The crossing looking North and South, The lake appears to be fairly locked up in these sections. There was a few guys close to shore near Sibley landing fishing. A great early start to the year. Eggerts and South was still open water.

Apologize for no updates yet this year. Fishing has been fantastic again. The small mouth have been really biting great lately and the walleyes have been very willing to bite. The lake has gone back to normal after the 4th of July activities. As always there are bluegills to catch, you can find crappies to catch, perch seem to be plentiful. As always don’t be afraid to use the local fishing docks, or fish from shore. Many species are very easy to catch from shore. This week I will do a little pike fishing and get some toothy critters in the boat for next weeks report.

Tight lines!

Ice is currently going very quickly on the lake. We have lost almost 4″ in the last 2 days. Walking is even dangerous at this point with the rain and warm weather. The ice is very honeycombed and corky. There are also many areas that the runoff has created holes draining into the lake. I will post an update after the rain and when the weather cools off again.

What a rough ice fishing season it has been for the lake.

Ice conditions are incredibly variable across the lake. The best access point continues to be around the sundstroms landing area. These photos are from Ashtabula crossing. As you can see there is a very large area to the south that is recently just frozen over. Ice is paper thin in those areas yet. As people venture out on the lake make sure you are constantly checking ice conditions where you are. NO ICE IS SAFE ICE. Even with the recent cold weather we have had many areas are just starting to create ice, paired with light snow and all the areas look the same. Please use extreme caution when venturing out. I will also note fishing has been rather slow, mostly due to access issues. Unsafe ice conditions have forced people to fish new areas. There have been some nice walleyes coming from the lake in the shallower depths.

Just waiting for the ice to arrive now. Docks are out and water is cooling off fast. Fishing is still good if you’re willing to brave the weather. Live minnows have been the ticket for everything. Minnows and a jig has been by far the most productive bait. I think it will be a few weeks before we start seeing ice.

Fall fishing is finally here. Most guys are focused on jigging the bridges. Ripping raps will also work well on those pesky walleyes. 2nd crossing has been the most common location they have been working but there has also been some good numbers and size coming up at Sibley. Perch are moving in shallow and are very willing to bite and the size is also fantastic. I think we will have another great year of perching!

Blue-Green Algae was been reported at the lake. Please take extra precautions.

Small mouth and walleyes how much better can it get?

Smallies are on the rocky breaks. Cranks, slip bobbers or try to bounce a jig through them. If they are there, they will smack your bait. If they are not there move on and try another section. The first hour of the morning and last hour of the evening when the lake is calm fish top water baits over rocks. The top-water bite has been getting better by the day.

Guys have been pulling spinners across the flats trying to target walleyes. They are catching a few fish. If you do want to pull bottom bouncers, pull a bottom bouncer with an original Rapala hooked behind it, this eliminates the dreaded bull head bite! Seems this week i have had the best luck fishing some of the deeper water humps. Target them with a slip bobber and a leach. Slip Bobbers have been a really great way to find fish, i enjoy fishing that way. Snap raps or jigging raps have also been a productive way to find some larger fish. Target the gravel edges and just pop it along the bottom lightly.

Perch have started to bite well again, nothing with too much size to them this year. Mostly kids are fishing for them, worms seem to be the best. Lots of bullheads too.

Fishing has been fantastic for the whole month of June. I’ve got very few complaints with how well the fish have been biting. Water temperatures are rising very significantly and fish are moving out deeper.

Small mouth are post spawn and out of the shut down! Great news for the guys that want to target bass. Look for them on the weed edges or up shallow next to the rocks. They will smack almost anything. Top water has been a great option as well. Don’t be afraid to put a worm under a slip bobber, that has been a great option and if you’ve got kids in the boat its a blast for them to watch bobbers get sucked down.

If you like big pike! Recently i was asked to fish for big pike so we gave her a shot. Burning buck tails over the weed edges up in the shallow bays has been very productive. The Classic Vibrax spinner in a perch color pattern probably caught the most fish. We netted many fish in the 35-38″ range.

Walleyes have been back on the classic jig and a minnow bite near deep transitions. Find areas with deep drop-offs that come up to shallow rock and gravel. Target them with a jig and a minnow and they have been very willing to bite. This tactic has been producing some fantastic eating size fish in the 15-18″ range. Slip bobbers with a minnow under them have produced some larger fish around 24-25″ set around 12 FOW. Pulling cranks can be productive if you want to cover some more water, stay along the deeper edges.

Wow what a week it has been, the fishing has really taken off with all the warm water and sun! Which is great for guys or gals like us!

Smallies are biting really well, waist deep or shallower water seems to be where they are hanging out. They will bite anything, bright spinners, jigs, cranks, virtually anything you toss they will smack.

Shallow water is where you want to be right now. Its been a great week for the fishing. Walleyes are spawned out and hungry. Fish edges of the rocks and I’ve found the most active fish in the 6-12 foot of water 14-18 foot would be a second choice if you are having trouble locating fish. There are quite a few boats holding up along the 2nd crossing bridge. They are catching some fish, but there are better places to catch fish this time of the year. Tuck yourself back into a draw or bay and you should find fish.

For the guys looking for pike, Sibley and north to the island has produced some really nice pike this last week. So nice in fact i purchased another new rod for simply fishing pike.

Lastly mark your calendars, there is a kids fishing evening at the dam June 22nd