Lake Winnebago was not a stable place this week when it came to fishing. The past week featured temperatures ranging from 77 degrees down to 37 degrees, along with four days of rain. As a result of the rain, the water visibility quality was reduced to about 6 inches. Water temps were fairly steady around the 55 degree mark. A major lake fly hatch has occurred, especially along the west shore between Fond du Lac and Van Dyne.
The incredible walleye bite which occurred last week dried up, and anglers were left scrambling to find the reluctant walleyes this week. As the weekend progressed the walleye bite improved.
Monster sheephead have moved into many of the shallow water areas, which held the walleyes the week before. We had 5 sheephead over 25 inches this week, with the largest going a massive 27.5 inches.
Average sized walleyes could be found along the western reefs, and the larger eyes appear to have moved into deeper water (10-15 feet). We marked huge schools in the 10-15 foot ranges, but could not get these fish to bite under any circumstance. The active walleyes were attracted to smaller sized baits such as a #4 or #5 Flicker Shad or a Salmo Hornet #4 or #4.5. Hot n Tots also were effective due to the heavy vibration.
Garlic Island area: This area was fairly vacant of boats on Saturday, and we found little activity here.
North Asylum: We did very well in this general region. The fish are all cookie cutter 14-17 inch walleyes, and could be taken using trolling methods. The key to catch these fish was to troll slowly, anywhere from 1.3 mph to 1.5 mph with small crank baits. When we ran speeds over 1.6 mph, the fish would not respond. There is also a jig or slip bobber bite occurring in this area. Largemouth and small mouth bass are along the shore lines. Crappies still available in South Asylum Bay.
Horseshoe Reef: Generally a great spot this time of year. We found this reef holding decent numbers of sheephead and an accidental walleye. The rock wall at Menomonie Park held some massive sheepheads.
Bray’s Point/Mouth of the Fox River: There are some walleyes along the shallows just north of the river. Targeting 4-7 feet was productive. It appears as if many of the fish have pushed out to deeper water here. The river mouth was slow for us, mainly due to the dirty water. There are white bass hanging in this area. Surprisingly, we ran some slow death and crawler harnesses through this area, without a knock.
Roe’s Point/ Stoney Beach area: Limited numbers of walleyes and a few small mouths have been reported here. Most effective method is slip bobbers with large leeches.
Paukotuk to Wendt’s: Fairly slow for us, but some other have reported doing O.K. in this region. This area is being impacted by a major lake fly hatch, and there is just too much food available.
East Shore: This area is starting to heat up, partially due to cleaner water in the region. Traditionally, there should be a night bite emerging here very soon along the shorelines.
Feeder Creeks south of Oshkosh: There still are plenty of fishermen along the shorelines, and bluegills have moved into these areas. Large crappies and perch can be caught also.
On Lake Butte des Mortes: Outside of Sunset Point producing some walleyes and perch, the lake was extremely slow over the weekend.
On Lake Poygan: Crawler harnesses are becoming the bait of choice for walleyes in this area. Running cranks will net white bass.
Wolf River: The white bass are full throttle in this area with a lot of boat traffic. We are at the height of the run. Pumping flies is working well. Casting cranks and spinners is productive also. This could be the last week of the white bass spawning run.
This past weekend we fished the Guidos and Koeckers tournament in Fond du Lac, and took 4th place. Winning weight was 18.9 pounds (10 fish). 25% of the field took home zeroes, with just under half of the field at three fish or less. Big fish went over 7 pounds. Terry’s Bar tournament in Oshkosh also took place, with a winning weight around 15 pounds (5 fish).
Next Weekend, Houge’s Bar in Oshkosh holds their event, along with Beer Run out of Pipe, WI for walleye tournaments. There is also a Bass Masters event out of Oshkosh on Saturday also.
Just a quick note…..If you launch at Menomoniee Park in Oshkosh, do not park in the two stalls slots. They will ticket you ($15). That leaves 25 stalls to park a trailer in. You will need to park on the city streets, to avoid the ticket or just launch at a different launch.
It looks like a warm week according to the forecast. This should get the fish kicking again by the end of the week. Keep the reports rolling! [email protected] is my email. Have a safe and long Memorial Day weekend.
