A lot has happened in the last week or so of fishing. The water temps have now risen to around 70 degrees with no sign of slowing down with the future forecast. 

Bucktails and Topwaters are now in their prime. Various prop style topwaters have been producing fish for my boat. Depending upon the conditions, calm or windy, my choice of Topwater style and noise making capabilities are made on matching the condition it is being fished in. As a rule of thumb, the calmer the conditions the more subtle choice seems to out produce while in the opposite conditions,  windy and rough, louder topwaters usually gets the action. Bucktails have acted as a great search bait, producing numerous follows and allowing us to return on that fish under more favorable conditions in hopes it will bite(such as a weather change, moon phase, light change, sunrise, sunset, cloud cover change).

The green water associated with the recent bloom seems to have calmed down with a consistent south wind clearing up the clarity. Although the temps are increasing and fish activity is on the rise, the better weather has brought more fisherman and a higher number of pleasure boaters. If you find yourself struggling to produce action or find yourself out while many others are enjoying the waterway recreationally, don’t be afraid to slow things down, pick spots apart, and grab for those stop and start style lures. The weeds have grown in beautifully within the last two weeks and remembering to not only fish the outside weed edge but also pick apart the pockets within and any available inside weed edge, can be a necessity during high pressure(boat & fishing) situations. 

Lastly, the Shad are now spawning throughout the chain. Low light times will have Shad up shallow in spawning locations while mid day, I suggest using your electronics to locate these same Shad that have moved deeper and schooled up, as the muskies will be right behind them throughout their daily movements.