Fishing Report 11-2-12

Greetings,

It is that time of the year. The last warm days of fall, the end of the October Full Moon Cycle, post-turnover and the water is below 50 degrees.

Get out your big hardware, buy the biggest suckers you can find and hit the lakes.

Musky fishing has been slower than in past years, but what it lacks in quality it has made up for in stability. There's a good, steady bite going on...and the big fish are primed to get into that full-late season action that keeps me out of my tree-stand this time of year.

Look for active feeders between 8-12 and 12-18 FOW. The fish will hold on the edges of major structural elements, moving in a couple times a day to forage. You can connect with them in both positions.

Around the area:

Pewaukee Lake: Giving up fish consistently, but average size has been on the lower side compared to the last couple years. Major WMT tournament on the water this weekend...and fishing pressure has been heavy.

Okauchee Lake: Slow and steady is the word. Less fish reported than Pewaukee, but better average size. Stumpy Bay has been very hot, especially along the inside turns of the steep breaks. Edges of the North Flat and Road Bed have been productive, as have areas with visible baitfish in Bay Five. Water is low and access to Garvin Lake, always a late season hotspot, is limited.

Oconomowoc Lake: River is down a bit, but still okay for most boats...watch the turns. Fishing has been steady with several low to mid 40 inch class fish reported in the last ten days.

Fowler Lake: No reports.

Lac Labelle: Action at about average pace, maybe a little lower. Musky population in Labelle is lower than some of the other lakes, but as is typical for Labelle reports...the size is much bigger. Two fish in the high 40" class were reported this week.

Other action: Rock River fishing has been slow. Fish are being caught, but they are largely undersized. Legal walleyes have been hard to come by, and whitebass action has not picked up.

Local lakes: Still some pike biting, especially on live bait...but nothing important enough to note. Pretty and Moose have been active, but reports are getting thin. Bass fishing is okay on the warmer sunny days. Flipping jigs to open spots in deep weed edges is still productive, along with buzzbaits fished tight to shallow cover. Sunny afternoons are still pulling some fish up on to the shallow rockbars that are adjacent to deeper water. Regardless...not too many people out chasing bass or pike right now. Panfish are still hanging at the ends of major points...look for the biggest pannies at the bottom of the schools you can find in 12-18 FOW.

Good Luck....
CT