Fishing Reports

[Pete Brzezinski]

Wow, what a spring. If it’s not raining, it’s windy and cold! Walleye season in Wisconsin opens this weekend May 7th and looking at the weather forecast its shaping up to be a nice weather weekend.

As for the fishing report water temps are should be in the 45 to 50 degree range on most lakes. If your target is the walleye this weekend like the other 99% of the guys out there you can expect to find them in the evenings near or on shallower gravel spawning areas in bigger clearer lakes. During the day bump off those areas and check deeper flats adjacent to points and humps. Jigs and minnow combinations will be a good place to start in the lure department. Another place to check is old weed grow and muck bottoms, bait fish are starting to come into shallow warmer water and walleyes that have finished spawning are hungry and looking for any easy meal. Drifting and slip bobber tactics should find fish that are actively feeding.

On shallower, darker, warmer lakes, look for new weed growth in shallow water back bays. Pitching jig and plastics during the day and slip bobber fishing during the low light period can be the key to putting walleyes in the livewell.

Good Luck and Tight Lines,
Pete Brzezinski
(715) 574-1813

[Pete Brzezinski]

Great Wisconsin Opener !!

May 9
Beautiful weekend around Northern Wisconsin and a great way to get the Game fish season underway here in the North woods. As predicted, water temps where 48-49 degrees and walleyes on clearer lakes where found in old weed grow and we got them on 1/8 and ¼ jig heads tipped with gulp 3” minnows during the day and in slip bobbers in the evening. The best program that we found on Saturday was moving off nearby spawning areas and fishing a series if cribs with lighted slip bobbers. Fish were finicky but we still managed a good few meals of fresh walleye fillets for our efforts.
Sunday found us on a slightly off colored lake with water. Fishing was nothing short of impressive. We fished new weed grow in shallow water pitching and swimming 3” to 5” grubs to locate active fish. Once we found pods of fish we set up camp and slip bobbed. 40-50 walleyes came aboard the boat Sunday running in size between 14-22.5 inches. Shiners were up on the flats getting ready for the spawn and walleyes followed in mass quantities.
Minnesota Opener/ May 14th
Jumping forward to the Minnesota opener, the St. Louis River which runs through Superior should be holding lots of fish due to our normal spring conditions. Walleyes here on the river here wrapped up their spawning and will be on the feed when the season opens on May 14th. Jigging, ¼ oz. jigs and minnows, Rigging crawler harnesses, and trolling cranks, should all work over the weekend. Once you locate fish, duplicate what you are doing, these walleyes are on their way back out to Lake Superior and they’re traveling in schools. Fish should be working their way down from the rock near Hwy 23 bridge area and seeking out bait fish near their warmer water spawning areas. Rigging and trolling should take a few fish working travel areas of current and channel edges. Once again remember where you contact fish, make a mental note of speed, water depth, color, and water temp. Then repeat.

Good Luck and Tight Lines,
Pete Brzezinski
Northand Muskie Adventures Guide Service
(715)574-1813

[Pete Brzezinski]

Here we go...MN opener in 11 hours, shaping up to be a good one.

[Pete Brzezinski]

Walleyes Opener Strong on the St. Louis River
Another great weekend in the fishing department!! For the Minnesota Opener I spent this past weekend out on the St. Louis River that flows through Duluth and Superior. Lots of walleyes through the river as expected, with a good range of sizes. Most fish ran between 18-24inches with a few bigger fished thrown into the mix. (biggest was 29” buddies fish) Around 50 walleyes in the boat for the weekend with Saturday being the best. Right now walleyes can be caught pretty much whatever you the angler prefers. Jigs and minnows combinations are producing fish, trolling bright colored cranks, and rigging crawler harnesses, all put fish in the boat fish this past weekend.
Water temps are around the 55-56 degree mark as of today. With sunshine in the forecast for the next 4 days water temps will spike and get fish on the move. Shiners are starting to show up in the river also so the trolling and jig bite should stay strong. As it warms, keep checking on weed growth and look for bait fish starting to move into the shallows.
In short, if you’re looking to get out fishing on the St. Louis, now is the time! Lots of fish around and you can kind of do your own thing to catch them. If you are traveling from out of town there are a lot nice hotels, motels, restaurants and with easy river access in our area that have very reasonable rates and that have power hook ups for boats to charge your batteries. If you are looking for fishing and lodging information or want to get out fishing, feel free to give me a call.

Pete Brzezinski
Northland Muskie Adventures (715) 574-1813

[Pete Brzezinski]

May 23

Walleyes here on the St. Louis River continue to be going strong. This past Thursday, the refuge above the Hwy 23 bridge in Fondulac opened and fishing was great. Only issue is there are lots of guys and there’s not a lot of room up there, so everyone needs to be patient with each other. On the flip side walleyes are spread out spread out throughout the river. Saturday am I was up river and did well, turned around in the afternoon and pulled rigs out on the flats and did very very well!
Lake trout and salmon are being caught out on Lake Superior with the charter captains getting people out and on fish. Walleyes are going to start showing up in the big lake at any point as make their way back out to Lake Superior.
Looking ahead to the weekend, Muskie season opens in the northern half of Wisconsin. Should be shaping up to a good opener, water temps for the weekend here on the river should be 58-62 degrees. We can use some sun and its solar heat to jump start the fish after their spawn. Inland lakes should be about the same. Tactics for the opener can go two ways. Either speed up and cover water casting smaller bucktails and topwaters trying to locate an active feeding fish in warmer water or slow down using swing/ glide baits or sight fishing in clear water lakes.

Pete Brzezinski (715)574-1813
Northland Muskie Adventures Guide Service

[Pete Brzezinski]

Most areas around Northern Wisconsin and Northeast Minnesota had warmer temps 60-80 degrees. In our area here had wind, rain, wind and rain, more wind, lighting, wind, rain and struggled all weekend to hit high temps in the low 50’s. Mondays high was 45 degrees here in Superior . Major unstable weather over the muskie opener but you can't catch them if you're not out there.
Right now muskies are starting to use shallow/new weed growth and warm water. Small bait fish are attracted to the new weeds and warmer water temps as they are starting to spawn and feed on new plant life. Focus on casting in areas that have the highest temps and new vegetation starting to poke through bottom. Twitch baits, smaller bucktail and time on the water are keys to putting fish in the boat daily.
Walleyes are still in the river in good numbers but are now spreading out throughout the river system and even down the south shore out into Lake Superior. The key is to stay mobile and cover water until you find the fish. Once you hit a few fish form a pattern and capitalize on it for the day. Every day is different and fish move in and out of spots daily. This past week we boated 30 walleyes in a small area one day and the next, same weather and wind conditions yet could not get a walleye in the boat. Point is, is that the walleyes move and once you lose them you got to go looking for them. Pulling crawler harness has been the ticket lately, with a few fish coming on jigs yet.
Panfish are starting to spawn on inland lakes around the area. The key for success is checking spawning areas to see if the fish are there yet. If not work your way backwards from there, checking staging area on weed flats just outside traditional spawning locations.

Good Luck and Tight Lines,
Pete Brzezinski
(715)574-1813