Fishing Report 6-23-17

Hey gang,

I was "professoring" a good chunk of this past week, so I wasn't out as much as I have been...so grain of salt on this report which is assembled from my usual sources, but lacks some my usual contributions/observations. When assembling this information, I just like to be up front about what you're seeing.

It sounds like dishing has been hit or miss the last week as fish have been feeding during blocks of time each day. If you're on them when they feed, the fishing has been good, but this run of unstable weather has made them very hard to pattern. A glance through my fishing logs suggests that this (unstable weather fishing pattern) is actually pretty common for late June.

Right now most lakes are in the mid to high 70s, but the rains this week have made it a crapshoot. Areas where there's drainage into the lakes (springs, creeks, river channels) may be on the cooler side. Weed growth varies from lake to lake, but is about average for this point in the year. (It really caught up during that sunny/hot weather spree we had about 10-12 days ago.)

A few of the lakes with muddy/silted areas are starting to see a significant algae bloom. Check out this Blogpost from UW-Madison on the blue-green algae bloom on Mendota.

Bass: Fish are setting up on summer patterns, with lots of areas and techniques producing. On cloudy days when its not raining cats and dogs, topwater and crankbaits are catching lots of fish over open water areas, especially on isolated 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.  When there's steady wind, drifting and casting grubs/jigworms on the flats can really produce. When the wind lies down, texas rigs or jig/chunk combos fished along the transitions of points will put fish in the boat. The action lakes are all rolling right now (Ashippun,  Beaver, Silver, Moose, School Section) and the lakes with better fish (Okauchee, Pewaukee, Nag, North and Oconomowoc) have been steady. Don't be afraid to slow down and really fish an area through to find a little better success. Note: Everything I heard this week was largemouth...nothing on the smallies, at all.

Pike fishing has been steady, with a fair number of quality fish coming in during the unstable weather. (Again, something the log shows over the years) The number one way to catch bigger pike right now is a small sucker or medium to large shiner (biggest ones you can find, but keep them cool) 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, jerkbaits and spinner baits are also producing, especially in the shallow water, with prop-baits producing before first light or after dark.

Musky fishing continues to be slower than average for this time of year. My guess is that the fish are starting to set up out deep and that people just haven't gotten on them.  Gliders and bucktails seem to be producing the most follows, but converting fish has been difficult. Topwater produced a few fish when the moon was down during low light conditions, but the largest fish I heard a personal report on this week was 38".

Walleye fishing has much better on the windy days or after dark. Fish  are still using shallow weeds and weed edges. If you can find fish on a weed edge in 15-18 FOW, work it, multiple ways. Jigging with live bait or drifting with lindy rigs/ spinner harnesses has been productive, but in low light conditions, minnow baits in the weed tops has produced. Casting with grubs and ringworms put some fish in the boat for a few folks this week, but mainly in areas with sand adjacent to current.

Bluegills are almost done spawning on most area lakes. If you're looking for action, a few areas of beds can still 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). A few fish are starting to school up in deeper water, and you can find them off mainlake points, suspended 12-18 feet down over much deeper (30-50 FOW)

Trout- I was surprised to get a report on stocked trout from one of my contacts, as the bulk of the fish are usually fished out by this point in the season. The information, which came in ahead of the storms on Thursday suggested there still lots of fish in a couple of the local lakes, and that with the recent bug hatches, those fish were really active along the depth transitions.


Good Luck,
CT