Central Wisconsin Fishing & Hunting Report for 5-03-2012
With water temperature now reaching the upper 50's and in some areas 60 degrees the walleyes are finalizing their move to traditional late spring early summer haunts. We are finding a lot of nice fish in the mid range depths from 6 to 10 feet of water with a majority of fish holding in deeper water levels from 12 to 16 feet deep. We are catching most of the walleyes on 1/8th and 1/4 ounce jigs that are tipped with fathead minnows but in some cases Berkley Power baits and Gulp minnows are working almost as well.
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| Kelly Kronshagen with a nice bass |
Hooksetters Guide John Sparbel with a 42 inch 20 pound northern pike |
The shallow water crappie bite is going strong and for guys looking to target some nice slabs now is when you can find them holding tight to shallow cover like wood, downed timber and docks. To catch these slabs run slip bobbers or clip on bobbers rigged up with a small jig set down about a foot to 18 inches. You can also use a tiny # 6 or 8 Octopus hook. Bait the jig or hook with a small crappie sized minnow hooked lightly through the lips and toss it close to the structure. The key to being successful with shallow crappies is to be very quiet and stealth like as excessive boat noise or even hanging your lure up in the branches and yanking it around above the crappies will spook them away. Also try to keep your distance as moving in too close will for sure push them out of the area or spook them enough that they won't bite at all.
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| Kelly Kronshagen with a nice crappie | Steve and Kelly Kronshagen with some nice walleyes | Rhonda Schweik with some nice crappies |
For you bass anglers the bite has been pretty good this past week as we saw some very nice fish caught with a variety of methods. First of all a lot of the fish we caught were in very shallow water and holding tight to shoreline structure. Most of the fish were related to rocky shorelines but a few were holding tight to wood. Some of the fish we caught were holding up in less than a foot of water. We are running small crankbaits and spinnerbaits for the fish holding along the rocky shorelines but when we are working along the wood we are running tube jigs and plastics like beaver tails and crawfish to really pick apart the structure.
This past week has also been very good for northern pike. we caught several nice fish on crankbaits and spinnerbaits along with one giant the was 42 inches long. Most of the pike we caught were in shallow water associated with sand or gravel.
Turkey hunters have been having a great season and with a few weeks left to hunt it is time to start trying some late season tactics. Put away the decoys and really turn down the calling. Spot and stalk methods will really come into play now as the birds have been hunted hard for a couple of weeks and are very "gun shy" around decoys and unnecessary calling. Try locating early in the morning or late afternoon feeding areas and set up in an ambush area or set up in a way that you can close the distance by silently stalking through and around cover. You have to be cautious as turkeys have very keen eyesight but with this method you may very well have an opportunity at some of the largest wariest birds in the area. I have done this many times and to me it is actually more rewarding being successful stalking a turkey than it is to sit in a blind hunting and wait for them to come to you.
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