Winnebago Walleyes Cooperate...Hot fishing rides the wake of hot weather
7-25-2013
Before we talk great fishing, how about a salute to something a little more important? The Burlington Demons youth trapshooting team captured their second Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) national championship since 2011 this week, besting teams from throughout the country in Sparta Illinois. Read the entire great story posted on this website under “Firearms”. Talk about the good news of guns in schools? Thanks, Burlington and every other high school here participating in the shooting sports. You do Wisconsin proud.
Now on to Winnebago.
Successful hunting and fishing is based on a series of right decisions. Sometimes it’s pure luck. For the experienced veteran of the field more often anyway, the decisions are calculated and thought out carefully. Where do I set up? When do I go? What do I use?
Friend Jim Olsson made the perfect decision last week when he cancelled a planned assault on Lake Winnebago walleyes Tuesday due to the extended still weather and scorching temperatures hanging over Badgerland. Our payoff Sunday when we finally got on Wisconsin’s largest inland lake was pure Winnebago gold; big walleyes and lots of them throwing Rapala and Berkley crankbaits, and dragging crawlers.
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There was definitely a method behind Olsson’s madness. He reasoned that without any wind to stir up the baitfish, the predator had no reason to move either, and would hold tight on the bottom instead of moving up to feed on the shallow, vast weed bars. Since our tactic would be drifting and throwing crankbaits over the shallow bars, with a trailing crawler or two also part of the arsenal, Jim wanted to wait for dropping temperatures and rising winds.
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We got it Sunday morning. Scott Heitman and I of New Berlin met up with Olsson and Doug Graber of Mukwonago at 3:30 a.m. on highway 43 and pointed the trucks toward Fond du Lac. We pulled into Nagy Park on the west end of Winnebago with the new day just a promise of orange in the east. Our sights were set on Long Point Reef, a huge reef and one of many that a fisherman can’t come close to covering in a day using the drift and throw method. Although we were one of the first 10 trucks to the large landing, parking slots would fill up fast as the morning came on and be jammed by the time we returned in late morning. Winny is so large though, that we would be one of only two or three boats working this particular reef. Many could be seen silhouetted on the horizon in the never-ending trolling circle pattern utilized by many anglers here on fish.
Olsson, the sales manager for Rosen Nissan in Milwaukee, used his Titan to drop the 18-foot Tracker in the water, fired up his Merc 115, and we headed east across the big lake to begin taking advantage of the east/southeastly winds that would push our first drift across Long Point reef. As the day wore on, we would move north or south a few hundred yards on the reef to work new water. From the start though, winds rising to 18 to 20 mph fed three to four foot waves mixed into a constant two-foot chop. From the start, we also tossed out a windsock to slow us down, and would experiment with a double-anchor drag.
Olsson is not really a Winnebago vet, but rather, a doubter who evolved slowly into a true believer since his first journey to work walleyes last year. Prior to that, despite the persistent message from his friend, Randy Rydzik of Waterford to give Winnebago a try, Olsson was content to work Milwaukee area lakes including Lake Michigan closer to home.
“I saw the talk on Lake-Link, watched shows like John Gillespie working Winnebago and listened to my cousin after fishing the spring walleye run on the Wolf at places like New London,” he said. “I knew how good the walleye fishing could be. And Randy also talked about the perch fishing up here. In July and August they start catching big perch up to 12 inches. They keep fish at nine or 10 inches I think. It’s not Lake Michigan perch fishing, but they’re big healthy fish, just like the walleyes.”
For four or five years, Olsson said, his friend had let him know that fishing Winnebago was virtually impossible in his own 12 foot Jon boat. When Jim loaned his Tracker to Rydzik and friends for a first, legitimate assault on the walleyes, Rydzik threw in the wind sock and anchors. They came away with a four- man limit of walleyes with the biggest in the 17 or 18 inch class. There is no size restriction on the self-sustaining Winnebago with a five man bag limit. Those fish, Olsson thinks, taken in May of 2012, were probably males still returning from the spring walleye run on the rivers.
“I started to think, ‘maybe I’m missing something’,” Olsson said.
