Delavan Lake 7/12/21 through 7/19/09
Bluegill fishing has been excellent. Most of the bigger bluegills are in 15-18 ft of water. The best location is west of the Yacht Club or by the island. They are being caught on leaf worms or small red worms. The best presentation is slip bobbers or fishing straight beneath the boat. I have found that the bigger fish are deep. You can catch a lot of 5-6 inch fish in 8-10 ft of water, but the larger bluegills are deep. A good graph is essential to finding the biting fish. Most of the fish can be located on your fish finder.
Walleyes have started to bite. The best presentation has been leeches fished on either a split shot rig or lindy rig. The fish are being caught in 15-20 ft of water. There aren’t many and the ones I’ve been catching haven’t been legal however, they have been biting aggressively. The best location has been Browns Channel or by the Yacht Club. When fishing leeches, the key to the presentation is a very light weight. You want to fish over the top of the very dense weeds.
Northern Pike have been biting on medium suckers. The best depth has been 24-25 ft of water. Look for the fish by the gray condos, Browns Channel or over by Willow Point. The key to the Northern Pike bite is keeping your bait alive. Make sure you have an extra aerator to keep your bait alive. I’ve been using a lot of 1/0 circle hooks and it’s amazing that every one of them hooks in the corner of their mouth.
Largemouth bass have been the best bite on the lake other than the bluegills. They are in the 15-20 ft depth range and can be readily caught on either drop shots with a 4 inch worm or nightcrawlers fished on a split shot rig. The best location is by 3 flags or by concrete point. The fish are now schooled up so if you catch one, you will catch a bunch. If you don’t get bit, you need to keep moving.
A lot of yellow perch are biting. The best depth is 12-14 feet of water. I have been using leaf worms on a split-shot rig through the weeds. Best locations by Brown’s channel and Willow Point.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050