With surface water temps steadily rising to the upper 70’s fish are on the chew. I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of time on the water the past couple weeks and the fishing has been good. However, depending on the lake you are on, the patterns are different.
 

I fished yesterday on a lake, where we drug spinners with crawlers and leeches targeting walleyes. The leech set up with a pink smiley blade caught the majority of the fish early under cloudy cover. As the day progressed and the sun came out the fish switched and we caught them mainly on copper hammered spinners with a crawler harness. We caught all our fish moving about 1.2-1.3 mph. Fish came in all sizes the smallest being 12″ the biggest 25.5″ and we had our limit in a few hours! We also caught a handful of nice northern pike and perch that were fun to catch when the action slowed for the ‘eyes.
 

The day before I focused on a local lake searching for big fish. These fish were present and aggressive, but only for a red-tail minnow or big creek chub. These fish wanted a slow presentation and that was the only way to catch them. We tried spinners, Rapalas, and I even tried jigging a minnow.
 

When fishing darker water lakes, I have been focusing shallower and finding good numbers of fish in 9-15 feet of water. In contrast, on the clearer lakes, I have mainly focused on mid-lake humps in 21-25 feet of water. Don’t be afraid to try different techniques when you’re out on these lakes. I have caught fish dragging a lindy with a 5-7 foot snell and a leech, or even a spinner with a crawler or a leech. I have even drug a spinner tipped with a chub.
 

Tonight’s adventure is a break line the fish move onto later in the evening and I will be anchored tossing slip bobbers with a plain hook and a leech off the break line as the fish move up to the shallows before dark. Keep an eye out for pictures soon!
 

Good luck on the water, stay safe and make some memories!
 

Tight Lines
 

Chris Berglund
Team Yukon Outdoors