English River System Fishing Report

I just got back from Halley’s Camp on Lake Umfreville in the English River system on Saturday. Just wanted to drop a quick report. When we got there on the 24th the water on the main lake was 43 degrees and they said that the last ice was just out on the 17th. Then 2 straight days of storms and weather in the 40’s kept the fishing relatively slow (20-30 fish a day). After that it the fishing got better and better. I am pretty sure that some of the walleyes had spawned but there were a few that still had milk in them which created a slower walleye bite b/c we were catching them durring the few days of recovery after the spawn. The best tactic for walleyes was casting crankbaits to rocky shoreline on points or narrows areas where there was some current. #11 size Minnow Raps were the most productive. The pike were very agressive for the 3 warmer days we had. #14 Husky Jerks paused and twitched were the most consistant producer, but we experimented with Storm kicking minnows and even the Dunwright Pike soft plastics and pulled a 40 incher on that. The biggest walleye in our group was 27.5″ and the biggest pike was 42″ but we did manage 7 over 38″ and 6 smallies over 18″. This week and next the walleyes should really be putting the feed bag on so good luck if you are lucky enough to make it up there soon!