August 13-19, 2024

Here is this weeks report!!

Week #14 of the open water season! August 13-19, 2024

Water temps: 70-74

Late summer is here and the early signs of fall are in the air every morning! Warm sunny days and cool nights are leading to a great early morning bite right now that will continue until the water dips into the upper 50s in another month or so!

My main focus this week is trolling lead core and Rapalas. It’s not fancy or complicated and some even say it’s boring, but I’ve never seen someone bored when they are reeling in fish one after another all morning long. It flat out catches fish this time of year and it’s the best option in my opinion! You can still catch fish on Lindy’s and live bait rigs so don’t think those won’t work. They will.

I have been focusing on 20-30’ mud basins. Most of the basins have fish in them right now it’s just about trolling the right ones at the right time. There is some amount of luck involved in simply picking the right one to start in that day. If you aren’t catching the fish you desire, don’t hesitate to pack up and go to the next one. Odds are those bigger fish in that are just aren’t going that day, completely normal.

Rule of thumb for lead core is 7’ of depth for every color (30’) of line out. I run a braided leader so you can feel the bait vibrate if it’s off bottom. If there’s no vibration you are either on bottom or there’s something wrong with the bait. It could be weeds, mud, bait is hooked on the line or even a small fish.

The best way to learn lead core is have a braided leader and let line out until you don’t feel vibration and then reel it up until you do. Then you know exactly how much line to run at that exact depth. The best tip I can still give you is to get out on the water early and capitalize on those early morning hours. My bite has been really shutting down around 11 AM. Another tip is to have a bunch of different baits tied on, don’t have all the same color baits on your rod. Have options and see what they want on that given day. It’s changing all the time!

I have availability remaining for the rest of the year! Give me a call or text @ (218) 404-9200 to book your trip today!! The best fishing of the year is on its way!

Tight Lines!

Z