With a variety of species to choose from, the North-Central Wisconsin area is one of the finest fishing destinations in the Midwest! Some nice panfish, including slab crappies and jumbo bluegills, are finding their way into local livewells. Minnows, small leeches, and night crawlers are all working, as are small jig and rubber combinations. Look for areas containing blow-downs or stumps and work the wood thoroughly, even during mid-day hours. For the fly fisherman, morning and evening are producing nice catches using small poppers or dry flies.
The Smallmouth Bass bite continues to roll on. Early and late have been best compared to the heat of the day, but these time frames are seeing terrific action from solid fish, some into the 20" range. Jig and twister combinations, lipless crankbaits, and surface baits are all working well. As the sun climbs, try working docks, log-jams, and other shady areas with a small flipping jig or Texas-rigged worm for continued action.
Walleyes are still on the prowl with legal sized walleyes including "slot fish" (20"-28") continue to show up in the bottom of our Frabill nets. Jigging has been an effective method for staying on active fish, and the trolling bite has also been good as fish scatter over the flats in search of food. Slip bobber's rigs with weedless jigs tipped with live bait will provide all-day action when worked in heavy wood cover. This is a great way to pick up bonus smallmouth and crappies as well.
The Musky fishing has also been good during low light periods, at least when fishing your more 'typical' structure. "Burning" bucktails and erratically twitching both jerkbaits and twitch baits is producing on both pike and muskies. As the heat of the day approaches, muskies and some nice bonus pike are being taken out suspended once the weed/wood bite appears to die down. With the continued warm weather and ever-increasing surface temperatures, use extreme caution when landing and releasing these predators. The high temps place a great deal of stress on them and handling needs to be kept to an absolute minimum.
Tight lines,
Joel DeBoer