Fishing Report 6-8-12

Early June fishing is in full effect.

Right now most lakes are in the low to mid 70s. Weed growth varies from lake to lake, but is advanced for this point in the year.

Bass Fishing has been steady, producing some quality bags of fish. Fish are starting to move into an early summer pattern, with lots of areas and techniques producing. On cloudy days, topwater and crankbaits are catching lots of fish over open water areas, especially weed patches on the mid-depth flats in 6-12 feet of water. On sunny days, especially those with lots of wind, fish are tighter to cover or using shallow rock bars in 3-8 feet of water. Plastics, flipped, skipped, pitched, wacky or texas rigged are great ways to target these fish. Live bait on slip sinker rigs are catching some nice fish for anglers making solid drifts over productive areas.

Pike fishing has been solid and steady, with lots of quality fish coming in. The number one way to catch pike right now is a small sucker or medium to large shiner on a slip sinker rig with a flourocarbon leader. Drift along the deeper edges of weeds and you'll find some fish. Lipless crankbaits, buzzbaits and spinner baits are also producing, especially in the shallow water.

Musky fishing continued to be steady last week. The larger fish have started to move out to the breaks, but there's still a solid number of fish patrolling the shallow water, feeding on schooled up panfish.

Walleye fishing has been pretty good, but much better on cloudy or windy days. Fish on Lac Labelle, Oconomowoc, Pine and Fox Lake are still using shallow weeds and weed edges. Jigging with live bait or drifting with lindy rigs/ spinner harnesses has been productive Trolling with Shad Raps is picking up on both Winnebago and on Koshkonong. Slower speeds over the deeper part of the basins appears to be the trick. Pulling boards is working, but more than one angler has reported doing much better with hand held rods.

Bluegills are spawning on most area lakes. If you're looking for action, areas of beds can be found in the shallows, but if you want some bigger fish, move out to 9-15 feet of water and look for beds in gravel and sandy areas. Vertical fishing with a split shot and live bait rig works great, as does pulling a 1/8 ounce lindy rig with a short leader through likely areas. (Try panfish leaches or leafworms) It's not the bobber approach which works great in the shallows, but it can really produce some quality keepers.



Good Luck,

CT

Sunday-Monday: On The Water

Sunday: Silver Lake.

Ended up with 52 fish...including a crappie, a couple of Rockbass and 49 LM 9-18."

Fish were in the usual spots...drops/edges of the flats and the deeper weeds. Water was 67 when I pulled the boat.


Then out this morning on Golden for an early run, fished 5:30-9:30.

Fairly typical morning. Caught 16 LM all 12-16inches, plus a couple of small pike (around 22inches).

Lost a really big bass right by the boat...ran straight at me and I just never got a good hookset. One of the bigger fish I have seen on Golden this season.

Tired and true approach: Flipping holes in the grass beds, texas rigs on the weed edge and wacky worms in the shallow flat areas. Nothing stuck out as far as the pattern. Caught some fish tight to cover, caught some others chasing bait away from the bank. A couple of the larger bass spit up some juvenile panfish on the way in.

Water was in the high 60's.

Moved over to Silver just before 10am as the bite had dropped off a little on Golden. Just like yesterday, started picking up the Silver Lake special LM size class right away.

Despite the east wind, fish were very active, and a bit deeper today. 6-8 FOW was the best action. We caught some deeper and some shallower, but the fast action was in that range.

Caught 37 (4 were 14+) between 10a and about 1pm. Hit one school and caught fish on 7 consecutive casts. Action was fast and furious at times. Had six double headers.

Empty panfish nests all over the shallow water.


Cheers,
CT