Last week we were looking at surface water temperatures in the 78 degree neighborhood. On Wednesday, the surface water ranged between 71 and 73 degrees.
Declining water temperatures during late summer usually begin triggering daytime panfish activity. If the crappie fishing that our guests the Goodwin’s enjoyed on Wednesday is any indication, then the time for late summer panfish action has begun.
Crappies and bluegills too for that matter are showing up in small schools, scattered along weed edges and in some instances, on mid-lake structures that top out in the 8 to 12 foot range.
One caveat reported by the Goodwin’s is that the panfish are widely scattered. When encountered, the fish are active and will strike fast moving presentations aggressively, but don’t expect to find huge schools in any single location. You may catch 3 or 4 crappies in a spot, and then find another couple fish 100 yards down the shoreline. If you keep moving, you’ll have a respectable catch; just don’t get too focused on any one territory.
As shoreline vegetation begins to die off, more and more fish will be forced out of shallow cover. The schools of panfish located along the outer edges will become larger and the action will get faster. All this will be happening over the next couple of weeks and typically peaks during early September, just before panfish begin moving into fall locations.
On the walleye front, there’s evidence of a late summer, pre-fall migration taking shape on the big lake. Walleyes have begun moving away from mid-lake structure like small humps and bars. They’re moving across the lakes numerous large flats and heading toward shoreline breaks.
During this period, walleyes can be tricky to track down, but if you find them, they will bite. In fact the Goodwin’s had a little luck with the walleyes on Wednesday too. “When you see a fish on the screen, there’s a good chance that it will strike. You may need to cover quite a bit of territory between sightings until the fish begin reaching their shoreline destinations in larger numbers.
Trolling presentations are the best way to conduct the search, trolling not only allows you to cover lots of water, but will trigger strikes from the most aggressive fish. Crankbaits are working for some, spinners tipped with minnows and night crawlers remain to go-to presentation for most.
Key water depths vary with the structures, but 14 to 16 feet of water seems to be a good starting point on most of the lakes large flats.
One key to finding the right location on a flat is to watch your chart for areas where there’s a fast breakline between the flat and deep water. Slow tapering areas with soft, sloppy breaklines will hold lots of perch and some pike too. But when the walleyes begin these slow migrations toward shore, they tend to prefer following a better defined breakline.
Today is the full moon and historically, that means larger pike, muskies and bass should be aggressive. If you’ve always wanted to catch “the big one”, then break out the heavy gear and spend a good long day on the lake.