Northwoods Bass Fishing Report – Mid June 2022

Happy Father’s Day Weekend to you all. It’s middle of June and there’s not been a single bad day of fishing endured yet this 2022 season! Weather and conditions have been another story, however. Every day its something new or different happening – a new bite materializing every day. I feel my boat’s fishing is very good right now because we are taking it only 1 day and every hour at a time and NOT planning ahead.

Take what the lake and your daily conditions gives you. Whether it’s numbers, mixed bag, or a trophy bite, apply your strategy to what the uncontrollable forces and Fish Gods are providing. I’ve regretfully made the mistake of forcing bites, and this is NOT my strategy this season. As a result, I’m having a lot more fun this year and hosting everybody than I did last year. The FUN and results we’re having is showing. Thanks to everyone who’s fished with me for sharing my same strategic philosophy each day.

Guide customers and I just recently wrapped up three stellar weeks on the water, since prior to Memorial Day Weekend. Every water we fished was in midst of spawning completion and post-spawn. Not a single bed was targeted either.

With water temperatures now in the 66 to 72 degree range, both species of bass have concluded their spawning seasons. It was a VERY QUIET pre-spawn and spawn phase. It seemed that whenever we had calm, warmer and sunny days, the fish quickly went about their business and anglers didn’t take much notice. I appreciate seeing way less bed bozos and nest raiding anglers than years prior. You have no idea how greatly the restraint aids our precious fisheries. To the YouTubing Instagramming heroes out there who fish this way and cannot catch them any other way, you are a selfish disservice to the resource and an anti-educator.

Water temps are sure to climb, no doubt, during this week’s heat wave. Real nice weather thru next week. I expect post-spawn and early summer patterns to get jump started.

Mayfly hatches have already begun at some places this week, and will really explode into next week. Larvae are visible on-screen everywhere. Expect competition and challenges from the food chain too. Most anglers who encounter the hatches freak out or avoid that water. But when it comes to smallmouths, I want to be on that water if it’s a calm day or if the hatch is ongoing or just completing. Smallmouths will relocate to where the food is. Finding them is easy when it’s a surface bite and lots of activity is present.

With the warming temps, our delayed weed growth will hopefully explode this next week too.

These past few weeks, we did largemouths about 40% of the time and smallmouths 60% of the time. We’ll be focusing on smallmouths throughout much of summer, but if/when there’s a great largemouth window happening for big fish, I won’t hesitate to go target them.

Largemouths have been providing stellar action and entertainment, with an average day producing 30 to 50 fish trips between 2 anglers and 2-3-4 different lakes per day. They were great while we allowed our beloved smallmouths to complete their spawns uninterrupted.

The other week, I hosted longtime reader and customer, Mike McBride where we went for a 50 fish day…… him catching 45 of them. Then I rolled high with Jim and Tim for a 25 fish trip one day later. Great company both days. Jumped a handful of waters each day. The big females have been very elusive all month, and resting from spawn, but males and some that have recovered are active and everywhere, feeding heavily. I expect this species to finally take off early next week IF we get those warm days in the 90’s.

Mornings and midday hours have been best all month long…. Oddly.

Weed growth still very down, but a drastic difference and improvement from prior trips in early June, since the last report. With the upcoming sunny and warm days, everything will sprout. In the mean time, fish are holding tight to shore utilizing any wood, stumps, sand, pads, bogs and undercut banks, and any shoreline slop. Once weeds come up and bluegills finish spawn, largemouths will gravitate to the new growth and soon after the deep weedline bites begin

Kalin’s Fishing wackos, Freedom Tackle FT swim jigs and structure jigs, and a variety of other jig and creature styles are catching them all. St. Croix Rods Mojo Bass and BassX rods working very hard, and we love them for LMB’s.

June and spring LMB trips have ended, except for some quickies. Everything smallmouth from now till July….

Smallmouth trips have been great all month long. In early June, I hosted Barry for 2 days and we still found some leftover pre-spawners. It was good gas and travel miles, as always.

All last week, we had GREAT smallmouth trips. Hosted Jon and Mike from Mizzou for three days, and had a few others before and after too. Both anglers captured their personal best fish during this rodeo.

Some trip days averaging 30 to 50 fish per day (x 3 anglers). Others, 10 to 20 if the focus is high quality good size fishes. Due to spawn completion and recovery, not a good time to chase a trophy. We elected to chase high average sizes, catching 80 fish over our three day trip.

Some days they want a hair jig or topwater. Other days maybe a tube or ned only. The other day, a paddletail, Kalin, or spinnerbait. The entire tackle box is open right now. Experiment with everything.

Been focusing lots on flats, bars, humps, and shoreline areas. Some fish caught as deep as 10, others as shallow as 1.

In between all the smallmouths, other fish species have provided us with high activity.

I had a blast doing kayak smallmouths with Jim Riley of Northern Wisconsin Kayak Fishing. If you seek a small water, wilderness adventure getting into the places the average boat and 99.99% anglers cannot access, Jim’s outfitter is your jam.

It’s starting to be a good summer. I look forward to what the remainder of June will bring.

Summer patterns will be coming on quick later this week.

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Bass Bling

Mayfly hatches are starting, so that means going heavy with hair jigs and topwaters.

But further forage overabundances have persisted. Yellow perch are milling around weedlines. Crayfish are on the prowl and everywhere. Soon the bluegills will school heavily in open water and along deep weedlines.

With so much food availability around, many of the smallmouth we’re catching have full stomachs, and are puking out their contents.

Pay close attention to what fish are puking. On some lakes it’s crayfish. Others perch. In open water pelagic fisheries been seeing a lot of smelt and cisco.

This will clue you in on how to match the hatch, setting you up with the best odds in catching them.

These bite size baits pictured above have been amazingly effective. We’ve been experimenting lots with various plastics fished with neds and swimbait heads.

One specific pattern I dove into last week was open water ciscoes and smelt. Z-Man Elaztech MinnowZ (smelt pattern) bomb-casted with my St. Croix Victory Open Water (VTS710MMF) was tremendously tremendous. Smallmouths were going nuts for it across several lakes we visited.

BUY HERE – https://stcroixrods.com/products/victory-spinning-rods

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