Fishing Reports

Water temps in the Eagle River area are in the low to mid 70s; excellent northern bite, with very good action for musky, smallmouth, and panfish, and good action for walleye and largemouth in the Eagle River, Wisconsin area.

Follow up:

Northern action in the Eagle River area is excellent. Fish the weeds in 10 feet of water or less, using a small bucktail or spinner bait. All day bite.

The musky bite is very good in the Eagle River area. Fish 10 feet of water or less at the outside of thick weedbed edges - -3 to 6 feet of water depths are producing best. Use a Mepps bucktail (tail and blade color vary greatly, so most anglers are "mixing and matching" until the right combo is found), crankbait or a topwater. Find where the weeds thin enough to work a bait above the weeds, and you'll probably locate fish. All day bite, with a peak in late afternoon into evening (guide Muskie Matt says that 3-5 pm seems to be primo right now). A mixed bag of sizes, with a few trophies going 50 inches or a bit more.

Smallmouth in the Eagle River area are hitting in 10-20 feet of water over hardbottom (sand/gravel/rocks) areas and related break edges. Use a plastic worm rigged wacky, a 3 inch tube, plastic crawfish, or a jig and a leech.

Panfish are pretty much together in the Eagle River area. Fish 8-12 feet of water in and around weeds. Use a crappie minnow or chunk of crawler under a slip bobber, or a jig and a minnow. The crappies and gills are suspending up and down the water column, and the perch are near/on the bottom.

Walleye are putting on a good bite in the Eagle River area. Fish outside weed edges in 10-20 feet of water, using a jig and a fathead. Jig colors of chartreuse, orange and hot pink are providing the most action. All day bite, with peaks in the evening hours.

Largemouth in the Eagle River area are in 10 feet of water or less around weeds, related to structure (docks, stumps, drowned wood and brush piles). Use a Texas Rig with a plastic worm, or run a plastic lizard, rat or frog. Good action.

(Report for the Eagle River Chamber of Commerce based on Creative Brilliance interviews with Eagle River guides "Muskie Matt" of Wild Eagle Lodge, "Ranger Rick" Krueger of Guide's Choice Pro Shop, and Mat Hegy).