Lake Geneva Fishing Report 8/17/20 through 8/24/20
First the good news, the heat and humidity have vanished, comfortable weather is here. Now the bad news, it’s the middle of August, the weather is telling us that fall is on its way, back to school and the end of summer are fast approaching. Hurry, get your rod and reel out before it’s too late!
Northern Pike action has been the best that it has been in the past 5 years. The fish are between 33 and 40 ft of water. They are aggressively eating medium suckers fished on a lindy rig. Look for the fish by Fontana or on the north shore of the narrows. Another good hidden gem is drifting Maytag point back towards the city of Lake Geneva. For people who haven’t fished northern pike on the thermocline before, as a rule the bite is very subtle. A lot of times it will only feel like extra weight on your line and due to the fact that there are no weeds at the depth you are fishing, that extra weight is indeed a fish. The biggest key to fishing the thermocline is keeping constant bottom contact. Your line should be vertical from bottom to the surface. By doing this, you’ll be able to detect the subtle bite.
Rock bass remain in the 12-15 ft range. They are ravenous and will attack a split shot rigged nightcrawler. The best locations have been by the Military Academy or by Belvidere Park. Rock bass to most people are an aggravation, but to people just wanting to catch fish, they can be a ton of fun, especially when you are regularly landing 1 to 1 ½ lb. fish.
Walleye fishing remains consistent if the wind blows. You need to troll at night. The best location has been by Abbey Springs or by Trinkes. The best lure has been the deep diving Walleye bandit. Work a depth of 12-15 ft of water.
Largemouth bass have pushed out of the shallows and remain on the deep weedline. By far the best spot on the lake is Trinkes Bay from the golf course towards Big Foot Beach. Most of the success is coming while dragging football head jigs or Carolina rigging Zoom lizards. Green pumpkin or watermelon seed are the only two colors I use. The secondary spots I would try would be all main lake points such as, Black Point, Rainbow Point and Conference Point.
Bluegills have moved deep. They are in 16-18 ft of water. The best location has been by Elgin Club or off the weed edge in Williams Bay. The best approach is straight lining leaf worms about 1 ft off bottom. You need to have calm winds for this to be effective.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050