July 24 – July 31, 2023

Week 12 of the open water season.

Water temp: 73-76

Walleye

The walleye fishing has greatly improved and it happened quickly. This past week has been one of the best weeks of fishing of the entire year when it comes to numbers of quality eater sized fish. The key for us is finding areas with no bug in the water. Yes, we still have bugs in the water but they are finally hatching and dying all over the place. Being able to use your electronics to see if there is bug or not has been a huge part in whether or not you will catch fish.

During the early morning hours pitching or dragging jigs tipped with chubs has been producing good numbers of fish. Fishing the sand points and humps in 15-18′ of water during low light hours has been the best bite for us. Around 9:30 our bite has been shutting off for the mid day hours. There are still plenty of fish to be caught during these times and usually we switch over to a lindy rig with a minnow or half of a crawler in deeper water, 18-22′, to get some finnicky midday walleyes.

We have also had a lot of success pitching jigs to pods of walleye. When we do this they tend to be a little more aggressive than the fish we are catching vertical jigging. Locating these pods using Livescope has been a huge bonus because it allows you to keep a good distance away without spooking and breaking up the pod of fish.

Baits of choice in my boat: Northland 1/4 ounce tungsten jigs, lindy rigs

Bass

The bass are setting up nicely in their mid to late summer spots just off the rock piles and points. Finding wind blown structure in 8-12′ of water has been the ticket. Casting crankbaits or using finesse plastics are producing great fish. These summertime footballs are schooling up just like they should be this time of year so don’t be surprised to catch 5-10 fish off of one spot. There is still a great top water smallmouth bite in the early and late hours of the day!

Baits of choice in my boat: shallow crankbaits, wacky rigged senkos, top water baits

Book your fall trips now!! The best fishing of the year is still to come and it should only get better from now until ice up!

Zach Hrvol

Fishing with Z Guide Service

(218) 404-9200