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Minnesota Fishing Report ArchiveMore Info In Discussion Forums
| Author |
Messages |
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justnorth
Posts:3733
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| 6/06/2005 3:16 PM |
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With some of the turbulent spring weather behind us, summer is inching its way into the Grand Rapids Region. Warming water temperatures, Southerly breezes and feeding fish are on the horizon for the up-coming week. Water temperatures have risen to at or slightly above the 60 degree on many of the shallower lakes and temperatures remain in the high fifties in the deeper water lakes. As the temps rise, fish activity is picking up. Action is best when we get a breeze, but savvy anglers are catching some fish even during the calm times.
Walleyes are considerably more scattered than what we’re used to for this time of year and even though there are some large schools of fish in a limited number of areas, it’s best to search for small schools of fish in off-beat locations. Finding fresh schools of fish is important right now because there’s fairly heavy fishing pressure on many of the more popular spots. Pressure has made fish in these areas spooky and so the bite is on and off, becoming sluggish or even coming to a stand still at times, picking up at prime times like morning, evening or when the wind blows. There are still lots of minnows in the shallows, so at least some of the better schools of Walleye remain in these areas to feed. There are also some early signs of fish moving across deeper flats and staging on their way to mid-lake structure. So folks with a bias toward deep water will be in business shortly. Although jig & minnow is still catching fish, rigging with leeches and crawlers is gaining strength and it’s a good idea to start bringing a wider variety of baits on your fishing trips.
Crappies are still in spawning areas, but it’s beginning to look like spawning is winding down in the shallower, warmer areas. We’ve caught enough Crappies this week to give me the impression that they’ll stay in the shallows for a little while longer, maybe a week or so, but I wouldn’t count on it to go much longer than that. Next step will be to locate them in mid depth Cabbage weeds, mixed Coontail and rock/gravel bars.
Best presentation is 1/8 ounce or 1/16-ounce jigs tipped with minnows. We’re still using bobbers rather than moving baits, fish are moderately active, but unlike last spring, they’re not really chasing the beetle spins or other faster moving baits just yet.
Northern Pike action is shifting from the smaller fish that devour everything in site and some larger fish are starting to show up in the better shallow feeding areas.
We’ve had some luck casting spoons, but trolling is about even with casting in terms of producing fish. We strongly suggest releasing these larger fish as a way of providing some trophy opportunities for the future. Thankfully, we’ve seen some lakes in our area receive experimental Northern Pike Regulations requiring the release of fish in the 3 to 8 pound size ranges and we’re hopeful that this will result in some places to look for larger fish down the line. In the meantime, if you want to eat Pike, please learn how to remove the Y bones and start utilizing some of these smaller fish. The abundance is incredible and they’re good to eat as well as great fun for youngsters to catch.
Courtesy of
Jeff Sundin
Minnesota's Hardest Working Fishing Guide
218-246-2375
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A service of
JustNorth Outdoors LLC
www.justnorth.com
Outdoors Learning Center
Connecting Families with the Great Outdoors ™ |
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justnorth
Posts:3733
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| 6/16/2005 9:41 AM |
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What’s new this week? Well in spite of rainy. Cool weather, the growing season is inching along and fish are making transitions, albeit slower than usual. Even though water temperatures are having a hard time moving out of the low to mid sixties, we are seeing evidence of insect hatches on the mid depth flats in 10 to 16 feet of water. As these insect hatches begin, so does the fish movement toward deeper water.
Walleyes can still be found in the shallows on most of the Grand Rapids area lakes, but there are increasing numbers of fish using the deeper, main lake structures. Areas that transition from the shoreline out toward main lake bars, humps and mud flats are ideal spots for locating these moving fish. Points that lead out to deep water, emerging weed beds adjacent to deep holes and small humps located near the shoreline are all holding fish, at least temporarily as they move deeper. We’re still catching plenty of Walleye on jig and minnow, but every day I experiment with crawlers and leeches and they are producing fish as well.
With lakes filled literally to the brim with baitfish, it’s been tough to pin down any locations with large schools of fish. Instead, they are broken up into smaller groups and scattered fairly evenly around the lakes. When I locate large schools of minnows there are almost always at least some fish nearby.
Crappie anglers around the Itasca area have noted that most of the shallow spawning fish have moved out into summer cover. Cabbage or mixed Coontail weeds are now holding the fish as they head for deeper water. Like the Walleye, these fish are locating near deep water, but not necessarily out into the wide-open spaces just yet. A shoreline hole that’s located near deep weeds, brush piles or deeper gravel/rocks will still hold some fish before they start roaming open water during the daytime. Slip bobbers with small jigs are still useful, but small jigs of 1/16 ounce to 1/8 ounce tipped with a minnow or plastic tail and fished vertically in heavier cover will also produce good catches of Crappie.
Bluegills and sunfish are in the shallows and active this week, with lots of nice catches being reported on the smaller Bass/Panfish type lakes in the area. Shallow, mixed sand and gravel areas are where these fish spawn and you’ll locate lots of them by cruising along the shoreline and finding the nesting areas visually. Once located, presentation is simple. If you have an ultra light rod with light 2 to 4 pound test line, casting small jigs toward the shallows and retrieving slowly is the most fun. But bobbers set for shallow water will also get you in to plenty of Bluegill action right now.
Northern Pike are beginning to show up on the deeper structures too and it’s not been uncommon this week to catch Pike in the 14 to 22 foot depth ranges. With plenty of good green cabbage and large schools of bait building up on the deeper edges, Northern Pike are staging in these areas to feed. We’ve had better luck picking these fish up on a jig and minnow than by casting for them. We’ve been getting a lot of jigs snipped off, especially by the smaller fish. So, if you want to single out some nice Pike, I’d suggest using a foot long piece of heavy monofilament as a leader. This protects you from most of the bite-off problems, but stays flexible and requires less frequent re-ties than you’d experience with the standard steel leader.
