Minocqua Area Fishing Report

Summer patterns holding up well. Surface temps remaining consistent at 74-77 degree average. Highs and lows most days not affecting temps yet. Biggest effects are sunny days vs. cloudy.

Largemouth Bass: Very Good – Daytime working cabbage flats of 8-12’. Wacky worms hard to beat! Sweet Beavers Texas style and Yum Chunks on 3/16 Strike King Bitsy Bugs also scoring. For evening bites use #90 Whopper Ploppers, Zare Puppys and weedless spoons such as Silver Minnows : Jawbreakers tipped with 4” Twister tails.

Smallmouth Bass: Very Good – Best fish over gravel/rock humps topping at 16-22’ surrounded by 30-40’ of water. Ned rigging TRD worms and drop shotting JackALL Yammy Fish, (3”) Crosstail shads and 3” Gulp! Minnows, HOT! Jig craws/creature baits as well as live leeches and crawlers also effective.

Crappie: Very Good-Good – Look for 10-12’ narrow leaf cabbage and even the invasive curly leaf pond weed. Fish top two feet of weeds using small beetle spins, Crappie Thumpers or Boottail jigs. Big slabs of 13-14” being caught, but plenty of eaters of 10-12” also.

Bluegill: Very Good-Good – For fun in evenings poppers best on fly rods or behind clear casting floats. Daytime find the largest Gills outside weed edges of 12-14’ using small leeches, leaf worms on small 1/32 oz jigs or under slip-floats. Small plastics also working well.

Yellow Perch: Good – Best using ½ crawler or medium leech in 6-10’ cabbage. Some anglers finding large Perch on deep lakes over sandgrass flats using Lindy rigs with ½ crawler.

Northern Pike: Good – Swim baits (360 GT, Rhythm Waves) run on ¼ oz swimheads in 8-12’ of cabbage. Spinner baits and chatter baits still go. Jigging or soaking chubs and suckers effective, but these live baits hard to get this year.

Musky: Good – For the health of the fish, best to fish early or late! Top-water baits such as Pace Makers, Whopper Ploppers, Top Raiders and Topper Stoppers best. Bucktails and large spinner baits also effective.

Walleye: Fair – Target Walleyes early AM or late evenings using full crawlers or the biggest leeches you can find. On larger lakes, deep, off shore humps, of 14-18’ with weed edges. Smaller lakes work outside weeds of 8-12’.

Hopefully the stable weather (temp wise) will last a few more weeks before cooling August nights affect our fishing.