Well, I finally managed a slug of hours on the lake. It’s been a long time coming, but Wissota season is finally here.
First, some general conditions and locations. I spent all of my time in the Chippewa River, the Yellow River, and the Moon Bay area. Water temps range from 57-61. Water clarity is excellent. I didn’t target depths greater than 10 feet all day and enjoyed steady results. Flow in the Chip is back down to seasonal norms and is being regulated by the Jim Falls dam. There is a nice gentle flow in the Yellow.
Now, for the details: I spent the afternoon with Dan Meyer, manager of Skeeter Boat Center in Chippewa Falls, WI. Dan and I hole-hopped for a few hours, pitching bait on light jigs to current seams, rocky shorelines and shoreline timber. We found a nice bag of walleyes (up to 16″) and smallies (topping out at 14-15″) during our time on the water. Dan is pictured below with a sample of the afternoon’s catch. Thanks for sneaking away from the office Dan, we’ll do it again soon.
I spent the evening with Jason Sullivan, fishing in week 2 of the Wissota Fishing League. Sully and I hit a couple of the more reliable spots that Dan and I had found in the afternoon. Well, spot 1 was pretty much a bust, but Sully and I whacked a great mixed bag at spot 2 during the last 2 hours of league competition. We ended up with a couple of league limits of walleyes, a smallie or two, a perch, 2 gators (up to 30″) and a handful of crappies (up to 11.5″). All of these fish came on fatheads, rigged on 1/8-1/16 oz jigs, pitched to shoreline wood and docks.
League scores were back down in the earthly realm this week after a couple of huge bags last week. The big league walleye was 19″, and I heard a rumor of an 18.5″ smallie as well. A nice turnout that included a couple of kids too. See you all next Tuesday!
