07/16/11 Fished the Wolf River and Partridge Lake north of Fremont on Friday and the Wolf River north above Wieland’s Landing from 6 AM to 2 PM. Caught smallmouth and largemouth on Partridge and smallmouth bass on the main river fishing eddies near rocky shorelines. Fished top water lures in water off the main river without success. Mostly northern pike made passes at my frogs without any hook-ups. Texas rigged plastics in natural shapes and colors worked best for bass.
Dick
07/14/11 Fished from 6 to 2 PM today and found smallmouth on rock humps on the east side and largemouth closer in to shore, but a few came on the same rock piles with the Smallies. Overcast skies, SE winds 10 - 15. Seemed like three were a ton of bass boats out today. They must be pre-fishing for a tournament this weekend. All in all, a nice morning to be on the lake. Best presentations today were drop shot, Carolina Rigs and senko's fished extremely slow. There was a lot of surface feedings but I could not get any bites on top water. Seemed to be small white bass, but they may have been young largemouth.
Dick
07/06/11 Made my first trip to the Wolf this year. I launched in New London City Park. Water is just off its high level for the year. Check the previous posts to determine the water height, but I can tell you I fished flooded shore lines and oxbow’s that actually returned you to the river. One in the high shore lines the trees were very easy to flip and pitch jigs around tree trunks that were standing in 2-3 feet of water. Most action came on top water along the edges of the oxbow’s that had emerging weeds, laydowns, and lily pads.
Dick
A lot of small northern in these areas and they did a lot of damage on my top water frog legs. They liked eating the legs but not the hooks. Water temps were in the mid 70's and looked to be tannic in color. When fishing in the shoreline you can expect to get a great deal of leaves and tree branch derbies in your boat, but the results can more than make up for the effort. This was good practice for my upcoming FLW tournament on the Mississippi this weekend. Hopefully it will pay dividends.
Dick
07/03/11 Fished from 6 PM to 8 PM today and fished shallow docks in front of west shore dining locations. Largemouth bass were hugging docks near support posts and were caught with a combination of tubes rigged Texas style and jigs with twin tail grub trailers. Nothing on Senko's tonight. Weeds are still not much of a problem, but with the warm weather staying around and calm winds they should be developing faster than in the past weeks.
Dick
06/29/11 Took advantage of the first relatively calm day and fished Lake Winnebago from Fond du Lac north to Menasha. Bright sun, light winds and water temps right around 70 degrees made for a great day on the lake. Targeted shallow rocky points, channel openings, docks and off shore rock piles. Found active small and large mouth. Best pattern seemed to be finding patches of weeds on shallow flats and rock piles in water 5 - 8 feet deep and hitting the edges from multiple angles. Water was clear enough to site fish. I did see several bass actively guarding beds. Bigger docks seemed to hold the most largemouth bass. Best method for smallmouth was dragging a tube jig in green or brown with chartreuse tip. Largemouth hit drop shot; Carolina rigs and jigs flipped or skipped under docks. Weeds are still in their beginning growth stages, all in all shaping up for a good month of July.
Dick
06/19/11 Fished as a non-boater in the FLW-Bass Fishing League. Drew a great boater who took the time to come early and pre-fish the Winnebago System. The boater's in these events put in the extra effort that the non-boaters in many cases can't because of time or travel constraints. We fished on Lake Winnebago for post spawn Smallies. With the pressure from competitive walleye and bass fishing tournaments the bass would still bite but the baits had to be near bottom and moving slow and colors made a big difference. Conditions were overcast skies with winds out of the northeast, and water temps in the low 70's. Water clarity on the main lake is pretty good near shore. Greatest lesson learned: the value of being patient and knowing the bottom contour and content, something I often overlook. This was a great educational experience for me.
Dick
06/13/11 Spent most of the day fishing Lake Butte des Mortes for the first time this year. Clear and bright day with temps in the upper 50's and lower 60's. Water was between 56 and 62 degrees. Fished rocky points and weed edges with some success caught smallmouth, largemouth, white and even a couple of aggressive rock bass today, so I guess those are all the species that live in the Winnebago system. Sprinkled in were a few sheep’s and a northern. Nice quiet and productive day on the water.
