Despite an unusual and eventful week, some folks still ventured out to hit area lakes and were met with mixed success. As is usual for the dog days of summer, the fishing action is not quite as hot as the weather, though for those willing to put in the work, there were fish to be caught. For walleye, slower, simple presentations were the trick. The top presentation this last week was simply a hook tipped with a leech, a sinker about2feetaboveitallsuspendedunder a slip bobber set to 12-20 feet, depending on the lake your fishing. The walleyes were holed up on rocky points, sunken islands, main lake breaks, mud flat / weed transitions, pinch point and sown current side of river mouths.
Bass,bothlargeandsmallmouthare still in the bays. Rocky flats and weed lines in 3-10 feet are going to be your target zone. They are still actively hitting top-water crank baits, especially in theshallowerofthedepthrange.Finesse tactics like Ned Rigs or Whacky Rig soft plastics over the rocky flats or through shallow vegetation will be very effective. In the same area you hunt for the bass, you are also going to find pike. While the lures you’re using for the bass will catch pike, especially the top-waters, if you want more ammo in your lure arsenal, throw large, flashy spoons, (Red Eye Wiggler), buzz baits or medium to largeRapalaScatterRaps.Mediumand large sucker minnow suspended under a bobber will also be an effective tactic. Panfish, including crappie, are being caught in 5-15 feet of water. Look for tall cabbage or structure like rock piles, sunken trees, docks / bridges or weedlinetransitions.Crappieminnows under a slip bobber is best followed by a night crawler under a slip bobber.
Lake trout are deep, 40+ feet. Using a down-riggerorlead-coreline,trolllarge spoons, Salmo’s, cowbells. You can also jig the spoons or large bucktail jigs. In the designate trout lakes, the stream troutarealsoprettydeep.Again,trolled Salmo’s, small Rapala’s or Little Cleo Spoons will work very well. Also very effective are night crawlers under a slip bobber set to about 15-20 feet.
