Elkhart Lake
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Elkhart Lake Fishing Reports
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Reports from all past years within a 60-day time frame
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Spring (Spawn)
Technique
Finesse Hair Jigs
Structure
Docks
A Little late in getting this posted, many smallmouth were still on beds as of this outing, caught a few blind casting and slow rolling the hair jig. Saw some nice muskies just sitting up shallow at the mouth of turtle bay. Had 2 smallies over 3#. Hoping they get set up in the usual summer spots soon!
Species
Walleye
Season
Spring (Pre-Spawn)
Technique
Shakey Heads
Structure
Docks
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Spring (Post-Spawn)
Technique
Finesse Hair Jigs
Structure
Docks
Had a tournament in the pouring rain. Fish still don't seem to be set up for summer. Caught my limit shallow, with 4 of 5 fish coming from docks. Caught one on a weed edge in about 5'. Finished 3rd and won big bass with the pictured bass. All of our fish including the 5 weighed in were caught on a black Feider Fly by Outkast tackle.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Wacky Rigs
Structure
Docks
Water Temperature
77°
Was mainly catching them under docks but also did find the outer edge with livescope and was catching them also in 15-17 FOW
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Crankbaits 13'+
Structure
Ledges
Water Temperature
74°
tried Big Elkhart in the hopes of finding some of the big Smallmouth bass on Sunday morning. Bite was slow, hooked one nice smallmouth on a sandy weed edge in about 17' of water on a strike king baby z too on a ned head but it got off about 10' from the boat. Then tried a football jig and drop shot on the edge of the main lake sand bar that yielded just a few small largemouth. The excitement for the day came when I tried tossing a Strike King 6XD crankbait in chartruese perch and caught a 24" walleye! Also hooked another sizable fish that shook the hooks before I could get a look at it. Water wasn't as clear as Elkhart usually is, had some color I believe may be due to the storms that passed through the day before.
Species
Muskie
Season
Winter
Technique
Lipless Crankbaits
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
51°
I used a Yoyo retrieve over the top of submerged vegetation. This big fish took me for a bit of a ride because of the light line I was using and I followed it with my trolling motor until it tired enough to net. A nice way to end my season on Elkhart Lake.
Species
Smallmouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Structure Jigs
Structure
Humps
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
74°
Morning started off slowly catching a few short bass on finesse baits on weed edges. The bite picked up late morning when some cloud cover worked its way in. Working drop offs in 14-19 feet of water with strike king jigs with rage craw or structure bug trailers worked best. Strike king series 5 crankbait and red eye shad also produced a few fish. Had a large musky grab a nice smallmouth my fishing partner was reeling in until it snapped the line. He also raised a larger musky to the boat side on a football jig, it followed a few figure 8’s before getting spooked.