Fishing Report July 18

[Dick Wilkening]

I have not posted for a while but the walleye fishing remain very good. We have been fishing the points and reefs in the main lake. It seems like however you like to fish, you can catch fish. I have been jigging with live bait, leaches or crawlers, in 14 to 24 feet of water and finding good numbers of walleyes with some smallies mixed in. I have also been working the bottom bounces in the 18 to 24 with great success. In the afternoons we have been pitching jigs and finesse worms on the bolder points in the wind and getting some nice smallies and large walleyes. There is a group in camp casting the reefs with crankbaits for the big walleyes and have had limited success to this point.
The northern fishing has been spotty for the bigger fish, but there is plenty of action in the weed bays for the smaller ones.
Dick Wilkening
Witch Bay Pro Staff

[bassface44]

First I want to thank you for keeping the reports coming. They were a great help as my group prepared for our trip this year even though we were not in Witch Bay. We just returned from the Barrier Island area and I would echo your report. Fish were caught pretty much everywhere with a lot of different techniques producing fish. Most of our group had success with spinner rigs and crawlers, but jigs with leaches and soft plastics and Gulp Alive minnows also produced fish. Our most productive depths were between 18-30 feet but we caught fish both shallower and out to 40 feet. We didn't spend much time targeting northerns or musky but we managed to move a few bigger fish in our limited efforts. They were sluggish though. Even the large fish that tried to eat a walleye boatside didn't really commit very hard in it's two attempts to eat the walleye. One musky was boated for the week (44") on a top raider off of wood. Thanks again for all your reports, I will be sure to keep an eye on them throughout the summer and into the fall.