Winnebago Fishing Report 6-8-08

Weather!  This has been the only word which mattered this week.  Torrential rain (over 8 inches in some locations), hail, high winds and flooding affected the entire area all week long.  Fishing Lake Winnebago this weekend was somewhat like the TV show “Deadliest Catch” minus the snow.  Water clarity is very stained, except on the southeast shore which remained a little clearer.  There are countless tree limbs, sticks and other debris in the lake and rivers so be very careful.  Mother Nature owes us a couple of nice weekends!

The mud trolling bite on Lake Winnebago remains slow.  Fish can be found in almost all areas of the mud as one here and one there.  The area from Long Point to the Fox River in the mud had the best bite on crank baits.  Trolling between Fahrney’s Point and Oakland Beech was much more productive.  Fishing in 5-9 feet with crawler harness, or flicker shads produced fish.  Walleyes were on the small size (11-15”) in general.  Small mouths can also be found in this same area pitching to the rocky shore lines.  The Third Reef is currently over run with spawning sheephead.  The area south of Fisherman’s road is also full of sheephead, and can provide some good action for the kids. Slip bobbers with leeches were producing ‘eyes on Abrahams Reef and the Long Point complex.  There are also perch, catfish, sheephead and bass present.   Leeches for walleyes has out produced crawlers by a large margin this week.  The bigger the leech – the better.   Perch are showing up in larger numbers throughout Lake Winnebago.  The north shore reefs have been quiet, and the trolling bite is still spotty at best.  The Big Hole and Lakeside Park in FDL have a good largemouth bite working.  Some of the big females are on the prowl.  Pan fish fishing is still good.  The big fish at Walleye Weekend was a walleye weighing in at just less than nine pounds!

The Fox River and Lake Buttes des Morts are producing larger walleyes.  Sunset Point and Shangri La Point had a solid bite on slip bobbers and leeches.  The Hwy 41 Bridge was also a solid choice for location.  Vertical jigging was working well in deep holes or along the bridges.  Catfish are very active here also.  Lake Poygan and Lake Winneconne still has a very good trolling bite going.  Bright colored lures like Hollywood or fire tiger were best.

The Wolf River is still pumping out the white bass in large numbers.

Overall, we need some warm stable weather to get the system going.  Most guys who are on fish are very tight lipped as to location.  This is partly due to the major tournaments happening in the next couple of weeks.  Talking with the DNR this week, they indicated the walleyes had traveled much farther up river than normal this year.  Many of these fish which would normally enter the marshes off of the Fox and Wolf Rivers continued upstream seeking other spawning locations (i.e…Shawano).  The initial census numbers were very strong.

We  want to welcome River Haus to our family.  This is a truly unique bait and gift shop located in FDL.  They treat you like a customer, and not a cog in the corporate profit wheel.  Make sure to check out Don’s homemade lure line, including crawler harness, jigs and ice lures.  Need them custom made? River Haus will take your order and make them to your specifications.  This is a perfect location to pick up your Father’s Day gift with wildlife prints and hand carved wood sculptures.

Tournament this week