Rob Manthei
06-21-2017, 06:25 AM
Well now that I can get into my page, I'll finally be able to post a report. Sorry for the absence. Water temps have dropped a little. As of yesterday, 67-70 degrees depending on lake
WALLEYES:
Fishing has been really good for these guys. Plastics and live bait have been working for me. Kalins, Keitech, and Berkley are some brands to consider. A weedless jig(Bait Rigs slow poke or weedmaster) tipped with 1/2 crawler is bread and butter right now. I've been getting fish out of deep wood, weed edges, and mud flats on lakes that are experiencing a bug hatch. Mayflies are hatching on several area lakes, and soon will be exploding with the next warm up. Some fish are starting to show up on gravel and rock humps, look for this in upcoming weeks after bug hatches. These fish are active on lakes that are pre bug hatch, so if you aren't getting bit, move. If you are stuck on lakes with hatching going on, you will always catch the gluttons first, but don't stick around to long and move on. Find active fish.
MUSKIES:
Action has been good for the most part, but also sporadic. Pay attention to moon phases, overhead's, underfoot's, etc....yesterday was a prime example. Cold front and north winds in the morning. Moon phase was midday, and boom saw 3 fish, caught one and lost one. Next couple of hours was slow, a lazy follow and hit, and then next moon phase was at 4 pm and we got a nice one and lost another.
Muskies are using weeds and also suspending on lakes that have bug hatches going on. Trolling Jake's and Grandma's around baitfish and clouds of bug larvae is a good idea right now on some lakes. I've gotten fish the past 7 straight muskie trips both casting and trolling.
Topwaters(FatBastard, Dr. Evil, Topraiders), Jerkbaits(Suicks, Barfighters), rubber(Medussa's, Tubes, Swimming Dawgs) have been my best baits. Smaller bucktails and actually the old school single bladed baits are working better right now than the double 8's,9's, 10's......Yes folks the single blades still catch fish....Bucher 700 series has been my best bucktail right now.
SMB and LMB:
For the most part these guys are done spawning.....may see a few late bloomers here and there. Gravel flats and edges of humps for SMB's. I have been catching them mixed in with walleyes too around deep wood. Dragging tubes and also deep cranks along the rock edges are working great. LMB's are in the reed beds, docks, and lily pads. Waco Worms, Frogs, spinnerbaits will get action. As summer progresses the LMB's will head to more thick pad cover and dock cover.
CRAPPIES and BLUEGILLS:
Sorry, but haven't fished them since May 20th. I would expect to find crappies on weed edges outside of spawning areas suspended half way down or still relating to some wooded areas. Bluegills are done spawning and setting up shop in weed flats and edges too. Remember the biggest panfish will also go deep and suspend.
Good Luck out there.
WALLEYES:
Fishing has been really good for these guys. Plastics and live bait have been working for me. Kalins, Keitech, and Berkley are some brands to consider. A weedless jig(Bait Rigs slow poke or weedmaster) tipped with 1/2 crawler is bread and butter right now. I've been getting fish out of deep wood, weed edges, and mud flats on lakes that are experiencing a bug hatch. Mayflies are hatching on several area lakes, and soon will be exploding with the next warm up. Some fish are starting to show up on gravel and rock humps, look for this in upcoming weeks after bug hatches. These fish are active on lakes that are pre bug hatch, so if you aren't getting bit, move. If you are stuck on lakes with hatching going on, you will always catch the gluttons first, but don't stick around to long and move on. Find active fish.
MUSKIES:
Action has been good for the most part, but also sporadic. Pay attention to moon phases, overhead's, underfoot's, etc....yesterday was a prime example. Cold front and north winds in the morning. Moon phase was midday, and boom saw 3 fish, caught one and lost one. Next couple of hours was slow, a lazy follow and hit, and then next moon phase was at 4 pm and we got a nice one and lost another.
Muskies are using weeds and also suspending on lakes that have bug hatches going on. Trolling Jake's and Grandma's around baitfish and clouds of bug larvae is a good idea right now on some lakes. I've gotten fish the past 7 straight muskie trips both casting and trolling.
Topwaters(FatBastard, Dr. Evil, Topraiders), Jerkbaits(Suicks, Barfighters), rubber(Medussa's, Tubes, Swimming Dawgs) have been my best baits. Smaller bucktails and actually the old school single bladed baits are working better right now than the double 8's,9's, 10's......Yes folks the single blades still catch fish....Bucher 700 series has been my best bucktail right now.
SMB and LMB:
For the most part these guys are done spawning.....may see a few late bloomers here and there. Gravel flats and edges of humps for SMB's. I have been catching them mixed in with walleyes too around deep wood. Dragging tubes and also deep cranks along the rock edges are working great. LMB's are in the reed beds, docks, and lily pads. Waco Worms, Frogs, spinnerbaits will get action. As summer progresses the LMB's will head to more thick pad cover and dock cover.
CRAPPIES and BLUEGILLS:
Sorry, but haven't fished them since May 20th. I would expect to find crappies on weed edges outside of spawning areas suspended half way down or still relating to some wooded areas. Bluegills are done spawning and setting up shop in weed flats and edges too. Remember the biggest panfish will also go deep and suspend.
Good Luck out there.