Whether you want to catch Hayward walleye and smallmouth bass or you’re looking to troll up some Lake Superior walleyes, northwest Wisconsin fishing guide Jeff Evans has you covered with this week’s report. He covers down on specific baits and presentation you should be using, but also gives you exact depths you should be targeting right now as the fish continue to move through their seasonal progressions.

But first things first, Jeff starts his report off with a quick update on the recent water temperature changes in his area:

“Water temperatures are finally starting to cool down in the Hayward lakes area in northwest Wisconsin and on Lake Superior. Around Hayward, we’re seeing the mid-70’s on most days and on Lake Superior, we’re seeing mid-60’s to low-70’s depending on the day.

“On the inland lakes, we’re catching some super walleyes trolling open water with crawler harnesses in anyway from 25 to 35 feet of water. I like to use my electronics to locate baitfish, and then use snap weights to get those crawler harnesses down to the appropriate depth, which is usually around 15 or 20 feet down.

“We’re also getting some great smallmouth bass on rock reefs in anywhere from 15 to 25 feet of water using Neko rigs and Ned rigs.

“On Lake Superior, we’re trolling crankbaits behind planer boards and catching some awesome walleyes with some big numbers days and some big fish as well. You can deep diving crankbaits or use snap weights to get shallow divers down to the right depths in anywhere from 15 out to 40 feet of water.”

Thanks to Jeff Evans for some great Hayward walleye and bass tips, as well as some good info for getting on the walleye bite on Lake Superior.

Thanks to cooler nighttime temperatures across the Upper Midwest, we’re thankfully seeing some lower water temperatures on many of our lakes, which has been great for the local fishing action for walleye, bass, muskies, you name it! It’s also a great thing for fish mortality. Targeting fish in boiling hot water usually doesn’t end well for the fish, but with temperatures dropping back into the 70’s you should be good to go for some August catch-and-release fishing action.