Fishing News - 5/28/00
Lake of the Woods fishing report from Witch
Bay Camp
From: Walleyewillie@centuryinter.net (Phil Rolfe)
Fishing Is Good!!!!!!
With steady warming temperatures, thank God, fishing has gone from good to excellent. Water temps on the surface have warmed seven or eight degrees and that has kicked the action to another level.
For walleyes, there are two bites, a shallow and a deep. First the shallow. Good size fish have been taken on the wind blown shoreline points, which have boulders on them. It seems as though the fish are keying on crayfish as a food source, and the wind helps dislodge them from their hiding places. The walleyes are there to take advantage of the easy pickings.
Dick Wilkening, pro staff member, has been pitching light jigs up into these boulder points and scoring some nice size with fish up to 26" so far. Dick says that a slow, very slow retrieve is the key to success. Leeches have been the ticket over crawlers and minnows for this. Dick uses his bow mount to hold him off the structure and then pitches the jig up into the boulders and works it back to the boat. He starts shallow and then works out deeper. A lot of fish have come from 2-8' depths.
The other pattern, which I have been working, has been from about 15-30' of depth. These fish appear to be keying on perch. This pattern has been hot along mainlake shorelines; those with basketball sized rock or bigger have worked well. I like to mark the fish as shallow as I can then keep at that depth, using the bow mount to follow the breakline. Today's depth was 27'. The bite was hot, the fish were big, with many taken over 22". Jim Kiesenwetter and his partner, Mickey, scored some real nice fish up to 25". They were working bouncers, using 2-ounce weights, and three hook snells rigged with silver blades.
The depth continues to vary with weather changes. However, with steady weather, the depth has stabilized as well.
I expect the bite to continue to get better and better and peak in later June.
Anglers pitching stick baits up near the edge of reeds have taken some nice northerns. They seem to be hanging out in the reeds or the newly emerging cabbage.
Smallmouth action has been good. The fish are still up shallow and went on a feeding binge yesterday. Big rocks on the shorelines and in bays were the place to be. Jigs and twisters or leeches, Husky Jerks, Rogues, Floating Rapalas, Beetle Spins, they all worked. The smallies are full of eggs and the spawn will happen in the next couple of weeks. Care should be exercised as the spawn approaches.
