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St. Germain 2013 Fishing Report

ROB MANTHEI REPORT ~ UPDATED 06/28/2013

Fishing remains good throughout the area despite bug hatches and strange weather. We’ve gotten several more inches of rain in the last 60 hours. I guess we’ll be a rain forest pretty soon. Water temps are in the low to mid 70’s on surface.

Walleyes: Mayflies are hatching on area lakes, some worse than others. It has been more of a slow trickle hatch rather than a massive one. Walleyes are using weeds (cabbage and coontail), sandgrass, and moving on deeper rock bars in the evening. Nightcrawlers and leeches are the top producer, however some active fish in the shallower weeds are smackin Berkley Hollow Belly swimbaits and Gulp! snap jigged on Bait Rigs LS jigheads. I’ve been using small 1/16 Slow Pokes to cast and work my crawler/leech thru weeds and grass, and then using 1/16 to 1/8 O’dd Balls on the rocks. The design of the O’dd ball allows for a standup presentation and helps remain snag free. Fishing for these guys has been pretty good. If you see mayfly carcasses, and the bite is slow, move to a different lake.

Panfish: Still hard to decide if the crappies are done spawning or not….but does it really matter as long as they are biting and relatively easy to find? Crappies bit well as a fill in after our walleye limits were reached, and we found them suspended along the weed edges of cabbage. Mini-mites under a stick bobber is still the BEST method…out fishes a minnow 8 days a week.

Bluegills are bedding on some lakes, but still remain a mystery on others. I’ve caught some 8 to 9″ bluegills as deep as 26′ in recent days walleye fishing. Deep cribs, grass, and rock are holding some big, big bluegills. Remember folks, 9″ bluegills are rare….measure them once and see.

Muskies: With the changing weather and storms, muskies have been very active. Lots and lots of lookers, but not as many biters as I would like. We are getting a shot or 2 every time out, and definite feeding windows around moon phases are evident. Fish are suspended in open water, using weeds, and shallow rock structures. If it is a good musky location right now, they are using it! Suicks, DD’s, 10’s, 8’s, (Cowgirls, Flashers, Spankies, Bait Rigs, Little Louies, Buchertails) are all working…..for the deeper open water fish, Mag Bulldawgs are hands down the winner! Being seeing some really nice fish up to 48-49″, just gotta get them to open their mouths.

Bill and Matt Cleary each caught their first legal (released of course) this week fishing with me. So congrats to them!
I have a few openings throughout August and September, so if interested please contact sooner than later

Good Luck out there!
Rob Manthei

Rob Manthei’s Fishing Guide Service
715-477-2042

www.robmanthei.com
robmanthei@msn.com