Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Recommended Posts

We all know that the walleyes slow down as the summer progresses, but you always hear about lakes like West Battle or Ottertail turning on deeer or on the flats. I also hear about alot guys that troll deep for suspended muskies in the summer, and do really well on big walleyes. Is there a lake, or mosre specific, a location on a lake that is good during the dog days of summer.

I'm getting sick of golfing in the summer when the fishing 'supposedly' sucks. And I don't want to drive to Lake of the Woods to catch walleyes.
Any info would be appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey neighbor! I'm a Clitherallite too. I probably know you smile.gif

I honestly believe that the fish only get more aggressive as the water warms and they are on a feeding frenzy. The problem is you have to find them, that's the tough part. I fish the same lakes and I will be trying a whole bunch of different methods this summer.

When July and August rolls around I think you'll have to keep in mind that the thermocline plays a huge roll this time of year. Fish will typically not be below the thermocline so you can eliminate some water there. Some electronics will give you a false reading over deep water, and that indicates the possible thermocline.

Think weeds! I've had really good success for all species in the thickest weeds on a hot, calm day. It amazes me myself, but true. I've caught eyes on crankbaits and bass spinner baits in the thickest of weeds in the middle of the day in shallow water! I usually try to start shallow and work deeper. Speed up the presentations too because these fish want to eat and they will go after a meal if it's moving away from them quickly. The slower presentation is for when the water is cool and they aren't too active.

Give up golf. It's too expensive (like fishing isn't) and frustrating! At least for me it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm no master on thermoclines, but from what I have read and from what knowledgable people have said (and what I understand, which isn't a whole lot sometimes) that basically there is not a lot of oxygen below the thermocline. It's variables with water temps and stuff of that nature I think.

Toad (Cory) in the Brainerd Forum is a master on thermoclines. He's written some unreal articles from his studies. Do a search in that forum and you will find more reliable info.

Fish like Lake Trout can survive ok below the thermocline.

There have been some lakes I have fished in July where everything over 25 feet deep there was a straight line across my Lowrance graph. The LCG gave me a false reading of some kind that indicated that was a thermocline. It seems like every lake gives me some kind of a different reading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good info. CD, I'll have to try this too.
I always thought they went real deep during the hot summer days, so I usually would just go out in the venings and troll cranks in the shallows, this has been about the only way I could EVER catch a walleye as far as open water goes, but i never had the patience to try other things like lindy rigs and whatever else, so here i find myself this year consuming so much info. that my brain is ready to EXPLODE. Now I just have to get out more often and tryan put some of these things to use, heh.

You say the eyes wont be below the thermocline usually at these times of year(July/August)
can you expand on this at all,
like why, and is there a certain time of day, and anything else you can think of.
Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.