Dick
06/03/11 Made a solo trip to Door County fishing for small mouth bass. Water temps were only in the low 50's with high winds from the north east. Once the water temps hit 52 and higher the small mouth became active. Sight fishing was difficult, some beds were visible, but the fish caught showed litte signs of wear from the spawning process. Caught fish on craw fish colored crank baits (shallow diving) to keep above the emerging weeds, but most fish caught were on light jigs and gulp products. Biggest was just shy of 20 inches weighing 4.65 lbs. Really a tremendous fishery and close enough for most to make a day trip or short midweek trip enjoyable. This time of year boating and fishing pressure is still light which is also an advantage.
Dick
12/29/10 Back on the ice in same area as last time but tried a little deeper water. 10 feet. Bites were sporatic with perch and small blue gills very tentative. They were doing more looking than biting. Water was beginning to get a little dirty as visibility was not as good. Fish were caught on minnows and wax worms on brite yellow rat finks.
Dick
12/27/10 My first trip out to Winnebago this ice season. I fished the west shore near Van Dyne and the big island near Wendt's On the Lake. Set up near the shore line in about 7-8 feet of water. Had a solid 14 inches of ice and was able to drive out to my spot. Cracks along the west shore are out to the big island and the roads and bridges are not out yet. Only ATV's and snowmobiles have ventured beyond them. Pretty impressive ice shoves near the island as well for you amateur photographers. I only had minnows and small plastics but the perch were more than willing to bite. All were on the smaller size but the action was more than enough to make this afternoon a success. I was set up over sand bottom and the perch were on the move and very active. Most bites were aggressive so you needed to make sure your rod was secure. Highlight of my trip was having a sturgeon take my bait and snap my 4 lb. test line after swimming off. I doubt it even knew I had it hooked.
Dick
12/26/10 Glad to see hard water season is finally here and some of the pro staff have begun to post reports. Hopefully this winter will have good fishing for all how want to either learn or continue success throughout the Winnebago system. While I have primarily targeted bass this past summer, when it comes to ice fishing it's anything goes as long as the flags fly and the ice rods bend. With all the comments this past summer about the young perch, bass and walleye in the lake it would only make sense that this winter will be no different. You'll have to catch a lot of small fish in order to catch enough nice sized fish to take home for a meal. If this is the case it will be an excellent year to take a youngster or two out fishing and getting them interested in seeing a bobber go down and catching fish no matter what the size. Your reward is having a fishing partner for life and creating memories of a lifetime.
Dick
12/02/10 At the beginning of the 2010 fishing season I installed a Humminbird Side Imaging unit on my boat and upgraded it with down imaging. Since then I have been trying to look for more ways to use it effectively. I recently came across this web site that is for Humminbird Side Imaging users and has what I believe is a large amount of information: If you have a Humminbird unit and would like to see what other users are sharing about this technology I hope this helps. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sideimaging/
Dick
12/01/10 I recently purchased a used boat and the previous owner said he had not winterized the motor. While I have done this before I thought I would check out the internet for some help to make sure I have been doing this right and came across this link that may be of help in the future: http://lakesidecanvas.com/winterizing_trailer.html#two
Dick
11/11/10 I made my last trip to New London for the season today. Thought the water temps would be at or near 45 degrees but they were around 41 instead. Many more boats in the rive today south of New London, most fishing for and catching walleyes. Skies were overcast and the air temps only reached the lower middle 50’s. Had limited action, but did manage a nice smallmouth and missed several bites. I tried fishing as slow as I could but the current was pretty swift. Most bites came in slack water on the inside of the river bends or behind wood and trees in the water. It is time to winterize the boat and look forward to next spring. Have a great holiday season and enjoy the winter fishing season if you do that.
Dick
11/08/10 http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?04079000
This website helps me monitor water levels, water flow and water temperatures from a monitoring station south of the Pearl Street Bridge.
I trying to get one more day on the water this week and this information helps me decide which day I go and what conditions to expect when I get on the water. This is especially helpful after a major weather event like the one we are enjoying this second week in November.
Based on the current reading by the USGS readings on 11/8/10, the water level is at 5.46 feet and dropping and the water temp is at 6 degrees Celsius and it rose during the day today. And based on the forecast for the next 4 days the temps may improve even more.
You have to do some simple math and convert the number on their site to Fahrenheit: I have provided two examples below.
The formula looks like this: (6°C x 9)/5 + 32 = 42.8°F.
To convert 6°C to Fahrenheit: Multiply 6 times 9 and you get 54. Then divide 54 by 5 and you get 10.8. Then add 32 to 10.8 and you end up with 42.8 degrees in Fahrenheit.
