Just days after the official start to summer we’re beginning to see the dreaded summer slow down with walleye fishing. While it’s not as bad as some seasons, we’re definitely seeing a difference in the number of fish being brought in, and the number of fish stories being told. The water has really warmed up too, shallow area’s are up into the mid 70’s, and the main lake is just a degree or so below that. Warm water temps usually make for more active fish, being cold-blooded and all, but getting them to bite can be the bigger issue.

My advice would be to continue to try, even though things are slowing down you can still run across active fish willing to bite you’re just going to have smaller windows of opportunity. Get up early, and fish late, low light periods are going to put the odds in your favor. Change baits often if you’re trolling, sometimes the right color can be the ticket, if you’re using live bait try different color hooks and spinners, many anglers rely heavily on red or blood-colored hooks. Size of your bait can be a big factor too, use a worm blower on your crawlers, it helps them float better and gives them a larger profile, or even try using half a crawler, sometimes switching from a jumbo leech to a smaller one can entice a bite, or vise-versa.

Pictured below from L to R: a couple of shots of the next generation of Big Rock anglers – Ethan, Bryce, Josh, Kyla and Maddie from Minneapolis and San Francisco. another shot of Kyla her brother Bryce along with cousin Maddie, and mother/aunt Stacy Goertzen

If you’re wanting to put walleye on your dinner menu, I would do a couple of things – try trolling, with the increased water temps walleye have moved out onto the reefs, keep your boat in the 2-2.5 mph range and hit area’s around Mokey and Fletches Reef and Submarine Island and Annex, last night I cleaned a nice stringer from there, along with a couple nice keepers from North Bar. We’re also coming up on another full moon, adjust your fishing schedule to allow for some later nights, it will be worth the extra time out on the lake.

If live bait is more your cup of tea, tie on leeches or night crawlers and drag them around slowly on the bottom, stick to structure with big rocks and area’s that have deep water close by, fish will be deeper during the day and moving shallower during low light periods. From Petes hole, east to Roger’s Point and the surrounding area are good spots to start.

Muskie fishing is heating up right along with the water temps, Pelican Island has had numerous fish caught in the last couple of weeks, with plenty of follows and strikes to keep you interested. Fast moving blade baits and top water chopper baits have been the most popular, the ever productive jerk bait should also be on your list.

The Walker area will be celebrating the 4th of July this coming weekend, with a wide array of festivities, food and fireworks, if you’re going to be in the area I highly recommend attending, the local Lions Club does a fantastic job with everything.

Thanks for reading

Come see us at Big Rock Resort

800-827-7106

www.bigrockresort.com

Ray

p.s. to our Nebraska/Texas readers it was great to see you guys, sorry you had to deal with our bug infestation (the other other state bird) see you in August!