Fishing Report -- posted on Monday, May 5 2008

The ice departed just in time for the 2008 opener, but Saturday morning the eager angler’s were treated the am earlier spring snow fall. This made a lot of people delay their time on the water as it was a cold morning with lots of heavy, wet snow falling. Just for your information the ice on the lakes went out, on the main part of the lake, Friday morning and what was left jammed into the south bays, that ice disappeared by Saturday afternoon. Some of the larger, deeper lakes remained frozen, but that should go away by mid week this week as temperatures continue to rise. Water temperatures are still very cold! Remember to have all of your safety equipment onboard as a fall into the water could be extremely dangerous.

For those angler’s that did make it out reports of successes were few. Walleye, by far, was the most targeted species, but as they are in a pre-spawn cycle success was mostly small males in the shallows. The cold and ice has delayed the walleye spawn by a week or so. Walleye prefer temperatures about 45 – 48 degrees for spawning so pay attention to water temperatures for your fishing locations. Look to shoreline areas with a sand/gravel bottom to be the best spawning locations. Windward sides of the lakes tend to be better locations. These fish should be in pretty shallow water or in deeper water adjacent to spawning areas. Expect the smaller males to be cruising the shallows and the larger females probably a bit deeper staging for their best spawning opportunity. As usual, low light conditions will be best. Use the lightest jigs you can for best results, that will mean a 1/16 to 1/8 oz. jig in most cases. I would consider using fathead minnows as my bait of choice to start out with.

Crappie will be the next to spawn, but that will not happen until the water temperatures rise to around 50 degrees. Right now look for them in the deeper water, 10 to 18 feet and around the green weeds. Crappie minnows and/or waxies under a slip rig will be the best bet. Smaller plastic tube jigs will work also. Vary depths and be mobile. Perch will be on the hard bottoms and around the weeds and bluegills in the same areas. Use the same presentation for these as crappie.

Fishing will improve over the next couple weeks and, hopefully, the weather and temperatures will back to normal. So make your plans for the some of the best fishing around soon. Good luck and a safe trip.