw. Spinnerbaits and skirted jigs should work well to find suspended fish.

SMB–I have not been hearing much on a smallie bite right now either. My guess is you will find smallies mixed in with walleye on deep rocks or deep bottom transitions.

Crappie–The crappie bite has been great with anglers finding them all over the water column depending on the lake. Shallow weed beds have been good on lakes with a typical weed bite and crappie have been schooled up deep on lakes with a deep basin. Most fish have been caught on jigs and minnows (either crappie or fathead) in both situations.

Bluegill/Perch–Bluegill and perch have still been caught in shallower weed beds mostly on crawlers and leaf worms.

For those curious about a hunting report, I did get some reports of some nice bear being harvested in the past couple of weeks so the woods have been good. The archery season starts today and I have a few nice deer on my trail cams I am going to target this year! Might be a little warm yet to target them but good to know they are around! Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.

Greg

Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, a chilly one as I am typing this!  Saw some frost this morning, but that looks to be short lived as the extended forecast looks to bring warm temps for the week.  Aside from today’s high of 64 the rest of the week looks to be in the 80s with very little chances of rain until next weekend.  Water temps are still holding in the low 70s and that shouldn’t change too much even with the warmer temps.  I would say fishing has been decent, but not great.

Musky–Anglers are still seeing musky on all sorts of baits.  Small bass sized baits, bigger rubber baits, and suckers are all getting hit.  It sounds like musky are in pretty shallow water yet, mostly on weed beds and around points/islands.

Northern pike–Pike of all sizes are still active and eating mostly faster moving blade baits.  Pike are also in and around weed beds or on shallow structures.  If you prefer not to cast, walleye/northern suckers would be an excellent live bait choice right now for pike.  

Walleye–I have not got much info on the walleye bite as of late, but a good place to start would be on the deep weed edges or deep rocky ledges/points.  Deep diving crank baits, lindy rigs, or crawler harnesses dragged in 15-20 FOW should find fish.  Even jigging minnows or plastics on these spots can work well.

LMB–Not many anglers are targeting bass right now, but those fishing for them seem to be using soft plastics for suspended fish.  The topwater bite should remain good with the temps staying warm, however fish are starting to transition a bit to more of a fall pattern (bass included).  Going back to plastics rigged in any presentation and also spinnerbaits and even live bait can be excellent choices.

SMB–Anglers are targeting smallies using jig/minnow combos, jig/plastic combos and similar rigged presentations and working transitions from hard to soft bottoms.  Look for deep weed edges or where points extend into the basins.  

Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–Anglers are still finding all sorts of panfish in and around weed beds, both on flats on big lakes and bays on smaller lakes.  Look for fish anywhere from 4-10 FOW and target them using minnows, crawlers, and artificial presentations as well.  

We are kind of in that weird transition from summer to fall as far as fishing goes even though the weather does not correlate to that! Have a great weekend everyone and we will talk soon. 

Greg