Wisconsin Lakes, Wisconsin Fishing and Wisconsin Lake Homes, WI Fishing

Wisconsin may be known for Cheese and Beer, but we also have a State covered with amazing lakes. Most of our great lakes are located in Northern Wisconsin, which features the Minocqua Lakes, Hayward Lakes, Bayfield County Lakes and Door County Lakes. Wisconsin Lakes are prime for Walleye Fishing, Northern Pike Fishing and Bass Fishing. With incredible fishing lakes like: Lake Geneva, Castle Rock Lake, Lake Winnebago, Green Lake and the Great Lake Michigan, you are sure to catch your limit on these and most Wisconsin Lakes. If you enjoy your stay at one of our fine Wisconsin Resorts, you may be interested in searching for Wisconsin Lake Homes and Lake Property for sale on one of your favorite WI Lakes. The Wisconsin Dells is also one of the most popular tourist and vacation destinations in the Midwest. You can come to Wisconsin for the Cheese and Beer, but you will stay for the Beautiful Wisconsin Lakes!

Walleye spawning is varied across the north. Spawning in full swing on some of the larger lakes that have just opened but smaller lakes and the flowages are in post spawn feeding patterns. Crappies are reported to be moving in to the shallower warm water. In the south, some good musky action was reported.

Along Lake Michigan, brown trout action remained good with anglers trolling Lake Michigan from Baileys Harbor south. Steelhead fishing has slowed considerably on all tributaries of Lake Michigan. In the southeast, trollers have been catching decent numbers of browns out of Sheboygan and Port Washington. In Milwaukee, shore anglers have been catching brown trout and trollers have been catching a few lake trout and chinook.

On the Fox River in Green Bay, walleye are still abundant, including large trophies. Many walleye are in the process of spawning; it is predicted that the spawning run will last another week. Boat and shore anglers were both catching fish; however, success was down from the past couple of weeks. Heavy currents from high water levels and high winds from this past week’s weather have made it difficult for anglers to fish their best techniques especially boat anglers. Jigs and minnows, plastics, crank baits, and zip lures are all catching fish. Night and early morning seem to be the most consistent times for success.

Anglers fishing for smallmouth bass enjoyed success in the back areas of most of the bays. Tube jigs and jerks baits seemed to be providing most of the action. Walleye action has been good to very good at night, with anglers trolling in 4 to 15 feet of water producing some very nice fish. The Sherwood Point, Henderson Point and Dunlop Reef areas all were producing fish. Crank baits, crawler harnesses and floating Rapalas were all reported as catching nice walleyes. Brown trout action remained good with anglers trolling Lake Michigan from Baileys Harbor as far south as Algoma reporting success in 15 to 20 feet of water. Several anglers fishing for smallmouth bass in colder water were pleasantly surprised by nice browns on the Green Bay sides of the county. The flow of water out of the streams remains good and although I didn’t get any reports of success, there are at least some anglers still fishing the streams for steelhead. Northern pike continued to be taken along the channel in Sturgeon Bay as well as well as out of Sawyer Harbor and Little Sturgeon. Unconfirmed reports say that there are some big northerns coming out of the waters around Washington Island.

Anglers were catching some nice sized bluegill on the marsh on Rock Lake. A few limits have been taken although most anglers were catching around a dozen or so. Walleye action has still been slow on the Upper Rock and Crawfish rivers, with the best success by the wastewater treatment plant in Watertown. Anglers were catching the walleye on jigs and minnows and a few on twistertails. Most of the fish were just under the size limit but a few keepers were caught.

Kenosha anglers have been catching good numbers of chinooks in 70 to 90 feet of water. Fish have been hitting spoons and J-plugs in green or silver.

Steelhead fishing has slowed down considerably this past week out of all tributaries of Lake Michigan. Trolling has picked up some out of Algoma and Kewaunee. Brown trout out of Algoma have been reported in about 12-16 feet, and fish have been caught trolling with Rapalas. Based on angler accounts, the water is a little clear for optimum conditions; however, this next week's conditions may change that for the better. Trolling should continue to pick up if the weather permits it.

