North End Report 5/20 - 5/26
Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 11:10 am
It was another fun year on the lake. The water was high and temp was around 60 degrees. We found the fishing to be slow most of the time and had to really work at catching fish. We covered everything from Bigge Bay North. We fished deep, shallow, drifted, jigged, cast, and bobber fished. Here is what we found:
Pike: We had 2 good mornings of pike fishing where our group caught a total of about 20 pike that were between 18 and 24 inches. The pike seemed to be in closer to shore, for the most part and did not bite well for most of the trip. The rest of the time we may have only caught a total of 5 or 6 for the week. We only use spinners and rapalas, so it may have been better with live bait.
Bass: We were not fishing for them, but caught a few going after other fish. The numbers caught were way down from previous years, but the few we caught were very healthy. We caught as many fishing with worm and bobber as we did with lures.
Crappie: I tried really hard for the crappie, but found them to be scattered and very inconsistent. My usual honey hole came up completely blank and I was able to find a few at other spots. The large ones I caught had eggs, but the males did not have the sperm sacks in them. Over the entire week with 4 guys, we probably only caught 50 crappie and only half were over 9". I would assume that they will be spawning later and the next few weeks should be much better. This past week, they were further off shore than we normally find.
Sunfish: We caught a mountain of sunfish just about everywhere we went. There were probably 10 undersized for every keeper. You could catch them on almost anything. They were offshore as well rather than being in close to the edges.
Perch: Exactly the same as the sunfish.
Bluegill: These were much harder and rarer than we have run into before. They are one of my favorite fish to target, but we picked up very few compared to sunfish and only a couple keepers.
Basically, if I was going to be up there this weekend or next, I would be targeting the shorelines. With the fairly cool weather and high water, I am guessing that spawning is a little behind this year.
I hope this helps.
Pike: We had 2 good mornings of pike fishing where our group caught a total of about 20 pike that were between 18 and 24 inches. The pike seemed to be in closer to shore, for the most part and did not bite well for most of the trip. The rest of the time we may have only caught a total of 5 or 6 for the week. We only use spinners and rapalas, so it may have been better with live bait.
Bass: We were not fishing for them, but caught a few going after other fish. The numbers caught were way down from previous years, but the few we caught were very healthy. We caught as many fishing with worm and bobber as we did with lures.
Crappie: I tried really hard for the crappie, but found them to be scattered and very inconsistent. My usual honey hole came up completely blank and I was able to find a few at other spots. The large ones I caught had eggs, but the males did not have the sperm sacks in them. Over the entire week with 4 guys, we probably only caught 50 crappie and only half were over 9". I would assume that they will be spawning later and the next few weeks should be much better. This past week, they were further off shore than we normally find.
Sunfish: We caught a mountain of sunfish just about everywhere we went. There were probably 10 undersized for every keeper. You could catch them on almost anything. They were offshore as well rather than being in close to the edges.
Perch: Exactly the same as the sunfish.
Bluegill: These were much harder and rarer than we have run into before. They are one of my favorite fish to target, but we picked up very few compared to sunfish and only a couple keepers.
Basically, if I was going to be up there this weekend or next, I would be targeting the shorelines. With the fairly cool weather and high water, I am guessing that spawning is a little behind this year.
I hope this helps.