Reeling in Summer in Otter Tail Lakes Country
By Ross Hagemeister, meisterguideservice.com
Hello fishermen from all over the globe. After lots of warm “summer” weather this spring, Otter Tail County lake temps have soared and fish species around the county have been rushed through their spawns.
Crappie, for the most part, seemed to have a good spawn but blue gill are having a hard time as the water has warmed too rapidly on my lakes. It doesn’t surprise me when I see large female sunfish on deep mid lake “walleye” structure as some sunfish are declining to spawn.
Northern are still gravitating towards weedy flats as they keep a close eye on spawning sunfish and rock bass. Walleye are beginning to find their way out to main-lake structures (finally, after finding something else to eat other than lake shiners).
Crappie, on most lakes, have dispersed from their spawning areas and are seemingly wandering about as they migrate towards their summer locations; when crappie are in post spawn, they can be tricky to find—so trolling Beetle Spins and 1/16 oz Thumper Jigs is a great way to find them; and it might be the best way to keep catching random crappie over dense weeds on drops.
Thankfully, we’ve entered the summer fishing period, and the most joyous part about that is that we don’t need to have shiner minnows in our bait bucket to catch a walleye! While minnows can still play a role for summer-time live bait fishermen, leeches and night crawlers are the go-to baits. As long as you change the water on the leeches and keep the night crawlers cool, they are easy baits to keep.
Life is happening on the lakes right now; baby ducks and geese hatched, the loons are busy, Bald Eagles and Osprey are fishing hard to keep their (large) young healthy, jet skiers and wake boarders or in constant motion, and anglers are enjoying the warm weather and the up-tick in good fishing! Get out to the lakes and be a part of the life!
Good Luck fishing this week in Otter Tail Lakes Country.