Various weather patterns have moved through the Lake Winnebago region over the past several weeks. Cooling temperatures have been seen since our previous reports, and water temperatures have also decreased into the low 70’s. Water clarity remains stained, with an algae bloom present.
Very few trends have changed since our last report, with a fairly consistent pattern on Lake Winnebago.
One variable has been an uptick in the walleye deep water bite, especially near the mouth of the Fox River in Oshkosh. Crawler harnesses and crank baits have both been producing fish, especially in the fire tiger pattern. The best crank bait size has been in the middle of the size spectrum, with large and small baits being ignored.
Walleyes continue to be found in the shallow weed beds and on some of the western rock reefs. Dragging jigs or rip jigging is the best way to get these walleyes to bite.
Perch fishing continues to be above average with some bigger baskets being reported this past week. Often, perch fishing this season has been a “sit and wait” process. If you are willing to put your time in, eventually those fish will find your bait.
Some of the best perch guys I know believe the perch schools never developed in 2014, due to lack of water over 80 degrees. The perch have been grouped loosely, resulting in inconsistent and more time consuming bites for anglers.
The south end of the lake has been steady. Many fishermen have been focusing on the sail boat buoys in Fond du Lac and tend to group up in these areas. The area two miles north of Luco Road continues to hold nice perch. The gravel areas near Clearances Harbor has been holding some jumbo perch, but many of these gravel bars are very small, and may only hold one boat.
The Black Wolf area has solid action for perch, bluegills and crappies. Long Point Reef continues to be a good location for multi-species action. Slip bobbers and dead sticks are doing equally well. Hellgrammites, red worms, crawler chunks are all working. As the water cools, look for small minnows to get some action.
The Fox River is hosting large numbers of white bass, along with the north shore of Lake Winnebago.
At the end of September the National Walleye Tour (NWT) will hold their championship out of Menomonie Park in Oshkosh (Lake Winnebago). In the next week many of the top walleye pros will be checking out the region in search of a $65,000+ pay day for the winner. It will be interesting to see how these guys fish this system in the fall.
Moving away from the Winnebago system…The harbors along Lake Michigan have king salmon and other trout species moving in. Many of these harbors (like Kewaunee, Sheboygan or Port Washington) offer plenty of opportunity for shore anglers. This is a great opportunity to listen to your drag systems scream on these fantastic fighting fish. Be ready to run up and down the piers attempting to catch these fish. For some area shoreline salmon tactics, check out shanefishes on Facebook.
That’s all this week. Enjoy the weather, as it won’t be too long and we will be talking about turnover on deeper lakes, and later the end of the open water season after Halloween.
