Minocqua, Lac du Flambeau, St Germain, Boulder Junction, and Manitowish Waters Wisconsin open water and Ice Fishing Report
Thursday 8/6/26
Flats of jumbo Canadian Nightcrawlers are now $59. Count is approximately 500 worms. That's about $1.50 per dozen. Our part to make fishing more affordable.
Again, the warm weather in the 80's continues. Very unusual. But with the forecast of highs in the 70's on the way it looks like it's going to get better for the fisherman's comfort.
Overall fishing is at a 7 on a scale of 1-10. But, as usual, you have to take what the lake will give you. I've never understood the fisherperson who catches 50 bass in a day and is upset that they didn't get any walleye. Some days are like that and I prefer to be thankful for them. Because I know that the next day might entail catching a whole lot more walleye than bass. But, to each his own. We've been putting lots of fish in the boat but hardly any walleye. But it's been a blast and we still come up with a big bag of meat for the fish fry.
We have been on the flowages and deep clear lakes lately, and they have been pretty darn good. When you can go out for a few hours and end up with 5#s of filets, that's a pretty good bite. What did we catch? Walleye, bass, crappie, bluegill, perch and bullheads. That's one of the fun things about the flowages is you never know what you got on until you get it over the boat. The deep clear lakes have been the same. A wild mix of panfish and game fish in the same area making for a "can't wait to see what I got this time" casts.
I've found that crawlers still are king out there. I've noticed that at this time of year the length of the crawler matters. Sometimes you need to use a whole crawler while at other times you should use 1/2, 1/3 or just a short nugget. The livescope has been marking lots of fish in the 20-30 FOW but it's been a real challenge to get them to bite. It seems as though there has been some type of bug hatch almost everywhere lately. When we were on the flowages we were marking tons of fish but they were all up and down in the water column. I don't know if they were chasing bugs or it the drop in the water level had them disoriented.
Both the Rainbow and Willow flowages are about 5' to 6' below capacity and have water temps in the 70's. That dark water is always a good ticket to success especially when the sun shines. Most lake water temps are in and around the middle 70's now, too.
ON A SCALE OF 1 to 10, HOW THEY HITTING?
Walleye 6 (low light), Northern 5, SM Bass 10, LM Bass 10, Musky ??, Perch 10, Crappie 6, Bluegill 35, Rock Bass 10
OUR BAIT REVIEWS:
The 1Standard plastics out fished most of the other plastics in the boat today. The Big Bite minnow was second. Both developed by the same people, oddly enough.
Enjoy your time in the northwoods and please slow down and be kind and be safe so you and others can do it again next year. And please remember those middle turning lanes are not merging lanes and don't use them as off ramps either!
I'm still taking in a few more guide reservations right now. I have a little availability left this summer. Call me on my cell at 715-892-2751 and we'll get out and definitely have some fun.
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IN-STORE & WEBSITE SPECIALS
Flats of jumbo Canadian Nightcrawlers are now $59. Count is approximately 500 worms. That's about $1.50 per dozen. Our part to make fishing more affordable.
Kalin Tungsten search baits are 50% off.
FREE Line (braid or mono) with any Reel or Reel and Rod Combo purchase
Early season specials, up to 50% off
Right now for live bait we have Wax worms, Red/White/Multi Colored Spikes, Crappie Minnows, Regular Fatheads, XL Fatheads (Tuffys), Blacktails, Redtails, Muds, Walleye Suckers, and a bunch of leeches and jumbo night crawlers. Leeches will be by the dozen, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 pound. Crawlers will be by the dozen, 2 dozen, 100 count and 480 count flats ($59).
BAIT SHOP HOURS
Monday thru Thursday 5am to 7pm
Friday 5am to 8pm
Saturday and Sunday 5am to 6pm
Jeff Bolander, Dewey, Catchem and How Bait Shop and Guides
715-892-2751 cell
715-358-5130 shop
www.DeweyCatchemAndHow.com