Labor Day Weekend Fishing Preview

Well gang, it looks to be a nice, if a bit cooler, weekend to wrap up summer.

The cooler weather means its time to break out the live bait. Lindy, split shot and slip sinker rigs really shine under this type of conditions. Larger sized shiners, nightcrawlers and small suckers are your best options for gamefish.  Unless you're going for panfish, leave the fatheads at home this weekend.

On area lakes, bass fishing has been hot and cold depending on the conditions. Windy days are dramatically better than still days. Fish are using the weedlines in 10-15 feet of water, points and off shore structure in 6-10 feet of water, as well as the piers and the slop. Shallow fish can be taken on jigworms, skirted grubs, tubes or jig/chunk combos. Deeper fish are being taken on crankbaits, live bait rigs and by flipping the weededges with a heavy jig. The morning and evening is producing a topwater bite, especially over shallow flats with scattered weeds. Okauchee, School Section, Ashippun, Golden, Nagawicka, Pine, Silver, Moose and Kessus have been the most consistent, but the bite has been pretty much the same from all of the area lakes.

Walleye fishing has been fair overall, but much better in the low light hours. Small jigs with live bait, or lindy rigs have been the best producers. A few fish are still being caught on spinner harness/bottom bouncer combos while trolling. Evening hours is the time to be fishing minnow baits around weeds. Pine, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Lac Labelle and Lake Koshkonong have all been giving up walleyes.

Northern Pike continue to bite in the shallows. Buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, shallow diving square billed or lipless crankbaits are the best ways of catching these fish. Larger fish are still using the weedlines and are moving onto some deeper rocks and can be targeted with inline spinners, or using live bait like larger chubs, shiners or small suckers on a slip sinker rig. Vertically jigging structure in 22-28 feet with a jig/repear tail combo has caught a handful of nice fish, but the pattern has been inconsistent overall. Try Okauchee, Golden, Nagawicka Pine, Fowler,, Kessus, Pretty and Moose Lake for pike.

Musky fishing has been slow, but is sure to pick up with the cooler weather this weekend. Look for fish on or adjacent to mainlake structure that has easy access to deep water. Topwaters have still been catching a few fish, especiallyin the morning. Okauchee, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Lac Labelle, and Fowler are all producing to one degree or another right now.

Panfish are still using deeper water, suspending 12-16 feet down over deeper water, and drfiters have been picking up some nice keepers. Some anglers are reporting some decent gills in weedy areas as shallow as eight feet, but most people out have reported the most consistent action along the weedlines in 12-18 feet of water. Tightlining with panfish leeches, leaf worms, or plastic/wax worm combos all have been productive.

Good Luck and Cheers,
CT

Ryan's 8th Birthday

Here's a few pictures from Ryan's birthday trip with his Dad, Doug, to Silver Lake. In 6 hours we landed 50 largemouths, about 30-35 panfish and a couple rockbass.

That's my hand behind that bluegill, just for size comparisons.

Happy Birthday Ryan.