This goofy year continues. Just when you think you got it figured out, BAM, you better figure out something else. And we have. We have been boating a lot of walleyes, crappie and bass lately. And I haven't even been able to hit some of my go to lakes yet. As you know I fish normally where the client wants to go, not necessarily where I would like to go. So sometimes it takes a little time to dial in the lake we are on. But the way we do it is always the same, no matter the lake. Find the greenest weeds you can next to deep water and start off those weeds and slowly work shallower until you find the bite. What if there aren't any weeds to speak of? Find bottom changes, mud to rock, rock to sand, sand to mud, etc. If you did this everyday on the same lake you would notice that the fish, depending on the species, slowly migrate to deeper water.
For example, in the past ten days, fishing similar lakes, we found the walleye at 8' on the first days and at the end of the period they were at 16'. And the bait du jour is moving slowly towards crawlers and leeches vs minnows. The deeper you have to go the better the leech is gonna be for you.
On most of the larger lakes the bass, largemouth and smallmouth, are at or near their beds. That can be a different type of location depending on the lake. One of the lakes we fished last week had the smallmouth and rock bass up on 5' mid lake rock humps next to 30' of water. We covered those rocks and the adjacent drop offs with 1/32 oz jigs tipped with 1/2 crawlers. Again, 1/16 oz just did not work as well, too fast a drop. The one day the smallmouth bass, and I mean 3-5 pounders, and the rock bass up to 2 pounds, were right on top of the hump where as the next day they were caught just off the edge of the hump in 20' of water. And for all of you right now saying 'yuk' to the rock bass, you're nuts. Rock bass fillets next to bluegill fillets are indistinguishable in taste.
The crappie in mast areas are done spawning but in most areas they haven't started to move deep yet either. Small minnows and small plastics in the less than 10' of water areas will still afford plenty of action. Use 1/32 oz jigs or smaller.
Bluegills are on the beds or just finishing. Any kind of small plastics or dead meat will work. Again, 1/32oz jigs are key!
I can't believe its the middle of June already. Get on the water and make some memories. So far this is one of the best bites we have experienced in the northwoods.
We hope you can find the time to come in to the shop during your time here in the northwoods. We have switched the inventory over to open water items. The number one comment we get is our guests can't believe the size of our selection. I put the photos up on the Facebook page. Our selection is second to none anywhere in the northwoods. Our additional warehouse is finished now to help handle all the inventory we will have. If you can't make it in you can always order from our website, www.deweycatchemandhow.com and we'll ship your order to you. Lots of SPECIALS on Livescope right now and the Livescope Plus is in stock! Also, keep checking our Facebook page and the website for new arrivals. The newest offerings from Garmin, Humminbird, Blackfish and others are just starting to trickle in.
After that our normal weekly hours will be:
Monday thru Thursday from 5am to 7pm
Friday from 5am to 8pm
Saturday from 5am to 7pm
Sunday from 5am to 6pm.
Our minnows all come direct from trappers in central Wisconsin. Right now we have crappie minnows, regular fats, Tuffys (XL large fats), Blacktail chubs, redtail chubs, walleye suckers, morthern minnows and some Musky suckers. We have plenty of waxies right now and all sizes of leeches. It's been a tough year for leeches so far but the trappers are finally getting some super nice ones and they are in our tanks waiting for you by the dozen, 1/4, 1/2 and full pound. The crawlers are awesome right now. Best I've seen over the last couple of years. We sell them by the 12 ct, 24 ct, 100 ct and flat. All come in bedding while flats come in dirt or bedding. If you want a flat please call ahead so we can have it ready for you when you come, especially if you want the crawlers in bedding. We also have great jumbo panfish worms.