Smallmouth Bass and Largemouth Bass are on the beds in most lakes now and we’ve seen quite a few males guarding their nest vigorously. Shallow water sight anglers are in their element right now. Top water baits and jigs with plastic tails are both working well. Releasing fish caught in the shallows near these spawning grounds is considered mandatory by most anglers and if you’re looking for fish to eat, I’d recommend zeroing in on the panfish that are also located shallow at the moment.
Courtesy of
Jeff Sundin
Minnesota's Hardest Working Fishing Guide
218-246-2375
|
|
A service of
JustNorth Outdoors LLC
www.justnorth.com
Outdoors Learning Center
Connecting Families with the Great Outdoors ™ |
|
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justnorth
Posts:3733
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| 8/25/2005 8:04 AM |
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After a cool week, Surface temperatures are falling into the upper sixty degree range with readings on some lakes creeping back into the seventies during afternoon sunshine. Fish movements are evident and lots of folks are finding that their favorite summer fishing spots are gradually becoming less populated as the fish move into staging areas on their way toward the shallows and other preferred fall locations.
Walleye fishing has been good for versatile anglers who have spent some time searching for the better schools of fish and located new habitat. The mid summer patterns of following main lake fish that focused on insect hatches has given way to schools of fish that are in search of swarms of young of the year Perch and other types of minnows. These fish are feeding heavily on the minnows right now and once again the old adage "find the bait, find the fish" is coming into play. Weedline fishing has really improved with many of the schools of fish located just outside the weed edges on the cleaner drop off edges. Shoreline points and main lake bars adjacent to shoreline structure are key areas right now. Live bait rigging with Leeches has been my personal favorite for the past week, but we have caught several fish on night crawlers and even a few on jig & minnow. I’ve noticed that there are different preferences on different lakes and while the crawlers might be great on one lake, the fish in the next lake down the road may be biting better on the leeches. While I’ve been carrying minnows each day (mainly as a backup), we have yet to see the preference really switch over to minnows on any lake in the area.
Bass fishing has been amazing! These critters are going very well on almost every lake I’ve tried and we’ve stumbled in to some fantastic action by fishing with jig and soft plastics. While the Bass have been aggressive, they have remained on the deeper weed edges and going deep with a 1/8-ounce jig head and plastic worm, crawdad or lizard has been the clear preference of these fish. We’ve had our best action on steeper drop off areas adjacent to weed flats or steep drop off areas adjacent to Lilly Pads. With all of the sun we’ve had lately, the Bass seem to really like that overhead cover as long as it’s near deeper water. We have not done really well in the heavy pads in shallower water, although there have been some fish in these areas. A Slug-go or similar type jerk worm rigged weedless is the ticket for these shallower fish.
Bluegills are the name of the game in the world of panfishing right now. They have been biting aggressively on the deeper portions of the weed flats and out toward the weed points along shore. We’ve located many schools of Bluegills by fishing for the Bass with soft plastic baits and as we locate a school of Bluegills, we’ll take a few minutes to sample some fish by switching over to a small jig tipped with a wax worm, twister tail or half a crawler. If the fish are decent size, we’ll stop and fish them for a while. We've noticed that the smaller and more aggressive fish are quick to move toward the bait and will come quickly toward the surface to bite. We have to avoid temptation to cater to these aggressive biters and get the jig quickly to the bottom where there seems to be a better chance of catching nicer size fish. If necessary, switch to a 1/8 ounce jig with a smaller than average hook and fish it motionless near the bottom. You'll get less fish, better quality.
Crappies are getting more reliable as an option right now. There are more and larger schools of fish hugging the first drop off into deep water. Try following the edges at roughly 18 to 24 feet and watch your electronics closely for any signs of baitfish, schools of Crappie or even isolated deep weeds or brush. The fish are a little stubborn, but once you get the first fish or two, the rest of the school will perk up and give you an action spurt. 1-16 to 1-8 ounce jigs tipped with a minnow and fished vertically will get you some fish right now.
Muskies did what they always do! The recent full moon and related stormy weather was just what the doctor ordered for anglers in the area. There was a two or three day period of good action for the big critters. Action was better on crankbaits like the giant size Rattle Traps and Salmos. The sunny weather hasn’t been good news for those of us who want to stretch the bite out for a while, but there are fish in the better weed beds right now and I’d recommend casting every time the weather gets favorable.
Smallmouth are on the deepest parts of shoreline points, rocky bars and along the clean lip area outside of some deeper weed beds. They’ve been catchable on artificial baits, but they’re after meat right now and fishing with a live bait rig tipped with medium sized minnows is the best. Fish them like you would fish Walleyes except don’t feed line to the fish when they pick up the bait. Just let them snuggle up a bit and gently set the hook. Over feeding these fish can result in damage to the fish making releasing them difficult or impossible.
Northern Pike are gathering in larger numbers in the shoreline weed beds and we’ve been able to locate some good fish by using a jig and minnow as a search lure. Once you’ve located an area where Pike are present, you can change your approach to casting in the area. It seems that casting will get some of the larger fish that prefer more size to the baits you’re using. Move frequently from weedbed to weedbed because some are occupied while others are empty. If you move enough, you’ll locate some active fish.
Courtesy of
Jeff Sundin
Minnesota's Hardest Working Fishing Guide
218-246-2375 |
|
A service of
JustNorth Outdoors LLC
www.justnorth.com
Outdoors Learning Center
Connecting Families with the Great Outdoors ™ |
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