Dick
10/31/10 Had just a couple of hours and decided to check out the bays and points along the west shore near Van Dyne this afternoon. Water temps were around 45 degrees, winds light out of the northwest and sunny skies. Water level is down about a foot and the water is still dirty from being churned up with the recent sustained high winds. Checked few spots without success and returned to the launch empty handed, but it was nice to get back on the water after the extreme weather this past week.
Dick
10/21/10 Only fished the Wolf River in New London during the afternoon when it was a little warmer. Conditions were partly to mostly cloudy, winds out of the NNW at 15 to 20 mph and air temps only reaching the mid 50's. Water temps did move up to 48 degrees by late afternoon. More boat traffic out for walleye and bass and I saw several caught by boats slipping with the current and either vertical jigging or casting toward shore. All boats moving very slow. I managed several smallmouth during the afternoon on a variety of techniques: crank baits, jigs, small 3 inch senko's and jigs tipped with 3 inch Gulp in minnow colors. Also caught my first walleye on a crank bait. Very nice 16 in fish that almost went home for dinner, but decided to CPR. The only problem with this was making the decision to switch gear and fish exclusively for walleye or stay the course for bass. Couldn't decide until I realized I wasn't set up for walleye although it was really tempting. Maybe next time.
Dick
10/18/10 Fished with a good friend today during the afternoon and found smallmouth still active. Between us we had enough keepers to weigh 5 fish is we were in a tournament with the biggest one being 19 and 1/2 inches. Most came on slow retrieving jigs along rocks. The bite got better later in the day. Fished south of New London launch. All fish were CPR'd.
Dick
10/17/10 Fished the west shore out of Black Wolf Point later in the afternoon. Water temps on the main lake were in the lower 50's and back in the channels near 58 degrees. Winds started out brisk out of the northeast. Caught one really nice smallmouth on the lipless crank bait near a shoreline point. Did more looking than fishing during my 2 hour trip. Weeds are starting to die off, but you can still find green and healthy weeds back in the bays in shallow water.
Dick
10/14/10 Fished the Wolf River all around and through New London focusing mainly on any rock or cement shore line structures. Water temps started out around 53 degrees but as the afternoon progressed so did the temps as they moved up past 56 degrees. Mostly overcast skies and a brisk wind out of the northwest, but that changed over to sunny skies around 3:30 PM. Fish were scattered along the structure but I also caught some smaller bass on the inside points of the river bends is relatively slack water. Water levels are coming down nicely along with current. Today all bass were caught on jigs with plastic trailers in dark colors (greens and browns). More boat traffic with many looking for fall walleye and crappie.
Dick
10/12/10 Returned to fish the Wolf River south out of New London after the success I had the day before. Water temps were around 57 degrees and high sunny skies. Ranged further south than yesterday, but only had a few bites since the further south the faster the current and the water was not a clear. Today I caught several really nice smallmouth the largest being about 3 pounds at around 18 inches. Same baits worked as yesterday and I caught keeper fish along the riprap and on the inside bends near flooded cover. I think the fishing will continue to get better as we head into the fall.
Dick
10/11/10 Made an early morning drive to Fish Creek in Door County to fish for fall smallmouth, but upon arrival the wind was out of the northwest which may be the worst wind direction to find calm water along the shores and getting to and from the islands. I launched at Peninsula State Park and fished for a couple of hours and decided to return south and headed for the Wolf River in New London. I didn't hit the water until after 1:30 PM and was rewarded for the decision by finding active bass now that the water is receding and the water temps have moved back into the upper 50's. Most of the bass were settled along the rip rap although I did catch some on the calm side of the river just outside the weeds that were still under water. My best method was to cast upstream along the riprap and swim the jigs back just above the rocks near the bottom. Water is clearing and getting back to normal. Shallow diving crank baits also produced.
Dick
10/10/10 Fished a new body of water: I fished the Milwaukee Harbor after launching from the McKinley Park Marina on Sunday. Explored the city by boat as we motored up the Milwaukee River all the way past Cherry Street. The new River Walk is pretty impressive. The water didn't look that great so we decided not to fish the river and returned to the harbor where we fished along the large granite bolder sea walls for smallmouth bass during the afternoon. Water temps were around 56 degrees. Adam caught one smallmouth on a spoon and missed a brown trout at the boat. Not bad for a first trip and now I know more about the Milwaukee area and opportunities for fishing.
