Solid walleye bite with both largemouth and smallmouth bass on the move...
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| Glenn Moberg and northern pike | Marcus Malyuk with his limit of nice Wisconsin River walleyes |
This past week has been very good for walleye fishing. We have been catching a lot of fish averaging 40 to 80 per outing but a lot of those fish have been small males in the 14 to 17 inch range that have been staging in water depths from 6 to 14 feet deep.. We are also seeing some of those big females in the 20 to 30 inch range and most of them have been caught in very shallow water less than 3 feet deep. Most of our action is coming on 1/8th and 1/4 ounce jigs tipped with minnows being dragged right on the bottom in the deeper areas. When we are targeting walleyes up shallow we are running medium sized crankbaits like Rapalas and Thundersticks in chartreuse and orange and tossing them right tight to shore.
The bass have been active this past week and we have seen quite a few nice fish in the 3 to 5 pound range with a couple that might even push the 6 pound mark. Most of the bass have been up shallow holding on rocky shorelines in less than 4 feet of water but we did catch a few deep water stragglers in 16 to 20 feet of water this past week. The bass have been hitting a variety of baits including jigs tipped with plastic tails like tubes, crawfish, and twister tails along with a few nice fish on crankbaits like shallow shad raps and Rapalas in orange or Firetiger patterns. The key to getting the bass to strike is to keep your presentation very slow at this time of the year as the water temperatures are still in the upper 40's to low 50's.
Spring turkey season is about to start and from what we are seeing a lot of the birds are still grouped up and holding on or near specific fields. Not all of the birds are still grouped up as we have seen a few lone toms on different fields and in the woods but a majority of the birds still seem to remain in large packs. One way to be successful this season is to do some good pre-season scouting and to find active fields with birds coming to them. Once you have located a productive field with birds on it do your early morning homework and who knows you may get lucky and end up coming home with a nice tom turkey when your season arrives.
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| Adam Rasmussen with a nice largemouth bass | Pat Schmidt with a couple walleyes from the Wisconsin River |
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| Eric Marone with a nice smallmouth bass | Adam Rasmussen with a nice largemouth bass |
Good Luck,
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