July fishing update:
I now have a couple fishing expeditions under my belt so I can provide a little bit of an update if you have an upcoming trip to Red Lake in the near future.
Walleye:
Walleyes are being caught in 6’-14’ of water on both lakes on jigs, lindy rigs, and crankbaits. Consistent colors are chartreuse, orange, white, and perch patterns (green, yellow, orange). Minnows seem to be outperforming other live baits, but crawlers , leeches, and Gulp are also working well.
Northern Pike:
Several pike are still being caught on both lakes although it has been several days since we’ve seen a 40”+. Fish are being taken on spinners, bucktails, spoons, crankbaits, & large minnows on bobbers. Silver colors have produced consistently.
Smallmouth Bass:
Bass are being caught and released almost daily. We saw two mammoth 20” fish last week. Anglers are using a wide variety of baits to catch them, but jigs have landed several.
There was a significant mayfly hatch on Parker Lake today. We’ll see how that affects fishing over the next couple days. I would expect Red Lake to see mayflies within the next 1-2 weeks. Weed growth and water temp are still a bit behind the norm, but a warm and sunny forecast for the next several days should help close the gap.