Hopefully, everyone had a nice Thanksgiving with friends and family. For those who know me, it is my second favorite holiday of the year (rishing opener is my first, ha). Who doesn’t love fishing, hunting, football, food and loved ones all getting together.
At the moment, I am writing this report from my box blind deer stand in Amnicon, Wisconsin. Slow morning, only seeing a lonesome doe thus far, but I’ll get more into that and other hunting info at the end.
First, let’s dive into what may be the last open-water fishing update of the year.
Lake Superior has very minimal traffic in the form of “die-hard” Chequamegon Bay anglers and a few Apostle coaster-trollers. A few boats have been spotted this week, either trolling or casting. The report is a few splake and browns have been caught near shorelines in similar areas to where you will find first ice anglers. Spoons and stickbaits have been best.
Closer to Ashland, some smallmouth fanatics are still on the grind, turning fish over structure. Best depths continue to be around the 10-25 foot range. Most are casting or rip-jigging plastics, but one cannot go wrong ripping a puppet minnow or rattling-trap. Also, some anglers have been spotted fishing the docks and getting a few fish to go on a dead meat rigging, like smelt. You can also ling cast a spoon for some tried success. Water temperatures have reportedly been around 43 degrees.
The St. Louis River, other area rivers and inland lakes have all really shut down with angling pressure. If you still have that ambitious attitude and are still mad at the fish, you can certainly find success. As reported in previous updates, stick to spring techniques with jigging and dragging live bait. Walleyes are certainly easy targets this time of year when fishing the shallow transition areas of rock, sand and mud. My preference would be soaking a walleye sucker minnow over the side of the boat and keying in on your electronics to find the fish. Look for fish in numbers, as they will likely be schooled up. Bass can still be active in vegetation areas, but you’ll want to work your casting retrieves a bit slower. I would prefer a wobbly stick bait like a double-jointed Rapala.
One fish that is surely active at all times, especially now that water temperatures are closing in on freezing, is the famed northern pike. This late in the season can be awesome for big bruisers that are actively feeding. Live bait is a good option, but don’t overlook smaller-sized muskie baits. Casting shorelines will be best. As I’ve stated several times before, if you get out on the water, please be careful and practice safety at all times. Also, don’t be afraid to work shore spots, as this time of year can be great for that!
Lastly, we will finish up with the hunting update. Minnesota deer hunters ended their regular rifle season, and now Wisconsin hunters are hard at work trying to harvest a deer. Last weekend and through the start of the week brought very mild temperatures that hampered daytime movement. For myself, I’ve only been seeing spikes and smaller bucks mixed in with does. Activity has been in low light periods and through the night. Rut phasing has slowed, but can still be somewhat noticeable. I watched a courageous young buck check a scrape, rub his eyes (preorbital glands) on a branch and urinate.
So, deer are very much still doing hard communications. Now that we have cold weather, this should get things moving better for the hunters. For the Wisconsin hunters, I predict we will see an uptick in big bruisers being harvested throughout the end of the regular season. At least we will be optimistic about it, ha. At any rate, for both states, if you still want to hunt, you can still rock muzzleloader and/or archery seasons. For us, once we are done with hunting, we will be focusing on first ice, coming very fast now!
Jarrid Houston of South Range is a fishing guide ( houstonsguideservice.com ) on Minnesota and Wisconsin inland waters, the St. Louis River and, in winter, on Lake Superior.