St. Germain Area Report July 18

This summer has been an absolute roller-coaster of weather patterns. Who would think that we would see daytime temperatures in the 50’s in mid July? Every week seems to bring us something a little different and it has kept fishermen hopping from one foot to another to consistently catch fish. Does this mean that you can’t catch fish? Hardly, but it does mean that you will need to use the Marine corps saying of “improvise, adapt, and overcome” if you want to be successful.

What baits are catching fish? Well, it seems to depend from day to day. Some staple livebaits will almost always catch fish but I’ve found some days even the usual voracious bluegills will be picky about if they want a chunk of nightcrawler or a little waxworm. The bigger fish like bass, pike, and musky have also been somewhat inconsistent and frankly the walleye have been pretty tough to figure out. Some very good walleye fishermen have been getting stumped about putting fish in the net. My best suggestion right now is to be prepared to test a variety of baits on your chosen species and see what the fish are willing to take. Keep in mind that the next day it could be something completely different. I’ve been keping leeches, minnows, and nightcrawlers in the boat on my outings for multi-species fishing and a well stocked tackle box of a wide variety of lures on musky jobs. Here’s the breakdown of what I’ve been seeing and hearing from my sources around the area.

Bluegills and crappies with a smaller mix of perch have been in shallow water weeds with the best depth seeming to be around 5 feet. Keep moving to find a decent pod of fish and then work them until the bite slows. Then move on. Camping out on a spot and waiting for fish to show up would make for a long day and most likely poor results.

Walleye have been somewhat of an enigma for most fishermen. You will see them on your depth finder in open water but difficult to peg down and actually get to bite. I believe due to the cool water temps there are still a fair amount of walleye in the weeds and probably more accessible. Use SLOW tactics to get these fish. Slowly crawl a jig with your bait of choice along the bottom. Aggressive jigging doesn’t seem to be the right presentation right now. You may also try drifting with rigged crawlers over those open water fish. Look for transition areas from soft to hard bottom to hold the most fish.

Bass have even been a bit stingy during these cold front days. However, when they do turn on some nice catches are happening. I’m still locating most of the largemouth in the same areas as the bluegills. You may also look a little shallower and on sunny or warmer days don’t forget to check structures like downed timber and piers to hold fish. Slow rolling spinnerbaits have been my best presentation on these fish lately. I’ve also seen bass hitting surface baits during low light periods on our warmer days.

Pike have either been on or off. On the good days they have been hitting my bass spinnerbaits or musky bucktails. Most of the time I’ve found pike to be quite shallow in thick weeds. You may also try suspending a good sized minnow like a chub or walleye sucker under a bobber in open clearings between weeds.
What a week this has been for musky. Early in the week the action was pretty darned good with most musky fishermen having at least a couple shots at a fish per outing. A good number of large fish were caught including a 51” fish and several in the upper 40 inch range. Then with the onset of the most recent coldfront the bite subsided and we really had to work to encounter a musky. Bucktails still seem to be the lure of choice most of the time. I’ve seen a change from the earlier pattern of very small bucktails of a few weeks back to more standard sized tails. In this group I would include lures like the Mepps Magnum Musky Killer, a Buchertail 700, Ghosttail I, Rabid Squirrels, and others in that size range. My best results have been with perch patterned colors but from time to time the brighter stuff like fluorescent orange or chartreuse blades have brought fish up. Again, try changing things up to see what is getting the most attention. On days when the fish have really “locked up” I’ve found that downsizing to the smaller bucktails again may get some attention. When the water warms as it was earlier last week we were beginning to see a pretty good surface bait pattern. Watch for warming temps and keep that in mind particularly early or late in the day. Also a word for those of you who are heaving the big double bladed bucktails around. These baits seem to be getting some follows but the majority of fish seem reluctant at this point to actually eat them. I suspect this will change if we get some consistent warm weather heading into the later days of the month and August but for now those big blade baits seem to be acting more as a locator than a fish catcher.

Well, I guess we’ll have to see what the week brings. Also some of you fishermen may be interested to attend the Joe Bucher Blues Fest next Saturday at the St. Germain pavilion. The proceeds of the festival will benefit the Northland Pines H.S. football team and cheerleading squads. Three top notch bands including Big Road (with yours truly on drums), the Usual Suspects, and Joe Bucher and the Top Raiders will provide the entertainment along with Memphis style BBQ. I know you want to be on the water but consider checking out the fest and helping out with a good local cause.

As soon as I shut the computer down I’m back on the water to see what todays conditions provide. Have fun, be safe, and most of all enjoy your time here in beautiful St. Germain.