Cooler with a little rain and the Fire Ban has been lifted.
I was surprised that the fire ban was lifted yesterday. The air has cleared of smoke, it has been much cooler (several mornings in the 40s), and we did get some rain, but it didn’t seem like enough to end a fire restriction. We will take it.
Some populations of walleyes made the predictable next move and others did not. The result is that we found fish in a much wider range of depths this week and there were many more adjustments to the speed of presentations. There were occasionally times that you could pull Gulp at speed and get results, but there were just as many others where you had to slow down and fish more vertically. As a guide, if you had your mind set on one speed and depth zone this week, then you got burned.
Most of the walleye production was from 1/8 – ¼ oz. jigs with minnows in 8 – 16 ft. of water. There are some walleyes on the main lake, many in transition areas, and still a few in the warm water fertile bays. We are just starting to see weed growth. Main lake temps were in the 50s and most of the warm water bays were in the 60s.
For the week, we caught and released 63 walleyes over 27 in., including 15 – 28s, and 1 – 29. Numbers were still good, but there were a few more slow times than there were the previous week. Cool mornings with overcast skies and no wind were a challenge. Guide sheets averaged 35 walleyes over 18 in. per boat per day. The highest daily total for the week was 82.
Big Pike were hard to find this week. With very little weed growth and wind, the fish remained scattered. We caught just as many big pike with walleye fishing gear as we did while casting for them. For the week, we caught and released 6 over 37 in., including 1 – 38, 1 – 39, and 1 – 40.
The smallmouth bass are on what I would consider a normal schedule. We have seen a few groups begin to move shallow, especially in the warmest bays, but it feels like we are a week away from the peak. There were a few caught on cranks and topwater, but plastics were more productive. Ned rigs with TRDs and jigs with twister tails were the most productive. For the week, we caught and released 9 bass over 19 in. including 2 – 20s.
Compared to the blazing start we had to the season, it feels a little slower for the 1st and 2nd year guides. For those of us that have been around for a few decades it felt like a more normal 2nd week of June with good fishing results.
