Its been an incredibly good fall so far here on Lake Wisconsin with 5-fish limits of saugers between 15-20″ long being caught on a regular basis. Some bigger walleyes were also being caught all along, mostly by live bait rigs but also a few on cranks and jigs & plastics. You could basically make your choice when leaving the dock in the morning. If you preferred to catch a fish fry, head to the lower half of the lake. If it was bigger walleyes you’re looking for, head to the upper half of the lake.
This weekend, all my clients chose to take a crack at bigger fish vs scoring a limit of eaters. They still wanted some fish to take home but were willing to take a few less for a chance at some fish over 20″ long. And that’s pretty much exactly how this past weekend played out.
Overnight temperatures went well below freezing last Friday night and as a result, water temps began dropping fast. That may have very well played a roll in the great bite this past weekend as the walleyes were definitely strapping on the feed bag.
Last weekend, we saw water temps of 52-53 degree’s out on the main lake. Colder on the southern end and warmer on the shallower, northern end of the lake. This past weekend, surface water temps were in the 45-46 degree range.
Best depths were anywhere from 17′ to 23′ deep. Working along side or on top of the break lines definitely produced more fish but they’re were also some good fish scattered out in the middle of nowhere on mud flats. We witnessed more than one troller pull in fish from spots nowhere near a break line out in 22′ of water. A couple of those fish certainly appeared to be mid-20’s inch walleyes. We didn’t see any really big ones caught by the trollers but as good as the bite was, they’re sure could have been a few.
Since I’ve been on such a good jig & plastic bite, we just stayed with what was working and that decision definitely paid off.
I did a full day trip on Saturday and two half day trips on Sunday. For the weekend, we pulled in a total of 69 fish.
Twenty seven were under the 15″ minimum length requirement. Twenty two were in the keeper slot range of 15-20″ long and twenty were between 20-26″ long.
I know there’s a lot of ice heads out hoping otherwise, but I’m praying the lake doesn’t ice over until mid-December as I’m betting this bite will stay good right up to ice up.
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