A nasty cold front moved through the Lake Winnebago, Lake Poygan, and Wolf River region. Heavy winds battered the area, causing large swells on most open water areas of the system over the weekend. Heavy mud lines have been stirred up, and water clarity in nearly zero. Water temps have dropped about 10 degrees and are holding steady in the mid 50’s as of Sunday.
The heavy winds and cold temperatures have really deterred area fisherman from hitting the water. Friday, Saturday and Sunday boat launches remained largely vacant, other than tournament areas. Earlier in the week, boaters were out in droves with the warmer weather. Because of the drastic change in the weather, the report will focus on the end of the week, rather than the early week when conditions were ideal, and many fish were caught.
On Lake Winnebago, The western shore continues to be the best area of the lake. Male and female walleyes continue to come out of the Fox River in Oshkosh, and there are concentrations of walleyes in the mouth of the River. Crawler Harnesses, slow death rigs, crankbaits and live bait rigs have all been working.
Moving both north and south of the mouth will also produce walleyes, with less boat traffic. Rocky points continue to hold fish, in the 3-10 foot ranges. Finding windblown points or reefs will increase your success rates.
The east shore has not seen the annual migration of walleyes into the shallow as of yet. This should start occurring in the next two weeks, with an incredible evening bite.
Crappies have become much more active prior to the cold front. Large numbers and larger sized fish have been common in warm water areas (feeder creeks etc.). Perch should be very close to their spawn, and could be found in larger numbers soon, along the bays and into the Fox River.
White bass continue their extended spawn, and can be taken fairly easily. Many have migrated into the rivers including the Fond du Lac River, Fox River and Wolf River.
Lake Poygan has some aggressive Pike on the lake currently. Walleyes have been staged in Lake Winneconne on the north end of the lake. Many of these fish are in the 11-20 inch range. 20-35 feet behind the Off Shore Planner Boards was working well, with florescent colored crank baits. Clark’s Point was holding walleyes when the wind was minimal. Sheephead are moving into this lake, and have become a nuisance. White bass are less common than the previous week, but are easily found, especially in Horseshoe Hole (Lake Poygan). There were also some nice Black Bass registered at Winneconne Park during a club tournament. Everyone was tight lipped on the method and locations of the catch.
The River in Winneconne continues to pump out decent sized walleyes and white bass from the Winneconne Bridge. The river itself has slowed down, and fish were noticeable absent over the weekend.
The Wolf River continues to hold post spawn walleyes, and resident fish. White bass continue to spawn in the river, along with some large size pike. The white bass bite really shut down with the cold front, but the fish appeared to be present from the electronics. Crappies can be found hanging in the overhanging brush along the shore lines.
The upcoming week has some nice weather in the forecast. It will take a couple of days to let the water clear up, so catch rates could be compromised. The amount of rainfall could also lengthen the dirty water conditions. However, with temps in the 70’s, the fish could really turn on.
Tournaments: This Weekend has the Terry’s Bar Tournament out of Menominee Park in Oshkosh on Saturday, along with Guido’s and Koeckers walleye tournament out of Fond du Lac. A full recap of the Woodeye’s tournament from last weekend can be found on our main page.
Just FYI, most area bait shops have been depleted of all inventories of leeches. Some shops are “hoping” for leeches by midweek. Grab them if you can find them!
Have a great week. Thanks for the awesome reports this week. [email protected] is the email for reports, or just drop us a line on our Facebook page.
