Ashland Area Fishing Report for May 20, 2016
~ Fishing guides from Anglers All, 715/682-5754, report the following:
This report is about the Ashland side of Chequamegon Bay. Fishing has been very good, but it all depends on that ever-important wind direction.
“The smallmouth bass are where they should be and they’re starting to make beds in the shallows,” said Carolyn Swartz, co-owner of Anglers All in Ashland. “Some fresh fish are coming into the shallows now. Really, everything is starting to move in, but they don’t all make beds at the same time.”
“The bass bite has been best in the late afternoon when the water is at its warmest,” noted Luke Kavajecz, fishing guide with Anglers All, “but still steady throughout the day. Yesterday we even got our first topwater fish of the year, so that was great.”
Light jigs and plastics are the recommended presentation for smallies at the moment, Carolyn said. “Or flies moved very slowly in the shallows.”
“You've got to love Lake Superior in the spring,” Luke observed on Wednesday. “Four days ago, I was running the boat through snow squalls and stiff northwest winds. Thankfully, the snow, cold and wind are behind us (I hope!).
“During the nasty weather, we were running to the north of Washburn and casting spoons and throwing flies for trouty species,” Luke said. “This can be a great alternative to trolling, and also a pretty effective way to catch browns, steelhead and splake.
“Even though the weather was less than ideal,” he continued, “we moved plenty of fish and landed splake, browns and steelhead on light tackle in very shallow water, so that in itself is pretty cool.”
Luke said that as the weather has settled down, the smallmouth have “fired back up.”
“Where the water had been 60 degrees a week ago, it had dropped down into the low 40s after the big front came through on Saturday,” he explained, “but the temperature has bounced back up in the past few days.”
Those changes in the water temperatures have resulted in some inconsistent walleye fishing, said Carolyn.
“But the walleye will start coming out of post-spawn mode as the waters warm,” she said. “They will start coming out into the bay and feeding heavily.”
Carolyn said anglers are getting walleye at the head of the bay and at the mouth of the Kakagon Slough.
“People are starting to use crawler harnesses,” she noted. “They are drifting those and slow-trolling stickbaits for the most part. The low-light hours continue to be the most successful time for catching walleye.”
Trout and salmon are still being caught in a lot of places inside the bay as well as outside, Carolyn said.
“People have been trolling stickbaits in the shallows for them and doing extremely well,” she said.
“Trolling remains strong for the offshore and inshore bite as well,” Luke added. “The South Channel has been fishing really well and guys are seeing good numbers of cohos out there right now.”
Luke said that shore fishing has been really good, too.
“This is a very under-utilized resource in our area,” he commented. “It's so easy this time of year to get a great mix of fish right off of Ashland's shoreline. Sturgeon, brown trout, northerns and walleyes can all be caught right now, without the use of a boat.”
“There are still some northern pike being caught by soaking smelt,” Carolyn said. “As the water temperatures warm, they will start moving around a bit, too. Folks need to look for them around structure, weed beds, wood, that type of thing.”
** Located at 2803 E. Lake Shore Drive (U.S. Highway 2) in Ashland, Anglers All is a full-service tackle and fly shop with a professional guide service for Lake Superior and area inland lakes and rivers, offering the largest selection of baits and tackle in the Chequamegon Bay area. For the most complete and up-to-date fishing report, just give them a call at Anglers All and they will gladly keep you informed!
~ The Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce, 1-800-284-9484, reports:
Fishing is always a thrilling adventure in the Ashland area! Chequamegon Bay is famous for its world-class smallmouth bass fishing. The 12-mile-long bay’s rock piles and breakwater structures make for perfect bass habitat.
An angler named Nancy is shown with “the biggest crappie of the year,” according to fishing guide Josh Teigen of Iron River. He said the large panfish caught recently “was 15.25 inches and it's still swimming!” (Photo courtesy of Josh Teigen’s Guide Service)
Mike from Appleton displays “a picture-perfect Chequamegon Bay smallmouth” caught on the fly. “We were getting fish on topwater by the end of the day yesterday,” noted Mike’s guide, Luke Kavajecz of Anglers All. (Photo courtesy of Luke Kavajecz)
Sara Brown of Ashland caught this gorgeous smallmouth bass while out fishing a few days ago with Nate Baron’s Up North Guide Service. “The big smallies are on the move! Four doubles in a row and a lot of fish pushing 5 pounds or better,” Nate said of their outing on Chequamegon Bay. (Photo courtesy of Up North Guide Service)