June 29th Fishing Report

[Rob Manthei]

Sorry for delay, but website was down, gmail was messed up, and other issues.

Water temps are 67 to 74 depending on size and depth of lakes...most are around that 70-71 mark



Walleyes:

The bite remains fair to excellent on area lakes. The mayfly hatch continues to be the x-factor. This can change the bite from good to bad over night. Playing the game of dodging the bullet(bugs) is the best advice that I can give. There hasn't been any rhyme or reason what lakes and when the hatch is going on, but they have started hard on Big St. Germain. The bite was really good up until today. Last night the flies hatched big time, and it appears walleyes are full. Walleyes are using some weed edges on lakes(darker mostly), but I've been concentrating on deep sand points and bars in 16 to 22 feet of water. Leeches and nightcrawlers on 1/16 to 1/8 oz jigs are the best approach. When the crop is right, slip bobbers have been very effective too. Mornings have been best for me, but the last hour of light has been good, but not as good as the mornings in my opinion.


Bass:

Largemouth are going good on weed edges and the small carry in lakes. Accidental catches by my boat have come while walleye fishing the weed edges. Smallmouth are using deeper rocks and gravel, but also showing up in some large numbers in the same areas that walleyes are using(deep sand bars). I haven't really targeted them on purpose, just taking them as a bonus while catching walleyes.


Muskies:

The weed bite has been good, the open water bite is hit or miss, and the deep grass bite is starting to turn on. Bucktails from double 8's to double 10's are working, topwaters, and Suicks for the weeds and weed edges. Rubber(Dawgs, Medussa's, and Red October tubes) is best for the deep bite, along with DDD's, and Depthraiders. Some days I've found muskies using nearby rock bars that top off from 5 to 12 feet within close relation to weeds.


Good Luck out there!

[krulls]

Coming in from California and will be spending some time on Big St. What suggestions do you have right now for walleyes? Has there been much success lately? Have you tried the Rapala Jigging Rap? If so, any thoughts?

Thanks, Chip