Central Wisconsin Outdoor Report
With water temperatures in the mid to upper 60's the bluegills are starting to show up in traditional spawning areas. This is a great way to introduce kids into fishing. When the gills show up at this time of the year and in such an abundance, the action can be non-stop for hours. Most of the gills are holding in shallow water less than a foot deep, sometimes in as shallow as 6 inches of water. Use clip on pencil bobbers set 6 inches to a foot above your hook (preferably a # 8 Aberdeen hook) and bait it up with a piece of crawler or tiny leaf worm. Toss your bait into the schooled up bluegills along the shoreline and wait for the bobber to go down (or in some instances it may go sideways.) This is all you need to have a great day of fishing.
 |
 |
| Corey and Mark Feldkamp with some nice crappies | Pat Gogin with some nice crappies |
The crappie bite has been pretty consistent this year but the interesting thing is that unlike most of the reports coming in we are finding that not all of the crappies have spawned yet. We are still finding a lot of pre-spawn fish out in deeper water that are chock-full of eggs. We have been catching a pile of fish in 10 to 16 feet of water holding tight to the bottom. Most of these fish are coming while we are targeting walleyes with 1/8th ounce jigs using the larger fathead minnows. In addition to the abundance of fish in deeper water we are also finding a fair amount of nice crappies up shallow. They are holing tight to shallow cover like wood or reeds and can be caught just as easily as the bluegills. The only difference is instead of running worms on your hook use a small crappie minnow or a jig with a small crappie sized tube.
 |
 |
| John Gogin with some nice crappies |
Pat and Chris Gogin with some nice walleyes and crappies. |
The walleyes have been very consistent and are holding in about 10 to16 feet of water. We are catching most of them on jigs tipped with fathead minnows throughout the day but early mornings and late in the evening we are catching a fair amount on crankbaits up in shallower water.
For anglers looking tangle with some great bass fishing now is the time to do it. A lot of the fish are up very shallow on traditional spawning grounds and can be caught with a variety of methods. Try working shallow rocky shorelines in less than 3 feet of water with jigs tipped with plastics or crankbaits imitating crayfish or small minnows.
 |
 |
 |
| Don Pankratz with a couple of crappies | Corey Feldkamp with a nice walleye | Chris Gogin with a nice smallmouth bass. |
Good Luck and have a great week,
Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service www.ruttnut.com
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com