Dick
10/06/10 Finally returned to the West shore. With sunny skys the water temps starting out at 53 degrees, but as the day progressed they elevated to 55 degrees and climbing. Checked a couple of points and shorelines while I was there and left the lake at noon. Weeds are starting to decline and the Black Wolf Point launch was almost free of loose floating weeds which really made for a nice morning on the lake. Targeted bass and wound up with one nice small mouth over 16 inches on a rattle trap, but that was it. Keeping an eye on the sky for sea gull activity which indicates white bass are chasing minnows to the surface and actively feeding. When that happens, top water and zara spook type baits can yield an amazing top water bite. No sea gull activity this morning but expect it to pick up in the next few weeks.
Dick
9/29 and 9/30/10 Due to the high water in New London after the recent storms and the dense weeds on Winnebago, I switched gears this week and moved to a smaller lake in Shebogyan County and fished for bass on Wednesday during which I saw numerous panfish in the shallow waters near weed lines and around docks and structure in shallow water. So on Thursday, I returned with my ultralight spinning gear and ice jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp and had a blast. Nothing big but just continuous action. It appeared as if they were on their spawning beds, but I'm not an expert so it could have been just an active period for them. I did catch several large and small mouth bass on a variety of presentations on both days using shaky head worms, drop shot, tube jugs and crank baits with the biggest being 16 inches. Water temps were between 60 and 64 degrees under sunny skys and light winds. Same activity should be happening in most small to medium lakes this time of year.
Dick
9/22/10 Fished the Wolf River south from New London. Sunny skies with the main river slightly dirty water with temps at 57 degrees in the morning that rose to 60 degrees in areas off the main river later in the day. Water levels coming back up which meant more current. The northern pike were really active in the slack water either on the inside of river bends or in the areas along the river that had wide areas out of current. Chartreuse spinner baits were really hot and attached pike ranging from 26 inches down to 8 inches. Searched for smallmouth bass along several areas of rip rap more most of the day and managed to catch them on either yellow or chrome colored crank baits, swim baits and jigs. Best presentation was to cast close to shore and bump the rocks beneath the surface with a stop and go retrieve. I moved a lot during the day and most bites came after 4 PM. Missed several in addition. I tried fishing both in current and inside bends if there was rock present. When I did find weeds in slack water I fished top water, but only had one blow up for the effort so I didn't stay with this presentation.
Dick
9/19/10 Wanted to launch at Black Wolf Point today, but when I saw the amount of weeds in the water and on the boat trailers in the parking lot, I decided to fish the Fond du Lac River instead where launching in the river doesn't have this problem. Fished and listened to the Packer game. Water temps were right at 60 degrees with overcast skys so I tried the structure around the bridges and boat docks but came up empty. Had a few light bites and when the light rain started falling I called it a day and went back home. There is always tomorrow.
Dick
9/13/10 Took a short trip to Door County and stayed in Fish Creek just outside Peninsula State Park. Didn't take a boat but did get in a little shore fishing near the Park’s Nicolet Bay boat launch. The wind was out of the northwest and the water was quite rough blowing off the bay. Fished top water baits over the weeds, in line spinner baits and small shallow diving crank baits without any luck. I didn't see any activity on the surface either. On Wednesday evening the wind changed and was coming from the east so the bay side near shore was calm. Standing on the shore while waiting for the Peninsula Players evening show, I did see large schools of bait fish from shore out to about 50 yards and there were fish chasing them to the surface and feeding. My guess is those were small mouth, but they were not aggressively feeding. Looks like the bait fish are moving into the backs of the bays with water temps dropping. I was told by locals that the water temps have dropped into the high 40’s with the colder weather. Hope to return to Door County in October for some late season small mouth fishing. The main challenge could be rough water with winds out of the west or northwest.
Dick
9/9/10 Fished the Wolf River, Water temps was down to 59 degrees at 8:30 in the morning and only managed to climb to 61.5 by 4 PM. Water was extremely dirty from the recent rains and the water level has come down significantly since my last trip. Bright and sunny with light winds. Fished south of New London and only managed a couple of small northern and a few smallmouth, only one was a keeper. Bites came mostly on depth changes at the ends of riprap and all on crank baits. Didn't mark many fish either. The water level in the Little Wolf was high enough to boat up river, but the current was real strong, water was clear, but the laydowns made it difficult for me to get more than 100 yards before turning around. Probably should have stayed in the oxbos where the water was clearer, but that will be next time.
