Northwoods Bass Fishing Report, end of June & early July, 2018
A recent run of great fishing and guide trips has ended. From June 17th through this week, I was booked nearly every day. I cannot thank you guys enough for the quality superb fish boated, and to entrusting me to deliver in quality first-rate fishing experiences. Each day was memorable and enjoyable. Hard work often pays off with big fish like this.
While the bites have been pretty good, the weather simply hasn’t. Nearly 15 inches of rainfall dumped and submerged the northwoods over Father’s Day weekend. Then two separate periods of oppressive heat forced us off the water some days. Wind advisories, bug hatches, and heavy boat traffic also played a role in where we fished too.
Right now I’m getting sick and tired of calm, stagnant hot days of 90 degree weather. Same goes for dry east winds. Unlike my guests and I, the fish haven’t cared much. The fishing lately hasn’t been hot, but we’re still averaging 20 to 50 fish per day, each full day trip out. We aren’t targeting dinks and rod benders either, but specimens of high quality.
Additionally, during a 1 week period of trips, 4 of our trips produced new personal bests for customers. Incredible!
In tough conditions like we’ve had, my boat doesn’t get picky over fish sizes and bites. I want biters and rod benders for guests and I; the big bass will show up and take care of themselves at some point. During low-light conditions, early and late, a number of big bass will slide up shallow to feed on unsuspecting prey – making targeting them easier. But daytime however, our fish catching becomes more challenging, and has been mostly done in 10-15ft depths. Rock, boulder, wood, and deeper secondary, offshore structure has been key. It’s taken a lot of patience for my anglers to get down to these fish by jigging, finesse rigging, and cranking.
Tons of baitfish and schools of bass have been sitting along first break lines and near offshore structure (wood, deep rock, boulders, cribs). Presence of baitfish that includes ciscoes and yellow perch, and mayfly larvae, along primary and secondary breaks has made locating smallmouths easier, but more difficult to catch because you simply cannot compete with all of the food availability. Nearly all of the boat’s recent bites at most lakes have been in depths of 5-15ft. If they aren’t up top, then off the edges, and suspended someplace nearby. On some lakes, we’ve been catching fish from as deep as 20′.
The biggest challenges of late besides weather has been catching fish in midst of all the food availability. In addition to mayfly hatches, and the abundance of schooling bait such as ciscoes and yellow perch, it has made catching bass much more difficult. Locating them with this proliferation of forage has been easy however. What I stress to customers is I’ll put us and keep us on fish, but it comes with no guarantees of catching. When there’s so much food around, it’s difficult to garner the attention of bass when they’re busy stuffing their faces with all sorts of snacks like mayflies, crayfish, cisco and perch. It’s no wonder why a lot of post-spawn bass now are re-packing themselves on the pounds.
We have officially entered the early summer period. My prediction from a few weeks ago was we’d be in summer peak by now with water temps in the mid to upper 70’s. That prediction was accurate as lakes that stratify are now developing thermoclines. Both bass species are also frequenting their summer locations and setting up along deeper structure and habitat. They are also keying in on their summertime food preferences too; SMB – crayfish, cisco perch; LMB – bluegill, perch, frogs.
Bass Bling
Slow and subtle search lures and finesse.
Every day has been highlighted by each of these baits. Swimming grubs and topwaters to cover water, and when schools are located we hammer on them with the plastics, craws, tubes and hair jigs. Fish are feeding but very shy and timid due to high skies and no wind. The only power fishing being done right now is with cranks – during low light conditions and evenings/nights.
Every time you feel any light tap or bump on the plastics, set that hook immediately. Don’t wait. Otherwise that fish will swallow it whole. Don’t kill.
For largemouth bass meanwhile, the approach has been pretty simple with perch and bluegill patterns. YOY’s everywhere and along deep green weedlines. Search lures and then go in for the kill with stickbaits.
