Early season predictions from the DNR

Southeastern Wisconsin Fish Supervisor Randy Schumacher reports that more cold and rainy days are forecast before the opener, "and that's good because northern pike which will be done spawning will be active and spawning, largemouth bass will be very active still, congregating over dark organic bottoms on north side of lakes to warm themselves up for spawning. Generally they'll be in shallow waters. The best time to fish for largemouth is probably in the middle of the day. If you're going for largemouth bass, there's no point in going early in the morning unless you need to get a spot at the boat landing. Otherwise, large female bass are still feeding to help mature their eggs. As far as our recent surveys go, we caught a 51.5 inch musky in Pewaukee Lake, so we're really happy to see strong populations there. There's a good walleye population in Pewaukee as well. It's showing once again it’s a lake for everybody -- good largemouth bass, good crappie, bluegills. We're also netting on big Elkhart in Sheboygan County and found a good walleye population there as well, which was good news because we hadn't surveyed for years there and we worried the population may have gone down.”

Link to the whole report is online here.

Local Trout Stocking

The numbers for this year's trout stocking are out.

On the local lakes:

FOWLER LAKE
        BROWN TROUT 954  
        RAINBOW TROUT 1,491

LANNON COUNTY PARK POND
         RAINBOW TROUT        3,500

LOWER GENESEE LAKE
         BROOK TROUT 1,685
         BROWN TROUT 1,273
         RAINBOW TROUT 1,491

LOWER NASHOTAH LAKE
          BROWN TROUT 1,273
          RAINBOW TROUT 1,491

OTTAWA LAKE
          BROWN TROUT 636
          RAINBOW TROUT 994


The full report is available here: from the DNR.

Fishing Report 4-27-11

Rain, rain and more rain has been on the menu lately. The days, especially the afternoons have stayed cool and cloudy, and as a result, the water is not warming up quickly.

Fish are biting though. It's hard to get an accurate picture, as not that many guys are putting in the time on the water, but fishing is has been at least average for this time of year.

Crappies are active in the usual early spots. Look for them in shallow, protected areas with a north bank. Dark bottom areas with green weeds are especially good right now, but sandy areas near reeds will also produce. Small minnows, tail hooked, and suspended under a bobber is the best way to catch crappies, but if the bite is tough, don't overlook waxworms on an icefishing jig as an option.
Bay 5, Stumpy and Icehouse Bays, The Crane's Nest and the Channel on Okauchee are always great areas, as are Garvin (North end) Kessus, Golden, Pine (Both Ends) Moose, Fowler, Lac Labelle and the boat channels on Nagawicka.

Walleyes and Whitebass continue to bite on the Rock River in Jefferson. The spawning runs are done for the most part, but fish are still being taken from shellbeds, rockpiles and in the channel swings. Jig and minnow, or jig and plastics (including ringworms) have been the best baits this year. The fish should be getting ready to make the transition out to the lake soon, so this is likely your last chance to head down there for some action.

Reminder: Gamefish season is still closed this weekend, it opens at 12am, May 7th.

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Good Luck
Chris