Musky Shop Northwoods Fishing Report: Late June 2024
We hope all of you are having a great fishing season. Fishing in the Minocqua area has been pretty good. Here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, we have been experiencing a lot of rain this summer. Our lake water levels are excellent which is a good thing.
Walleye, Bass, Crappie, and Panfish are all biting well. Bass, Crappies, and Panfish are mostly in shallow structures such as weeds, rock, gravel, wood, or any of those structural elements combined. When I say shallow, I would say shoreline out to the 8–10-foot range. Most of these species can all be caught in those areas using live bait such as XL Fatheads, Redtail Chubs, Crappie Minnows, Night Crawlers, and Leeches.
With water temps in the mid to upper 60's the live bait bite is very good. Soft plastics will also work for Crappies and Panfish. For Bass and Walleye, we have a great selection of crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and jerkbaits in our Bass/Walleye/Panfish section on our website and in our store.
Depending on what type of lake you are fishing, for the deep clear lakes, Walleye are scattered a bit. Don't be afraid to start by covering shallow structures, however, it would be wise to try mid-lake rock piles and mid-lake humps. Walleye will move up on and off of these mid-lake humps or rock piles as well as located on the outer weed edge.
Musky fishing has been a bit up and down like the weather as they are scattered a bit. With Muskies, it's probably a good idea to have an open mind and have a plan in place. Systematically start shallow and cover the shallow area of structure and then slide your way out. Next, cover the weed or structural edge, then slide out again by covering the outer edge and a bit off the outer edge of the structure, then cover the deep-water basin adjacent to the structure you are fishing. Typically, in mid-June, there will be a decent percentage of Muskies that hang out in deep water. These fish can be caught casting or trolling.
Don't make the mistake of thinking since we are fishing for suspended Muskies in deep water, I need to have deep running baits. Many times, suspended Muskies will be high in the water column, especially during cloudy overcast days, however sometimes in sunny conditions they will be high in the water column as well. Always have your lure above Muskies as they can only look up and can scream to the top very fast.
So, the main thing I would say is to consider for the mid to late June time frame to be open-minded and cover lots of different structures with a variety of baits as literally any type of Musky baits will work this time of year. Match the baits you are using for the type of structures you are working. If one takes a few minutes to put a plan in place and stick to it. If one does this you will begin to put patterns together thus making you successful.
On another note, please join us on Saturday, July 20th here at the Musky Shop for our 4th annual Summer Musky Bash. There will be approximately 30 Musky manufactures in attendance as we are putting a special highlight on all of the vendors that attend. This will be a great way to learn about their Musky products and how best to use them. We will also have a lot of raffle prizes as well as some Big Discounts to help save in a big way on the pocketbook. We hope you can all join us as this is truly one of the most fun days of the year.
From all of us at the Musky Shop, Thank you very much for your business and support as we greatly appreciate it.
Good Fishing and God Bless, Jim Stewart
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