Weed-line walleyes and muskies turn on as summer settles in

What's biting

What's next

The Mississippi's elevated flow at St. Paul and Anoka should ease gradually over the next few days barring new rain, but expect current-seam and eddy fishing for catfish to stay productive through the weekend while water stays up — AnglingBuzz's Red River rig notes are worth leaning on if targeting channel cats in moving water right now.

On the lakes side, weed growth is still filling in as the North Woods open-water season hits its summer stride, which typically means the walleye and muskie bite around weed pockets and edges keeps improving rather than peaking yet. If the Leech Lake pattern AnglingBuzz described holds, look for muskie activity to stay concentrated tight to weed edges through midweek, with early morning and dusk windows producing the most consistent follows and strikes as boat traffic picks up on nicer days. Walleye anglers working weed pockets per Jason Mitchell Outdoors' approach should expect the pattern to hold or strengthen as weeds mature further into July.

Smallmouth should keep responding to slow, finesse presentations around summer cover per Tactical Bassin's recent underwater comparisons — worth planning weekend trips around calmer, clearer conditions when sight-fishing shallow cover is more productive.

On Lake Superior's North Shore, the DNR's most recent read (surface temps 44-60°F, fish holding 30-60 feet down near the thermocline) suggests trollers should plan to work slightly deeper as the week goes on if surface temps continue climbing in the warmer pockets near Duluth — the report already noted stronger action in those warmer inshore stretches versus the cooler water toward Two Harbors. Anglers heading out this weekend should scout both ends of that temperature gradient rather than committing to one depth range, since the DNR's last several weekly reports show the thermocline depth shifting week to week as wind and surface warming fluctuate. No new weather data is available for this report, so check the local forecast for wind direction before committing to a trolling pattern on open water.

Context

For Twin Cities & North Woods Minnesota, mid-July sits squarely in the heart of the open-water season, and the signals here track that timeline normally. The MN DNR's North Shore stream program (steelhead spawning, smelt run) wrapped its spring cycle back in May, and the DNR's shift to weekly Lake Superior summer trolling reports by June is the expected seasonal handoff — the July 9 report's 44-60°F surface temps and 30-60 foot lake trout/salmon depths are consistent with a normal summer thermocline setup for this time of year, not an early or late read.

Bob Jensen's note at Fishing the Midwest that the 2026 open-water season is 'in full swing' and his reminder to work weedlines is standard mid-July messaging for Minnesota's inland lakes, where weed growth typically matures through July and concentrates gamefish activity around structure. The muskie and walleye weed-pocket patterns described by AnglingBuzz and Jason Mitchell Outdoors likewise fit the expected mid-summer program for North Woods lakes.

The elevated Mississippi River flow at St. Paul and Anoka is a data point worth watching but there isn't a citable comparative baseline in this feed set to say whether 14,500 cfs is unusually high for mid-July versus a typical year — flag it as elevated rather than characterizing it as a record or anomaly. Overall, nothing in this week's intel suggests an early or delayed season; conditions read as on-schedule for mid-July in this region.