My favorite time of year to fish has arrived, extending from May Fishing Openers through early July in the North Country. Warm, sunny days and increasing water temps stimulate feeding behavior in our favorite gamefish species, from walleyes and smallmouth bass, to pike and muskies, and largemouth bass. This is not a “finesse bite” time of year. It’s the season for casting a wide variety of presentations, lure styles and colors, and profiles that catch everything that swims. When the bite is hot, it often doesn’t matter what you choose to throw; there’s no wrong way to fish to enjoy a successful day on the water.

Many of us are blessed with a wide choice of smaller bodies of water near home that we know well, filled with nice panfish, bass, and some pike and walleyes. Within an hour’s drive of my Wisconsin home, there are dozens of good fishing lakes to choose from; as well as a couple of small, quiet rivers where I can kayak and catch some dandy smallmouths and even the occasional muskies—and see nobody except for a few pleasure canoers. If I expand the driving radius another hour, there aren’t nearly enough days in a year to effectively enjoy fishing the lineup of great small lakes and rivers that are easy to access from home.

For me, a big part of fishing is the peace and quiet on the water, communing with the fish and nature overall—and figuring out the day’s most productive patterns and techniques to catch the most fish. Besides the small lakes close to home, I’ll always head to my favorite big bodies of water regionwide, which include Rainy Lake, Lake of the Woods, Leech Lake, and Lake Mille Lacs. These are popular fisheries that host anglers from all over the United States. Mille Lacs and Leech even more so, since national bass tournaments held major events in recent years, showcasing the great smallmouth fishing on these lakes.  Even so, they are expansive enough in size to still provide elbow room that allows you to fish off by yourself, for the most part.

Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake, being large border waters, encompass a vast amount of acreage for anglers to spread out on, especially when you include the Ontario sides of both lakes. There’s additional allure: With thousands of islands, you always can enjoy the feeling of having some water to yourself, in addition to a stellar, picturesque background filled with Canadian Shield beauty. But the biggest attraction? Of course, it’s the fantastic, multi-species fishing! It’s hard to beat working your way down a boulder- and gravel-strewn shoreline with the Minn Kota, casting a swimbait, jerkbait, or crankbait, knowing that the next bite can be a walleye, a smallmouth, or a big, toothy critter. And these fisheries are dynamic—full of forage that grows big fish, and provides anglers with average sizes that are well above what can be caught back home on local waters.

In May and June on these North Country lakes, I have several key presentations on the boat deck, at the ready. If I had to choose only one lure, it would be a toss-up between a small swimbait (3.5- to 4.5-inch) rigged on a stout jighead, or a jerkbait like the PXR Deep Mavrik. In reality, these two options are both on hand to make a cast—whether fishing those big border waters or lakes close to home, throughout the open-water season. 

For casting and covering water, swimbaits and jerkbaits are hard to beat, and you can easily match lures to conditions (changing colors to mimic forage, for clear or stained water conditions, wind, etc.) and depths (fishing a swimbait slower or faster, changing jig weight, choosing a shallow-running or deep-diving jerkbait). Versatility is key, and most importantly, these lures catch fish in bunches.

It’s a toss-up whether walleyes or smallies are my favorite freshwater species to catch. North Country lakes deliver great fishing for both, and impressive average sizes to boot. Smallmouths in North Country lakes are a numbers game as well; on sunny, early-summer days, the topwater bite can be tremendous; a popping bait is another tool in the arsenal that’s always handy. 

Rounding out the key options for hardbaits are a good, shallow-running crankbait like a Rapala DT-6 or DT-8, and a lipless, rattling lure like a Rattlin’ Rap or the new Snare 50. The hardbait lures lineup triggers reaction strikes from smallmouths and walleyes cruising the shallows, feeding on crayfish. 

Lastly, it’s key to have some soft plastic presentations handy, for days when the fish trend negative, or to pitch back to spots where you’ve moved fish but failed to trigger bites with your other lures. Number one for me is a Ned Rig for North Country bass and walleyes. I’m sure you have your favorites!

The best fishing of the year is right around the corner. Hopefully, your gear is rigged and ready for the hot May and June bite that’s coming.