So ends the month of June, not quite as good as it started. I'll start July with a correction, Tom aka Cyberfish who caught the monster last month is really Tom Ardolf. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet, Tom, and guessed wrong when I was looking at the membership list for a last name. Apologies!


Good luck in July, I'll be happy when this hot windy weather breaks this weekend or next week. I'll be out tonight with DeBoer looking for more metro monsters.

I made it out to Alexander on Monday morning. Nothing moving really early but had a chance at two fish on blades right at the major, but they decided not to eat on the 8. They both came from right up in the milfoil as I was sitting in 13fow. Since those fish were up shallow I decided to check out a shallow area we've seen fish last year. Sure enough 3 fish up shallow (inside milfoil edge) but only got one to chase my suick for a bit. Also saw another fish off the deep edge by about 11am. They were moving and surfacing but wouldn't commit. I'll get em next time!

A few stories from people saying their sunfish and bass were getting chased but they all seemed to enjoy the excitement. Water temp was at 73-74 so its getting up there.

The fish are definitely off on Sugar in the evening. We saw plenty last night surfacing off the edge but not one follow between three guys. Must be eating at alternate times out there with 2-3 boats on every spot! It was busy out there with muskie guys and also a league. The surface out there was 77 degrees.

Fishing's been a bit funky for me lately too. Not terrible, but usually not what I expect. Still managing to get a shot or two most times out. I am, however, on a TERRIBLE streak of missing fish! Getting them to hit, or TRY to hit, and not getting hooks in them! I have fish knocking baits around, bouncing it off their nose, glancing it off the side of their face, coming in screaming mad and completely missing, and even grabbing baits and somehow not getting hooks! I'm somewhere around 10 in a row missed right now!!
Oh well, that's muskie fishing.

I was on Alexander last night. Water temps are getting dangerously high. The west end wasn't quite as bad, but I had 78-79 degrees on the east end AFTER midnight! I won't be going back 'till we get a little cooler weather... at least a couple cooler nights.
I think a lot of our lakes are getting into the upper 70's right now. Be careful with those fish everybody, it's not worth catching them if you can't release them.
I haven't been in the metro lately, but those lakes have got to be getting pretty warm too.

Yeah Aaron I'm up to 5 in a row lost now too. #5 was friday night, which was the only time I fished last weekend. Have you seen this kind of stuff happen more often when temps get this high? Most of my fish just aren't eating well, feels like I'm hooking them on the tip of the beak and losing them after a few seconds, they're just sluggish.

When are we going to get the cooldown we need? I'm gonna leave my lakes alone for the most part these next few weeks and explore the St. Croix a bit more since it's cooler out there right now.

Nice work Ron! The pink shirt with the cowboy hat is a good look.... you should wear that to our meetings.

After putting a couple fish in the net Saturday, I hoped my bad streak was over -NOPE! Lost two more yesterday! Let me just say one was NOT small.

Marc- I've seen periods where fish in a certain lake get sluggish or just nip baits, but not necessarily always associated with warmer temps. Lakes get into patterns sometimes, and if it's "off" move elsewhere. "Your" lake is probably due for a slow period anyway! LOL! They probably all still have sore mouths after last year!
Sometimes I've seen fish in warmer water get so wild it seems they come at a bait so fast they can't hit it decently. That's what some of my problem has been... fish trying to cream my lure and completely missing.
Sometimes it seems they slash at baits more than bite them.
They also fight very fast and wild sometimes when it's warm, throwing hooks more often. That's another one of my excuses lately!

Seems fishing's been funky for a lot of people lately.... a lot of people struggling all over, mixed with people occasionally being in the right place at the right time and having crazy action! Feeding windows are short, but sometimes intense, and often at unexpected times.
Overall, I've had pretty good action. Not seeing tons of fish, but getting one or two chances almost every time out. Now I just gotta start getting more of them to the net!

***Cringe!***** Oh ye of little faith.............

Was pleasantly surprised to find water temps had dropped a degree or two when I hit the water on an unplanned trip last night. Luckily I didn't screw up my first self net job of the year and got my picture taken with a 47". Wasn't planning on even taking her out of the water but she fought hard (especially for only having about half it's tail) and was going great in the net. My buddy in a different boat swung by and snapped a quick pic since we were both working the same spot and then she swam away strong. He also got a really fat 45" about an hour later. I left my pink shirt and cowboy hat at home, otherwise who knows what might have happened.....:) So many misses lately it's sweet to get one in the net and get my mojo back.

Both fish came trolling big blades in the 2mph range. We had great success last year with this technique and I'm convinced it would be effective anywhere you tried it. All we do is cruise over the deeper weeds with about 25 feet of line out. Keep your rod tip in the water if you have to in order to deflect floating weeds, and give following fish a chance to eat by dropping back and ripping your blades forward occasionally. It's really that simple.

Here is my buddies fatty, finally he got his first one of the year.

LOL, Ron - you really should try it. Last night was kind of slow but I did get a fish just before 10pm trolling blades again. I thought I was in for a great evening but that was the only action between two boats and 4 guys.

My wife is out of town all next week again so I'm going to be hitting it pretty hard as long as water temps don't get out of control. Bigger moon is always good for us down here.

Good Luck Nate

Try a Musky Mania Sneaky Pete Bucktail over the cabbage - wear a pink shirt and you can thank me later.

rf

Great point Dave there has been a lot of pressure on most lakes this year. Tell you what though, not much pressure on Mille Lacs thats for sure. Probably for good reason though, 2 days of fishing with two lost fish on a bulldawg that got hit and no hooks and a fish charge in on a burned bucktail but just swipe at the back end, couple headshakes and gone. Those fish were mid afternoon, early evening. No action at night at all. One boat we talked to spent all night on vineland and saw a couple fish that was it. Made it tough to fish on Saturday with 8 hours of rain and severe storms!

Sorry Ron didn't have any pink shirts but my baby blue almost worked.