Another great Wisconsin fishing opener has come and gone.
Thanks to all that stopped by on the water or at the boat launch to say hi. It was a little different this year with day one pushing well into the 80s and day two being much cooler. It didn't seem to affect the fish all that much. The only thing that slowed a few bites was increased fishing pressure. It was important to move to new locations once things started to slow down. Water temperatures averaged between 52-55 degrees on the lake that we fished. It was easy to locate fish on the electronics given the fact that we don't have a lot of vegetation yet. Most fish stayed deeper and have not slid up into shallower waters thus far. With the weather conditions staying on the cooler side of things for the immediate future, I don't think the bite will be hot and heavy. In other words, the best is yet to come. Let's dive into this week's fishing report:
Lake Superior continues to put up some lake trout, salmon and the occasional brown trout. Best bite has been on the South Shore and into Chequamegon Bay. Although some anglers continue to tangle with a few North Shore cohos. Stick baits in brighter colors are still the name of the game, although flasher-fly combos are starting to turn a few fish. Smelt runs have seemed to pass their prime as we are not hearing much for smelting reports any longer. The areas of Chequamegon Bay are starting to see a few more smallmouth bites show up in the shallows with rip jigging soft plastics. Look for this bite to pick up as temperatures warm and days become longer. As far as river-dwelling stream anglers go, we are still hearing good reports of a few steelhead, salmon and brown trout. Swinging flies continues to be the best, but some are starting to get a few fish with hardware baits. On the Brule, the section above (upstream of) Highway 2 is now open which is good in that we can now fish some new areas.
The St. Louis River Estuary saw many anglers over the last week trying for both panfish and some rough fish. Along the shoreline in the upper sections, many anglers were posting rods up in hope of catching some catfish. In the back bay areas, several boats were trying for some crappies and perch using bobbers over live bait. In either case, not a lot of success was reported. Water temperatures are just slipping into what should be the best for crappies. However, anyone who knows crappie fishing knows these dang fish can be stubborn. I’m guessing the bite will be much more productive in the next week or two. As far as walleye and pike fishing go, remember these fish are off limits until May 15 on the river. If you find yourself hooking into a game fish out of season, it needs to go back!
Inland lakes are all set to host boats at launches as most now have the public docks in. Thank you to all who are involved with boat launch dock installations. For the Minnesota anglers, panfishing is just starting to take shape and will get better as water temperatures continue to rise. Best bet is to side image the usual spawning colony spots for activity. At this point we have not found much for activity, but to the south, and in smaller lakes, these pannies should be just starting to slide into the shallows. Best tactics will be the usual float over live bait, fan-casted small plastics or casting out small beadle spinners. In Wisconsin, we are finding most walleyes have slid off of the usual spawning areas and are now making headway to deeper waters of 10-20 feet. Best baits have been slow rolled jig and impulse plastics or live bait. Bigger fatheads or shiners seem to be better than smaller-sized baits. Pike and bass action has been steady in the shallow weedy areas. This is such a fun time of year full of optimism as our fishing season is just getting going. Have fun, be safe and we will see you on the water.
Jarrid Houston of South Range is a fishing guide (houstonsguideservice.com) on Minnesota and Wisconsin inland waters, the St. Louis River and, in winter, on Lake Superior.
May 06, 2021 at 08:56PM
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Jarrid Houston column: As water temps slowly warm, fishing is heating up - Duluth News Tribune
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