FISHING REPORT
Muskies:
Many muskie anglers will not fish for muskies until water temperatures cool. Fighting fish under the current conditions causes stress and greatly reduces the odds for a good release. If you go, fish the cooler early and late hours of the day. The best bite is on bucktails, topwaters, and jerkbaits, with some sucker action.

Walleye:
Walleyes are scattered from deep to shallow, in/around various types of habitat, and continue to offer surprisingly good action. Concentrate on weeds, brush, breaks, rocks, and humps in six to more than 30 feet of water, and vary your baits and presentations. The top choices are leeches and crawlers on jigs, bait harnesses, and under slip bobbers, with some decent action on Beetle Spins, Rapalas, and crankbaits.

Northern:
Northern pike action is good and getting better with dropping water temperatures. For now, look for them in and around deeper weeds and near panfish (pike call them lunch.) Buzz, chatter, crank, swim, and spinnerbaits, spinners, spoons, and suckers are all catching northern pike.

Largemouth Bass:
Largemouth action is good on most lakes, with the best bite in evenings and early mornings. Target shallower weeds, lily pads, logs, bogs, brush, stumps, and slop in 4-15 feet of water. Try Senkos, Texas-rigged plastics (worms, grubs, lizards), Gulp! worms, swim jigs, spinner, buzz, and crank baits, plastic frogs, and similar topwaters. Live baits include leeches, crawlers, and minnows on Lindy Rigs or under bobbers.

Smallmouth Bass:
Smallmouth bass are scattered, from deep rock, wood, weeds, bars, breaks, and points, to holding with largemouth in shallower weeds and wood. A wide variety of baits will work (especially in crawdad patterns), including tubes, plastics, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, leeches, crawlers, and small sucker minnows under slip bobbers or on live bait rigs.

Crappie:
Crappies are holding near cribs, weeds, and brush in 6-18 feet, as well as suspending over deeper water. Best action is in low light and evening hours. Baits of choice include crappie minnows, small fatheads, waxies, worms, tubes, and Gulp! baits fished on small jigs or plain hooks, Tattle-Tails, and Mini-Mites, all with or without slip bobbers. Try drift fishing your baits along weed edges and other likely cover to locate fish.

Bluegill:
For bigger bluegills, fish deeper weeds and brush with waxies, worms, leaf worms, panfish leeches, plastics, and Gulp! baits on plain hooks or small jigs. As with crappies, drift fish along weed lines. Poppers, rubber spiders, black ant flies, and similar surface baits work well this time of year.