The crankbait bite on Lake Wissota remains tremendous. No matter what style of crankin’ that you prefer, Lake Wissota has a walleye bite that will not disappoint.
While not a leadcore “purist”, I do gravitate towards this technique over long-lining. Leadcore has been doing some major damage for the past several weeks, and this week is no exception. I have been finding excellent numbers of fish in 16-30 feet, pulling cranks at 2.5 or over, anywhere from half-way down to right on the bottom. Doubles and even triples are common. In our league competition last night, the first 6 fish that Sully and I landed came in the form of 3 doubles. One thing that I have noticed over the past several weeks is that fish are transitioning away from shorelines and structure out into the basin. A number of our fish yesterday came from “no-man’s-land”. Don’t be afraid to work some of that off-structure water, especially for bigger fish!
If long-lining is more your style, there is still an outstanding long-line bite in quite shallow water. Just ask IDO member “Whitetip” about that bite, he’s been the long-line master all year in our league. The shallow-water guys are getting more of a mixed bag, including crappies, bass, slimers and musky. In fact, I know of at least 3 ‘skis caught last night by shallow water crankers, including a 44″ TANK.
This crank bite is dynamite for both numbers and size. The two Wissota “overs” that Sully and I are holding are two examples that posed for a photo prior to release. The 21+” fish that I have is the type of fish that guys will need to place well in this Saturday’s Lake Wissota Open. We have been finding ~ a handful of these overs on each trip out, with fish in the low 20s finding the net with some consistency. If you’re on the fence about the tournament, get off the fence and join us! We still have room in the event, and will still accept entries at the boat check at 6:00 on Saturday morning. I hope that some of you guys will join us. The weather looks great and the bite is in fantastic shape. So come on out to Lake Wissota on Saturday…you may be the first Champion of the Lake Wissota Open!
