Fishing Report 7-15-17

Hey gang, sorry for the late report...I was up north fishing in the Eagle River area the last couple of days. The professor in me might make a point about how bad internet speed and access can be up there...but you're here for the fishing report.

High water remains the story. (Check out our previous post for more details) 

Around the area bass fishing has remained fairly steady. There's an topwater/shallow water early bite happening on most lakes up until about 8:30am. The fish are then moving into the weeds, under piers or into the slop. They can be targeted around overhanging cover or weed edges adjacent to deeper water. The bite is slow mid day, but picking up again around 3:30 and remains fairly consistent until dark. Fish are being taken in shallow water on wacky worms, tubes, skirted grubs and shakey head worms. Deeper fish are coming on jigworms, texas rigged worms or tubes or jigs with a craw or chunk trailer. Live bait, chubs, leeches or crawlers on a slip sinker or lindy rig have also been catching some fish as deep as 25 FOW on the clear water lakes.

Northern pike fishing has been spotty. As is typical for this point in the season, shallow fish are still being caught on spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and lipless crankbaits around shallow weed clumps on the flats in 5-10 FOW. Deeper fish are being taken using live bait, chubs and/or shiners, long lined on slip-sinker rigs. 15-18 FOW seems to be the best for pike right now.

Walleye fishing has been steady as the rains have kept the current flowing and the water temps down. Walleye are using current areas as well as shallow weeds. Rigs, jigs and slip bobbers are catching fish, sometimes as shallow as 3 FOW, but look for a solid bite on weed edges or points in 8-12 FOW. Labelle has been very active the last 10-12 days if you're looking for some action...Oconomowoc has been giving up some keepers early and late.

Musky was still slow. Lots of lazy follows this season, especially on Okauchee or Pewaukee. A few are still coming on topwater during low light periods, especially very early in the morning. Look for them around deep water structure, especially the deep end of long points where the weedlines touch the edges of the drop offs.

Good Luck.

Cheers,
CT