Dick
9/5/10 Had only a couple of hours late in the day and went out of Long Point Launch on the west side only to find the weather changing faster than my idea for good bass fishing. Final tally Dick "0" and bass happy with the weather. The balance of the weekend gave me time to go over my boat and re-organize my gear that I have left in various places in and around my boat.
Also, I took the opportunity to review my electronics manual and found that I have not done enough to fine tune the capabilities of my side imaging unit to improve its use in the shallow water I have been fishing in the Winnebago System. To get the best performance and definition out of my unit I had to first of all review my settings against what was recommended for my particular unit. I found out I don't need to look 150 feet left or right when fishing in rivers this time of year and by reducing the span I should be getting better definition or structure I'll be seeing. I also took the time to check for updates for my unit on the web site of the manufacturer and downloaded them to my computer and later transferred them to the unit on my boat. Now with the updates and new settings on my electronics I can't wait to get back on the water to check these out.
This downtime is a good idea any time to prepare for your next day on the water. Also it's a good time to check the trolling motor for weed buildup by taking the prop off your trolling motor and removing any weeds you find. Fall is gearing up to be special on the Winnebago System so take this time to go over your equipment so you'll not be dissappointed when you're on the water.
Dick
8/30/10 When I launched from Rainbow Park in Oshkosh I found a fully loaded tackle box full of lures someone left on the parking lot in an empty stall. What a country right? No one else in the launch so I picked it up put it in my vehicle and went fishing like any normal Wisconsin fisherman would do: RIGHT?
I stopped a couple of fisherman, Evin and his Grandfather and they did not lose a tackle box full of lures, but I did give them a couple of ideas on how to catch bass on or along the HWY 41 Bridge and then went fishing.
Fished the HWY 41 Bridge on the east side of Lake Butte des Morts in a strong south west wind from 10:30 until noon and managed only two undersized smallmouth on crankbaits. Had several light bites mostly on chrome and blue shallow diving crankbaits that had been working earlier in the week on the Wolf River.
When I came back to the launch and put my boat on the trailer, I had an interesting conversation with a younger angler who had just launched his boat. He told me he had been at the launch earlier and received a call from a friend who needed his help and left the launch leaving his tackle box behind. This he discovered later after helping his friend out. I asked him to identify it and he did at which time I told him the tackle box was in my front seat and he was very grateful. Plus timing is everything here as in a few minutes I would have been gone with his tackle box. I also told him someday he needs to return the favour.
Dick
8/28/10 Returned to New London, and boated north toward Shiocton. Water temps were right at 70 degrees with slightly dirty water. With the high winds today, the Wolf was well protected from the wind. Due to the strong storms that went through the New London Area last week numerous trees had fallen into the river. However, the water was deep enough to navigate around them.
The river begins to narrow the farther you go but there was plenty of depth for the boat. There are no signs to tell you which way to go when you get to incoming water and a good gps will help you track your path back down river. I estimate I travelled about half way to Shiocton before I turned back. Stopped and fished rocky shore lines and points and a couple of oxbows. Several different species of fish were caught on this trip. I missed one and caught a northern pike back in the oxbow area along with a dog fish, which gave quite a fight.
Back on the river, I caught some real nice small mouth off of the rocks, most coming on shallow crank baits. Chrome and blue seemed to work better than brown. Similar patterns used as on my last trip. Current is still pretty good throughout the Wolf.
Benefits of river fishing: you don't need a big boat and motor on this river system; no weeds to bother you, unless you head back into an oxbow; you will catch a variety of fish; very scenic and not a lot of boat traffic this time of year.
Dick
Dick
8/25/10 Finally made my first trip to New London yesterday and fished the Wolf south past Partridge Crop Lake. Water temps were 70 to 72 degrees. Due to the water levels being high, I also had the chance to explore some of the oxbows and was supervised how deep some of them were once you left the opening at the river. Those waters were quite clear too. There was some activity in the weeds but I didn't catch anything on top water so I didn't stay long. Was impressed at how far off the river these can go. Partridge Crop Lake looked pretty weedy and didn't fish it due to the strong NW winds.