Current Fishing Report
Right now, the best bite happening is largemouth bass. This week, at least until next cool-down arrives. Fish are feeding heavily and very active early mornings and evenings into the late PM. I’m finding big fish up to 20″ shallow in wood, flooded brush, and pads….. and others in offshore grass and deep weedlines 10-15′. Docks and floating swimming rafts too. Early mornings and PM’s you will find surface activity near-shore and off-shore. We’ve been having a very good jig, swim jig, and crankbait bite. Carolina rigged plastics too. If wind is blowing, sling a spinnerbait or swimbait. For ultra-shallow combat fishing, frog bites are taking off in the pads.
Smallmouth bass meanwhile have been less active. Heat wave from earlier this week really shut them down, as are 77-78 degree surface temps…… but some decent feeding windows observed very early morning hours (pre-dawn until 8am), and again following sunset. Most bites otherwise in 10-20ft rock and deep boulders, and deep secondary and offshore structure. Some open water bites happening also, where cisco schools roam. Paddletails and swimbaits getting the job done out there. Best bets for good fish is topwaters early AM, drop-shots and deep water fishing midday (tough lethargic bites, but possible), and sunset to PM topwater and cranking.
When summer peak finally happens any week now, smallmouth will be located everywhere from open water schooling, to deep rock and gravel humps, first and secondary points, sand bars and flats, fish cribs – usually most at 12-15ft level, deep weedlines where perch and baitfish present, and the shallows. That’s a lot of likely places they will set up on. In mid summer, smallmouths can be caught as shallow as 2 feet to as deep as 30 feet depending on water temperatures and the developing thermoclines and summer stratification.
My keys to this week and into next week are fishing early and late. Stay off the water completely during midday hours if you can. This way you will avoid heavy boat traffic, and water temps pushing 80 degrees. Don’t be picky for bites either – otherwise your fishing might suck. Stick to mainly the deep, clear, cold lakes as they will be less impacted by heat. Dark water has had the least active fish, and most difficult fishing.
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In June there were a few obvious bass patterns. Mayfly hatches were the big one – though their hatches were delayed and mostly non-existent. Cold winter and spring got them hung-over. Some areas of larvae moving under water still. To counter them, we caught a lot of nice fish on hair jigs, downsized jig and plastics to imitate leeches and fly larvae, and a few on topwaters.
A second pattern was the presence of crayfish. Our bottom dwelling friends are finally out and about, feeding and scavenging along rock and wooded areas. Tube jigs and hula grubs are an unbeatable dynamic duo in catching bass feeding heavily on crayfish. Always look for signs of smallmouths coughing up and regurgitating crayfish. Go and fish with tubes immediately! A simple tube with 1/8 oz. and 3/16 oz. jig insert caught the most fish for my boat in June.
In addition to matching the hatch on bottom critters, they will also match the hatch on YOY yellow perch too! Lots of feeding binges have been encountered recently, where fierce feeding windows were enjoyed.
A third pattern was the heavy schooling of cisco, on waters where populations of these pelagic baitfish are present. This bite is just starting and will get better as the month goes on.
The entire month was mainly a slow plastics and jigging program. On certain days the entire tackle shop needed to be tried before any bites were had. Everything I forecasted and projected the past few weeks has not happened nor materialized. My favorite cranking, spinnerbaiting, and power fishing methods simply haven’t been working. While fishing and navigating the boat on the back deck, I always keep up to 10 different rods and presentations rigged up, to help the boat quickly establish working patterns. I’m always tinkering and experimenting. Everything I had, that wasn’t plastic, was not working. Some days, it pays off to tinker and BS from the back end of the boat like I always do, in order to make an already good trip turn into an even better one.
Trip Reports with Photos
Had trips nearly every day, but some were better than others. Lots of big fish pics from June thru early July, with captions below:
On Monday, June 18th, I hosted my favorite customers for a full day adventure, Barry and Peter.
Two PB’s, and a 50+ fish day. What more could we ask for, following 3 miserable days of thunderstorms, monsoons, hurricanes, 12”+ of rainfall, plus more? An outstanding fishing day was had. We made something out of nothing.
We fished a handful of different waters and found good fish and caught them at 3 of the 4 places we fished. We started at 730 am, and concluded at 7pm following some extra fishing time. Had to squeeze in that one extra lake in preparation for following day’s trip.
