Near normal temperatures dominated the weather for most of the week, providing Lake Winnebago fishermen with nearly ideal conditions. Water conditions were less than ideal with a heavy stain to the water column, along with heavy algae at the surface. Water temps have declined to about 70 degrees on Saturday.
The algae are a major concern on the lake. I observed two types while out on the lake this week. The standard green algae, and another batch which appeared brown at the surface (with a putrid stench). The expectation is that the algae will exploded this week, with the above normal weather predicted for the coming weeks. Avoid the brown algae, as I tested those areas, and absolutely no fish activity was observed in these areas.
I have to admit, this year Lake Winnebago is starting to baffle me. Perch fishing should be in full swing, and walleyes should be absent. This week the walleyes re-emerged in larger numbers, and perch fishermen found inconsistent conditions system wide.
Perch Fishing: The southern third of the lake continues to hold the majority of the perch population, and the majority of fishermen. A typically bag of perch was about 10 perch per angler this week, but in the right location at the right time, limits are being produced. Getting away from other boats will increase your odds of producing a larger bag of fish. The perch are under constant fishing pressure right now.
Third Reef: The Third Reef continues to produce averaged sized perch, especially in the transition zones just off of the reef. Sheephead continue to be on the end of every fishermen’s pole at some point of the trip here. I also picked up some bullheads and catfish on the reef.
Highway 45 Wayside Area (North Fond du Lac): There were two areas of activity in this general area. The first area (to south of the wayside) featured small to medium sized perch in solid numbers. The second area near the wayside was holding larger perch/bluegill, which were attracted to slip bobber presentations.
Fraction Island area: The usually cast of boats were observed near the fraction island area with some perch success. Look to the manmade reefs or transition zones in the area as target zones.
Clarence’s (Fond du Lac)/Southwest Corner: A strong area for larger perch this week in the 8-9 foot depths, but the area shut down with the heavy traffic on Saturday. It appeared the perch moved north and a little deeper by Sunday. Helgramittes did fairly well here.
Gladstone Beach area: I found some dandy perch on this structure using dead stick and crawlers. However, there is no solid concentration of active perch here. If you want a few larger fish, this might be a stopping point in the 9-12 foot depths.
Fisherman’s Road and North: This area has really slowed down.
Long Point, Genes, Kalibus, Abrahams: Decent perch catches are reported with average perch size in the 7-9 inch ranges. The usual smorgasbords of other species are present including gills, crappie, bass and sheephead.
Oshkosh reefs to Neenah: The perch are present, and generally have better size then the key area listed above, however the number of the fish is nowhere near the southern end.
Walleyes: Say what? They’re back to feeding! I found this out by accident while trolling for a sheephead. Say what? (I needed a large sheephead for the perch tournament I fished on Saturday). While trolling Salmos in 10 feet of water I picked up two 20” walleyes in under 20 minutes, and no sheephead.
The reefs were especially active for some of our weekly report contributors. This is a pitched jig from the deep water to the reefs, or a horizontal dragging of the jig across the reef with crawlers.
In addition, I also received a report of the mud walleyes gearing back up in the 15-18 foot ranges while trolling. Trolling is a lot of work right now due to weeds, algae, and poor water visibility. Try running your cranks at about 1.6-1.8 mphs to allow the walleyes to track down the bait. Using baits with rattles and bright colors is also critical.
Weed walleyes continue to feed, but the weed bite is a pretty tough gig right now due to the density of the weeds.
White Bass on the northern end of the lake continue to entertain. Fast moving crank baits in the top or middle third of the water column is the best approach.
I would expect a substantial water temperature spike this week, with the forecasted warmth. We could see a spike of 10 degrees by next weekend, returning the system to summerlike patterns from the current autumn patterns being observed.
Need your Hellgrammites? Check out River Haus in Fond du Lac. Fishing has no Boundaries has their annual Fond du Lac event this coming weekend, and are in need of boats/captains. If you can help please contact Jeff Hefter at [email protected], or (920) 904-1500.
Sorry for the long report! See ya next week….and shoot me an email with your fishing reports. [email protected]
