Hopefully, a short cold front last weekend was not enough to cause any spawning fish to move deeper. It’s been a very tough spring for the fish that are coming up to spawn on the shorelines and then a cold front hits, delaying fish activity.

Water temperatures are mostly in the very high 50s or low 60s everywhere. We’ll see a lot of water traffic starting this weekend to fish early and late in the day for the best action. The weeds are the place to be right now. 

Walleye fishing has been good to very good this spring, with a lot of fish caught, but not a lot of size yet. The fish on the Chain have been shallow in the emergent weeds, feeding on a daily basis. This is a good time for slip-bobbers in those weeds or weedless jigs. Use 1⁄8- or 1⁄16-ounce jigs in the weeds with large fatheads. Use bare hooks with the slip-bobbers and fathead minnows. On the larger lakes, the pattern is a little slower in developing, but there are now fish in the weeds if you can find them. On both types of water you’ll find larger females as they recover from the spawn a little slower than the males.

Northerns are in the weeds and feeding like mad on a daily basis. As we’ve said before, more northerns are caught by walleye and crappie anglers than by northern anglers. Minnows work best, and the bigger the better. Fish the weeds.

Bass fishing is getting good. The fish are on the shorelines spawning. Largemouths tend to look for softer bottoms than the smallies. Look for bullrush areas to be great attractors for the largemouths, but you can on occasion find them intermixed. Smallies like the rocky and harder-bottom areas for their spawns. You can see the smallie beds as you cruise the shorelines. Smallmouths are catch and release until June 19.

Muskie season starts this Saturday and is eagerly anticipated by those muskie nuts. If you should come across a spawning pair, please leave them alone. They won’t be interested in hitting anything anyhow. Small minnow-type baits are the best for the opener, moved slowly with twitching action. On some lakes, the fish may be done spawning and feeding already. Those fish will be in the weeds.

Panfish action is great right now. The headliners are the crappies, which are in mid-spawn on most lakes. The fish are in the shallows. Look for any kind of cover for these fish and don’t hesitate to go as shallow as 3 feet for them. Crappie minnows or any kind of small plastics will work. Bluegills are also heading for those shallows on many lakes. Worms work the best for the ’gills. Try some small leeches for perch in the weeds. You might also get a bonus of some walleyes in the weeds from 5 to 8 feet.

What a great time to fish in the?North!

Good luck and good fishin’.