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The story of the week has been wind and rain. Many who braved the elements found their soggy condition rewarded with fish on the line. The rain is slowly raising water temps, but slow is the operative verb. The still relatively cool water temps are keeping the fish shallow while the rain is turning on the crawler bite.
Most fishermen are finding the walleye still in the three to 15-foot depth range, though one report we received on Tuesday was there was a mayfly hatch on Parent Like, (off Snowbank Lake), and they watched the walleye in two feet of water feasting on the bugs.
Despite the report on Parent Lake, we have not heard of any other areas of mayfly hatch or its effect on the fishing. Several presentations are proving successful right now; crawlers trolled on a harness or tipped on a jig, paddle tail plastics or Rapala Crush City plastics on a jig, trolled Berkley Flicker Shads, shallow running Rapalas and Reef Runners, or a Jiggin’ Rap tipped with a minnow head. If the particular body of water you are hitting has warmed more than other area lakes, you may have to move out to between 15 and 20 feet to find the walleye. As always, look for main lake breaks, sunken islands, outside edge of current and off points to be holding most of the fish.
The northern pike bite is hot right now! Lots of big pike are being caught in the shallows along weed beds and in the river mouths. Your best presentation bets are large sucker minnows under a bobber, large, flashy spoons, and buzz-baits.
The bass spawn is heating up. Look for sandy, shallow flats or if on a rockier lake, look for shallow rock flats. The bass, both large and small mouth, are very aggressive now that they are up on their spawn beds. A killer tactic is going to be Live Target Crawfish crankbaits since the crawfish target bass beds for the eggs and the bass are very territorial. Other tactics include Husky Jerks, Whacky Rigged plastics, or even a minnow under a slip bobber. It is still too early for topwater crank bait presentations by a couple of weeks yet.
Crappies are transitioning to their spawn beds; you’ll find them shallow, under 10 feet of water, preferably in a weedbed.Targetthemusingajigtipped with a crawler, Beetle Spins, Thumper Jigs or crappie minnow under a float or tipped on a jig.
Laketroutarestillrelativelyshallow, about 30 feet of water. Use large, white tube jigs, flashy, large spoons or trolled deep diving Salmos and Rapalas.
Stream trout are suspended at about 5-10 feet of water. The easiest approach is a nigh crawler under a slip bobber, but small Salmos, Rapala’s, Little Cleos and Mepps are producing great results as well. The flashier the color the better; blues, silver, gold or Wonder Bread should be your go-to.
