May 13th, 2025
***Fishing Report***
Walleye - Walleye opener was on the slow side for walleyes over 20”. Numbers of small males, some still milking, was a common report from anglers. As of Monday night, reports of big walleyes over 20” started coming in, so it seems the big females are recovering from the spawn and are looking to put some weight back on. Anglers catching these big walleyes are saying a 1/4oz jig, tipped with big rainbows, pike suckers or lite northerns, is getting it done for them. River mouths and right off the dock have been the areas where this bite is happening. Why suckers? Suckers are spawning in the same rivers as the walleyes just did and walleyes are looking for an easy meal. White, pink and gold were the colors to have and 10-15ft.
Pike - Pike anglers reported some good pike fishing this last weekend. Large suckers, fished under a large bobber, was the ticket for catching some huge pike. Traditional spring pike locations like river mouths, large shallow bays and right off the end of the dock were all excellent places to catch big pike.
Crappies - With a week's worth of bright sun and calm winds, reports of anglers finding a good crappie bite started coming into the bait shop. Anglers have been finding nice crappies back in shallow bays, in the pencil reeds, during the evening hours. Warm water has been the key to catching crappies, so the shallow lakes in the area have been producing best for anglers. Hair jigs or small tubes, fished under a bobber have been the ticket here.
Smallmouth Bass - Smallies started showing up for anglers right away this year. Large shallow rocky flats have been the area to focus on for smallies. With water temps in the low 50’s at best right now, fishing slow has been the key to catching these smallies. Suspending jerk baits fished as slow as you can has been very effective for smallies. Another key is to fish later in the day after the water temps have had a chance to hit their peak for the day.
Stream Trout - Stream trout reports were limited this last weekend as many angler’s focused on walleyes. The few stream trout reports we got were all on the positive side. Anglers mainly caught rainbows while fishing with a slip bobber and a night crawler suspended about 5 ft under the surface. Small handful of anglers targeted brook trout with small silver and blue spoons, casting along shorelines with good success.
Lake Trout - Lake Trout reports were even more limited than stream trout. Few reports were from anglers that had limited success trolling deep diving crankbaits in 20-40 feet of water over deep mudflats.
Will Goebel with a nice stringer of walleye on opener weekend