August 5th, 2025
*** Fishing Report***
Walleye - Walleyes have really started to spend out this last week. Trolling during the day over large sand or mud flats in 15-25ft of water has been very effective. Perch colors have been very effective here. For a shot at a trophy walleye the suspended, deep water Cisco bite, during the last hour of light, is your best bet. Large white, blood nose, silver and blue, crankbaits that dive 15-20ft down, fished over 30-60ft of water, have been bringing in some giant walleyes. Some anglers have been reporting an excellent shallow water bite over shallow rocks in 4-7ft of water. This bite often results in a handful of nice walleyes caught, then nothing, so keep moving to keep catching. Paddle tails have been very effective here. Still other anglers have been reporting an excellent minnow bite with 4-6” minnows. Often, this bite is happening out on the sunken islands in 15-20ft of water. With water temps well in the 70’s anglers will need to keep their bait cold to keep it alive.
Smallmouth - Smallies have now largely set up out on sunken islands. If you're looking for numbers of big smallies, you're going to find them out on sunken islands in that 15-25ft of water, often suspended just off these humps. Swimming large swim baits for crankbaits has been very effective. If you can’t find sunken islands or don’t have any on your lake, shorelines are still holding good numbers of bass. Early morning topwater bite has been very effective. Once the sun gets up, switch to spinnerbaits, squarebills, wacky worms or chatterbaits to keep catching smallies. Downed trees, large boulder flats and sharp edges are all good places to find active bass.
Panfish - Crappies and sunfish continue to be found right in the thick coontail beds. Often time crappies and sunnies are being caught in as little as 2ft of water, so don’t be afraid to go really shallow. Jig/twister or crappie minnows under a bobber have been very effective. For sunnies, wax worms Or angleworms, fished under a bobber has been very effective for them. Downed trees are also another great spot anglers should be looking for fish.
Stream Trout - Rainbow trout continue to be easy pickings for many anglers this last week. Anglers fishing from a boat seemed to have the best success. Trolling was the name of the game for these anglers. Trolling brightly colored, small floating raps, small trolling spoons or small spinners were all very effective this last week. Key is to get the bait down 10-15ft and troll it over 30-80ft of water.
Pike - Cooler temps this last week had reports of some bigger pike coming into the shop. Anglers fishing deep cabbage beds with cooler deep water close by, often reported catching or at least hooking a big pike. Large spoons, large spinnerbaits or large minnow baits often produced the best results for anglers. If you're just looking for pike for a meal, throw spoons in and around weedbeds, river mouths and mouths of shallow bays. Shouldn’t take long.
