Sakakawea - June 9

The post-spawn bite is in full swing now in many areas of the lake. We've been focusing on the bay bite for the last couple weeks, which has been pretty strong. Sometimes you have to work it slow to get bites, but they bite very frequently. Lately we've been catching in 3-8 feet pitching jigs and minnows and getting some on plastic in the afternoon when it warms up. Water temps have been hovering in the low 60s. We had a massive wind event the last two days, though, which could alter things for a day or two or maybe even push us into a slightly deeper, trolling bite potentially. We'll see how that shakes out.

There is a large population of 10-12 inch fish running around, stealing bait, and creating the need for sorting. There is also a large batch of 15-16 inchers that are making up a fair portion of our daily limits. Then there are still good number of 18-22s out there when you can find a group, and we're still seeing big, photo fish coming in here and there in the 24-30 inch range.

There has also been a solid main-lake bite going on, really since the middle of May for those wanting to run out there. I would say that bite is a little deeper, 10-15 feet on average, with a lot of guys rigging. Minnows are still predominant, but some groups of fish are taking crawlers as well. Van Hook has been producing fish, as has the east end. Some areas are more populated than others, but you can typically find a bite most areas of the lake right now. Water levels are starting to rise, so even with a good main lake bite, the bay action is probably going to remain strong - and possibly shallow - well into July.

If you want to get out and fish, it's really good fishing now and will only get better as it gets warmer! I have some openings end of June (22nd to 27th) if anyone wants to come out with me. Also have openings in July as well, which I think is going to be very strong this year. I also get the sense that inflation is starting to affect some folks wanting to go out and fish. I've been trying to strike a balance there to offset my costs while making the trip affordable to my clients as well. For the time being, I chose to reduce my 4-person rate from $1,000 to $900 to help more groups get out on the lake.

I also have one more video I've published since the last report (and another one coming out tonight), so I'll leave that here:

Five days documenting the post-spawn evolution.