For those who love summer above all other seasons this is a tough time.  Summer is fading fast, the last week of August looms and September nears.  Say what you will, with the passing of August comes the passing of summer for no matter how many warm days we’ll have in September, once that month is here the page has turned.  A look at the calendar tells all; September is but a week away.
With September comes autumn and with the opening days of September comes hunting season.  The pace only quickens in that month; hunting seasons arrive, days shorten, first frost nears. 
It has been a cooler than average summer and that has discouraged those who love the long heat of a normal August.  This summer the heat, the real heat, did not come.  Days were pleasant but they were not hot and now it is unlikely that we’ll have anything that resembles summer heat.
That swing to more moderate temperatures was not all bad; fishing through the summer never dropped off into the abyss of the Dog Days of August.  Walleye fishing has remained very steady; we continue to hear of good fishing for walleyes and that, in a typical summer, would not happen.  The pattern seems consistent; early morning or later evening; jigs with artificials or naturals (leeches or crawlers); deeper weed areas.  And the fishing has been good. 
Also consistent has been musky action.  It’s not been the red-hot fishing of late fall when the real big fish come on but it has been a steady pace on many area lakes.  That is somewhat of a surprise as August usually is the worst month for musky fishing.  This August though we’ve heard of good action on bucktails (black or chartreuse seem favored colors) as well as some top-water lures.
Bass and panfish seem mixed but some of that is due to anglers keeping on walleyes rather than going after the hard fighting but less-preferred-for-the-table bass.
All that changes in the next few weeks as we see a significant shift from fishing to hunting.  We have one more week that holds promise of summer; after than we move headlong into autumn.
The Outdoor Report is provided by the staff of Mel’s Trading Post in downtown Rhinelander.