Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, it surely is going to be a chilly start to the fishing opener this morning as I am seeing frost on the roofs and temps hovering right around freezing as I type this. A mostly sunny sky weekend with highs in the 60s is a pretty great start to get things rolling for the season. The weather looks pleasant all week, ranging from the 40s to the 60s. A few nights the low dips just below freezing which will help the water from warming up too quickly, in my opinion a good thing! Water temps may have also dipped a few degrees as we have had some cooler nights this past week, but they should be somewhere around 50 degrees if I had to guess.
Musky–The musky season is also underway in the northern part of the state, and from what I have seen installing docks anglers should find musky up shallow in the warmest bays of the lake. Musky should be in the full swing of spawning right now. The old adage is to start with smaller baits this time of year, and use faster moving baits to locate fish. If anglers are seeing a lot of following fish, but no biters they should switch up to baits that hang or pause. Focus attention to shallow weeds or rocks that are holding some heat anywhere from 3-12 FOW.
Northern pike–Pike should be mostly spawned out already, however anglers should find pike in and around shallow newly green weeds praying on bait fish that are in there for pre-spawn and finding cover to hide. Walleye sized minnow/jerkbaits such as Rapala Husky Jerks, or Berkley Hit Sticks should be great options for pike right now. Bass sized spinner baits will stay weedless and catch pike as well.
Walleye–Walleye should be mostly spawned out, and anglers should find them on typical post spawn spots. On most lakes that will be rocky areas with sandy bottoms adjacent to deeper water. Anglers should find walleye pushing up into or onto shallow flats and the sun hits the horizon in the evenings. On low light days, anglers may find those fish pushed up shallow mid day as well. Jerkbaits, minnow baits, and live bait are all great options for walleye right now.
LMB–Anglers looking to target largemouth right now should find them in the warmest bays around weed beds. Spinnerbaits would be a great option to work the water column and search out big bass.
SMB–Smallies should be in the same territory as walleye right now, but holding tighter to deeper rocks and bottom than the ‘eyes do. Running small crank baits bounced off of bottom will work for smallies, as will live bait.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–Anglers should find panfish looking for cover and or spawning in and around weedy bays or weed beds. Crappie will be in weeds starting to spawn or spawning and anglers should do very well on simple bobber/weight/hook combos rigged with crappie minnows. Perch should also be in these areas and may still be spawning or just on the tail end of their spawn. I have always had great luck catching perch while crappie fishing using the same set-up as listed above. Some ‘gills will be mixed in the weeds and anglers may have luck with small chunks of nightcrawlers or redworms underneath a bobber on a small jig or hook. Bluegills surely will not be spawning as water temps are way too cold, however they will be in weeds hiding from predators.
That is all I have for this week’s report. Good luck to all of the anglers that are up to start their season! I’m sure Nelson Lake and town will be busy with the governor’s opener happening over there. Have a great weekend and we will talk soon.
Greg