Water level in the river is still high and dirty, but did catch a limit of small mouth later afternoon on the rip rap shore lines that were getting a full dose of sunshine. Most were caught casting parallel and tight to the rocks on shallow diving crank bait in a chrome finish. Manage to catch several smaller fish using tubs and jigs. Due to the dirty water dark colors work best for these lures. Those rocks were on the outside bend of the river in fairly fast water. I could see the fish feeding just below the surface right on the chuck rocks if relatively fast current. I later discovered there were some submerged logs along that shore as well that I snagged with my baits. There were very few boats out or vehicles in the launch today which made for a really nice time and boat ride on the river.
Dick
8/18/10 Fished from 9 to 11 AM before the sun came out and the temps went way up. Fished from the City Boat Launch on the Fond du Lac River and moved south to the 3rd bridge. Water levels are lower so getting under the bridges was not a problem. Fished top water, shallow crankbaits, swim baits without success. All in all had 5 nice bites: all large mouth all over 14 inches. All on texas rigged creature baits and all but one came on the down river side of the bridge supports out of the current. The other bite came tight to the metal retaining wall along the east side of the river. For anglers with small boats this is a pretty protected area and calm.
Dick
8/14/10 Fished from 11 am to 2 PM. Water temps were around 78 degrees, overcast skys and light winds out of the northeast. With the overcast skies I thought the top water action would be a good choice, but no takers on buzz baits, frogs and rats over the weeds on and around the points on the west side today. Finally switched over to craw imitation plastics rigged Texas style and caught 4 keepers tight to the rocky shoreline along and around points on the west shore north of Black Wolf Point Launch. I found a mixture of large and small mouth with the large mouth holding tight and the small mouth off the points in the available weeds. If anyone lost an 18 lb. anchor, you can email me and I'll return it if you can describe the anchor and the rope that was attached to it.
Dick
8/11/10 Fished from 10:30 to 2 PM. Water temps near 80 degrees with overcast skys and light winds out of the northeast. Tried Long Point area reefs without success, then moved to the west shore points in that same area and had success casting shallow diving crank baits to the outside of the weed lines. I caught several nice largemouth bass and a couple of smallmouth. Each point seemed to hold fish. There are plenty of floating weeds which added to the work required, but worth it. Baits diving to 4 feet, with shiny chrome finish, seemed to work best and several strikes came when I jerked my lure free from the weed tops. This was the same pattern that caught fish last week along the northwest points of Winnebago.
Dick
8/8/10 Fished with my son today and he caught several small mouth and a couple largemouth on the east end of Lake Butte des Morts along the HWY 41 Bridge. The wind and the current were strong and I ended up using the big motor to position the boat while Adam fished. Tubes and jigs worked well. Later we made the move to Winneconnie and fished north and south of town along the west shore of the Wolf River and some of the channels south of downtown. Adam only caught one cat fish for our efforts on a crayfish colored tube jig. Water temps in the mid 70's, current was fairly strong and water levels were higher than normal for this time of year.
Dick
8/5/10 Changed locations today and fished the Fond du Lac River from the Public Boat Launch into the middle of town on the west branch. With the water levels up from the recent rains I was able to just get under the first two railroad bridges and motor up to Division Street. I had not been able to do that before due to the low water levels which are usually the norm this time of year. Under the railroad bridges, just south of Scott Street, the old wooden bridge supports are visible on the graph and will hold fish throughout the year. You will be snagged here but it is a nice location. I picked up a nice largemouth along the bridge. Also, there are several water discharge pipes that empty into the river which create deeper holes right in front of them. The boat houses and piers along the river also hold bass. I try to fish behind the current breaks or skip a jig under and into any boat house that has an opening. There are lily pads along the banks away from current and top water will produce as well. The river from the mouth of Lake Winnebago up to the boat launch is lined with sunken wood polls along the east shore that must have been left from the old days. These can be good for flipping jigs to in lower water levels when you can see the tops just under the water. The west shore line is mostly rip rap and can hold fish as well. With the wind blowing pretty good today, this was a nice change of pace from fishing the lake this summer. My best time of year to fish this river has been later in summer into the fall for bassDick
8/4/10 Fished the northwest corner of Winnebago this afternoon. Water temps were between 78.5 and 81 degrees. Water clarity was pretty good. Fished the north shore along Menasha and tried jigs, drop shot, and top water along the drop from 5 to 7 feet of water and up tight to shore without any bites. Headed back down to the Paynes Point Launch fishing points along the way with crank baits in a blue gill finish and caught small mouth in the weeds in 4 to 5 feet of water. Most bites came when the shallow diving crank bait hit the weeds and I jerked it free. Top water didn't get a bites today but I would expect that to be better around sun down.
