Jenks Bait & Tackle
Jenk’s Bait & Tackle has been serving the Hayward Area for over 75 years! We are your One Stop Shop in the Chippewa Flowage Area! Located conveniently between the Chippewa Flowage, Round Lake, Callahan Lake, Moose Lake, and the Quiet Lakes, our knowledge of the surrounding waters and woods has been invaluable to our guests and community for many years.
We are a full service One Stop Shop as we offer a variety of products and services from Live Bait, a full line of name brand fishing tackle, ice, cold beer & soda, propane cylinders, firewood, rod & reel repair, line winding services, special order firearms, and firearm transfers!
Jenk’s Bait and Tackle is more than a local tackle shop. It is an experience, and more importantly–a tradition. We are very passionate about the Hayward Lakes Area, and we love bringing you the best quality and up-to-date products while still maintaining that nostalgic and rustic mom & pop bait shop feel like back in the old days. We thank you for choosing Jenk’s Bait and Tackle as your One Stop Shop for all your fishing needs in the Chippewa Flowage Area!
Complete Line of Fishing Tackle and Live Bait
13 Miles East of Hayward on County Hwy “B”
Our rod and reel prices are competitive with, and often priced lower than the discounters and catalogues. Give us a call at 715-462-3055 for more information, or stop by and see for yourself.
Located conveniently between the Chippewa Flowage, Round Lake and Callahan Lake, our knowledge of the surrounding waters have been a help to visitors for many years.
Whether you seek hunting and fishing information, want to hire a guide to fish the Chippewa Flowage or surrounding Hayward Lakes, or if you simply want to chat about the Hayward area, we’re here 7 days a week to help make your stay a pleasant one.
Open Water, and Ice Fishing Guide Services through Hayward Guide Service which is headquartered at Jenk’s
Fishing Report / News
2026-07-17
Walleye
Overall the Walleye bite has been difficult the last week or so with the increased heat. With the increase in water temperature, your best bet is to target that deeper brush in 18 to 25 feet for the Walleyes. Trolling deeper running cranks can prove to be very effective in catching some Walleyes down deep. For live bait, leeches are still the bait of choice.
Musky
I am sure everyone who follows Musky pages on Social Media has been thoroughly informed that the water temperatures are super high. It is understandable that your fishing time is limited every year and you only get a handful of times to go out and go for that big one, however, with this very hot water hooking a Musky right now is very dangerous and catching a Musky will almost surely be fatal for the fish. We ask that you use your judgment in favor of the resource. If you see water temps above 80 degrees, you may want to consider giving Musky fishing a break until things cool off slightly back into the 70s so the fish can be properly, and most importantly, safely released.
Crappie
The Crappie bite, despite the heat, has still been decent on the bogs at night, and pretty decent in the weeds in about 7 to 10 feet of water during the day. Crappie Minnows are still the prime bait, but Gulp! 1-inch Minnows have been producing a lot of Crappies the last few days.
Panfish
The Bluegill bite has probably been the best out of all the species this week during this heat. Redworms and Waxworms seem to be the ticket. They are currently mixed up with the Crappies and other panfish in the weeds in about 7 to 10 feet of water. Perch are also mixed in with them as well in the same spots. Several guides have come in this past week stressing the importance of targeting the weeds in 7 to 10 feet currently if you are going for panfish.
Bass
The smallmouth bass have been quiet this week but the smaller Largemouth Bass have been particularly aggressive. We have not heard of too many bigger largemouths caught, however, almost everyone who came into the shop this week has been saying how the smaller largemouth have been on fire in the weeds and lily pads hitting on everything from Spinners to Frogs.
Weather
This weekend and the beginning part of next week is going to be hot with highs ranging from the mid 80s to low 90s, but the lows start to drop ranging from the high 50s to mid 60s. As we get to mid week next week, it looks like a mild cooldown with highs ranging from the mid 60s to mid 70s on Tuesday and Wednesday with lows in the high 40s to low 50s before spiking back up at the end of the week back into the 80s on Thursday and Friday.
Water Temp at time of this report
84 Degrees
General
AIR QUALITY ALERT: As I am sure most of you have heard, the Midwest and other regions are experiencing an air quality problem due to the fires in Canada and Minnesota. Looking ahead, the air quality is forecasted to improve. Today (7/17) the air quality is rated as very unhealthy. Tomorrow, the rating is forecasted to be Unhealthy, and by Monday and Tuesday the rating is forecasted to be poor. While those are not good sounding adjectives, it is looking like the air pollution from the fire and smoke is starting to decrease which is forecasted to be half of what it is now by Monday or Tuesday. Stay tuned to the report and to the Jenk's Bait and Tackle Facebook page for further updates on the situation.