Central Wisconsin Outdoor Report 8-15-2013
Recent cool temperatures for August have fish prematurely moving into fall like patterns. Water temperatures on the Wisconsin River in the Wausau area for the week of August 111th through August 18th ran from 58 to 62 degrees F.
The walleye bite was very good this past week with nice catches of fish being caught by working deeper water along deep shelves and drop-offs in 8 to 14 feet of water. Jigs tipped with minnows and leeches were working the best for us.
The action for bass has been very good including some real hogs up to and over 20 inches. Most of our action has come from jigging plastics in submerged wood in less than 6 feet of water, and along rocky rip-rap shoreline areas.
For the most consistent action this past week we saw the panfish bite really pick up with some nice crappies and big bluegills being caught. A lot of these fish were holding in 6 to 10 feet of water but a few of the crappies were suspended over deeper water in the 14 to 18 foot range. Slip bobbers baited up with tiny minnows or a piece of crawler was the trick to taking thee feisty but tasty fish.
The musky bite has been good during low light periods, very early and late in the day. Most of our action has been on big bladed bucktails like the Cowgirl and Sumo Sam but a few of our fish took large jerkbaits like Suicks and Reef Hawgs as well.
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The bear hunting season is only about 3 weeks away and the bait stations are getting literally pounded. I think the cooler nighttime temperatures has the bears out and roaming about more frequently than normal and they are spending a lot more time visiting the bait stations than they would at this time on a normal year. To keep you baiting stations active make sure that you keep your food supply different. this will keep the bears interested, as there is nothing worse than eating the same food over and over again and again.
Have a great week,
Phil Schweik
Licensed Wisconsin Hunting & Fishing Guide
Hooksetters Guide Service www.hooksetters.biz
Ruttnut Guide Service
Reed & Hoppe Wildlife Food Plots www.foodplotting.com