The past week featured a lot of transitions for the Fox River, Wolf River and Lake Winnebago. Unseasonably cool temperatures dominated the landscape, but water temperatures continue to creep forward. As a result, walleyes were migrating through the system in bigger numbers.
In the beginning of the week, the remaining walleyes started pouring out of the marshes and sloughs on the northern ends of the rivers. These fish moved quickly through the system, arriving in Winneconne and Oshkosh by the weekend.
Early in the week, the perch had started stacking up in the Fox River in Oshkosh. The water got dirty from the rain, and those fish appeared to move into Lake Buttes des Mortes. The vast majority of perch being caught were either spawning or post spawn. There have been a few white bass in this general area.
Over the weekend, the walleyes arrived in Oshkosh. These fish were best targeted with flies on a Wolf River rig. Jigs and minnows have been ignored for the most part. In some cases limits were caught very quickly, while others struggled to produce any fish. One major variable was sunlight. The more sunlight penetration, the better the fishing this week on all area waters.
The feeder creeks and channels along Lake Winnebago have started heating up for pan fish. The channels in Oshkosh are giving up crappies, along with the Chaparral in North Fond du Lac. Bluegills are also common in the creeks between Fond du Lac and Oshkosh. Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac has been solid for perch and an occasional crappie.
The Winneconne Bridge on the Wolf River is jammed packed with anglers. There are a few walleyes and white bass being caught from the bridge, but nothing I would consider inspiring. Lake Poygan’s walleye trolling bite has picked up, but could get really hot in the near future. Crankbaits such as Flicker shads and Salmo Hornets #4 have been excellent choices. Purple is the best color.
The AIM walleye tournament was held in Winneconne on Sunday. Tough conditions (cold temps and high winds) made for a tough bite, but solid numbers of walleyes were produced. 23.62 pounds won, with one other team topping 20 pounds. Nearly all of the top 10 teams were trolling cranks and crawler harnesses in the upper lakes, with the winner pulling flicker shads in Lake Butte Des Mortes. Most teams registered between 3 and 8 pounds. This tournament was Catch, Record and Release.
We worked the Fox River in De Pere, Peshtigo River, and Menomonie River this week. In De Pere, muskies have moved in along with some white bass. Some decent sized walleyes remain. At Peshtigo, the height of the walleye run concluded this weekend. The suckers have pushed many of the walleyes out of the main river, but walleye concentrations remain toward the mouth and at the dam. Menomonie River (Marinette, WI) is ready to fire for the spawn. Many of the pre spawn fish are staged at the mouth of the river, and then moving up to the spawn grounds especially in the evenings.
With the fishing opener this coming weekend, a lot of the River pressure will subside. Simply put, more options exist for anglers as of Saturday. Double check your fishing regulations on your favorite body of water to ensure their weren’t any rule changes. This weekend, out of Menomonie Park in Oshkosh, the Bago Walleye Club holds their first event for 2014 (Sunday). Team Myfishingpartner will be on the Bay of Green Bay this Sunday with the SWC tournament out of Green Bay Metro.
Local bait shops have leeches coming in which are running on the small size. Minnesota lakes which produce many of the leeches are still frozen, so leeches will be hard to come by. River Haus (Fond du Lac) and Fox River Bait in Oshkosh had leeches this weekend. River Haus has a ton of hand tied flies for your walleye and white bass runs.
If you have reports (good or bad), we certainly can use your input! [email protected] is my email if you wish to contribute. I will be focused on the Bay of Green Bay this week, along with the majority of my network. We should have some detailed reports next week on this body of water. Our full attention returns to Lake Winnebago next Monday for the next several months. It will be good to be home!