The ride didn’t seem so long when Olsson tried Winny for the first time in 2012 and began in earnest to try to begin to learn the lake that at 137,708 acres can no doubt overwhelm the best Wisconsin angler. Winnebago is 30 miles long by 10 miles wide and part of an immense system that also includes 27,500 collective acres on the upriver lakes of Butte des Morts, Winneconne and Poygan. Another 125 miles of Wolf River reaches to the Shawano dam and 52 miles of Upper Fox travels to the Princeton dam.
“These reefs are all over the west side of Winnebago. On the north and east side there are deep mud flats where the walleyes suspend to feed,” Olsson said. “Early in the year, people are generally trolling the deep water. I personally think trolling is like mowing the lawn. You just drive around. When you get a fish, you don’t feel the strike or the fight. The fish just drags a little harder behind the boat.”
Before our trip, Olsson returned several times to Winnebago to learn the lake and try to determine where the fish would be each time, why and when. Two weeks ago, he spent 2-1/2 hours fishing and caught walleyes later in the day off of rocks but nothing over 17 inches ( which is still a dandy walleye especially from the perspective of looking down on a skillet) . He also tried fishing the big lake nocturnally more than once, but has never caught a walleye in the black despite fishing all night. When he cancelled Tuesday’s trip and rescheduled for Sunday, his eyes were on the radar screen.
“The fish were shut down for a long time during the hot, still weather,” he said. “Sunday we would be in cool temperatures, and ahead of a front. A big storm front was coming in Monday. I think Winnebago is best in 10 mile per hour winds. We had a lot higher winds than that, so we put out the wind sock.”
We also almost immediately hit the walleyes. When we had to pull green weeds from the hooks of our jointed Shad Raps or Husky Jerks, or Berkley Flicker Shads working the shallow water, we knew to get ready for the walleye strikes. We also pulled crawlers on #8 Baitkeeper hooks with split shot, which caught walleyes and probably six sheepshead to each gamefish.
Doug Graber broke the ice on the first pass with a 22 inch fish that he would soon best with another beauty. Olsson caught the morning’s biggest walleye at 24-1/2 inch and a limit on crawlers and lures, and Heitman caught his share including another walleye stretching the rule to 20-plus. I was still waiting for my 5th fish and a limit when the fast action finally stopped after just three hours of drifting and throwing. With 15 walleyes collectively and four fish between 20 and 24-1/2 inches, there were no complaints.
“It was my best trip in two years,” Olsson said. “I’ve never seen that many bigger fish. We had a couple 18 and 19 inch fish that we didn’t even think about. Normally, those are the fish we would be talking about.”
Good call Jim Olsson. Sometimes, things are hot when things are not. Then again, you never know. If you didn’t read the “Dick’s Trips” to Winnebago we posted last week, link to it now.
We also powdered the walleyes in 2005 during a Wisconsin scorcher when we switched to the shallow shoreline and changed to Floating Rapalas.
Results of the Kewaunee/Door County Salmon Tournament are being brought to you on a daily basis under “Inland Fishing” or “Great Lakes Fishing” on this site. An incredible number of monster fish are being registered. Unfortunately, there is big money on the line and that means cheating for people without character and integrity.
“It was the one that didn’t make the cut that was the most talked about fish,” stated a media release received over the OWO wire from the tournament. “A legit 29-pound-plus fish was brought to scale at Sturgeon Bay, but a scanner’s ‘beep’ turned out to be accurate — the fish had a one-pound lead ball in it that made the scale read 30.27. The fish was cut open, the weight discovered, and it was disqualified.”
At least the angler has pre-qualified for Olympic bicycling or a slot on a future major league club. Apparently he’s got what it takes.
Also under “Inland Fishing”, see all of our guide reports, stories and photos. We post the usual amount of hot off the press items under “Outdoor News”. Washburn County, for example, has released a fun new way to explore the area ATV trails. The Washburn County ATV Scenic Tour is now available for ATV enthusiasts to learn about more than 35 points of interest located along the 100+ mile ATV system. Read the whole story under “Outdoor News”
Heads up! If you want to hunt wolves or fall turkey this year, applications are due August 1st.
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight. If you need help, call the Burlington Demons.
Dick Ellis