Central Wisconsin Outdoor Report
Wow…. A guy couldn’t have prescribed a better week than what we just had. Fishing was outstanding with great action everywhere we went. We hit 4 different bodies of water in Wisconsin and experienced some of the best fishing I have seen in years. I can tell you this, I really put the Elk River Rods to the test this week and they worked flawlessly. From feisty 10 pound walleyes to 15 pound line screaming browns the rods really did the job!
We started the week out fishing the Wolf River for walleyes and the bite was very good. We were vertically jigging ¼ ounce jigs in 10 to 14 feet of water working inside turns to find reduced current. We caught a lot of nice fish in the 14 to 18 inch range with a few really good ones in the low to mid 20’s.
Our second stop this past week was Depere, Wisconsin and we were fishing the Fox River. The weather wasn’t the best, but we did manage several nice walleyes in the upper 20 inch range with one almost hitting that 30 inch mark. We also caught some nice fish in the 18 to 24 inch range as well. Most of the action was casting crankbaits in shallow rocks but a few fish were caught by casting ¼ ounce jigs tipped with a paddle tail minnow in chartreuse.
The third stop of the week was Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and meeting up with Adam Rasmussen for some Brown Trout action. We were casting crankbaits in shallow water out in select locations on Lake Michigan for these browns and the action was about as good as you could want. I went home with a sore back and sore arms from casting and catching fish, but wanting for more. We caught browns well over 20 inches and some were pushing the mid to upper 20 inch mark. If you are interested, Adam filmed a brown trout fishing episode this past week with In-Depth Outdoors. That show will air this weekend along with you being able to watch it on-line on You Tube or the website.
The last stop of the week was right here at home in Central Wisconsin. We were planning on heading over to Oconto, Wisconsin for Green Bay walleyes but the weather turned and we decided to stay home. Good thing we did, as several boats got trapped out on the big lake when the wind shoved a large ice mass in front of the harbor. The ice mass blocked the boats from re-entering the landing, but with the help of the sheriff and some neighbors along the shore they were pulled to safety.
Anyway back to fishing. Our last stop like I mentioned was right here at home on the Wisconsin River, and we got into what was probably one of the best days of pre-spawn walleye fishing that I can ever remember. We had walleyes stacked on a shelf in 8 to 14 feet of water and they would bite about as quickly as you could get a bait down to them. We must have caught over 150 walleyes in about 6 hours with at least a dozen over the 20 inch slot mark. Most of the action was on ¼ ounce lead head jigs and minnows but we did manage to pick up a few throwing crankbaits to the top end of the bar.
Have a great week,
Phil Schweik
Hooksetters Guide Service
Web: www.hooksetters.biz
Phone: 715-581-2620