Lake Geneva Fishing Reports 6/17/24 through 6/24/24
Lake Trout are biting in the main lake basin. Most of the fish are suspended off the bottom between 50 and 90 ft down in 115-130 ft of water. Most of the fish are caught at first light or right at dusk. With the longer days, you need to get up very early to get the best bite. Fish can be caught on nickel/green or nickel/blue spoons fished on down riggers. I’ve been trolling the spoons at 2 to 2 ½ mph.
Smallmouth bass have finished spawning and have moved out on the break lines. The best depth has been 12-18 ft of water. They can be caught on nightcrawlers fished on a split shot rig or drop shotting small finesse worms. My best success has come by Linn Pier or by Belvidere Park in Fontana. I’ve caught a lot of post spawn females in excess of 20 inches in the past few weeks. The smallmouth bass bite this spring has been one of the best in the past 3 years.
Rock bass remain everywhere on the lake. Lake Geneva is an awesome place to take a first time angler for a lot of action. The highest concentration of fish is from 10-12 ft of water. The bigger fish seem to be on the break line in 12-18 ft of water. My best location has been by Linn Pier by what is known as the duck hole. The best bait has been a split shot rigged nightcrawler. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on live bait, white hair jigs have also been producing a lot of fish.
Largemouth bass have not moved to deep water yet. They are still in the weed flats. My best location has been by Trinkes or in Geneva Bay by the boat launch. The bass can be caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers, wacky rigged Senkos or split shot rigged green pumpkin lizards. My biggest fish this past week was 4.3 lbs. caught in Trinkes bay. The next couple of weeks should be some of the best largemouth bass fishing shallow that Geneva has to offer.
Bluegills and Pumpkin Seeds have been sporadic. The biggest fish I’ve caught has been in Trinkes Bay in 12-13 ft of water. I’ve been catching the fish by accident on split shot rigged nightcrawlers. If you wanted to key on them, I would use leaf worms fished on a slip bobber while anchored. Some of the pumpkin seeds this past week were over 10 inches.
Perch still remain in the shallow waters. They are on the hard bottom near points. On Saturday last week, the average size was very good. There was one keeper per five small ones, which is pretty good for Lake Geneva. I’ve been catching them on nightcrawlers pieces fished on a Thill slip bobber or a split shot rig.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 262-728-8063.