Cool and stable weather helped to bring some normalcy back to the Winnebago system this week. Water temperatures have remained in the low to mid 50’s in all portions of the lakes and Rivers. Water clarity is at about 2 feet of visibility on the western shore of Lake Winnebago. The first emerging weeds have started to sprout, and a small lake fly hatch is underway currently, both which are extremely early on a “normal” year. The Wolf River has seen extremely low water levels recently.
The system continues to remain in a “pause” between the post spawn walleyes and the pre spawn White Bass. With these two events happening simultaneously, this creates the illusion of slower fishing patterns. The subpar water flows from the rivers, has resulted in scattered fish throughout the system.
Walleyes, now almost all post-spawn, are in their annual recovery period from the spawning events of the past month. Many times these fish will seek protected areas to recover from the battering caused during spawning. These areas typically are low water flow areas, which favor warmer water. Shallow rocky points and wood cover provide the quickest warming areas in the rivers and lakes, and are areas which should be examined.
A perfect example this week was finding walleyes schooled up near wooden docks (large post type) on the Fox River. Casting a slip bobber with a leech next to the wood was producing walleyes which were warming up next to the posts. These also provide an excellent current break.
Some areas of interest:
Oakwood Point, Sunset Point (Lake Buttes des Mortes): I worked this area on Saturday and found it extremely slow. However, during the majority of the week this area had been giving up some quality walleyes on slip bobbers and leeches.
Stony Beach, Roe’s Point (Lake Winnebago @ Oshkosh): Roe’s Point has been stronger than Stony Beach. Walleyes continue to seek this area, especially with a south or east wind. Perch are scattered in this area, and a stray small mouth has been reported. Occasional walleye limits are reported.
Oshkosh Reefs (Lake Winnebago): Lots of boat traffic, lots of empty live wells. This area remains very inconsistent, but the sheephead are willing to steal some bait from you if you are interested in those fish. Walleyes are here and there, but not enough to satisfy all of the anglers in the area.
Fox River @ Oshkosh: A few white bass are present. Catfish, pan fish, and sheephead can also be taken. Walleyes continue to hide out in some of the protected areas of the river. For the most part, the river has been fairly quiet, and did not show much activity on the locator or in the boats.
East Shore of Lake Winnebago: Very quiet. The next major warm spell and heavy rain event could push the walleyes into the east shore and the annual night time walleye shore bite could kick in.
Lake Buttes Des Mortes, Lake Winneconne and Lake Poygan: The anticipated trolling bite has not materialized to date. Multiple reports this week indicated a mix of white bass and small walleyes present, but they remain inactive. However, I did get a report of some large females being caught in small numbers on Lake Butte des Mortes in the shallows.
Wendt’s (Lake Winnebago): Largemouth bass are in this general area. Most of the fish reported are in the 12-15 inch range, and are best targeted with sinking worms.
Paukotuk (Lake Winnebago): With almost no boat traffic, I worked this area this week and found some very nice females hanging just off of the reefs. Generally these fish were hanging in 9-11 foot of water, and were targeted best by trolling Salmos at about 1.7 mph. Blues and purples were the key colors.
Wolf River: Masses of walleyes remain in the river, but I would expect they will exit shortly. Either the water level will fall further (causing an exodus), or we will get a rain event to add water flow to the system which may encourage many of these fish to start moving again. White bass are staged, and the run could kick in again at any moment. Sturgeon spawning was at its peak this past week. A 240 pound sturgeon was tagged on Tuesday, and this fish (Largest ever tagged) is estimated to be over 125 years old. More details can be found on the front page of myfishingpartner.com. Try casting crank baits onto the shallows/shorelines to produce midsized male walleyes.
The Fort Fremont (Wolf River) Tournament is scheduled this week on Saturday along with the Big Bucks Bass Tournament (Lake Winneconne). On Sunday, The Sheboygan Walleye Club will hold an event on the Wolf River. Good Luck! Tight lines to all area anglers. To send a report or ask a question, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thanks for your support of the site!
