You can make an argument that June came early, came last weekend when the weather turned and it felt like summer for those glorious days. Temperatures bumped 80; sun burned hot; blue sky and blue lakes and if that was not a taste of summer one has to wonder what else it would be.

Now, Sunday, June comes for real, the month when springtime is in the rear view mirror and summer stretches ahead like a smooth highway. In less than a month, we’ll be under the longest days of the entire year and after a brutal winter it will seem, once more, like we live in Paradise.

Or so we hope. Weather is always unpredictable and this year has been all over the board.

As it stands now, the warm weather of the past week has brought us up to near where we should be for early June. The world is a mix of rich green leaf and grass and fern, lakes are alive with sun and warmth, everything is looking pretty good.

The one cloud in it all is the bumper crop of mosquitoes and if there is one thing to take away from the past week it is that a good mosquito repellent is now a critical, “must have” part of any gear for outdoor use. The bugs are thick and they’re hungry and if you don’t use repellent your time outdoors will be miserable. Period.

We’ve seen a significant increase in people spending time on the water in the past week. Lake temperatures are rising which makes fishing better and swimming possible. Boaters, power and self-propelled, are having a great time and that will continue.

Fishing remains a mixed bag. We had reports last weekend of anglers skunked on one day who returned to the same lake the next and caught walleyes, one after another, with ease. Location is the key to it all and each lake may be different. The anglers above did nothing when they fished in 10 to 12 feet of water the one day. Next day they moved to 15 feet, found fish and filled up.

Which is nothing new. Walleyes have generally moved out into those mid-depths but it’s important to do some searching for them. A few feet of depth can make all the difference. Crappies also have been mixed but overall are near the shallows and active.

Last weekend brought the musky season opener but reports have been sketchy and we’ve not found enough of a pattern. As a rule shallower water is a good bet, medium size lures retrieved at a moderate pace usually work in early June and we’d go that route.

Bass, both largemouth and smallies, have been good and should get better this week as the warmer water will spur activity, especially with largemouth.

The Outdoor Report is provided by the staff of Mel’s Trading Post in downtown Rhinelander.