Fishing Report July 2014

July 11-13, 2014

The walleyes have definitely dispersed throughout the entire lake and can be found on most any typical structure.  Main lake rock piles have been the ticket recently where we are finding nice schools of active fish.  The deep rocks (12-16 feet) are holding good numbers of walleyes, but also attracting both perch and big sunfish.  Since some of these rocks are rather jagged and difficult to fish with live bait rigs, we fished slip bobbers and just let the wind drift our baits up onto the rocky tops.  We also marked good numbers of fish off in the deeper surrounding waters.  The water temperatures have reached the 72-73 degree range by late afternoon.  I had a large adult loon try to take a hooked walleye from me this month, and that was the first time I had ever seen that occur.

July 2-6, 2014

We have had reasonably dry weather for over a week now, but water levels on Woman Lake are still as high as I have ever seen.  The walleyes have been feeding aggressively in the windy conditions we have been experiencing, and we have caught nice stringers of 15-19 inch fish from 17-21 feet of water.  We are also catching a number of walleyes over 20 inches with the biggest measuring 26 inches, but most of those get quickly released.  Both live bait rigs and jigs are working well and we have been using mostly leeches for bait.  The water temperature is hovering around the 68 degree mark and may hit 70 before the holidays are over.  Crankbaits are an option, especially when the wind has the walleyes in a feeding mode.  Try running a Rapala shad rap or tail dancer on a long line down the 15-17 break lines off the big flats and reefs and you will find some larger fish.  Remember to watch your boat wake when near shore as the waves will erode the shoreline, and this is counterproductive for good fishing habitat.