The Lake Winnebago region has a Fall nip in the air, as our extended summer has started to fade away.  Generally, fall colors (leafs) are about two weeks behind normal years, and fishing trends mimic those timelines.  Water temperatures have declined significantly, and now are running about 55 degrees on the main lake.  The water column continues to have limited visibility at about 2 feet of clarity.  Weed presence is declining, but some limited pockets of green weeds still exists.

Lake Winnebago does not experience turnover due to the shallow nature of the lake.  (Turnover occurs when the top water and bottom water swap position, due to the cooling of the surface water).  In many of the deeper area lakes, turnover has occurred or is occurring currently.

Quality fishing opportunities are plentiful on the Lake Winnebago system currently.  Active walleyes, schooling white bass and feeding smallmouths are providing many excellent prospects.  Best yet, you’ll have very little company from fellow anglers.

White bass continue to provide the headline for the system.  The annual schooling and migration of the white bass has spilled into the river systems, especially the Fox River is Oshkosh.  The bridges are especially productive along with some of the traditional spring walleye stretches in the river, including the mouth of the river and Rainbow Park area.

In the rivers, pumping flies had been an excellent choice of baits when using a controlled drift.  When casting, minnow shaped baits (blue), little Cleo’s and Mepp’s spinners have been very productive.  Bonus walleyes are common in the river right now.

I focused on the southern region of the lake for white bass, via trolling.  In general, the white bass population has moved north and the fish are in smaller schools.  However, the area in front of Lakeside Park continues to hold several nice schools of fish.  These fish were attracted to smaller baits like Salmo hornets, Rattlin Wasps (Coot’s Lures) and small shad raps.  Color was key…Orange.  Slower trolling speeds of 1.8 mph behind the Off Shore boards was ideal.

The system has plenty of 13-15 inch walleyes currently.  The southern region is holding a lot of these walleyes between Lakeside Park and the Third Reef in Fond du Lac.

Additionally, the reef sides/edges are also holding plenty of walleyes system wide.  Target these fish with a jig and quarter crawler.  Minnows should become viable options fairly quickly, as water temperatures continue to decline.

Perch fishing continues to be just O.K.  This week, there was a lot more activity in the shallower areas for perch as opposed to the traditional 10-14 foot ranges.  Transitional and rocky areas continue to be the critical component to finding feeding perch.  Crawler chunks and small worms are really the only live bait choices currently available for perch jerking.

The system has seen a huge decline in the trout perch (bait fish).  However, there seems to have been an explosion of shad this year.  This could hold many of the game fish in Lake Winnebago this winter, as opposed to pushing them up to the upper lakes like the last several years to find food.

The Wolf River, famous for fall crappies, has been very quiet.

Just a quick update on the Milwaukee Harbor and the Harbor at Port Washington.  Some of the kings are in at Milwaukee.  Unfortunately, many of these fish are already in zombie stage.  At Port Washington, a fair amount of brown trout are being caught along the walls.  The water has cleared up over the weekend, and this may hinder fishing in the near term.  Kings have been rare at Port Washington harbor in 2015 to date.  Check local regulations in Port for start times and park openings.  This is highly policed, and ultimately results in daily tickets/fines.

Whether your passion is hunting or fishing this time of year, be safe.  The My Fishing Partner team will be on the water and in the woods, so look for our next adventure soon via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.  [email protected] is my email.