Fishing News - 6/21/00
- The last week has been once again characterized by high winds and nasty,
rainy weather. One front rolling through after another seems to be the
rule rather than the exception. The good news is that the fish are for
the most part in their summer homes, off shore humps and island
shorelines. I like to key on the round rock studded islands opposed to
the granite type rock. In essence we are fishing tapering food shelves
instead of sheer drops.
However, even with the volatile weather, good numbers of walleyes have
been caught. The rule is there is no rule for patterns. You can't fish
yesterday's memories, cause things might be totally different the next
day. The versatile angler is the one who catches the most fish.
Cold fronts have constantly put the fish on the mud, deep in the weeds,
or on inside turns of points. It's amazing how location can change from
one day to the next.
The deep fish have been ranging from 20-40', with the majority hanging
out around 27-30'. These fish have been taken in good numbers on bottom
bouncers and spinners tipped with a whole crawler. The hot blade has
been the number 4 Colorado in hammered nickel. The most important thing
to do when first starting to fish each day is to determine the most
shallow active depth. Start shallow, say 8-10', and run out to deep
water. Keep an eye on the depth finder and note at which depth you see
marks on the sonar. Do this at each spot you visit, remembering that
depths of active fish may change with different structures.
Even with all these fronts rolling through, there has been a good number
of fish taken shallow, from 2-15'. These fish have been taken on jigs
tipped with crawlers or leeches. Key locations have been points, inside
turns, and the edges of the weed beds. Wind blowing into these areas is
important. What seems to be happening here is that the fish are
constantly moving up and down. You will hit a flurry, the action will be
hot and heavy, then nothing. Keep moving, target many different spots.
You may go awhile without taking fish, but when you get them it will be
worth it.
Smallmouth have been decent. However, passing cold fronts can put them
down. They are relatively easy in steady weather, resting and feeding in
the boulders close to shore in bays and along the main lake shorelines.
Spinnerbaits, jigs and twisters, Husky Jerks have all worked well. When
the fish have moved deeper, a jig and crawler worked off the first
breakline have produced, but only sparingly.
OPENING MUSKY REPORT: Lots of rain and cool water temps of 58
degrees have kept the fishing slow. Some muskies from 32 to40 inches
have been caught but the big females have been slow. I seen a 50 inch
class swimming in a weed chocked bay that was pretty well marked up from
spawning. We'll need some sunshine for a few days to warm things up
before the fish get active enough to chase
baits.----------------Smallmouth bass have been going good with fish up
to 4 lbs being released. Softball sized rock have been the pattern as
of today. Fishing for musky with a 6 inch reef haug I was lucky and
caught a 21 incher. That’s one of the bonus fish you catch when you're
fishing the big tackle. I'll put out another report this weekend when
hopefully the sun comes back to visit. MARV3
Lake of the Woods Fishing Report
Witch Bay Camp
By Phil Rolfe
