Just a quick fishing update on Lake Winnebago. Water temperatures have fallen to the mid 70’s over the past week. Water clarity is highly variable by location. The southeast corner of the lake has an abundant amount of algae mixed into the water column and has restricted visibility. The west shore has better clarity at about 2-3 feet.
The perch fishing has shown a significant uptick this past week, likely related to the drop off in water temperature. The majority of the fish are in two categories: Jumbo perch have been more common this week, as have been the 4-5” fish.
On calm days, the perch have been on or near the bottom with dead sticking working best. On days with more wind action, slip bobbers have had higher success rates. Orange beads or attractants have been working well.
The best areas for perch are in the Abraham/Gene’s Reef and Deadwood Point areas. Most of the perch are coming on the deep side of the break lines or transition zones.
White bass have schooled up and are pushing bait fish to the surface, especially on calm days. Look for active seagulls diving into the water to locate the schools. This past week, I found a very nice school off of the wayside near North Fond du Lac. Small flicker minnows in purple were most successful. It seemed as there was an endless supply of white bass to be caught. I stopped counting at 25 fish after an hour.
Walleye fishing remains quiet. Not a lot of anglers are targeting walleyes currently, with most out chasing perch. Nearly no one was trolling this past week. White bass are the predominate catch while trolling right now. Even sheephead are quiet (and full).
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