Archived Chippewa Flowage Report

Upper Chippewa Basin fisheries report (Price, Rusk, Sawyer Taylor and inland Ashland and Iron counties) - The Upper Chippewa Basin received at least another inch of rain in the last week and this has kept most streams, rivers and flowages at a high level. The continued wet weather has also spurred on a extra-large hatch of mosquitoes, so outdoor enthusiasts are reminded to bring along the insect repellent on any trips to the woods or water. Fishing and recreational activity on Northwoods waters have reached their summer highs in the past few weeks. However, angling success has remained very erratic and the constantly changing weather conditions has kept fishing for most species pretty tough. Musky continue to provide the most consistent action and nearly all anglers have reported some success, whether it be sightings, follows or strikes. Bucktails and surface baits have been the more popular lures, with deep weed edges and the less-dense weed beds producing a good amount of action. Some anglers have had multiple fish days, with most of the musky in the 32 to 38-inch size range and a few in the upper 40s also being caught. Bass fishing has been generally erratic with the variable weather -- some days provided some good action, but other days have found even bites very hard to come by. Largemouth continue to be found in all types of cover, with fair action found near heavy cover such as weed beds, bog edges and stumps/logs. Rubber frogs, soft plastics and crayfish-imitation lures have produced the best success. Smallmouth bass fishing continued to be just fair on local flowages and rivers. The smallmouth are still settling into their mid-summer pattern and have been relating wood and weed edges, especially near hard-bottom and deep water areas. Small finesse plastics and wacky-worm rigs have been getting most of the action. Walleye angling has been especially tough, though some nice fish in the 20- to 27-inch range have been reported. The deep weed edges and deep rock/gravel bars have provided some action, with leeches and night crawler halves being the best baits. A few walleye have been caught on stick baits fished along weed edges near dark. Panfish action continues to be fair, with some decent catches of crappie, bluegill and perch being made. The bigger panfish have been found suspended near cover in 8 to 14 feet of water, though some nice crappie have also been taken near the surface around woody structure.