Lake Geneva 7/12/21 through 7/19/21
If you are interested in Walleye fishing, this is the best time for both quantity and quality. Many fish are being taken between 11 pm and 3 am. Boat traffic is at a minimum at this time. Most of the legal fish are being taken on leeches. Night crawlers are a good option, however you will catch more bass and rock bass with them than walleyes. The suspended walleyes are coming from the deeper water, 20-25 feet and coming up on the shallow weed lines in 13-15 feet of water. A lot of the fish are being taken on the west side of Williams Bay, Fontana Beach or east of Abbey Springs on the flats. Some walleyes are being caught on shallow diving Bandit Lures in the perch pattern. However all the floating grass has made this very difficult without wind.
This past week the small mouth bass have made a showing in shallow water chasing minnows. The legal fish however, are hard to come by. I have been using the split shot rig with night crawlers. Once I find the active fish, I like to work between 12 and 18 feet of water, trying to find the legal fish. My best success has been west of Black Point or by Coleman’s Point. The numbers and size have been there almost all week. Saturday, quite a few nice small mouth were taken by Knollwood, outside of the buoys in 14 feet of water.
Lake Trout fishing continues to be good; the fish are in the central basin chasing the schools of Cisco. Look for the suspended fish in 70-90 feet of water. They have a tendency to bite better than the lakers that are holding tight to the bottom. As always the chrome/green and chrome/blue spoons seem to work the best.
The northern pike fishing has been great. With the warm weather the thermocline has formed and they can be easily caught in 31-33 feet of water. The legal fish (32 inches) have been very scarce this summer so far. The best success has been the channel buoys in Fontana, the east shore in Williams Bay or just east of Cedar Point by the blue boathouse. The best way to catch the pike has been lindy-rigged suckers. I prefer the 5 or 6-inch size bait. The only drawback is that the suckers are quite expensive, considering the legal fish are hard to catch.
Largemouth bass fishing has slowed slightly. I have been getting many of my fish in the 8-10 foot range, fished through the weeds. The night crawler rig has been the bait of choice for me. The top water bite has been effective in the early morning or in the evening. Try the chrome zara spook or the chrome and blue chug bug. The best location has been east of Linn Pier or by Coleman’s Point. The bluegill and perch fishing has been good. I’ve caught plenty of keeper fish as I fish for the small and large mouth bass. Some of the perch I caught last week were 10-12 inches, and I could have kept a good bunch of either fish.
Good Luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050