Fishing Report 9/15/2009

Wow what a difference almost 3 weeks of stable summer like weather can make in getting Mille Lacs smallies in a happy mood! Fishing/lake conditions are improving daily!

Lake Conditions: Surface Water Temps hovering in the 70-73 degree range. Water Clearity continues to improve 3-4 feet visibility. Winds have been light to calm. Air Temps...summer like mid to upper 80's for daytime highs.

Last week entertained a group of anglers from the Chicago area. Fishing was good on the big pond for walleye and smallmouth bass. Many of our guests sought to fish the area small lakes for largemouth bass, sunnys and walleyes. Good catches were being reported from most all.

Last Thursday guided Don Dziedzina, Casey Orlowski and Gene Sowinski all from the south suburbs of Chicago. Don, my co host of the Fishing Line and Outdoor Radio Show, also is the host two TV shows....Illinois Outdoors and the All Outdoor TV show both air in northern Illinois. Casey and Gene members of the Fish Tales Fishing Club had won a guided trip and a chance to be in the Illinois Outdoors TV show. Needless to say we picked a perfect day weather wise and a good day to catch smallmouth bass. Casey caught a 3pound 14 oz brownie on the first cast of the day and followed it up with a nice two and a half pound 18 incher on his third cast....what a way to start the day. All in all we got several nice fish on film, Casey, Don and Gene caught 18-20 smallmouths ranging from 3 to almost 5pounds. Soft plastics did the trick. The fish were still very slow to take a bait and would not chase anything moving fast. We observed "clouds" of small minnows everywhere on the rocks as well as small perch. There is plenty of food available in the water for the fish to feed on...in fact a couple of the fish spit up crayfish and small perch. The warmerwater temps/stable weather patterns get the fish in a 'happy mood' that requires them to feed more often.

Last week we also fished several of the smaller lakes in the area for largemouth bass, and northern pike. War Eagle Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits were the ticket! Yours truely caught a 6 pound 1 oz and a 5pound 10 oz largemouth fish on a buzzbait..what fun catching trophy fish on top!! Northern pike were also very cooperative..same baits. The smaller lakes don't get alot of pressure and can be a great alternative for anglers who dont want to venture out on the big pond.

Look for the next couple weeks to be good fishing.... The 2009 guiding season will be comming to an end next week. This is the time of the year where my better half and I start fishing for fun..

....remember if you dont chase em...you wont catch em.