I bring you the spring Boot Lake fishing report, based on my personal outings and careful daily examination of the fish bucket in the cleaning house. Largemouth bass, sunfish, crappie and northern pike are the most frequently seen species in the fish bucket lately, with the walleye bite being even more finicky than usual.
This spring fishing season has been atypical, the weather being unseasonably warm early on and hitting a cold stretch later in May. Mid-depth weed lines are beginning to fill out and seem to be the best place to find northern pike. The crappie bite was good about a week ago, although I haven’t heard any recent reports.
Targeting structures like downed trees with minnows for crappie seemed to be the ticket. Working shallow reed lines and lily pads with a jig and plastics has brought in some good-sized largemouth bass so far this spring. A personal favorite of mine lately on a newly acquired fly rod, sunfish and bluegill have been aggressive in the shallow to mid-depth weed beds.