Dick
8/3/10 Took fellow Pro Staffer Jeremiah "Jammer" Clark out from 8 to noon today to show him some of the west shore areas that have been producing bass for me this year. We looked around the west shore from Wendt's-On-The Lake, near the big island, to the channels north of Oshkosh. Water temps were in the upper 70's, with a cloud cover that kept the temps down until the sun came out. We fished some of the points and channels during our trip and caught a few largemouth bass and a number of missed bites tossing jigs and tubes.We ended up fishing the HWY 41 Bridge over Lake Butte des Mortes where Jammer caught several smallmouth and largemouth in the slack water under the bridge on tube baits. Chunk rocks seem to be providing areas that held fish. Bass were also surface feeding on the west side of the new road bed.
Dick
8/1/10 Only had an hour to fish so headed for the west shore bays north of the Black Wolf Point Launch. Missed three and caught a nice small mouth on a chrome zara spook on the outside of the weed lines. Water temps are back in the upper 70's and the bass seemed more active tonight. However, I didn't fish into the dark which could have been interesting as the bait fish were active on the surface throughout the bay. So putting into perspective, my success rate would send me back to the minors.
Dick
7/28/10 In the for what's it worth area the following web site has a great deal of information regarding water levels, temps and volume measurements from the US Geological Service with links to get Fox, Wolf and Winnebago water levels and flows: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?04079000 Open the link and scroll down to additional links for complete information.
Dick
7/27/10 Fished the east shore from Fond du Lac up to Calumet for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Fished docks/piers on the lake where a nice chop helped a lot. In the channels I found the most active bass tight to cover chasing bait fish. Water temperatures were in the upper 70's climbing towards 80 degrees. While fishing in the channels, I noticed a fair amount of water draining into them which tended to congregate bass near the discharge areas. Caught and released 4 keepers 14 - 16 inches and a number of smaller bass with most coming on a drop shot using either a gulp (smelt) or light jig with a trailer in rootbeer and red flake. Water is clearing up with the three days of stable weather. One bass wasn't much bigger than the 3 inch gulp smelt I was throwing on a small jig head. Oh well they have to eat too.
7/26/10 Went out early morning 5:30 to noon. Water temps were down to mid 70's which I thought would result in more active fish. Went to the backs of the bays where the bait fish migrated to yesterday and threw top water baits and only picked up two large mouth. The wind had not picked up so the water was flat. Made another run up to the HWY 41 Bridge and caught a number of small mouth in water moving through the bridge, but today they were all small fish. Fun to catch, but not much of a fight. Water levels in Oshkosh were pretty high and moving swiftly.
Dick
7/25/10 Fished the last two hours of daylight along the west shore bays. Water temps in the low 80's with the water up following the rains, I thought the top water bite might kick into high gear, but only manager a couple of large mouth. Most of the weeds are now just below the surface of the higher water. One thing I witnessed just before dark that I had never seen before: was the migration of bait fish from the lake into the bays. I don't know if this was due to the full moon or not. I tried fishing over, through and under the pods of bait, but without any luck. This might make for a good evening or early morning bite in the days ahead.
Dick
7/21/10 After the winds that screamed down Lake Winnebago on the 20th, I decided to check out the west shore south of Oshkosh from 1:30 to 5 PM today. The water temps were still hovering in the low 80's. I tried fishing the Van Dyne Creek up to the HWY 45 Bridge and found a thick matt of soup on the surface. I threw top water both along shore and over the weed beds in the bays with no takers. I moved to the points and only caught one nice large mouth. I then moved to the shore line and skipped jigs under docks/piers with little action. Then I fished shallow shoreline break walls and had a few bites, but they broke off so I can say, without certainty, they must have been really big, I tied a really lousy knot (or better yet) I forgot to check my line periodically and my weak line broke under the stress of a really small bass. I moved out to deep water humps, but did not see any fish on my graph called it a day and headed to the Fond du Lac County Fair to watch Neil McCoy and the Vic Farrie shows.
