Minocqua Area Fishing Report 7-9-12
By Professional Guide Kurt Justice
Finally a break from the heat came in the form of a storm Friday night that brought rain, wind and some cool night time temps. Didn't seem to affect the fishing as good bites continued throughout the weekend. Lots of bass action as expected, but also walleye, musky and bluegill bites got better.
Largemouth Bass: Very good to Excellent. Early mornings twitching small x-raps, Husky Jerks along inside weedlines. Move to 8-12' weeds mid-morning using Wacky Worms, Pre-Rigged plastic worms, creature baits, then top-water Jitterbugs, Hula Poppers and plastic frogs along Lily pads and slop towards dusk. Lots of action and nice bass this week to 20+" and 4+ lbs.
Smallmouth Bass: Very good to excellent. Deep coontail edges of 14-20' as well as gravel bars and humps of 22-40' are seeing lots of fish. Tube jigs, drop-shotting craw pappis, 2 1/2" Gulp minnows and 3" drop-shot worms. Lots of big fish being caught including several 20+" smallies released this week.
Walleye: Good. Since heat broke, bite window is wider. Even catching eyes late morning over deep rock/gravel bars in 20-26' of water. Crawlers and big leeches best. On Flowages, fish moving shallow. Here, chubs are also working, pitch weedless jigs into weeds and edges of 3-6'. Three inch power grubs also good here.
Musky: Good. Fish moving mid-morning and at dusk. Fast moving bucktails over weedtops. Rizzo Wizz's have been a good choice. Top water action also good.
Bluegills: Goo-Very good. Relating to weeds, some also over deeper weed pockets. Worms, waxies, small leeches. Tiny jigs.
Pike: Fair-Good. Not as many reports on artificials, though jig/chub combos accounting for large share of catches.
Perch: Fair4-Good. Deep weed edges of 12-16'. Slip float leeches or 1/2 crawlers over sandgrass flats of 16-22'. Jig frozen soft shells for jumbos on deep clear lakes.
Crappie: Fair. Not a lot of consistent reports, but big slabs of 13-14+" being caught by anglers probing 10-14' weeds for walleyes with jigs and leeches/crawlers. Any deep wood is worth trying.
Fishing has picked up and with the cooler mornings, it's more comfortable to fish later into the morning.
For information on lodging, entertainment and more outdoors in the Minocqua Area connect with the Minocqua Area Chamber of Commerce at www.minocqua.org.
Kurt Justice
Kurt’s Island Sport Shop
www.kurtsislandsports.com