Fishing Report

Hope everyone’s enjoying summer and including lots of barbequing, swimming and of course fishing. Weekend traffic continue to see a lot of people heading north to escape to the wilderness and beautiful waters we Northlanders call home. This past week has finally brought us some much-needed rain to help water levels. Still a long way to go, but it is a start.

Fishing continues to be pretty good depending on where and what you are fishing For. Anglers have been finding good bites on all different types of fisheries. Water surface temperatures on most inland lakes have been in the high 70s for the most part the fish have been seeking cooler parts of the water columns. That means it is best to concentrate your efforts in the mid-depth to deep waters. Of course, time of day continues to be a big variable as well

Area lakes have given up good multi-species bites. Some lakes have been producing good catches on live bait rigging. Large-basin fish have been caught drift jigging or lindy rigging with both minnows, plastics and worms. Look toward areas with mid lake reef humps. Best to concentrate efforts around early mornings or late afternoons into dark, especially if your target is walleye. Do not be afraid to fish after dark as this time of year it can be produce some good fish.

Along deeper weed edges, anglers have been getting good sized panfish by jigging smaller 1/16 oz. jigs tipped with crappie or fathead minnows or plastics. Largemouth bass and northern pike can be found in similar areas, but working larger baits will be best to catch them. Largemouth will also be found in the vegetation and around docks. Topwater baits like frogs, leeches or worms will produce.

Oh, did I mention musky action is still slow. Only a few being caught and mostly small ones.

On a side note, we are now in the midst of summer, so a little tip to help keep fish swimming strong. Keep your livewell full of oxygenated water. That way, if you get a good fish for a picture, you can let it recuperate before releasing it.

What a summer it has been so far. Usually, this time of year we are worried about rain interrupting our plans. That’s just not the case this year. Instead, we are worrying if we will ever get some rain. It is no secret that water levels are down and we are in somewhat of an extreme drought, not to mention the spiking water temperatures.

Crazy as it sounds, the fishing has been pretty consistent throughout this whole deal. As usual, not every day is the same, but anglers certainly are catching fish on almost every outing and recently some bigger fish has been caught.

On most area lakes walleyes are getting a little trickier to come by, but if you concentrate efforts around low-light periods you will find some success. Drifting over deep basins and dragging live bait (night crawler half or leech) continues to put some fish in the boat.

Bass fishing continues to be limited to shady cover and deeper structure. Dock fishing has become a thing as we are now into the hottest days of the year. Top water baits thrown into the cover has produced some fish.

If you are looking for northern pike and musky, concentrate on mid-depth waters adjacent to vegetation. Casting big spinner baits or swim baits is definitely a good way to attract some fish. Musky action continues be considered slow, but few have been caught.

Crappie and the larger panfish are also relating to deeper vegetative cover lately. Anglers are picking them up 12 to 18 feet of water. Slip bobber rigs or just vertical jigging will catch some fish. Crappie minnows or pieces of night crawler is the bait of choice. Smaller plastics are working as well.