Fishing News - 6/28/00
Our weather, once again, can be characterized by ever changing weather.
We have had nice days, we have rainy days, and we have had windy rainy
days. Change is the order of the day, the weathermen are really working
hard to earn their money-------and of course the only time they have
been correct is when they call for a 100% chance of rain.
Fishing continues to be good, especially for walleye. The only limiting
factor is the winds keeping us from fishing our favorite main lake
spots.
The water temperatures have inched up to sixty degrees in the main lake
basin area. Witch Bay is currently running at sixty four degrees.
Rusty crayfish are up shallow and in very big numbers. However, all
species have exploded again this year due to the warm spring weather.
This could make it a little tougher later in the year when the walleyes
start keying on the young of the year perch and other baitfish. But,
right now, the walleyes are keying on the bigger minnows which have been
thinned down somewhat.
We have been doing good fishing with bottom bouncers and spinners from
24 to 35 feet. This seems deep to me compared to other years, but you
don't fish memories. I start shallow and run straight out to deep
water. When I mark fish, I fish that depth. However, until a depth
holding good numbers is established, I keep varying from that depth,
moving up or down in two feet increments.
Blades are still number 4 Colorados. However, a variety of colors have
been taking fish.
Hammered nickel, brass, copper, chartreuse, and orange have all worked
well.
Shallow fish have been taken off of points, boulders, weed edges, and
inside turns. These fish don't appear to be shallow all the time, but
move up to feed. It's a matter of timing. When you get them at say 4:00
PM on a given day, repeat that the next day. When fishing shallow, make
sure to carry both crawlers and leeches, the fish will have a definite
preference for one over the other.
Light jigs tipped with crawlers/leeches, Shad Raps, Husky Jerks,
floating Rapalas have all worked on the shallow fish.
Fish are showing up nicely on the deep water humps. Humps that top
around 20' are showing good marks. These fish are not everywhere on the
hump but in specific areas, show you have to really give a good look at
the territory.
One other pattern that is still producing well is the bays. A key
element is the fact that the water temperatures are still way below
normal and the bays are much warmer than the main lake basin,
consequently this is where the forage is hanging out. One very well
known bay near the main lake is holding an astronomical amount of forage
and consequently still holding great numbers of walleyes. These fish are
much shallower than the main lake fish and can be taken on a variety of
presentations which include bouncing, jigging, and crankbaits. The
action shallow earlier and slightly deeper during the mid to later
afternoon. Our guests are really whacking them on this pattern.
These bays are mud bottomed. Fish are virtually everywhere. The
presentation are easy to negotiate versus working a main lake hump or
following a precise contour.
JUNE 26 MUSKY SMALLMOUTH -- Cool rain fronts and wind have kept water
temps ranging from 58 to 61. Musky have been caught in the evening
hours from 7 to 10 in the thick weed back bays. The word is work your
baits slow and cover the spot good. 20 casts have been made to get the
fish to make a move and even then the larger fish are not interested but
they show themselves. Tandem spinnerbaits worked through the weeds not
over them have produced 3 muskys while small bucktails have worked well
also. A large fish of around 55 inches was seen while using a 6 inch
reef haug. Hope to have a story on that at a later date. Smallmouth have
been caught with no.3 Mepps jigs with chartreuse twister and small
crankbaits. Not lots of numbers but consistent action. We're hoping for
some warm stable weather to improve the water temps and get the fish
going here in WITCH BAY. HAVE FUN
Lake of the Woods fishing report from Witch
Bay Camp
From: Walleyewillie@centuryinter.net (Phil Rolfe)
