St. Germain area Fishing Report

Here’s the latest report for fishing in the St. Germain area. Lakes are in good shape and weed growth is coming along nicely. For the most part that’s where the action is. Water temps are in the low to mid 60’s which is a great spring range for plenty of activity.
Here’s the rundown of what I’m seeing on our area lakes.

Crappies: Are hitting well. Lots of fish in the shallows as the spawn is on. Look for these fish in very shallow water from a couple feet deep to right up to shore. As usual downed timber is always a good bet to find some of these fish. Try crappie minnows (small fatheads) under a slip bobber for good action. If you prefer artificial lures try Mini Mites, Frizz’s, or a small jig with twister tail and you should find some action. Warm sunny days have kick started action while cooler days with overcast or rain pushes them off a little deeper and puts them in a more negative feeding mood.

Bass: Action on largemouth has not really heated up yet although some catches are being made by walleye or crappie anglers on their live minnows. As the water continues to warm we can expect largemouth bass to start hitting on usual baits like spinnerbaits, spoons, soft plastics etc.
Smallmouth bass are spawning and on the beds. Look for them on sand/gravel transition areas in shallow water. Tube jigs are working the best. Please remember that both species of bass are catch and release only at this time. I’ve been encouraging people to pinch down the barbs on their jig hooks because these bass are hitting very aggressively and it’s much easier on you and the fish to remove a barbless hook. These fish are extremely vulnerable during the spawn and if we want to continue to have a trophy fishery in our area it makes sense to reduce the stress on caught fish.

Pike: Seem to be everywhere in the weeds and hitting well on any live bait as well as crankbaits like Rapalas or similar minnow imitating lures. Like the other fish, warm sunny days are the best for action but it’s almost impossible to not catch a few if you’re working the weeds.

Walleye: Still doing well on walleye in the weeds and shoreline related shallow wood. Jigs with minnows as usual are producing well. When the fish get a bit more aggressive we’re finding that a slip bobber rig with a nice juicy minnow, crawler, or leech may outperform the jig presentation. As the weeds continue to grow and pop up in deeper water look for the walleye to start moving out towards those edges.

Musky: Season closed until May 26. Fishing for musky on Michigan/Wisconsin boundary lakes starts May 15. Muskies have been seen cruising shallow dark bottom bays especially with emergent weeds and many reports of incidental musky hook ups from walleye fishermen.

Perch and Bluegill: There haven’t been too many folks targeting these fish just lately with the crappies taking over the interest of panfishing fans. Nice catches of perch have been reported by some while fishing for walleye on the Rainbow Flowage. These seem to be incidental catches but if you find some, keep with it and you may have enough for a nice fish fry.

Speaking of fish frys, we all love to have a few fish for the fry pan and it’s a time honored tradition here in the northwoods. I’d like to encourage everyone to take only the fish that you can really use. Sometimes these fish become very vulnerable and fishermen take advantage of the situation taking buckets of panfish or daily limits of walleye. While it’s legal to take up to your daily limit, remember that your total POSSESSION limit is twice the daily bag limit. Please do not “fudge” the rules and keep more that your fair share of fish.

This is a great time to be on the water and I expect the next few weeks should provide us with absolutely great fishing opportunities. Good luck out there!