WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
May 5, 2006

Are you getting excited yet? Excited does not even remotely explain the thoughts in my head! But the recent cool down has really got me fired up as those fish now are not only going to be hungry but aggressive. It seems with the amazingly long Spring, opening day was not going to get here, but I was wrong, it is beating down the door with opening day down to seven days. I hope everyone is ready for opener and the trips to come. It should be another excellent fishing season hee in the Northland. See you all soon!

Finally, May shows up and it sure seems to be the month of cooler temperatures. The recent cool-down should help more then it should hurt with only one week to go before opening morning. Rumor has it on Friday, the day before opener, its going to snow but that would be par for the course, right?

So where are you heading for opening day? Winnie? Red? Sand? Bowstring? With the water temperatures dropping slightly on most of the lakes, the fish should be more then hungry on every body of water.

On Winnie, I've heard that the water temps are only in the upper 40s. The ever-so-liked spot-tailed Silver Shiners are playing a yo-yo right now. One day they make a push to the shallows and the next day they slide back out. One thing that this Shiner movement promises is that we will have a shallow water MAXGAP jig and shiner bite. I still feel conditions are ahead of schedule by close to two weeks.

Tips for opening morning success if we get the huge cool down as I have heard might happen:

1. Keep the presentation as light as possible.
2. Slow down, move that bait as slow as possible as the fish don't want to share any extra energy.
3. Focus on areas with the newest weed growth, this contains the needed shelter, bait, and oxygen that all pieces of the food chain need.
4. Try to stay away from the masses of boats.

Many of us will be talking fishing at the community barbaque Friday night. If you get a chance swing down to see the new boats and gear.

The next report will a fishing report, so as this long wait has finally come to an end, good luck on opener and remember to leave a few out there for me!

See ya on the water

Sean Colter
www.seancolter.com
member of the NMLOG's