Near normal temperatures and minimal rain was the norm this week around the Lake Winnebago region. A few windy days discouraged fishermen, but overall access to the lake was never limited. Water clarity continues to improve and water temperatures continue to range in the upper 70’s.
This week’s report will be abbreviated, as my weekend was spent in the Northwoods hunting bluegills and bass. I appreciate the reports received this week from our patrons, and will hope for the same next week as I partake in the Cabalas National Walleye Tour event in Sturgeon Bay.
Walleyes: The eyes continue to have solid appetites system wide. I have yet to see big schools of baitfish this year, and this may be the reason these fish continue to consume baits. In years past (2 years ago for example) huge schools of bait fish were present, offering feed to the walleyes 24 hours a day. During these time frames, walleyes were rarely caught. With the smaller schools of bait fish present, this makes the walleye hunt for alternative food sources, and hence are easier to catch.
Many of the walleyes are staging either in the shallow waters which offer weed cover, or on or near the reef systems especially along the western shore.
The weeds lines are best addressed with jigs and crawlers pitched to the open pockets. The Wendt’s Bay or Asylum bay is ideal for these methods. Slip bobbers remain a viable option along the weed edges. This technique continues to produce average sized walleyes just to the east of the Fond du Lac Lighthouse.
Last week’s report, I mentioned the success we had on Horseshoe Reef during the BWC event. Multiple reports came back to me that the larger walleyes continue to reside in this area, with a few toping 25 inches. The method we used to target this area was dragging jigs over the reef, with a quarter crawler. You will need to sort through the sheepheads. This technique can be duplicated on most reefs such as Haystack, Long Point, or the Third Reef. The main photo is courtesy of Tony Stewart, who pick a few of these fish off the western reefs.
Trolling continues to produce fish in the depths fewer than 12 feet.
Perch fishing has been hit n miss. The bite continues to be a morning bite, with dead sticks out performing slip bobbers this week. The advantage of using the slip bobber was that a bonus walleye might be found. Fisherman’s road, Black Wolf/Kalibus area and the Southeast corner near Fond du Lac have been the hot beds of perch action. With that said, most areas of the lake will produce a few perch on an average trip. Huge groups of boats can be found daily on the eastern shore south of Pipe, WI.
That’s the report this week. [email protected] is my email for reports or comments.
