Lake Chippewa Flowage Vacation

2026-07-17

Walleye

Overall the Walleye bite has been difficult the last week or so with the increased heat. With the increase in water temperature, your best bet is to target that deeper brush in 18 to 25 feet for the Walleyes. Trolling deeper running cranks can prove to be very effective in catching some Walleyes down deep. For live bait, leeches are still the bait of choice.

Musky

I am sure everyone who follows Musky pages on Social Media has been thoroughly informed that the water temperatures are super high. It is understandable that your fishing time is limited every year and you only get a handful of times to go out and go for that big one, however, with this very hot water hooking a Musky right now is very dangerous and catching a Musky will almost surely be fatal for the fish. We ask that you use your judgment in favor of the resource. If you see water temps above 80 degrees, you may want to consider giving Musky fishing a break until things cool off slightly back into the 70s so the fish can be properly, and most importantly, safely released.

Crappie

The Crappie bite, despite the heat, has still been decent on the bogs at night, and pretty decent in the weeds in about 7 to 10 feet of water during the day. Crappie Minnows are still the prime bait, but Gulp! 1-inch Minnows have been producing a lot of Crappies the last few days.

Panfish

The Bluegill bite has probably been the best out of all the species this week during this heat. Redworms and Waxworms seem to be the ticket. They are currently mixed up with the Crappies and other panfish in the weeds in about 7 to 10 feet of water. Perch are also mixed in with them as well in the same spots. Several guides have come in this past week stressing the importance of targeting the weeds in 7 to 10 feet currently if you are going for panfish.

Bass

The smallmouth bass have been quiet this week but the smaller Largemouth Bass have been particularly aggressive. We have not heard of too many bigger largemouths caught, however, almost everyone who came into the shop this week has been saying how the smaller largemouth have been on fire in the weeds and lily pads hitting on everything from Spinners to Frogs.

Weather

This weekend and the beginning part of next week is going to be hot with highs ranging from the mid 80s to low 90s, but the lows start to drop ranging from the high 50s to mid 60s. As we get to mid week next week, it looks like a mild cooldown with highs ranging from the mid 60s to mid 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday with lows in the high 40s to low 50s before spiking back up at the end of the week back into the 80s on Thursday and Friday.

Water Temp at time of this report

84 Degrees

General

AIR QUALITY ALERT: As I am sure most of you have heard, the Midwest and other regions are experiencing an air quality problem due to the fires in Canada and Minnesota. Looking ahead, the air quality is forecasted to improve. Today (7/17) the air quality is rated as very unhealthy. Tomorrow, the rating is forecasted to be Unhealthy, and by Monday and Tuesday the rating is forecasted to be poor. While those are not good sounding adjectives, it is looking like the air pollution from the fire and smoke is starting to decrease which is forecasted to be half of what it is now by Monday or Tuesday. Stay tuned to the report and to the Jenk's Bait and Tackle Facebook page for further updates on the situation.