Jeff's Guide Service
07-28-2013, 11:16 AM
Hi Folks – I warned guys not to whine about the heat the other week – we are now down to 45 degrees & rain ! BRRrrrrr !!! The past week has shown us three cold fronts in a row. Water temps have plummeted from 84 all the way down to 68 in ONE week. Anyone who fishes knows full well that this has had a major effect on fishing. These have been major fronts with storms, wind and quite a bit of wind changes. We have been able to stay on fish throughout this event, but I’m finding action to be much slower, especially on walleye, bass and northerns. Musky activity remained fairly strong throughout these fronts and in fact was pretty strong.
When it comes to WALLEYE fishing, life has become very interesting, and very frustrating. Many lakes have really slowed down on these fish. You must work spots slow and be patient – use crawlers on either a slip-bobber or a jig and concentrate on weeds in and around 8 ft of water. The same depths work in wood. We have been getting quite a bit of action each day, but getting the hooks to stay in these fish has been the tough part. For every fish we boat, we miss at least 5 others. These fish will carry the bait around – they will run – everything but eat it. We caught one fish that had a crawler sticking out each gill – plus the on still on the jig. Very Frustrating!
MUSKY fishing actually held up pretty good during these cold fronts. We boated some, seen a bunch, and missed a couple when we were out chasing skies. One thing I noticed was during the week we had a lot of wind changes, and if you were fishing during the shift – action got hot & heavy. Every time that happened we had about a one hour bite window. We found all of our fish in 6 to 10 ft of water and hanging the heavy weeds. Perch-colored Suicks led the way when it came to production. We were working them as slowly as possible and fish came straight from below. Large bucktails were our next best lure. Surface activity is at a standstill.
SMALLMOUTH BASS have really slowed down. These fighters never seem to like these cold fronts anyway. We have been able to get a few and these have been nice fish ranging from 17 to 21 inches. What I found was fish retreating to deep wood in the 9 to 12 ft. range. Slip-bobbers with crawlers were very effective and we also had luck throwing rattle traps and Flicker Shades.
That’s it for now – catch you on the lakes.
Jeff Winters
2058220583
When it comes to WALLEYE fishing, life has become very interesting, and very frustrating. Many lakes have really slowed down on these fish. You must work spots slow and be patient – use crawlers on either a slip-bobber or a jig and concentrate on weeds in and around 8 ft of water. The same depths work in wood. We have been getting quite a bit of action each day, but getting the hooks to stay in these fish has been the tough part. For every fish we boat, we miss at least 5 others. These fish will carry the bait around – they will run – everything but eat it. We caught one fish that had a crawler sticking out each gill – plus the on still on the jig. Very Frustrating!
MUSKY fishing actually held up pretty good during these cold fronts. We boated some, seen a bunch, and missed a couple when we were out chasing skies. One thing I noticed was during the week we had a lot of wind changes, and if you were fishing during the shift – action got hot & heavy. Every time that happened we had about a one hour bite window. We found all of our fish in 6 to 10 ft of water and hanging the heavy weeds. Perch-colored Suicks led the way when it came to production. We were working them as slowly as possible and fish came straight from below. Large bucktails were our next best lure. Surface activity is at a standstill.
SMALLMOUTH BASS have really slowed down. These fighters never seem to like these cold fronts anyway. We have been able to get a few and these have been nice fish ranging from 17 to 21 inches. What I found was fish retreating to deep wood in the 9 to 12 ft. range. Slip-bobbers with crawlers were very effective and we also had luck throwing rattle traps and Flicker Shades.
That’s it for now – catch you on the lakes.
Jeff Winters
2058220583