Steep shorelines, ledges, deep rock, cribs, and rock in depths of 5-15 ft held fish. Dinks shallow, bigger fish deeper. The bass were inactive, but responsive to tubes, jig and plastics, ned rigs, and swimming grubs each worked slow and subtle. The bite was light. I found a few takers experimenting with paddletails, crankbaits, and topwater, but no obvious patterns established, or preferences to them. Seemed as if our baits had to land nearby fish, and if they saw them they’d nibble then strike. After the weekend hurricanes, it’s no wonder the fish were shy and lethargic. But we still found ways to catch them.
Barry’s 21” took a tube jig. Peter’s 19” took a fly. Both in 10ft of water, and caught minutes apart during the midday transition from clouds to sunshine. Nice work gentlemen.
Good fishing, with better company and great memories made.
On Tuesday June 19th, an awesome variety of fishes was caught with James Lang. SMBs and walleyes. 3 different lakes. Released them all.
Our full day started at 7am and concluded shortly before 9pm. Morning bite sucked, afternoon and evening bite very good and exceptional. What started off very dead and slow resulted in lights out fishing for most species from 4pm and after. As soon as the east winds settled and lakes turned calm, everything woke up. The fish became happy and a peak fishing period lasted until sunset. Smallmouth slamming topwater and swimming grubs; Upwards of 40 fish boated on the day with several 14-18’s…. And nice walleyes up to 26” showed up to play. Cannot complain, as the boat made something out of nothing yet again!
Water temps in the low 70’s. Bass and walleyes both relating to the same areas whether it’s shallower humps, rock, and deeper grass. Smallmouth resuming their heavy post spawn feeding too.
Wednesday and Thursday, June 20 and 21st, I hosted Jim Prosser for a full day and half day.
Day-1 of Jim’s trip was outstanding. High skies and hot, flat, calm conditions led to great bites thanks to finesse fishing. Our full day trip went from 730am to 5pm, and over the course of it we boated more than 30 smallmouth. Top fish for the day went 20”, two at 19.5”, two at 19”, and several from 16 to 18”. We focused on good quality and big fish throughout the day.
The morning half had cloud cover, and as such bites were most aggressive. Topwaters caught fish, as did the ever-reliable tube jig. Fish were active in depths of 5-10ft – sandbars, wood, chunk rock.
The afternoon half of our day meanwhile was difficult at first, but after attempting some random BS at the back end of the boat, I stumbled onto our pattern that made the trip awesome, and lasted throughout the rest of the day……. Hair jigs!
By 11am, clouds gave way to sunlight, heat, and no wind. After a brief slump for the boat, I pulled out my medium action spinning rod that had a 1/16 oz. black marabou jig tied on. I had prepared for this set-up, as during this time last year I was on a decent hair jig bite on a few waters. Yesterday was a repeat of that magical fun. Impending mayfly hatches and the transition to leech bites makes this strategy work.
For the rest of the trip, from 1pm till our conclusion at 5pm, we would end up fishing no deeper than 6ft, and focus solely on rock shoals that had big rock and boulders. We were spot-on-spot fishing, and each high percentage location held upwards of 5 quality smallmouth apiece. It took Jim a short while to get the hang of this technique, and find the right touch, but once he popped a 19 incher, he went to town. The strikes from micro hair slurping smallmouth is exhilarating, and their explosive runs that follow on light tackle are remarkable…… you might just remember the fight for life. Catching a pile of 18 to 20 inchers in creative, successful ways never gets old. Some days, it pays off to tinker and BS from the back end of the boat like I always do, in order to make an already good trip turn into an even better one.
Nicely done Jim. Thanks for sticking to the program.
The night bite is the best bite. Some of the biggest bass in the lake will feed during twilight hour. My favorite summer strategy has apparently begun early this year!
I hit this 20 incher the night after Day-1 with Jim, I needed some R&R on the water to myself. It struck a loud crankbait. I quickly fished for 90 minutes, and only caught a few others, but smaller. And also a few walleyes.
Calm surface, high humidity, warm surface temps (74’ish), tons of crayfish out and about, and bug hatches make this unique fishing happen. It’s not for everybody, but it pays off if seeking a trophy.
