Fishing Report July 2026

July 21, 2026

The bug hatches finally ended, but the weather delivered us a string of blistering heat followed by unfishable winds.  Surface water temperatures hit the 80 degree mark for a few days. The Woman Lake walleye bite has recently been inconsistent and slow, which is not unusual for our typical July and August fishing. We are catching fairly nice fish, when we get them, but it is not like the hot bite we enjoyed in late June.  Leeches are clearly the bait of choice now, but trolling a spinner/nightcrawler combo can also be effective, as well as faster for finding walleyes along weedlines.

I had a loon come up onto the beach next to my boat dock the other morning and appeared to be nesting in the sand and rubble about 8 feet from the waters edge.  She stayed most of the day before eventually scooting her way back into the water, but I did get a chance to sneak down close enough to get some great photos before she left.  She did not leave an egg behind, so I suspect she went searching for a more secure nesting location.  It was pretty cool to witness.  I never tire of listening to the loon calls on Woman Lake.  I will post a few photos in the Catch Photos section of this website.

July 4, 2026  -  United States of America's 250th Anniversary

Woman Lake experienced a huge 3-day mayfly hatch at the begining of the week, and the boat traffic is high for the holiday weekend.  As a result, the walleye bite has expectedly diminished.  But the nice northern pike bite remains hot.  Surface water temperatures reached 72 degrees yesterday.  On the bright side, we enjoyed a rare combination of a thunderstorm and a northern lights display last evening, which was beautiful.  I will post a few photos in the Catch Photos section.