Lake Wisconsin Early Summer Walleyes & Saugers

If anyone in Wisconsin needs more proof that a good slot limit works for walleyes they need not look any further than Lake Wisconsin.
The current slot limit regulations certainly seem to be working great for the most part and walleye fishermen are just as surely reaping the benefits. Plenty of proof for all to see has been documented in the fishing reports posted on the Lake Wisconsin thread right here on IDOfishing.com
That’s not to say that this lake can’t still have a bad year or two every once in awhile. There are always plenty of factors other than just total walleye & sauger numbers that come into play when it comes to how many fish the average fishermen actually catches on any given day or over the course of a year. Bait fish numbers come to mind first and foremost.
Taken as a whole though, like since the inception of the current slot limits enacted in May of 2003, it’s would be pretty hard for anyone to argue that these rules aren’t working and working exceptionally well at that.

I spent Saturday morning fishing with Brian & John Schmoldt, who are originally from Michigan. We pulled crawler rigs behind bottom bouncers and caught a total of 28 walleyes & saugers, most of which were short of the minimum 15″ requirement which bothered me a bit as I was hoping to put the guys on more keepers than that. But when the end of the morning came, John didn’t hesitate for a moment when he proclaimed that was some of the best walleye fishing he’s experienced in a long time. Which made me very happy because at the end of the day, if my clients happy, then I’m happy.
I’m pretty sure though, that catching a 22″ sauger may have gone a long way towards John’s happiness.

Those of us who live nearby, are definitely lucky to have such a quality walleye & sauger fishery as Lake Wisconsin and we should not take it for granted.
More and more people are starting to realize it too. I’ve talked to numerous people who used spend a considerable amount of time chasing walleyes on nearby Lake Mendota, which has put out some notably big walleyes over the years. More and more, those people are foregoing fishing there in favor of Lake Wisconsin. Saturday afternoons clients kind of fall into that category. Tyler Anderson, Scott Schulz & his son Dylan booked a half day trip to learn more about walleye fishing on Lake Wisconsin. Dylan landed a very nice 26″ walleye while Tyler landed a good size crappie, a legal walleye & an upper slot size walleye. Scott landed & released a chunky 27″ pike that looked like it just swallowed a sheepshead.
Dylan’s 26″ walleye put up one heck of a battle and at one point, entangled itself up with an unseen, underwater stump. (Having fished Lake Wisconsin for many years, this was not the first time a fish had done this to me). At this point I threw the kicker motor out of gear and had Tyler & Scott haul in the other board lines while urging Dylan to keep steady but not excessive pressure on the fish. Once the other lines were cleared, I started the big engine and was about to throw it in reverse when Dylan announced that the fish was no longer hung up but was indeed still hooked up. Wow, what a break that was! I have no idea what my success rate is on fish that tangle up with underwater stumps but I know for sure it’s not very high.

Two fish we didn’t land left us wondering though. Both of those fish bit clean through our 20# fluorocarbon leaders.
One after an extended battle and the other no more than 30 seconds after hooking up.
Sunday mornings trip was canceled due to lightning & thunderstorms but Sunday afternoon we were back at it with the Tracy family. Brent and his two youngest sons, Eric & Evan didn’t care the technique we used they just wanted to catch some fish. As luck would have it, the very first walleye turned out to be a nice 21″ upper slot limit fish.
Shortly after that, Brent battled the biggest walleye of the weekend to within 15′ of he boat. Unfortunately, that was as close as we got her before she came unbuttoned.
Brent did land a very nice 26-1/2″ walleye later in the afternoon which was nice to see after the earlier heart break. They ended up taking home three nice legals, four good size crappies and plenty of good memories to look back on.