Night fishing appeals greatly to me, because it’s a time of peaceful relaxation. It’s also when big fish slide up shallow to feed. Also, I’m the only idiot still out there on the water. First one in, and last one out.
On Saturday, June 23rd, I hosted Joe Novak for a full day. The fishing had been so good up to this point in the Minocqua region, that I hadn’t needed to commute far beyond 20 minutes at all this season. But Joe requested we fished local water for he, so that’s what our day would be.
I want to congratulate Joe again, who scored his new personal best SMB with me during our full day trip yesterday. Third PB captured in the boat this week. I believe this is also the largest customer fish caught, in 2 seasons of bass guiding I’ve done.
Very difficult fishing conditions yet again, third straight day of stagnant water fishing. Heat, no wind, and surface temps pushing almost 80 degrees. We fished a total of 5 different lakes from 7am to 830pm; had action early in the AM, then went almost 6 hours without a bite until Joe hooked up with a giant. 21″ and 5.66 lbs. Nicely done!
Not much happening pattern & location wise since Thursday PM. Find and fish the good looking stuff. Bass will either be present or not there at all. You might have to force-feed them into bites, but will quickly learn it’s difficult.
June 25th, I had the pleasure of hosting Adam and Megan for a half day bass combo session during the AM.
Largemouth were the better bite. Wood and weedlines. Smallmouth were still finicky and light biters. But a dozen fish up to 17” boated. Despite difficult conditions, a fun trip was had.
Wednesday and Thursday June 27th and 28th, I hosted my lifelong buddies Tomas and Casey. We caught a big pile of fish. Great largemouth weather on day-1, and we took advantage of it. First largemouth bass trip of the year, too!
Water temps in the mid 70’s. I’d have to say right now the LMBs are in summer pattern and locations, as all fish caught today (except for the typical dock fish) were in deep weedlines, 8-12 ft. Green cabbage produced best results. Heavy schooling of YOY bluegill and perch taking place in these locations also, which made finding bass very easy.
40+ fish boated, nearly all in the 13-16” size range. Largest up to 17”. A great much-needed action day for the boat! Kalins Wacko’s rigged wacky worm and weightless Texas rigged style, Super K Swim Jigs, Rapala DT 6 cranks caught all fish. Best bites from noon until 5pm. Worst bites during early am and evening. Full day completed at 6pm.
On day-2, I did an AM half day trip with Tomas and Casey. Surprisingly slow fishing this morning despite the calm waters, overcast skies, and humidity. But good bites for us, with a few up to 18”. Tomas popped his SMB cherry also.
All fish taken on tubes and hair jigs. Some swings and misses on topwater. The surface bite will pick up and improve during the coming days. Deeper sand flats and rock, 5-10fow.
Later that day, I hosted an awesome PM trip for Bob, Liz and Jeff. We found major schooling and binge feeding on yellow perch at our lake, and hammered good bites. Several good fish between 16-18”. Jigs and cranks.
Water temps 76, and many fish coughing up YOY perch.
Rock and ledges concentrated the fish. If you scroll to the last photo, you will see I made a new etch-a-sketch. Here, we spot-locked ourselves in less than 3fow and launched our baits off into the abyss of dropoff, to crawl them back up the slope. Most guys will fish the other way around – deep to shallow. I think fish see that angle 99.5% of the time. Why not try opposite. I believe this approach made the difference.
My guests clubbed good SMBs. Almost 30 fish during a furious 90 minute window at one point. I barely made a cast, watched them the entire time, and that was entertainment. Jeff had the hot hand for much of the evening, outfishing us all, and displaying some of the best and most powerful hooksets I’ve ever observed.
Thanks for joining me, guys. Till we fish again the next time!
I hosted trips all throughout last weekend’s oppressive heat wave and earlier this holiday week, purposely starting at sunrise (530am) and calling it quits by 11am to avoid melting or dying midday.
On our Saturday trip (June 30), I hosted Debbie and Tom, and we enjoyed a great early morning trip that produced 25+ fish. Most of the quality smallmouth we caught were down deep, in 10-20ft rock and boulder. Other locations that held fish was secondary offshore structure that included rock and gravel humps, deep weedlines, and deep drop-offs. It was tough fishing, until we found them. And when we found them, they were in pods of 5-10 fish or more. It was bang-bang-bang.
