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Well that escalated quickly! Just days before the opener last Saturday, many of our area’s lakes still had ice; in-fact a little over a week before soft water fishing opened, some brave souls were still ice fishing for crappies. About a week post-season opener and water temps are climbing quickly. We talked to many anglers over the last week and heard the bite was slower than normal for most people. Still, there was no shortage of full stringers and live-wells.
The favorite target of course was the walleye. Reports came in with walleye being found as shallow as 3 feet and as deep as 18 with the most productive level of the water column at about 8 feet of water. Live bait produced best, the top performer in the early days of the season being larger rainbows, shiners and pike suckers. As our temps continued to rise well above normal, the water warmed very quickly. Once this happened, leeches started becoming more and more effective. Once area guide reported leeches out did minnows 3 to 1 for his clients during the peak of the heat this past week. The leeches were jigged with ¼ to 3/8th ounce jigs, white, blue, pink, chartreuse or wonder bread color combinations for clearer water and darker color schemes for stained water. Another, extremely effective method was a leech tipped spinner. The best performing spinners were our locally made spinners in hammered copper or silver in stained water and the red/ white daredevil style color pattern for clear water. Troll the spinners on a bottom bouncer over rocky outcroppings, sunken islands and main lakes breaks in 8-10 feet of water. The best artificials were the Rapala Countdown CD9 in Fire Tiger and Rapala Crush City The Mayor swim baits.
Smallmouth are hitting the same minnows and leeches but also eagerly devouring crawfish presentations. Rapala Crush City Crawfish and Live Target Crawfish cast and retrieved over rocky flats of 8-10 feet of water should produce very well. The same presentation for largemouth bass but move into the weedy flats and shoreline reeds.
Northern pike will readily hit a simple large sucker suspended under a large bobber presentation. For artificial tactics, large, flashy spoons, shallow diving Rapala and Mepps Bucktails will entice an eager bite. Look for weedy bays and river inlets.
The weather is forecasted to cool over the weekend, and some muchneeded rain will move into the area. The pressure and temperature changes will cause some changes in fish behavior but should not push the fish any deeper than they are now. After the rain, the night crawler bite should also heat up.
