May 20th, 2025
***Fishing Report***
Walleye - The much feared cold snap did little to slow down the walleye bite. Anglers that braved the cold found walleyes still snapping in that 15 foot of water range. Here a simple 1/4oz jig, tipped with a pike sucker, got the hardest hits. There were a few reports of leeches, soft plastics and crankbaits starting to work in the shallows, right off the dock in 2-8ft of water. Anglers should still be focused on current areas, large shallow flats and right off their docks for walleyes. Pink, white and gold continue to be the hot colors to have.
Pike - Cold, cloudy weather had the pike fishing hot, hot, hot! Many pike anglers reported excellent pike fishing this last week. Bobber fishing with medium to large suckers or large creek chubs were very hot. Shallow bays, current areas and again, right off the dock were the best places to tie into a giant pike.
Stream Trout - Rainbow trout and Brook trout didn’t have any issue with the cold snap either. Anglers fishing from shore reported catching some nice trout while fishing with a night crawler under a bobber about 5-10 feet down. Brook trout anglers did well casting small silver and blue spoons, white twister and floating a crawler off the bottom.
Lake trout - Lake trout reports remain elusive. High winds are likely the main reason. Not very much fun trolling/jigging in a boat or canoe in whitecaps. The few reports we have gotten have been trolling spoons or deep diving crankbaits down 20-30ft of water, over deep mud flats.
Smallmouth - Now the smallmouth bass were affected by the cold snap. Smallmouth reports quickly dried up when the temperature dropped. As temps start to rise again, anglers should expect smallies to start returning to the shallow flats, in 10ft of water and less, that are covered with large rocks. Suspending jerk baits and NED rigs will be the baits to throw at the smallies.
Panfish - Panfish too were not enjoying the cold snap. Crappies and sunnies dropped out of the pencil reeds and are now being found in deeper water at the mouth of these same bays they were just in. Crappies minnows floated under a bobber managed to catch a few crappies and sunfish for anglers.
