Walleyes are catchable, pike are plentiful and panfish are prowling! That’s the theme of this week’s report from Bowen Lodge.
Surface water temperatures had already risen into the high 70s, then a “cool front” moved through early this week. There were moderate declines in both surface temperatures, and in the algae blooms that helped darken the water last week. As of Thursday, surface temperatures on the big lake were about 75 degrees, Cutfoot Sioux waters were slightly warmer, 76 to 77 degrees depending on the spots. Calm, sunny weather helped start a new algae bloom that could be seen developing during the afternoon Thursday.
Walleye anglers continue to find, and catch walleyes on mid lake structures like bars, humps and hard-bottom areas of the flats. Over is the intense mayfly hatch that occurred a couple of weeks ago. In fact, it’s hard to find much evidence of any sort of insect hatches going on the big lake now.
Moving from spot-to-spot on Thursday, one group of anglers reported seeing almost nothing in the way of bait balls, or pods of insect larvae on the mid-lake humps they fished yesterday. They said, “We still found scattered packs of walleyes, and we’re not sure what they were feeding on, if anything. We managed to catch a fish or two from most of the spots, but the fish didn’t respond well on repeat drifts over the same spots. We did best by moving a lot, drifting the spot once, and then moving on to another location.”
Key presentations vary, but folks are catching fish with leeches more than any other bait right now. Suspended under slip-floats, attached to jig heads, or served up with Lindy Rigs are all effective methods for presenting leeches today. One of our better area anglers reported using a #4 split-shot attached about 5 feet up the line from a tiny, #6 pink colored hook. “I spot lock the boat and cast the live leech toward the bar and let it sink to the bottom. I don’t move it very fast, I let the leech swim on its own and do as much of the work as possible. Turn the handle 1 crank at a time, wait for a pickup and if nothing happens, turn the handle another time. It’s amazing how often I pick up nice walleyes using this method.” She reported.
Fishing tip: When you’re using leeches, make sure that they are both lively and large enough to swim against the weight of your hooks. If they are allowed to swim on the bottom, snagging on clusters of zebra mussels will be a problem. The lighter the weight of your hook, and the livelier the leech is, the better results you will achieve.
Some folks are also catching fish using night crawlers too, but they don’t seem to be as reliable right now. Jigs and minnows are also working for some, but again, not to the same extent that leeches have produced fish over these mid-lake structures.
With all the attention being paid to mid-lake structure, very few folks are scanning shallow water, but there are walleyes to be found in the shallows. So far, the action is spotty, centered around areas with the best vegetation and lowest visibility. The back bays, flowages and areas adjacent to incoming water from small streams and rivers are the best areas to look. Mixed patches of cabbage, flat stemmed pondweed and other sparsely gathered plants will be the most productive.
Key depths are 6 to 8 feet, sometimes deeper, wherever there’s adequate cover. Trolling spinners tipped with fatheads or medium size leeches is probably the best presentation. Night crawlers are catching some walleyes, but small perch are plentiful, attacking worms violently and diminishing their effectiveness.
Perch are getting easier to find in the same shallow beds of green vegetation too. If there’s a way to isolate “keepers” from little fish, we don’t know about it yet. Trolling spinners tipped with fatheads; you will catch random 9-to-11-inch fish mixed in with the legions of small ones. Don’t expect limits, but gathering enough keepers for a meal should not be a problem. Troublesome as they are while you’re fishing, the abundance of small perch in the 4-to-7-inch range is impressive. The outlook of perch fishing appears promising, we just have to wait for them to grow up a little bit.
Northern pike anglers are having fun these days too. You can find pike in most areas of the big lake and all around the Cutfoot chain of lakes as well. For most folks, pike are typically a by-catch of their walleye and panfish presentations. Large pike require a little extra volume of food though, so if you’re interested in catching them, scaling up the size of your presentation is a great idea.
Large, safety pin style bucktails are good, so are large plastic paddle tail swimbaits and hard jerkbaits. Medium heavy casting rods spooled with braid are best for larger lures. If you have a supply of musky equipment, bring it along on your trip because pike anglers are reporting sightings now too, especially in Cutfoot.
Panfish and crappies are gathered around the flats where vegetation is green and lush. Trolling spinners has produced modest catches of both sunfish and crappies. We think it’s a good idea to troll until you contact your target species and then fine tune your presentations from there. Small plastics served on small jigs are best for crappies, cast your lures and let them drop into pockets and gaps. Sunfish prefer some meat on your presentation, add a chunk of cut up night crawler or a small leech to compact jig heads and fish vertically.
As always, panfish anglers who fish during early morning and late evening will find the most active fish. If you’re fishing during midday and catch one or two crappies or sunfish, make note of the area. Try fishing in the same spots later, of early the next morning and you might be surprised by how many fish you find.
Mid-to-late summer is a transitional time, and we’re following the trends. Soon, walleyes will move away from the soft bottom areas where insect hatches drew their attention. They’ll take up residence on the flats, along shoreline breaks and on rocks, wherever minnows and small gamefish gather in large numbers. Follow the updates and we’ll do our best to keep you up to speed.