Fishing Report 4-21-17

Hey gang,

Water temps are solid in the low to mid 50's on our area lakes. Warm water is where it is at for panfishing right now.

Panfish are starting to make a move into the traditional shallow water areas on area lakes.  Sunny afternoons with a south or southwest wind will provide the best action until main lake areas catch up. Remember: North facing areas will be warmer, and fish tend to congregate in these areas early on. Current, in the form of a creek channel, or river area will help as well.

For now, focus on the green weeds in shallow protected bays with a northern bank. Concentrate your efforts on the patches of weeds, using live bait suspended under a bobber. Keep your bait just above the weeds, and any visible fish that you see. I like to use waxworms or spikes on a small red hook, or small/crappie sized fatheads-hooked in the tail, underneath a pencil bobber with just a split shot or two to keep the bait down. Be ready to start using plastics, especially for active fish, but for now, I'd start with the live bait and move to plastics later in the day.

Be ready to sort through smaller fish to get keepers, but understand that there's some quality keepers to be had very shallow right now. Current, green weeds or reeds and shallow submerged wood are great places to start.

Here's Quinn with one we got before we stocked muskies yesterday.

Also, since the blog started back up, I've had a few requests for Lake Michigan information to be included. Probably bears mention that I only rarely fish the big pond, but the DNR Lake Michigan Report is here if you're looking for information.

Check out our post on the MCW musky stocking on Okauchee. I'll be back next week with an update for the week, and watch for my annual pre-opening day post with lots of resources and up to date scouting on conditions.

Great to be back. Looking forward to another season with you.

Cheers,
CT

Okauchee Musky Stocking by MCW

Yesterday I participated in a musky stocking event on Okauchee Lake supported by Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin. (Club's website is here)

MCW has been increasingly involved in stocking efforts, and has even partnered with other clubs to raise funding for stocking efforts in our area. Efforts have centered on Pewaukee and Okauchee in previous years, but notably, fish stocked in Okauchee have the opportunity to spread from North and Cornell lakes, throughout Okauchee and Garvin, into Oconomowoc, Fowler and Lac Labelle. 

Volunteers and Club Members met at the Okauchee Public Launch, where a pen was built on one of the ramps. Fish were moved from the hatchery truck into the pen, given a chance to acclimate to the lake water, then distributed in small batches to waiting boats to be distributed throughout the Okauchee Lake Basin.

Notably this stocking effort was for extended growth, yearling fish, which have a higher survival rate than fingerlings. We measured a few of the ones we released from my boat and we had fish ranging from 10-16 inches long.

Here was a batch of the 32 fish we put into my livewell that we took out and released from my boat.

My son Shannon helps me to put fish out yesterday. I wonder if someday he might catch this fish as an adult.

 Efforts like these help to provide a future for our local lakes. Proud to be a part of the future of fishing.

DNR Story on Trout Stocking This Year

I already put out the numbers for local trout stocking in this post.

But here's a piece from the DNR on the stocking I thought you might find interesting: Link Here

MADISON -- Anglers of all ages will soon have many more reasons to get excited about the upcoming inland fishing season opener on May 6 thanks to efforts by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to stock "catchable" trout in locally accessible lakes, ponds and streams.

For 2017, more than 650,000 trout including adult broodstock, yearlings and large fingerlings are being stocked in more than 300 inland waters statewide. In all, some 240,000 rainbow trout, 221,000 brook trout and 198,000 brown trout will be delivered before the inland season opener on the first Saturday in May.