Dick7/20/10 Fished the east end of Lake Butte des Morts this afternoon from 3:30 to 7 PM. I decided to fish the HWY 41 Bridge rip rap. The water temps were in the high 70's along the rip rap and that had the bass active. The water temps in other areas were in the low 80's. Caught 5 smallmouth and one large mouth along the shore line near flowing water and current. This would mean the areas around the bridges and the culverts that allow water through the banks from west to east. The new rip rap should add a lot of cover and structure in the coming years. The depth along this area runs between 4 and 8 feet. The small mouth bass were chasing minnows on the surface throughout the area as well.
Dick
7/19/10 Only had a couple of hours to fish so I elected to fish the south shore docks and piers for large mouth. Fished from 4:30 to 6:00, with calm winds along the south shore and after the recent rain I was able to literally fish right next to shore and get really close to the shallow parts of the piers and skip jigs under boat houses that have previously not been accessible. The weather was not the best so I didn't over do my welcome. I did get three small bass in the shallow ends of the docks on jigs and pigs. I did see a number of bass surface feeding away from the docks with the low light conditions. But, the weather got the best of me so I hung it up early after trying top water over the weeds on the south end of the lake for about a half an hour. I probably missed the best bite of the day in the morning when the weather was more stable with sunny skies.
Dick
7/12/10 Had just a couple of hours late in the day to fish so I elected to fish the weeds on the south end near the Fond du Lac Yacht Club and the De Nevue Creek. The weeds are pretty substantial; however, the good news is the largemouth were out in the weeds. I caught 3 bass in an hour before I decided to yield to the weather and head home. Due to the weeds, I decided to fish from the perimeter and throw my baits into the weeds and along the edges. My fish came from throwing a black mouse into the weeds and a chrome zara spook along the edges. I hope to fish this area again this week when better weather returns.
Also a tip for angler's with trolling motors: I cut 6 to 8 inch pieces of the noodles kids use in swimming pools and put them under my Minnkota trolling motor to get my trolling motor prop up to just below the surface, this minimizes the amount of weeds I collect when fishing weed mats. I also raise my boat motor completely out of the water to keep it from snagging surface weeds. This also works for fishing shallow shorelines with rocks.
Dick
7/9/10 Water temps 80 -81 degrees on the east shore during the afternoon. Moved around a lot today looking at new reefs and humps along the east shore between Fisherman's road and Pipe. Was looking for smallmouth, but to my surprise I caught a fairly decent largemouth on a small rock pile in 12 feet of water. Didn't find any active fish and what I thought was a going to be a real nice smallmouth turned out to be about a 17 inch sheep head. Tried a variety of lures, chatter baits, spinning baits, senkos, jigs and Carolina rigs and even suspending jerk baits, but didn't connect. Even threw top water over any weed growth I saw. Moved into shore and found active bass near shore structure and close to any strucrture I could find.
Got caught off guard and couldn't take advantage of a school of whitebass that moved rapidly by the boat chasing minnows to the surface. I need to have a rod rigged with a plug or zara spook that I can throw out in front of them next time.
Dick
7/8/10 Fished this afternoon along the West Shore south of Oshkosh. Water temps ranged from 77 out in the lake about 1/2 mile off shore to 79 degrees along the shore and lower 80's back in the channels. I found the most active bass along lake points and in the shade at the openings to channels. Not much activity back in the channels though. All were caught on brown and green jigs. Did see numerous young bass back in the channels so it looks like the future should be good.
I threw top water over back water weedy areas, but didn't have any results.
Dick
7/7/10 I welcome the opportunity to share my experiences and knowledge of bass fishing on the Winnebago system. I have been posting reports this year using the ID of rmajewski. I live in Fond du Lac and have discovered the bass fishing throughout the system to be well above average. My ambition is to learn all of Lake Winnebago from Fond du Lac to the north shore and both east and west sides. Being retired I am able to spend quality time on the water and hope to share what I am experiencing in the weeks to come.
My goal as a staff member is to provide helpful information on the general areas of the lake I fish and what I am using to catch fish, which may be applicable to the areas you fish on Winnebago or even your local lake.
As many angler's will agree, fishing is a continual learning experience ( I can attest to this) and if I can help some of you learn more about the Winnebago system and it's bass, then I feel I will be making a positive contribution to this site. I practice catch and release and try to introduce someone new to angling each and every year.
I didn't fish over this past weekend, instead I cleaned my boat and got ready for summer fishing on the Winnebago system.
Dick
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