Early Season Fishing on Little St. Germain Lake
By JEFF WINTERS – Northern Wisconsin Professional Fishing Guide
Jeff Winters with a 20-inch walleye caught on opening day in 2011
fishing the St. Germain area.
Nestled in the heart of the town of St. Germain is an often overlooked lake when it comes to fishing, especially during the early part of the open water season. The lake I’m talking about it Little St. Germain Lake. This structure-rich lake is home to walleye, northern, bass (both large and smallmouth), musky and panfish and can provide you, as an angler, with hours of exciting fishing opportunities.
The first thing you need to decide on when fishing any lake is what species of fish you’re after, followed by the type of structure you’ll find these fish to be hanging around on. As I mentioned before, Little St. Germain is “structure-rich”. This lake has abundant weed beds, sweeping points, fast breaking shoreline, rocks, small shallower bays and even some drowned timber. Since we’re dealing with the early part of the fishing season, which are the months of May and June, I want to talk about the types of structure and tackle you’ll use during these months.
Little St. Germain Lake is a medium sized lake for our area. It is 980 acres in size with a maximum depth of 53 feet and has semi-clear water. With these conditions, identifying the structure you’ll want to fish is not that difficult. When the open water season starts, the two most sought after fish are walleye and northern pike. In the beginning of the season, you’re going to encounter low water temps and limited weed growth.
With the lower water temps that you’ll find in the early season, many times you’ll also find that some spawning activity is still taking place or just ending on many of the lakes in our area. If this is happening when you’re out there, keep in mind one very important factor: most of your fish will be found on or near the spawning beds. “Where are these Beds?” will be your next question. Walleyes like to spawn on gravel, wind-swept shorelines or points. The prevailing winds this time of year generally are coming out of the northwest, so search out gravel points where the wind sweeps across them or shorelines located on the southeast sides of the lake. You’ll want to concentrate your efforts on these spots during evening or early morning hours. Stay in water depths under fifteen feet. If the fish are acting aggressively, I like to use a 1/16 oz. leadhead jig, tipped with a small fathead or dace minnow when chasing walleyes this time of year. Now work this jig and minnow VERY SLOWLY – you’ll find that fish are lethargic in the cold water and reluctant to chase fast moving objects. The problem I see many fishermen having is they’re working their bait or lure way too fast. Keep your retrieves at a slow drag. If you run across a concentration of fish, then try using a slip-bobber rigged with either a split shot and hook or jig tipped with a small minnow fished a couple of inches off the bottom.
Once you’re out on the lake and if the spawning activity has already ended, NEW GREEN WEED GROWTH becomes critical when it comes to catching both walleye and northern. Walleye and northern will be found hanging around this oxygen-rich new weed growth in search of food. These are the places where anglers should concentrate their efforts on locating the fish that they’re going after. The types of weed growth you will encounter during early season are mainly moss and grass beds. You might also run across some old dead cabbage weed – avoid wasting your time on this dead weed. The moss and grass beds are the main weeds you’ll want to fish, so start by searching these areas out on your graph. Generally, you’ll find the new weed growth coming up in the warmer areas of the lake like the shallower bays. Once you’ve located these spots you’re ready to start fishing. Again, a 1/16 oz. leadhead jig, tipped with a small minnow works best. You can use slip-bobbers in these areas if you find a concentration of fish. I find that casting a jig & minnow while staying on the move to be the most effective. Again, keep your retrieves slow.
One thing I have not covered is what color jig to use. With the semi-clear water you’ll encounter in Little St. Germain Lake, I find yellow-chartreuse and green-chartreuse or combinations containing these colors will work best.
Musky season in the northern part of the state opens on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and Little St. Germain Lake really excels on these trophy fish. Little St. Germain Lake has a history of providing action as well as the potential to produce trophies. During the early season the structure you’ll want to concentrate on will be the shallow waters found along sandy shores and shallow bays. In the case of muskies, don’t be afraid to try fishing that brown, dead cabbage also, as this provides much needed cover for these predators to hide in.
Muskies are usually in post-spawn during this time of year and cruise the warm, shallower waters and weedbeds in search of their prey. When you’re out fishing for muskies this time of year, keep your lure size small. You do this because the type of feed available is generally perch or a related species. Keep your retrieves slow. Muskies are usually run down after spawning and are looking for easy targets to attack. Small twitch-type lures in the 6-inch size or spinners with a #5 blade and squid-tail or bucktail are you’re hottest selections. Keep your colors HOT! Yellow and green chartreuse and hot orange are good colored blades to use on the spinners. Keep your squid-tails or bucktails in your yellows, greens and even blacks. For twitch lures, perch-colored are my personal favorite, but don’t be afraid to try the hot colors.
Now that we’ve covered walleye, northern and muskies, it’s time to turn our attention towards panfish. During the early part of May, before spawning activity takes place, look for bluegills and crappies to inhabit the warmest areas of the lake. These places are generally found on the northern shores where the sun beats down most of the day. You do not need to start your fishing early for panfish. Late morning is ample so that water temps climb and bring in the fish. Next, look for some type of cover in these places – downed trees and brush piles are your Number One spots; shoreline vegetation comes second. Keep your tackle light and approach these areas cautiously – fish will tend to be very spooky this time of year, so try not to disturb the area. Small bobbers with a little split shot and a #8 to #10 hook are my favorite setups for fishing these areas. Cast as close to the brush or limbs as possible and once a hit is detected, ease your fish out of these places, being careful not to get snagged up. If you disturb the brush, you’ll chase the fish away, and then you’ll have to find a new location for awhile.
Most panfish spawning activity takes place during late May and early June. On Little St. Germain Lake you’ll find abundant panfish populations with bluegills being one of the more plentiful species. Look for your bluegills around any new emergent vegetation, such as reed beds. Shoreline brush piles also make for an interesting location to drop a line. Light tackle with a #6 or #8 hook, sinker & bobber setup, or a small 1/32 oz. tube jig are the best ways to approach catching these feisty little fish. When fishing reed beds, don’t be afraid to cast right into the reeds as well as along the outside edge. For live bait – small worms, wax worms and small minnows are the best. Once you’re past the spawning period and move into middle to late June, move yourself out to the weedbeds found in the shallower bays of the lake. Use the same techniques, light tackle with a #6 or #8 hook, sinker & bobber setup, or a small 1/32 oz. tube jig.
While Little St. Germain is a popular resort water and attracts a lot of activity during the midsummer months, you’ll find the early part of the season, May and June in particular, can be very peaceful and offer you a very rewarding fishing trip.
Another thing to remember when fishing the St. Germain area is the fact that there are several other very good waters to be found within a short distance of Little St. Germain Lake. Its sister lake, Big St. Germain is another OUTSTANDING water. This lake is well known for good walleyes, big muskies and abundant pike and panfish. Big St. Germain also offers the angler a variety of structure types to fish. This lake has good weedbeds, rock and sand bars to concentrate your fishing efforts on.
Another lake close by is Lost Lake. If you like fishing weeds, this is a prime water for early weed growth and you’ll find decent populations of northern pike, panfish, muskies and walleyes present.
If you want further information on fishing Little St. Germain Lake or any of the other lakes in the St. Germain area, email me at jwinters@centurytel.net or call at
715-385-9313. Jeff Winters