Good morning from the Quiet Lakes, a beautiful holiday weekend on tap for the Northwoods with temps in the mid to upper 60s and touching 70 on Monday. We may see some rain Tuesday and Wednesday, and then a warm up into the upper 70s and 80s by next weekend. The fishing should heat up as the weather does, this past week was not great at all. Big winds and rain to start last week really dropped water temps and shut the fish down for the most part. From what I was hearing throughout the week, the water temps dropped back down to right around 60 degrees.
Musky–MUSKY SEASON IS BACK UPON US!!!! In my opinion the absolute best freshwater fish to chase, musky should be active and found in and around weed beds in anywhere from 6-15 FOW. Musky will be chasing perch, bluegill, and crappie naturally so baits that mimic those forage species should be in every tackle box. Some lakes have cisco as well and baits in silver/white patterns will work well too. Bucktails, crank/twitch baits, and even top water baits thrown at dusk would be great options this weekend and to start the season.
Northern pike–You know fishing is slow when the pike bite gets slow, and from what I have heard over the last week, this has been the case. Pike should also be in and around weed beds and eating smaller bucktails, spinnerbaits, and Rapalas or other similar baits. Look for pike also in that 6-15 FOW range.
Walleye–Anglers should find walleye off of deeper rocky points or reefs, or on deep weed edges or hard to soft bottom transitions. Jigs/minnows have still been producing fish with walleye suckers working as well. As the water warms back up, leeches should start to get nice eyes’ into the net.
LMB–Largemouth have pushed into slightly deeper water and found cover over the past week, but they should start to find shallower sandy shorelines or lily pads as the weather and water temps warm. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and live bait such as crawlers or larger minnows are great choices to target largemouth right now.
SMB–While anglers still can’t harvest smallmouth bass yet, they can find them relating to the same areas walleye should be in right now. Deeper rocks or rocky shorelines that drop off into deeper water. Jigs/minnows or plastics or deep running crankbaits can be great choices to throw for smallies.
Crappie/Bluegill/Perch–The panfish bite slowed down considerably with the cold front last weekend and nasty weather we had last week. It sounds like panfish had pushed into weeds and cover and were holding in 8-10 FOW or around that depth range depending on the lake. Minnows on small jigs or under a float seem to be working best right now, but small leeches, crawlers and waxies will also start to get good as the water heats up.
That is all I have for this week’s report. I hope everyone takes some time to reflect on what the weekend means and the sacrifices made so we can enjoy all of our outdoor hobbies/ventures. I hope everyone also thanks a veteran for their service, for keeping this the greatest country in the world! 🇺🇸 THANK YOU veterans past, present and future! Have a great weekend and we will talk soon!
Greg