An unstable week of weather made anglers change tactics each day to meet the daily change in conditions.  Heavy rains and winds have stirred the water on Lake Winnebago making clarity poor towards the week’s end.   Water temps are now in the mid 70’s.

Walleyes are still moving from reef to reef on a daily basis.  Black Wolf point and Point Comfort have had strong reports of decent sized eyes on almost a daily basis, typically taken on slip bobbers and crawlers.  The reefs in the same general area are also being fished heavily with success.  There are also some perch mixed in to boot.  Steven’s reef and the outer bar are also receiving a lot on attention with some walleye being taken.  Gehrkes Reef has some small mouth bass and walleyes but size is small.  Long Point is receiving minimal attention with the nice bite close by on other reefs.  The east shore near Columbia Park has walleyes on the very small humps in the area.  Many of these humps are not much larger than a fishing boat.

The trolling bite is still solid.  Lures with flash or florescent colors are working best, partly due to the weather conditions this past week.  The bite is best on the north shore or on the east shore in the mud.  Several reports indicated some walleyes being taken in 6-10 feet when the wind has been blowing.  Larger profiled baits have worked best.  The fish remain deep, with 100 feet behind the board working well.  Drift fishing has also produced eyes on either a slow death presentation or jig and crawler.

Although the south end is slow for walleye, plenty of other fish species can be targeted on a daily basis.  Perch are in the transition areas, on the Third Reef and the smaller humps in the area.  Large pike can be found along the shorelines of Fond du Lac patrolling the weed lines looking for an easy meal.  Pan fish are active in the weed beds or in the channels off of the main lake.  The Fond Du Lac River has a catfish and bull head bite working in the deeper water.  Bass are always lurking in the harbor/lagoon in Lakeside Park.  Many times we get fixated on one species and miss other wonderful opportunities right in front of us.

The Third Reef and surrounding transition areas are holding some good sized perch.  Gold hooks seemed to have more activity than any other colored hook.  Red worms, hellgrammites, very small leeches or crawler bits works best.  The area just past the red buoy outside of Lakeside west was yielding perch on red worms.  This seems to be a morning only bite.  The area off of Beachwood road on the east shore was giving up nice sized bluegill and bullheads close to shore on the drop offs.  This weekend’s winds were not conducive to ideal perch fishing conditions. 

Lakeside west and Supple’s Marsh has many catfish and carp feeding through the area.  Stink bait is working well for the catfish. 

The catfish are very active in the Fox River right now.  Look for deep holes or around break walls and bridges.  I have also heard the trolling bite in Poygan is doing well, but have no specifics.  The Wolf River has dropped (water level), and reports are nonexistent from this area.

Keep the fishing reports coming to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or post your own in our forum section.  I will continue to update these reports in the first part of each week from spring ice out through mid September.

Lake Winnebago enjoyed a nice week of weather and fishing continued to be good.  Water temps have reached into low 70’s and clarity continues to improve.  The algae bloom has started in many parts of the lake.   

Perch action stole the show this week again.  The best area this week was in the transition areas south of Fisherman’s Road.  The same holds true for the areas between Lakeside Park and the Third Reef.  Slip bobbers with a small chunk of crawler or dead-sticking a red worm over the side of the boat has been deadly.  Make sure to add a small bead just before the hook on the rig.  This will draw more attention to your bait.  Other consistent areas include Little Blackbird Island, Long Point and Abrahams Reefs.  The action seems to come in spurts as the schools move in and out of an area feeding.     Walleyes can be found daily on most reefs. 

The walleye reef bite has been fantastic.  Slip bobbers have worked ok, but pitching a small jig and a third of a crawler has worked better.  Orange and black have been solid colors, but almost all colors are producing fish.  The morning and early evenings have the best action, and the afternoons tend to be slower.  The best reefs for these eyes are Steven’s reef, Long point, Haystack, Gehrke’s Reef, and the reef northwest of Fisherman’s Road.   Make sure to check out the small humps in all areas of the lake.  Many of these humps are holding fish, and often get over looked.   

Trolling continues to be solid, but tailed off some this weekend.  The fish are deep, so make sure to get your presentation down to the fish.  The south end has a lot of weeds (both floating and growing) and trolling is tough here.  The Subway Road area has a nice walleye bite in the deeper water adjacent to shallow water. The best trolling action was near Stockbridge this week.  Cranks at 100-125 feet behind the boards work well.  The mouth of the Fox still has excellent activity.  Many of these fish are in the 20 inch range.  Crawler harness action picked up this week also.  Some of the brighter colors have worked well this week, including fire tiger and bubblegum.  Hot n tots have had a lot of success lately. 

Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac has an excellent Bullhead bite. 

Lake Poygan and Lake Winneconne have a crawler harness bite going with florescent colored blades.  Walleyes are typically in the 13-18 inch range.  Northern and bass are relating tight to the week line.  Draw them out with spinners, spoons or swim baits.   

The Wolf River is heating up for small mouths on wacky worms, especially in black.  Work rocky shorelines or walls to find these fish.  Catfish are present and are taken on standard rigs with stink baits.  The rains continue to keep the Wolf River waters high so make sure to try the flooded areas for pan fish, walleye, pike and bass.    

As always, I encourage your reports on our forum page or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Have a happy and safe 4^th of July weekend.  See you on the water! 

Also just a FYI, we fished Big Cedar Lake in West Bend this weekend.  There is a very strong largemouth and rock bass bite over the weed tops with spinners or rattle traps.  It might be worth a trip in the next week, if old ‘bago is too windy.