Delavan Lake Fishing Report 8/12/13 through 8/19/13
Although my daily report numbers look great, fishing has been a bit tougher in the past week for most anglers. The largemouth bass are in really tight schools and if you don’t get on a school of fish, you’ll have a long day. The bluegill fishing has moved from the weed line into the main lake basin, which makes them slightly harder to catch but they are still very active.
Bluegill fishing has been best in 30 ft of water by the island, west of Willow Point and by Assembly Park. They are aggressively hitting small leaf worms fished beneath and anchored boat. This pattern will remain consistent for the next few weeks. The only thing to consider is that you’ll be fishing 20 ft away from other boats.
Largemouth bass remain in tight schools. They are associating with hard bottom and scattered weeds in the 12-15 ft depth range. This is the time of year they are aggressively hitting medium suckers fished beneath the Thill big fish bobber. Look for the fish west of the Oriental boat house, by the Yacht Club and by the Village Supper club.
Northern pike action has been very slow. The biggest pike I caught last week was on a nightcrawler fished on a split shot rig. There are quite a few being caught in the 18-20 ft depth range. The best location has been just west of the Yacht Club and by Browns Channel.
Crappie fishing has moved to the mid-summer pattern. The crappies are suspending over the main lake basin 10 ft down in 30-40 ft of water. A good fish finder is essential to finding the fish. The best location has been by the concrete point or by Willow Point. You want to throw a 1/32 oz jig with a purple or chartreuse plastic.
Walleye fishing has been rather slow due to the warmer temperatures. Most of the action has come off of lindy rigged leeches in 22-24 ft of water. Another option is the chrome and blue jigging Rapala that would normally be used for ice fishing. It does work in summer with great effectiveness.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050
Daily Reports
8/10/13 - Lake Geneva, 80 degrees, light winds, water temp 76 degrees. Caught 18 smallmouth and 3 largemouth and a whole bunch of panfish for a whole day trip. Most of the action came on split shot rigged nightcrawlers in 24-28 ft of water. We did catch one monster 22 inch smallmouth on a lindy rigged perch near Yerkes Observatory.
8/9/13 - P.M. - Delavan Lake, 80 degrees, winds W at 15 mph. Water temp 76 degrees. Caught 5 largemouth and a handful of pan fish. I had a two hour trip on a pontoon without a trolling motor or any electronics. The fish were caught on the outside of the weed edge on the west end of the lake.
8/9/13 - A.M. - Lake Geneva, 70 degrees, winds out of the SW at 10 mph. Water temp 75 degrees. Caught 11 smallmouth, 1 legal. The best depth was 28 ft of water. The fish were caught by Yerkes Observatory. I did clean about 15 pan fish, all were bluegills and pumpkin seeds.
8/8/13 - Delavan Lake, sunny, 75 degrees, winds out of the east at 10 mph. Water temp 75 degrees. Caught 1 walleye, 1 northern pike and 25 largemouth and a few bluegills. The best approach was a split shot rigged nightcrawler and slip bobber medium suckers in 8-12 ft of water. The fish were in a tight schools so once you found the fish, you caught a bunch.
8/7/13 - Lake Geneva, 70 degrees and sunny, SW winds at 10 mph. Water temp 75 degrees. Caught 30 smallmouth bass all day and 2 largemouth and many pan fish and rock bass. The best approach was a split shot and a nightcrawler fished in 25-28 ft of water. The best location was by Yerkes Observatory and Black Point.
8/6/13 - Delavan Lake, hazy sunshine, 78 degrees, SW winds at 10 mph. Water temp 74 degrees. Caught 15 largemouth, 6 were over 5 lbs. The best approach was medium suckers fished under a Thill Big Fish slip bobber in 10-12 ft of water. The fish were in isolated spots, we fished many areas to catch our fish but most were in one small area near the Oriental boat house.