Lake Winnebago "white hot"

Summer is here (for the most part) and the beautiful weather has us all enjoying the sun. With the climbing temps the water temps follow and fish activity follows.

Last week we spent some time breaking down Lake Winnebago from all angles. Everywhere we stopped produced a few fish but there are clearly areas to concentrate on which will produce consistent action. "Edges" seem to be holding great numbers of fish at this time. Walleyes can be caught high in the water column over these deeper drops adjacent to structure as well as a couple feet of bottom. From 5' down to 10' down over 10'-15' of water seemed to be the place to be over the weekend. Berkley Flicker Shads, Reef Runner Rip Shads, and Salmo Hornets all produced quality bites. Any color pattern with gold bellies seemed to be what the majority of fish wanted. "The Mud" also produced great numbers of fish from 16'-19' of water with the fish coming from 6'-12' down. Crawler harnesses with Warrior Blades were good along with the usual suspects listed above on the crankbait side.

If you're looking for a NEW Crankbait to try make sure you take a look at Reef Runner's  NEW "MINI-RIP". The bait looks like a mini version of the Deep Little Ripper and is in a size category all its own for a deep diving minnow style bait. We feel, in the limited time we have had to test the bait, that the lure really matches the hatch when it comes to early season forage yet will remain effective through the entire season. Mini-Rips will reach a depth of 15' while being trolled for suspended fish and are available in a wide variety of Walleye chewing colors. While there is no dive curve for them at this time that we were able to find we have played with effective depths to run these lures and we have found 25'-45' behind and OffShore planer board has been most effective over suspended fish. (your guess is as good as mine! my guess 6'-9' down at those leads) Mini-Rips are widely available direct from Reef Runner on "the www" or at most Mills Fleet Farm locations.

There have also been good numbers of fish being targeted and caught on the rocks along Lake Winnebago's West Shore. Pitching jigs, trolling reef tops, casting reef tops, or slip bobber fishing has all produced when playing the wind correctly. the more wind and waves you have crashing directly into a reef the better.

The cane beds in the upper lakes have been great as well dropping jigs or slip bobbers into the holes in the cane.

All of these fish are beginning to "slide through"  the system so we anticipate a more consistent "Mud Bite" to emerge in the coming weeks with the climbing water temps. Either way you decide to attack it the Winnebago System has been a great time for everyone.

A big thank you goes out to the Wisconsin DNR, Otter Street Fishing Club, and Lighthouse Anglers just to name a few. These people have prided themselves on making this system what it is today and for that we all owe them a big THANK YOU! We also need to respect the system by not taking this fishing for granted and over harvesting. Let some go, let some grow, and CPR (catch photo release) are all great practices.

Be safe and Good Angling to everyone over the holiday weekend! as always we are available for a more up to the minute report via Cellcom powered cellular phone at 920-660-7275.

Capt.Chris.