Minocqua Area Fishing Report - 8/16/21

Stable weather for the past few days (8/13 onward) through the coming week should mean some easier patterning of the bite. Unfortunately, the bites have not been great. Bluebird days make for great experiences on the water, but not the easiest for fishing.

Smallmouth Bass: Good – Some nice fish to 20” this weekend working 16-22’ edges using heavy tubes, drop-shots and Ned worm rigs. Fish not concentrated, but coontail edges and rocky humps producing.

Largemouth Bass: Good – Top-water action picking up on the warm evenings. Buzz baits, Whopper Ploppers and Jitterbug users reporting nice action last two hours before dark. Daytime Wacky Worming in 8-12’ cabbage beds doing well.

Bluegills: Good – Best action suspended outside coontail edges in 14-16’ using small leeches or Mini-Mites suspended 4-6’ down below small floats.

Yellow Perch: Good – Active along outside weed edges on ½ crawlers or medium fatheads. Lots of smaller fish, but sorting through enough to make a meal.

Northern Pike: Good-Fair – Not as good on the brightest days, but wind helps. Spinner baits and chatter baits always a favorite. Weedless spoons (Silver Minnows, Jawbreakers) also good, tip with a 3-4” twister tail for added action.

Crappies: Fair – Tough to find consistent action working weed tops. Some anglers finding a little action outside coontail edges using minnows.

Musky: Fair – Best early or late in the day on top-water baits worked over weeds leading to deeper water. Bucktails bulged under surface, as well as large spinner baits also producing.

Walleye: Fair-Poor – Very early or late in the evening. Whole crawlers worked along 12-18’ edges dropping to deeper water produced some nice “slot” fish but action spotty.

With lows in upper 50’s to low 60’s overnight and into the low 80’s through the day forecasted for the next week, the stability should help improve the bite. August can be a finicky month, with some species of weeds dying off, minnow and small fish populations peaked, and very nice weather (read: lots of sun) making for challenging fishing at times. Key in on low light periods and don’t fret the mid-day stuff.