April Rock River & Lake Koshkonong Fishing Reports

Let’s go fishing

Good luck this April and be safe.

fish onnnnnnnnnnnnnn.hey a few more fish bucks,and i can get a beer ,tho it would have to be pabst or blatz ,maybe a few more posts

The walleyes are starting to move up into the Rock in good numbers now. Talked to a few guys bank fishing that were having some good luck on the fish. I saw a few decent fish caught while talking to them. I should have brought a rod with me. Maybe next time.

caught some nice walleyes crankin today

Can’t believe I need sunscreen again today

85 here yesterday. Lots of bank fisherman on the Rock below the Steele Dam.

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caught some nice walleyes crankin today

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See JP now you are thinking like me. I always thought it should be the other way around. Should get out next week. Been playing it low key since the focus is job search.

See you on the water soon

D

its not the heat,its the humidity im not liking this already so much for easing into it

See JP now you are thinking like me.

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tough bite the last couple days, sure glad I don’t make a living fishing….

I still got nothing but short fish the last two days though decent number of them both days but ended with a huge northern too big for my net so I touched it and did a boat-side release, trophy fish but no official measurements.

fish are biting late int he afternoons below sears dam.

Fish are biting from the Steele Dam all the way down to the Big Muddy! Cranks and jigs.

Speaking of un-official measurments. Was fishing De Pere Saturday. Net hit my fish at the back of boat and crankbait got stuck in webbing. One head shake and gone Estimate heavy fish 29 or 30 inches. But group did end up with about 15 fish 18 – 25 with most over 22. Next trip to the Rock Friday or Monday after.

Hosted by a buddy yesterday afternoon from 3 till 7, and got 4 dinks and a carp from bypass down to head of lake. Water temps at 52. Hardly any boats on the water, which was a surprise for as nice a day as it was….must have limited out early, and gone home.

EZ – limits are hard to come by this time of year. It’s not like the good old days anymore. Two weeks ago water temps were high 50’s – 58 to be exact and last week dropped to 50 .

Had about an hour and a half to float around tonight. Went upstream from hy 26. Managed a dandy Carp on a chartruse Zoner with a twister tail, Yea Couple guys at launch mentioned some saugers. Good luck all.

What do you mean some guys “mentioned some saugers “?

Boat was pulling out as I was waiting to put in. Asked them how they did. They said they picked up some small saugers on minnows. Said overall it was pretty slow.

Question for the board…. How does everyone deal with the wind? Once we get much more than a 10-15 mph wind with gusts, boat control (or lack there of) becomes almost impossible for me to verticle jig. Do you just toss out the anchor or try to find somewhere out of the wind? Just kinda frustrated, have next few days free but it isn’t much fun when you have almost no control in gusting conditions. Alot of my problem is the 17′ flat, totally smooth bottom jon boat I use… Have a 55# 12v TM on it that the other day with the wind blowing upsteam, with two 5 gallon drift buckets out, and TM on high I couldn’t keep up to my 3/8oz jig . Should I just breakdown and spend the $$$$$ on a pair of huge drift socks, or just suck it up and through out the anchor?… Any ideas or experiences or tips would sure be appreciated.

ProDrive , try using heavier jigs and move around a corner where you get a little more of wind block, some areas do become impossible to fish. It’s a good time to look for new areas that might hold fish if the spots you like are getting ripped up too bad to control the boat. It also helps to concentrate on just one rod so you don’t miss the bites that are harder to feel in the wind.

Yeah dropping down to only one line helps as does going heavier on the jig size although I really hate to go bigger than 3/8oz. Guess I’m just complaining cause it’s SOOO nice out but the wind makes it rough. It would also prolly help if I could fish other times of the day rather than the 9am to 3pm that my 3rd shift job allows…. Could also shore fish too I guess but that bites in it’s own way… Maybe try up the Bark a ways for some white bass is a possibility too, lots of corners to hide around in there..

yeah i usually dont go over 3/8 either. i would also suggest looking at getting maybe a bigger trolling motor. once you go from a 12v to a 24v it helps a lot and your batteries wont go dead after only a little while. plus you get a higher thrust motor too. i sometimes if necessary will backtroll too it can be difficult but sometimes thats the only way im able to keep the bait down.

Hey Prodrive, good question. Trying to wrap my head around your drift sock thing. If you have an upstream wind, sounds like you have to chase your jig. Why would you drop drift socks to chase your line. Anyway.

I try to keep my bow to the wind, regardless of current flow (well most of the time). Slow the boat down to match the wind and current, or speed up to chase the line. Gusts suck, have to deal with it. Flatbottom should actually help you opposed to high sided deep V’s which sail in the wind. If you have a transom mount, well good luck. Really consider a 24V system as well as previous post stated.

Agree with Data, if you can’t hold in the wind and current, move to likely area’s where you can maintain an effective presentation.

Don’t anchor if peope are drifting the area. You will certainly make some people mad. If there a not a lot of people fishing, then heck drop an anchor and give it a shot. Just keep moving, don’t just sit there.

No pro hear, just my thoughts.

Think of my boat as fishing out of an innertube or canoe . It’s made for mud running so it has a round chine and smooth flat bottom. I use the drift buckets to try and keep myself going with the current.. Also helps to keep the boat from spinning. My boat acts more like a huge walleye boat or even a cabin cruiser . Having no keel at all is what really hurts but it is what it is… Would like to go to a 24v 80ish# TM but boat struggles with only only one group 31 for the troller and a 27 for the starter, basically underpowered but a few mods are planned for the ProDrive this summer .
And as far as anchoring yeah I hate to do it when others are drifting and I just don’t seem to have the luck with that either…

Hey Experts ,

What is the water clarity on the lake? Normal or muddy (due to wind churn on the lake). May head out there (wind permitting of course) on Wednesday for a run on a couple spots I found last fall.

D

it looked normal today. maybe a little muddy but otherwise it was fine. good luck.

Thursday Night Tourney League Starts This Thursday at 4:30 at Anchor Inn Bar in Newville WI

Looks like we will most likely be dry for the opener this year Jigged several hours Sunday pretty windy. Couldn’t find anything. Did see a young guy catch and release a 23 incher. Other than that didn’t see anybody doing anything. Tried jigging again Sunday for an hour still nothing. Started trolling 3 shorts. Saw other trollers having some luck.

I hit a walleye in the head today that was almost 22″ but still mostly getting 13-14″ fish. I’ve been out at least twice a week since ice out and that was only my third or fourth over 15″ and my first over 16″. It looks like we’re going to have to earn our league fish this year. Hope to see you all tomorrow night for the opener! If you want to beat the Fin-tech team it looks like this might be your year.