There’s some Very Good Fishing Going on Out There

Hi Folks -- There’s some very good fishing going on out there as we follow the spawn bite around from lake to lake. Despite the foul weather and high winds this past week, fish continued to bite. It got a little tougher Thursday and Friday, but we still managed to dig out some very nice catches. Today was one of those bumper days as we hammered walleyes in the 22 to 28-inch range. It was a FUN day on the water today. We’re taking out fish mainly on jig and minnow combinations and we’re finding enough aggressive fish that even plastics are working. With the shallow depths that we are fishing I would imagine that crank baits would produce also. If you’re heading out, concentrate your efforts in shallow water. We’re finding all of our fish in depths ranging from two to ten feet. Whatever your preference is for structure, you can find a lake that will give you what you want. Dark water lakes are beginning to show signs of a weed bite beginning, while your clear lakes are mainly rock.
We have been seeing some bass activity taking place as we are beginning to see some very nice, hefty smallmouth bass and we are also beginning to see a couple of largemouth. These fish have been very negative and we’ve been catching them on jigs and minnows moved very slow, or slip bobbers above rocky structure. If you’re looking for largemouth, we’ve been just starting to find those mainly around heavy shallow timber and old reeds. If you go out looking for bass you would be best to stick to very dark, shallow warmer waters.
Crappie action has been very spotty as these fish are trying to get going with the spawn. With the temperatures they’re predicting this week we should see these fish race in and begin their spawn within a day or two. I haven’t personally seen any spawning activity on the lakes I’ve been fishing, and the fish we’ve been catching are being found mainly in their staging areas, outside their spawn beds. These fish are egg-laden and willing to hit. Bobbers with little cubbie jigs or just hook-sinker & little crappie minnow should provide anglers with some good action over the next week or so.
Pike are started their spring “eat-a-thon”. We’re beginning to find a lot of northerns slicing and dicing bait fish. These fish are aggressive and there’s been a LOT of them – a lot of nicer, eater-size pike are being found. I’m finding them in a variety of structure – hallow timber, flooded grass, rocks and mud flats. They seem to be all over the place. I have also been finding some on the flowages that are beginning to shovel bugs. This could be an omen of things to come for walleye fishing so keep that in the back of your head for reference.
Well that’s all for now ----
Jeff Winters

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