May 24th Report

[Rob Manthei]

One week it's blowing like crazy, the next it's dead calm...........wow, and heat. Lake temps sored in 4 days by 12 degrees.....too warm, too fast....later on in the week when we got the little cool down, fishing(walleyes) really picked up. It looks like a lot of heat again for the next couple of days for sure.


Walleyes.....best bites on redtails, tuffys, and leeches....I have been getting fish from cabbage in 8' to coontail in 12 to 15', and deeper sand in 24 to 26'....all depends on the day and wind.

1/16 oz Bait Rigs Slow Pokes tipped with the minnows and leeches or set under slip bobbers. Bite has been best early 5 to 8 am and again in the evening....under best conditions when the sun was hidden by clouds and we had wind, the bite was all day long and strong.


Smallmouth are everywhere....look for rocks/gravel and you'll find them setting up shop....Shallow shad raps, Berkley Fire-stick minnows, Husky Jerks, gulp!....you name it...done deal....


Pike are thick in the cabbage right now....everywhere!! Larger redtails on jigs and larger Husky jerks are working....make yourself a little leader out of 18 lb 7-strand or 25 lb Vanish and tie on a 1/16 or 1/8 jig and minnow and rip it through the weeds....


Crappies are just into spawn and/or still prespawn on most lakes....Mini-Mites, Frizzies and my favorite...look for staging fish in cabbage in 5 to 8 feet of water near sandy flats.....last week's bite was amazing....over bagging my lots of people was a problem....sick!!! Time for a 15 bag 10" size limit on our best crappie lakes!


Good Luck!

[westonjeff]

. . . much appreciated by those of us who *wish* we would have been up there fishing!

Stay cool!

[captain wrongway]

One week it's blowing like crazy, the next it's dead calm...........wow, and heat. Lake temps sored in 4 days by 12 degrees.....too warm, too fast....later on in the week when we got the little cool down, fishing(walleyes) really picked up. It looks like a lot of heat again for the next couple of days for sure.


Walleyes.....best bites on redtails, tuffys, and leeches....I have been getting fish from cabbage in 8' to coontail in 12 to 15', and deeper sand in 24 to 26'....all depends on the day and wind.

1/16 oz Bait Rigs Slow Pokes tipped with the minnows and leeches or set under slip bobbers. Bite has been best early 5 to 8 am and again in the evening....under best conditions when the sun was hidden by clouds and we had wind, the bite was all day long and strong.


Smallmouth are everywhere....look for rocks/gravel and you'll find them setting up shop....Shallow shad raps, Berkley Fire-stick minnows, Husky Jerks, gulp!....you name it...done deal....


Pike are thick in the cabbage right now....everywhere!! Larger redtails on jigs and larger Husky jerks are working....make yourself a little leader out of 18 lb 7-strand or 25 lb Vanish and tie on a 1/16 or 1/8 jig and minnow and rip it through the weeds....


Crappies are just into spawn and/or still prespawn on most lakes....Mini-Mites, Frizzies and my favorite...look for staging fish in cabbage in 5 to 8 feet of water near sandy flats.....last week's bite was amazing....over bagging my lots of people was a problem....sick!!! Time for a 15 bag 10" size limit on our best crappie lakes!


Good Luck!

Rob, I also must thank you and in the same breath thank alot of people up there. I really enjoy myself when I do make it up there. I'll be on Little Saint during the Memorial Week like I have been for more than 25 years now. I don't fish alot otherwise just basicly when I make it there. I'll be in a 18ft pontoon with 2 American Flags waving in the breeze.. Anyone reading this stop by. Semper Fi !! and GLAD TO BE AN AMERICAN ....... PS. I moved from Ill. to Wisconsin for several reasons but one of them was to get closer to MY Lake...

[Robeto81]

Was up from tuesday through the memorial day weekend. I had never fished the lake before and had some newbies in the boat that did not even know how to cast. But we had some great success. Caught a good consistent limit of eyes from 16-20 inches on shad raps ripped throught the weeds along with slipp bobbered crawlers. The smallies were going nutz and i personally caught my two biggest 19 and 20 on topwater baits. Even had a few big northern up to 30 inches and some huge perch. Not too much musky luck as i only fished the crowded opener saturday morning. Had one 35-40 inch follow by plum creek. Lake is down at least a foot from what the guy fromt he lake association told me....Stopped at fibbers for a quick beer, nice place ya have there Rob.............

Good day all
Bob M

[pvsted]

LAke levels are low, some flowage lakes are aweful. When i make a request about levels on lil st you give me the blow off repsonselevels are fine.

That is bull lake is lower again than last fall, launches are rocky

Rob, you get more business by being up front. Even Ray says lakes are lowere than ever.. STOP THE SPIN!

[Jim L]

Here is what you wrote. "I have a 20ft bow rider and am coming up for long weekend. Will i be able to launch at public or black bear? can i get through passage to west bay?"

Rob said it would be no problem to launch at the public ramp. So let me guess, you ripped around the lake and scraped your prop and skeg. So lets blame it on Rob. You epitomize the internet fisherman of today. No research, just ask someone else a question and then blast them when things don't go your way.

Rob doesn't need anyone standing up for him but this crap just fries me. He and Kaye work 18 hour days most of the year and they don't deserve to get bashed by some weekend warrior who doesn't have a clue.

TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS!!!

[pvsted]

i saw many boats attempt to launch over the weekend and had many difficulties with larger boats.

All i ask is honesty like yes lakes are very low launch is tough but doable.

passage ways between bays are passable, etc


You are the eyes and ears for those of us that come up a few times a year.

and dont asume i "RIPPED" around the lake.

[Rob Manthei]

This is gone far enough.....thanks Jim L....making comments like "Stop the Spin" and "you'll get more business" aren't called for when you ask simple questions such as can I launch here or there, etc....Yes, I am the eyes and ears for a lot of people, and I am 100% when I give answers...I watch people everyday have difficulty launching boats even at good ramps, so I am not sure what that should imply. Next time I'll be more into detail that just blowing you off.

[pvsted]

Maybe i was strong but i appreciate your efforts in the future

[Steve Heiting]

Seriously?

I have a Ranger 619, which is just shy of 20 feet and could be considered a big boat. I have also used the Little Saint boat launch three times in the last two weeks -- May 17, 19 and 26. Sure the water in Little Saint is a little low (6 inches at the most) and a person needs to be careful given the current situation, but as Rob said, there is no problem at the Little Saint launch.

The only water up here that is scary low is the Rainbow Flowage, and that's thanks to the "efforts" of the WVIC. And there are a couple lakes where you shouldn't try to launch a big boat (Big Muskellunge, Little John, Laura to name a few), but I've had no issues launching or trailering my boat at EVERY boat landing I've used this spring.

EDIT: I deleted Big Sand from the list above. While I have not been there, I heard from a friend on 6/7 that improvements have been made and the launch is in good shape in spite of water levels remaining extremely low.

Also, I was on Little Saint again Sunday, 6/6. The launch remains in great shape. If you have an extremely large boat you may wish to launch on the right side (when viewing the lake) as it's a little deeper than the left side. However, because of traffic at the launch, I put my Ranger in on the left side and still had no problems.

Most launches have a shallow spot just behind the blow hole, and some have logs, stumps or a few rocks in the vicinity. Whenever I prepare to launch at a boat landing I haven't used in a couple weeks, I ALWAYS survey the situation before backing my boat in. It's just common sense.

[Juhas]

Seriously!