Outdoor Report for September 11, 2012

Muskies:
Muskie action is good and best in early morning and late afternoon, but with a good night bite. Fish weeds, bars, break lines, and weed edges in 4-12 feet of water. Top producers include big bucktails, topwaters, tubes, and swim, glide, jerk, and crank baits.

Walleye:
Walleye fishing continues to be tough, but it is improving. The fish are scattered from 12-30 feet and deeper, depending on the lake, time, and weather. Look for weeds, bars, gravel, rock, and other structure. Crawlers, leeches, fatheads, and walleye suckers are all catching fish, whether you use Lindy Rigs, jigging, or bait harnesses. Casting and trolling crank and stickbaits can be very productive well during low light conditions.

Northern:
Northern pike are becoming more active with the cooling water temperatures. Look for them in and around deeper weeds, cribs, shallower weed flats (smaller fish), and wherever you find panfish. When pike are on the feed, bait choices are almost unlimited. Try spinners and spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jerkbaits chatterbaits, swim bait, buzz baits, and sucker minnows on jigs, slip sinker rigs, and under bobbers.

Largemouth Bass:
Largemouth fishing continues to be very good in various depths from 3-20 feet of water, depending on the lake, time of day, and weather conditions. Work in and around weeds, wood, stumps, brush, logs, slop, docks, bogs, and near baitfish. Baits of choice include weedless and Texas-rigged plastics (worms, frogs, tubes, wacky worms), crankbaits, jig/pig, swim jigs, and live bait such as crawlers and small suckers.

Smallmouth Bass:
Smallmouth action is inconsistent, with the best success in early morning and late afternoon. Look for deeper rock bars, cribs, stumps, wood, and breaks and throw tubes, Senkos, crankbaits, swim jigs, topwaters, and plastics, or try crawlers under slip bobbers or drop-shotting sucker minnows.

Crappie:
Crappie action can be quite good once you locate them, but that can be a challenge since they are on the move. Concentrate on deeper water weeds, brush, cribs, and channel edges. Fish are in, on, and near these areas as well as suspending up off the bottom over deeper water. Use your locator! Top baits include crappie minnows, Gulp! baits, tubes, and plastics. Presentations vary from vertical jigging, drifting, casting, and running baits under slip bobbers.

Bluegill:
Bluegills continue to provide good action in somewhat deeper water near weeds, wood, brush, and cribs. The most productive baits include waxies, worms, leaf worms, plastics, and Gulp! baits. Fish them on small jigs or plain hooks with or without bobbers.