We’re right at that in-between stretch, past the excitement of the Opener but not yet into the summer grind – and the fishing is just starting to find its footing. Our temperatures have not helped, as they’ve been a rollercoaster. And that wind! That wind has been as much or more of an issue than the temperatures!
As of this writing, a warmup starting later in the week looks mildly promising. We need it to help push water temperatures in the right direction, as right now things have kind of stalled out. Some of the big lakes up North still have readings in the upper 40’s, the Chain has been stuck in the low-50’s, and if you’re on a small lake, …
The opener is behind us and the lakes are settling into their quiet rhythms. Traffic at the landings has eased and there’s plenty of room to breathe on the water. It’s a good week to get out, and hopefully the weather will begin to cooperate. We’ve got only a couple more weeks left until summer season gets serious!
Walleye are done with the spawn and are starting to move toward emerging weed edges to feed. Action for them has been decent, but not great. The shallows are still worth fishing, particularly rocky and gravelly structure in 4 to 10 feet, and the evening low-light bite remains reliable. Jigs with fatheads or Lindy rigs with crawlers, fished slow and near the bottom will do. …
What an opening weekend we had up here! The Chain was in good shape, the landings saw traffic at first light, and there were plenty of happy anglers moving around by mid-morning. With the cold start, we saw a lot of lake-hopping as the water temperatures varied from lake to lake so much this year. While the bigger, colder lakes to the north were seeing temperatures that still sat in the 40’s, places like the chain had water in the mid-50’s. Regardless, we had beautiful, sunny weather for the weekend.
The opener brought the typical excitement around walleye, and for the most part, they didn’t disappoint too much. Most of the action was in the shallows — 4 – 10’ — on rocky and gravelly shorelines where the fish had been staging. …
The countdown to the game fishing opener is finally upon us and we’re expecting a good one this year. The ice is gone and the water is waking up. The peepers are out in force, the tree frogs have made their presence known and the loons are back. There’s nothing like hearing their calls over the water for the first time in the Spring! This week’s weather is looking a bit unsettled and cool towards the end, but right now all signs point to a beautiful early May weekend in the Northwoods. The fish have been moving into nice, Spring patterns so regardless, it’s going to be a good weekend.
Water temperatures will depend a lot on the lake and the location. …