Winnebago weekly 11-2-11

Hunting has overtaken fishing as the favorite outdoor seasonal sport, and many anglers have put their boat away for the season.  Many area boat launches have been prepared for winter, and nearly all navigational buoys have been removed from the lake.  Activity on Lake Winnebago has slowly dwindled, but the fishing remained solid for this time of the year.  Water temperatures have hovered around 50 degrees on the main lake.  Water clarity remains stained, with nearly no signs of algae.

White bass have been on a solid bite along the west shore and in the Fox River in Oshkosh.  I found some exceptional white bass on Kalibus Reef this past week trolling Salmo hornets and reef runners in the seven foot depths.  The sizes of these fish were astounding with several fish in excess of 16 inches.  Slower troll speeds were effective, especially at 1.7 mph.  There also has been a nice school of white bass near the Fond du Lac River.

Perch fishing has slowed greatly.  However, quality perch are still being caught along the eastern shore especially near Fishermen’s road and out of Fond du Lac.  Crawler bits worked well for us this weekend, but many anglers have changed their presentation over to small minnows.  At times, Garlic Island has had some decent perch being caught also.  I found Long Point and Abrahams to be very slow on perch and walleyes.

If you are looking for walleyes, It is a very tough bite on Lake Winnebago currently.  Typically the Wolf River has a strong bite working this time of year, but reports from this area have been sour so far.  As water temperatures decline, this bite will improve.

Winneconne has had multiple reports of a strong presence of Blue gills and crappies.

Next report when conditions change, or after first ice.  I want to thank each of you for your continued support of myfishingpartner.com.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is my email, should you wish to share information or ask questions related to the Winnebago system.