Good morning, somewhat stable weather this past week, with off and on rain forecasted for today. Next week the mercury starts to rise substantially and that should get fish moving. Crappie and walleye action has still been pretty good considering the cool nights and lower water temps we are seeing right now.
Musky–Musky fishing has been slow at best. I am still hearing reports of inadvertent musky catches on walleye and crappie set ups more than on musky baits. The warm weather should start to get musky active and in no time we will be fishing top water water baits on every calm sunny night we get. Smaller offerings for musky are still a good bet as the fish are still in their post spawn period and still recovering from that.
Walleye–The walleye bite has stayed pretty good with fish moving to the deeper weed edges adjacent to the basins they will make home in the summer. Slip bobber rigs tipped with plain hooks and leeches have been producing fish.
Northern Pike–Pike action has been pretty good, same with the musky a lot of fish being caught while walleye/crappie fishing. Spinner baits/smaller inline spinners and plastic swimbaits/crankbaits can all be good choices for northern if you want to target them. Shorelines with downed trees/weeds and weedbeds in bays are all solid choices to catch fish.
Largemouth bass–Largemouth action has been good, although from what I am hearing not with typical bass presentations. Mainly bobbers/float fishing with nightcrawlers underneath them have been producing some nice largemouth bass (at least on/around the quiet lakes). Bass should start to push to shallower sandy bottom shores as they approach spawn, but currently they are still relating to shallow weeds.
Smallmouth bass–Some smallies are being caught in a little bit deeper water. Look for 10-15 FOW with rocks and sand bottoms. Pitching jigs tipped with plastics/livebait are good options for nice smallies. Also using slip floats with live bait close to bottom are catching fish too.
Crappie–The crappie have finally spawned from what I am hearing, although this probably varies from lake to lake. Fish are pushing out a little deeper into the weeds to hide from predators. Look for good numbers of fish in the 7-15 FOW range and relating to weedbeds. Traditional bobber/float fishing with a plain hook and crappie minnow are working well. Guys are also tipping small jigs with gulp! alive minnows underneath floats and having good success as well.
Bluegill–The bluegill have not finished spawning yet with multiple people reporting the female fish they are catching have big bellies still full of eggs. They should be moving into shallow water and making beds soon, so sight fishing with nightcrawlers or little spinning baits like beetle spins should catch aggressive fish protecting their beds.
Perch–Not much to report on a perch bite at all. From docks/shorelines to weedbeds in bays with crappie, perch kind of roam everywhere. They will eat chunks of crawler while panfishing and crappie minnows while crappie fishing. Just get a line in the water with something small on it and you will find perch!!
Greg