In Manitowoc, anglers fishing on the north side of the marina's breakwater with spoons or spawn sacs had a slow week with few fish landed. Fishing was slow for anglers fishing with worms while casting spoons produced a couple small northern pike. The Branch River had little to no fishing pressure over the week because of the unfavorable conditions. On the East Twin River anglers had to contend with rain and cold winds; however, it paid off for some anglers as rainbow trout activity was good. Thursday was especially good for anglers fishing the Mishicot Dam. Anglers had most success using large fresh spawn sacs and one fly fishing angler landed a nice brightly colored male rainbow trout weighing in at 5.5 pounds and 26 inches. On the West Twin River water was flowing fast and high making it difficult for anglers to fish close to Shoto Dam. However, early in the week a couple rainbow trout anglers caught a few nice Ganaraska strain rainbows ranging in weight from 5 to 6 pounds. In Two Rivers, few trout and salmon anglers were fishing from the piers or in the harbor. High seas and gusty winds discouraged most boat anglers from trolling Lake Michigan.

The walleye bite has been tremendous, with the mouth of the Menominee River producing many fish both by pier anglers and boaters alike. Trolling with stick baits has been slow but jig heads (1oz green) with twister tails tipped with minnows being worked as you drift has been the rule. A few boats using "Gulp Alive", 4 to 5 inch in a shad color has been out performing anything else out there. They are catching more and bigger fish than the live bait. Boats are now fishing the turn basin and up and around Stephenson Island, having good luck with crawler harnesses, and jigging spoons. Stop by the fence of the fish refuge next to the power house in Peshtigo and observe the many sturgeon there.

In Milwaukee, shore anglers fishing off McKinley pier have been catching brown trout on crank baits, and at Jones Island anglers have been catching a few browns on shiners and crank baits. Trollers fishing off Milwaukee have been catching a few lake trout and chinooks on flashers and flies.

Fishing success on area waters has been fair. Trout fishing has been slow due to high water levels and colder temperatures. Oconto Park II is giving up limits of walleyes using crawler harnesses in 6 to 8 feet of water. The occasional brown is also being caught. Water temps at the Iron bridge by the Stiles dam have reached 60 degrees, and the number of sucker you can observe from the bridge can be counted on three hands. Pensaukee had some shore and boat anglers activity. The fishing at the Oconto breakwater has been slow for walleye, but they are catching and releasing some nice smallmouth bass.

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Walleyes have a reputation for being short strikers. They’ll hit the bait without getting hooked. Avoiding this problem—and consequently hooking more fish—is a two-step process. Step one is to understand how a walleye eats. Sometimes a walleye will slash a bait like a pike or a muskie does. But usually they’ll swim up to it and flare their gills, inhaling their prey and the water surrounding it. If anything happens to interrupt that flow of water, you get a short strike, or nothing at all.

Step two, is adapting your presentation to decrease resistance in the lure-and-line combination, and thereby permit your bait to flow right into the walleye’s mouth. To that end, he offers the following six tips:

1: Use Light Line Light (4- and 6-pound-test), thin-diameter lines offer less drag, or resistance, on a lure. This lets a walleye suck it in more easily.

2: Bounce the Bait When you’re using live bait, McClelland recommends also using a bottom-bouncer rig. Bouncers are L-shaped wires that have a lead weight molded to the shaft. As an angler retrieves the rig, the weight bounces off the bottom and creates slack in the line, which allows the fish to inhale the bait more easily.

3: Shorten the Stroke Many jig fishermen pump their rods too vigorously, using long vertical strokes that can pull the bait out of a fish’s mouth. Use short lifts instead and you’ll hook more walleyes.

4: Offer a Bigger Bite Adding a plastic body to a jig also helps by increasing the surface area to which the fish’s sucking force is applied. It may seem counterintuitive, says McClelland, but a slightly bigger bait is easier for the fish to inhale.

5: Pump a Crank With crankbaits, steady retrieves may hook aggressive walleyes, but a stop-and-go technique is better for deliberate feeders. Once the lure achieves proper depth, lift the rod tip, reel in the slack, and repeat.

6: Troll With the Flow When the water has a chop, trolling with the waves imparts that necessary slight slack in the line. Also, keep a close eye on your inside planer board as you make a turn; it will give you that small amount of slack that allows for more solid strikes—and more walleyes in the boat.