Fishing Report 7-21-12

Well gang,

There's not much new to report. The dominate news remains the low water level, high water temps and heavy weed growth.

Fish are biting, but the bite is better at low light/cooler sections of the days. With another batch of really hot temperatures set to hit this week, it important to remember that fish can be caught, but that you may have to put in some work to do it.

Bass are biting in the slop, around docks/pontoons and off deep weed edges. Up shallow, topwater frogs or flipping is catching some fish out of the heavy matts. Skipping docks with wacky, skirted grubs or fishing adjacent to shadows with small, shallow running crankbaits is working. On cooler mornings with a breeze, some decent topwater action can be had very early in the morning as fish that are holding in deeper water move up onto points to feed. Deep weedline fish can be caught in variety of ways, right now I'm using a texas rig with a 3/8oz weight and a long straight tailed worm in natural colors, but drop shotting, slow rolling spinnerbaits, large twistertail grubs, jig worms and deep diving crankbaits will all produce. If you're fishing from shore, target slop that you can reach, or fish in moving water like a river or creek with skirted grubs or wacky rigged worms

Panfish are deep, suspending as far as 20 feet down over much deeper water. Drifting over schools you can spot on your electronics with slip bobbers seems to be working for people putting in the time, especially in the late evenings or overnight.

The heat has been murder on the Pike. Shallow lakes are reporting heavy fish kills this year. As you might imagine the fishing for pike has slowed down. After the rain cooled things off for a couple of days, it seemed like the bite picked up some, but not enough to mention. For now I'd target other species. Ditto for walleye fishing.

Musky fishing has been virtually non-existent in the heat. Trolling for deep fish suspending around the thermocline has been the only way to catch fish with any regularity, and even that has been pretty sparse. The heat is hard on any musky you catch, so if you are targeting them over the main basins, make sure to quickly release any you catch, and be sure to take the proper time to revive them,

Shore fishing? You might actually have the advantage over the boats right now if you are targeting the smaller, spring fed creeks and rivers around the area. The overhead shade and cooler, moving water is holding some fish,including some quality smallmouth who are foraging for crayfish.

Good Luck,
CT