Here in Northern Wisconsin it has been a rough transition season due to high, near flood stage rivers, a slow ice out, and very poor weather conditions. Anglers have been having a tough time finding many good fishing opportunities the past couple weeks, (other than Green Bay Walleye fishing and a few folks on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan targeting trout and salmon) so I am going to write this more as a fishing forecast than a report because fishing will soon be heating up fast!
Some of our smaller lakes are opening up now and more will soon follow. Watch for panfish to push shallow on the smaller lakes soon after the first couple sunny, warm days we get in late April. Target them by casting small jigs and plastics or live baits under slip floats on the outside edges of the weeds or over the top of green weed beds as the water warms. Wisconsin’s game fish opener will be occurring on May 6 this year and I would expect the walleyes to be in either pre-spawn, spawn, or slightly post spawn depending on the lake size, with smaller, darker lakes and rivers seeing spawning complete first.
Some good walleye fishing can be found around rock and gravel structure on lakes (and below dams on smaller rivers) in the post-spawn period as walleyes hang around for a bit before trickling back to deeper water or downriver. A jig and minnow is hard to beat early in the year but don’t discount throwing stickbaits in low-light on shallow rock!
Pike and bass fishing can also be excellent as the shallows warm up. They are typically feeding hard in the warmest water available, which can typically be found on the downwind side of the lake, as the wind pushes the warmer surface water to that side. Always check the windy side of the lake in early spring, especially if the sun is out and there has been a warming trend. Throwing small paddletail swimbaits around mid-depth weedy areas can be a killer early spring tactic for largemouth bass and pike and casting stickbaits and hair jigs for smallmouth on rock and gravel flats can also produce some crazy days of fishing in early spring. So, despite a couple of tough weeks, the good stuff is right around the corner folks! See you on the water.
Caleb Wistad
Hooked Up WI