If it were not for the bugs, June would be a perfect month. I am sure anyone spending the night in a tent or paddling a canoe this past week would disagree, but the fishing is topnotch. The wind and rain just keep coming. Three straight weeks of east winds before the pattern finally broke last Friday with bright sunny skies. Needless to say, the beautiful weather messed up the bite, but it was nice to see blue skies again.
“East is least and west is best” say the old-timers, and for the most part they are right. I really do not care which direction the wind is coming from as long as it stays that way for a couple of days. The fishing gets easier after the second or third day of consistent wind. The fish gather in the same pockets and shorelines that are getting hit by the wind. In June, the wind and cloud cover are everything. Fish are pretty shallow and very in tune with the weather patterns, so adjusting to the weather plays a major role in catching fish.
I anchored in front of a weed bed on a small lake up here last week that happens to have some very big crappies. They would not bite, but every once in a while there would be an abrupt splash on the surface within a couple of feet from shore. It was around 7:00 p.m. and the wind had calmed to a light breeze while the sun got lower. As the day grew darker, more and more explosions were occurring in front of the weeds. I had a slip bobber set at about six inches and I tried everything from small minnows to leeches and even pieces of night crawler, to no avail.
I noticed a mayfly drifting by the boat and I followed its course with my eyes all the way to shore. Well, almost to shore, as soon as it got close to the weeds, it was devoured by an enormous crappie. I tried the minnow again and the fish finally picked up my bait. The bobber slid sideways across the water and then nothing. I cast it back up to the weeds and the same thing happened. The crappie would not eat my minnow, but it would also not allow the minnow to be anywhere near that weed bed where it was feasting on mayflies. It was pretty cool to watch even though I did not catch any.
Last time I saw this happening, I bought some mayfly patterns for the fly rod from Buck’s, but I have never had a chance to give it a shot. Hatches happen pretty quickly and usually only during certain times of the day. I know that many people fish the hatches with fly rods and are very successful at it, and they tell me that timing is everything. Whitefish on Devil’s Track, rainbow trout on Birch, and crappies on “Secret Lake” fill their bellies every June on different types of hatches occurring underwater as well as on the surface. Smallmouth bass and walleyes are also guilty of this easy meal as well as the northern pike. Just because they are capable of attacking live prey does not mean they have to.
So much of the fishing we do in June is wind and weather dependent. If you fish every day, like many of us do, there are going to be times when the lake is flat calm. The last places that you were able to find fish are great places to start, but you have to fish them much slower. Bobbers work a little better on calm days, or at least use an electric trolling motor because the fish tend to spook very easily. Stealthy approaches work better on calm days and more aggressive tactics work on windy and overcast days. Some days nothing works, so do not be discouraged; persistence pays. Good luck.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218-388- 0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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