This bite keeps rolling. I have been having tons of fun picking off smallies in the early morning on topwater. I generally spend a little time combing my favorite shorelines. The best bet for me has been a combo of sand and rock, not the steep rocky breaks we all associate with smallies, but rather the beach to rock transition areas, a little weeds thrown in never hurts either. Smaller noisy poppers, large buggy foam insect patterns, it all works. Silver/white/chart seem to be the best colors. I took a buddy from Phoenix out yesterday morning, we picked up a number of nice smallies to 18″ near afton state park and on the backside of catfish. We also trolled up a couple of muskies, it was Bob’s 1st ski and @ 40″ not too shabby either. The muskie bite has been extremely good also, I’ve mostly been trolling to cover water and try to continue to uncover new spots. Try different stuff and shake things up a little! even though the pressure on this fishery is light, they have become a little more educated with the number and the quality of guys out there doing it. Don’t be afraid to explore. I’ve taken lots of fish this year from some very unlikely areas.
I was reminded by my buddy from Phoenix yesterday what a beautiful resource the river is, and how I, like many of us take it for granted. He could not believe the quality of fish we got in just a few hours. It’s truly one of a kind.
Off to Sheboygan this weekend, the kings are going nuts so we need to stock up the freezer a little for the fall. I’ll post a quick report upon returning.
Mike T
