Fishing Report 3-18-16

Hey gang,

Gamefishing is closed on inland waters, but there's still plenty going on around our area.

 Crappie fishing is still a bit early, but picked up substantially over the last week. Look for the warmest water you can find. Typically this will be along a north facing bank of a shallow, dark bottom protected cut, but areas with springs or current will also hold fish.

Look for the fish very tight to weeds or off shore laydowns. If you find them, there will be a bunch in a small area. With the water as cool as it is, sometimes the trick is to downsize your presentation. Small plastics or a tiny red hook tipped with a spike or waxworms can actually outproduce minnows for early crappies.

I like to use an ice fishing bobber with just a small piece of split shot above the hook for the early part of the season. This stealthy approach can really make the difference for spooky early crappies.

Bluegills are starting to move into boat channels and protected areas with dark bottoms or green weeds. This can be an awesome time to chase keeper gills in shallow water. I like a finesse rig, but casting a tight line bimbo skink is an awesome way to fill a cooler if you have some schools of fish spotted in the shallows. Water is still a little cool to work the current pattern which develops best in early April.
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Hot spots for Crappies: Garvin, Oconomowoc, Pine, North Lakes, Stumpy, Whitigers and the Crane's Nest Junk Piles on Okauchee.

Hot spots for gills: Nag, School Section, Lower Genessee Ashippun, and Golden Lakes.

Want something to stretch your line a bit? The Rock River spring run is already happening, with big schools of early spawners using the holes and outside runs between Jefferson and Blackhawk. Fish are running small overall, but action has been pretty solid. Water has come up a bit with the rain, and that should really get things going. Control that drifting with your electric motor, hovering over current breaks whenever possible.



Reports from around the state have action in Oshkosh, Winneconne, Fremont, Depere and the Dells as steady.

Good luck out there.

And we're back...Fishing Report 3-10-16

Okay gang, I'm back in action.

Pulled the boat yesterday and prepped my gear.

Open water fishing is in full, early spring mode on the area rivers. Gamefishing is closed on inland waters, but one more warm stretch will really get the panfish action started on the local lakes.

Depere, The Dells, Winneconne, Oshkosh and the Rock are all happening, but it is very early. Early spawners are moving up, and while most of the reports are for smaller fish, the numbers and action are solid.

Here's some resources for the Rock River:  

USGS Survey at Ft Atkinson  Has daily data on flow, height and water temperature.

River status at Jefferson

River status at Ft Atkinson

Rock-Kosh Lake District

Links to JSOnline Articles about Fishing the Rock River in Springtime:

St Patricks Day in 2009

Early April 2008

Link to the fish passage camera:

Jefferson Dam1 

Depere (Fox River):

USGS Data For Fox River at Depere

Boat Launches for Fishing in Depere

Lake Link Fishing Report for Depere

Dells (Wisconsin River)

Rivers Edge Resport/Baitshop-boatlaunch

River Cam at River's Edge Resort

Open water begins...

Hey gang,

The warmer weather and wind have started breaking up the ice on the rivers.

Boats are going in, and fish are being caught at DePere.

The Rock River is open at the mouth by Blackhawk.

There's open water in the Dells, but limited reports on fish.

More as I get it. I'll be prepping the boat next week.

Mendota Rig

While I haven't tried this, I certainly can see potential for this.

Fishing Repport 1-15-15

Hey gang,

Lots on the docket this weekend, including  free fishing weekend.  The Lunkers Annual Fisheree and Meat Raffle is on Pewaukee. The flyer/details are in my last post.

The DNR is promoting fishing for pike this weekend, but more importantly, safety. Weekly update here.

Please be safe out there.

Anglers urged to use extreme caution as ice conditions vary from location to location

Even with the colder temperatures, DNR fisheries biologists and conservation wardens are recommending extreme caution on state waters. On many lakes, unseasonable weather has created freeze and thaw cycles resulting in ice that may be several inches thick in one spot, but thin or structurally unsound in other spots.

"Always err on the side of caution and keep a close eye on the ever changing ice conditions," Heussner said. "Do not assume consistent ice throughout the waterbody and be aware that shifting ice can create open water situations."

Ice/fishing conditions are essentially early ice. Most of the shallow bays and protected shallow areas on the local lakes have between 4-6 inches of ice, and importantly, many still have some green weeds and fish (especially panfish) are relating to this.

Chasing pannies: During daylight hours focus on bluegills around green weeds or suspended just off the bottom in 5-8 or 8-12 FOW (be careful heading out deeper) Small Ice fishing jigs and light line are key (go subtle) but some days you'll be able to make solid catches with plastics, others only live bait will do. If you have electronics or a flasher, watch for subtle bites.

Crappie are biting at either end of the day, with red/white and pink/white artificials and jig/live bait combos all producing. Crappie typically like to be adjacent to water with some current in it (including springs), but again, standard warning about being on ice in areas with moving water. Deeper marshes (like Ashippun or Golden) have also had some active crappies, but if you've got a fix on some bottom wood cover, that's a solid starting point.

Pike have been coming off and on with live bait rigs fished along the first break along green weed edges. Tip: When putting out your tipups, set two of your three rigs the traditional foot above the weeds or bottom, but set the third a little higher, with conditions the way they are this winter, a trip back to the old fishing log showed that the last El Nino winter had anglers picking off some cruising pike by having the bait mid water column. I'm not sure that'll be the ticket, but give it a go and see.

Walleye have been active at night (probably as they come into the shallows to feed) and again look for green weeds or rock edges adjacent to deeper water as those seem to be giving up the most fish. Jigging seems to be outproducing live rigs, but not many people have been reporting in.

Good Luck Out There and Be Safe!
Cheers,
CT

Checking in/Lunkers Fisheree

Hey gang,

I know I've been away for a bit, but I'm back at it. My real world (ie teaching) killed my fall fishing routines this year, and I got out of my update routines. I just checked the Dick Smith's Page, and it looks like I wasn't the only one.

In terms of fishing...think early ice, since that's where we are. I know it is cold, but be very careful heading out, shallow water has usable ice, especially in protected areas, but conditions vary greatly. Things should get going after the current cold snap, and semi-regular reports will return.  I've started to get some early reports from people heading out, and I start adding that info as it comes in.

In the meantime, here's the annual flyer for the Lunker's Fisheree and Meat Raffle.

See you soon.