Fishing Report June 2019
June 29, 2019
Walleye fishing on Woman Lake remains solid for the most part, but over the last week we have experienced big storms rolling through and big bug hatches that killed the walleye bite for a short time. We had a huge hexagenia (big mayfly) hatch Friday night and the fishing on Saturday morning was dreadful (1 keeper walleye), but those type of events tend to pass quickly. I am now seeing walleyes staged on main lake basin structures, so they have begun to disperse throughout the entire lake basin. I am also seeing lots of bigger smallmouth bass on the main lake rock structures. Surface water temps have recently breached the 70 degree mark, so the typical summer fishing patterns and locations should be in order. We think we will have decent fishing over the coming holiday week, but that is occasionally tempered by the much higher than normal boat traffic. Enjoy fishing over the July 4th week and please be safe on the water.
June 18, 2019
We had a major mayfly hatch which slowed fishing for a couple days, but otherwise we have been taking limits of very nice walleyes for the last week. Most of the walleyes have been 16-20 inch fish, and we often manage to catch 1 or 2 bigger fish each day as well. We also have caught some monster bowfin (dogfish) this week, which really put up a fun, tough fight. A few walleyes are now showing up in the mid-lake basin, but we are still catching the majority of them on shore related structure, at least so far. We are still fishing leeches on live bait rigs in the 16-19 foots depths. Surface water temperatures have backed off a little to the 65-66 degree range, so the lake fishing is still a week or two behind a typical calendar progression, in my opinion. As a result, I suspect the typically solid June fishing bite on Woman Lake may likely continue well into July this year.
June 11, 2019
The Woman Lake surface water temperatures have now reached the 67-69 degree range after a number of hot sunny days and the walleye bite has remained solid, when the weather and wind cooperates. We have seen a couple cold fronts and high winds move through that slow the fishing for a day or so, but generally the walleyes are eager to bite. The bigger walleyes (walleyes over 20" long) have been especially aggressive biters, with plenty of 16-19 inchers daily as well. The bass (both largemouth and smallmouth) have been spawning recently, and I suspect the crappies are nearly ready to spawn, too. The walleyes are still being found on shore related structures, however I have started marking some fish on my sounder that have moved out to sunken islands, reefs, and rock piles. Within a couple weeks the walleyes will be dispersed throughout the main lake basin.
June 1, 2019
The walleye bite on Woman Lake appears to be in full gear now that the water has warmed up to the 58-60 degree range. On days with fishable winds, we have been taking limits of very nice 17-20 inch walleyes while catching (and mostly releasing) numerous fish in the 21-25 inch range. We are still finding them on the 16-19 foot breaks of shore related structure, however they seem to be very mobile, so we need to search and re-find them daily. Once we find them, they have been eager to take our leeches on live bait rigs. The crappies, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass have also been very catchable in shallow water recently, but I suspect these fish will begin staging around their traditional spawning areas before too long. It is a good fishing bite, so get out and enjoy it.