Debbie caught the best fish of the trip, with this very nice 18″+ we forgot to measure. Tubes and football jigs caught the deep rock fish. Then swimming a 5″ Kalin’s grub and 4″ Strike King Rage Swimmer through the deep weed edges caught the active ones patrolling there.
Water temps during our trip were 76-78 degrees. Lots of baitfish and cisco activity present – but not much open water feeding yet. Thermocline slowly developing.
Thanks for having me host you, Debbie and Tom. Looking forward to our next trip later this year.
Last but not least, I still fish solo. Exploring places and trying different things. I caught some real beauties earlier this week.
Earlier this week I hit some beautiful largemouth bass caught from small water. A handful of specimens up to 20″, and several others from 15 to 18″. These little gems are scattered all over the region. Many of them are home to big, healthy bass. Some are easier to access than others whether by roadside access, designated landing, or private lands (with permission). They are best fished by small car-topper or trailer rig, canoe, or kayak. They must all be treated with precious care. Their small acreage has a difficult time sustaining itself, and they poorly handle pressure, exploitation and harvest.
Super K Fishing K-Plunk jig with Missile Baits D-Bomb trailer caught each fish for me the other evening. Shallow wood, pads, and flooded tamarack bushes held most of them. Pitch and flip to targets. Feel a strike, and set the hook hard. Nearly 20 fish in total for only a few short hours of fishing.
I used to do a lot of this type of bass fishing back during my high school and college days; visiting wilderness and backwoods lakes. I’ll take my small tin boat, a couple rods and reels, an electric motor, and I’m there during any available day for exploration and adventure. Always a fun time, the energy, time and effort to get there and succeed often worthwhile.
Even though the DNR and regional biologists encourages largemouth bass harvest now with a year-round free-for-all of 5 fish any size per day, only certain overabundant waters with stunted fish and overpopulation/ infestations truly need population control and harvest of fish. Fisheries with a quality crop of 14-18″ size fish and larger like these small sub-50 acre fisheries with limited/or none public access must be left alone. Even larger lakes with high average size fish must all be left alone too!
Since population numbers of each of its species are truly limited in small lakes, catch and release is the only way to maintain and sustain the fishery for several years to come.
Small waters are full of surprises, and home to quality bass, and some of trophy size proportions. Don’t abuse their integrity. Keeping honey holes quiet is the best strategy for fishing success.
July Fishing Forecast
If water temperatures are 70 or below, which they could be following any major coldfront, look for fish shallow. If crayfish aren’t around where they should be, then don’t bother with the shallows unless baitfish are present. If water warms, weather is hot, and midday fishing is unsuccessful, fish early or late. Night fish especially, with topwaters, loud surface baits, and crankbaits…… Now, if fishing thermoclines, swimbaits and drop shot rigging is unbeatable. If you mark pelagic baitfish, follow them and stick to the program. A giant bass will be stalking them in open water.
The lakes are the highest they’ve ever been, the mosquitoes are always bad, and the fishing has been pretty good if seeking good average sizes.
July and August, 2018 available fishing dates
My next block of trips will run from middle of July through first week of August. Dates listed below are all available and can be scheduled out for full day trips. Please check my dates calendar on the website, and lets set up your mid summer trips.
JULY:
- July 23rd
- July 25th
- July 28th
- July 29th
- July 31st
AUGUST:
- August 2nd
- August 3rd
- August 4th
- August 5th
That’s all I’ve got left available for the next 2 months. Jump on it.
Meanwhile tons of fishing days available in September thru mid October. IMO, this is the better time of year to target big fish – better weather and conditions. Big bites daily, and only.
Thanks all for reading. I wish I had more time to go into detail more with strategy and specifics, but you can schedule a day with me to learn more! We release every bass we catch, and I reserve the right to void trips if intentions are keeping and depleting the resource.
Andrew Ragas
www.northwoodsbass.com
tel: (708) 256-2201
andrew@northwoodsbass.com
