GuideLines: Don’t Stop Now! There’s Bass for Everyone!
Where did everybody go?
Don’t stop now! August fishing is great on hot calm sunny days—really! Fishing is good all around Otter Tail Lakes Country right now, so get some bait, sharpen your hooks and come out to Otter Tail County. Panfish continue to bite well.
To find panfish, find lots of weeds! Then fish shallow of the weeds or on the deep side of them – or even right in them if you want! If you try all three zones, you’re bound to run into some sunnies and crappies. I’ve personally been finding my best panfish on the deeper side of things—that’s where the larger fish seem to be. 
Though walleye aren’t as easy to come by as they were in June and July, they are still plentiful throughout lakes area. Try locating them with bottom bouncers, spinners and night crawlers—it’s kind of a catch-all system in mid-summer. Once you find some biters, then try Lindy Rigs and crawlers or leeches, or jigs and worms, or just keep bottom bouncing. For Northern pike – find their food source. Yesterday I was trying to get some northern for a few of my guests; I simply located panfish on a deep drop then fished for northern—it worked! I like fishing deeper for northern in the summer as opposed to fishing at “weed-level” unless, of course, the lake you select is a shallow lake—then that eliminates the deep zone, which should save time.
Just located panfish on shallow lakes and northern won’t be far away. Don’t miss bass fishing in Otter Tail Lakes Country. There are bass for everyone here. Yesterday we caught bass on deep grassy hills 15-23 feet deep! We even found bass near dense weed clumps on mid-depth flats. They are a ton of fun and you can fish them with most artificial lures as well as live bait. ( I prefer Carolina rigging both artificial and live baits.)
Enjoy another great week in Otter Tail Lakes Country! Good luck on the lakes.
Ross Hagemeister
