Lake Winnebago endured another week of fisherman unfriendly weather. Rain and wind blew through the area most of the week until Sunday which gave us almost ideal fishing conditions. The water clarity is moderately stained, and the first small algae bloom of the season can be witnessed during calm conditions. Water temps were in the lower sixty degree range for most of the week. Another fly hatch has also occurred.
One of the great things about Lake Winnebago is it unique composition making fishing completely different from one area of the lake to another portion of the lake. This is very true currently. The southern half of the lake has had one of the best runs on walleyes in recent years. The north shore has been spotty for walleye.
On the south shore, the western shore has had excellent trolling success, especially from the Hwy 45 wayside up to Fraction Island. We worked this area multiple times this week with great results. The key for us was finding small depth changes, and working those contours. Our experiences indicated the active fish have move into 9-12 foot depths, from the 5-9 foot depths from last week. This could partial due to the weed cover thickness, making trolling more difficult in those shallower areas.
Presentations varied by day; however, one thing was consistent— Shad style baits in black and gold dominated the fish taking. Flicker Shads, Walleye divers, Reef Runners, Hot n Tots and Shad raps all took excellent fish for us. Not just walleye – but small mouth bass, largemouth bass, white bass, pike, sheephead and crappie. Trolling depths varied but generally 50-60 feet behind the board was producing the best walleye. Other good colors included fire tiger, bubblegum and white.
The Third reef and Long Point was relatively slow. These areas seem to be overrun with sheephead currently. Occasional walleyes and a sporadic perch have been reported.
The area around the Jesuit is starting to produce some bass action. Both large and small mouths are present, and can be taken along the shore lines casting cranks, cleo’s or traditional plastics. Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac has also had excellent largemouth action on a bobber and meat or spinners.
On the North shore many of the reefs have been fairly quiet. A couple walleyes per trip have the norm. The 7 foot ranges off of Davies Point was giving up some nice sized walleyes on a slip bobber and leech. There is a mud bite occurring in the 13-16 foot ranges along the north and northeast corner of the lake. This has been a crawler harness bite. Overall it has been inconsistent, but the fish size has been good once you locate them. The Outer Bar has been very slow.
On the Wolf River Louis Woods reports:
The fishing condition are still good for the white bass. The water temp dropped to 58 degrees this past week. The fish dropped to the deep holes. We used Wolf River rigs and jigged off of the bottom to catch most of the fish. The trick to catching some nice fish and number was use a light weight in the deep holes so you could barely feel bottom. When you could not feel the sinker hit the bottom the fish had it and it was time to set the hook.
For the walleye,
The mouth of the river by Lake Poygan is producing some nice fish. Flies are working well down there. We are casting the shores and catching the fish. Pink flies worked well for us. The bluegill are in the bays spawning. This is a great time for the kids to use some bobbers and red worms.
