Wacky weather Wissota walleyes 5/15-5/16/07

What do you do when low 90s and sunshine turns into low 60s with stiff winds and thunderstorms? Go walleye fishing on Lake Wissota, of course!

I spent the last two days with afternoon guests, chasing walleyes (and whatever else the fishgods would offer) on Lake Wissota. With the major change in the weather, I admit to having modest expectations for our two trips. Nevertheless, my general early season patterns of fishing live bait on light jigs or on spinners remains intact, and the summertime crankbait bite is picking up speed. I spent time in the rivers as well as on the main lake. The lake is 3-4 degrees cooler than the rivers and offered up only one short fish, so we focused nearly all of our efforts in the two rivers that feed the lake.

Both of my trips followed the same progression. We started by pulling cranks on an expansive sand flat that features depths between 12 and 14 feet. Leadcore was the ticket both days, with jointed SR5s in firetiger being key producers. While our water temperatures are only in the low-mid 60s, we were connecting with decent numbers of eyes and pike pulling cranks between 2.0 and 2.2 mph.

Once we tired of cranking, we switched over to pulling spinners w/ minnows behind bottom bouncers. A weed-strewn sandbar that borders the river channel produced good numbers of fish both days. Key depths ranged from 10-14 feet, and we pulled spinners between 1 and 1.4 mph. On cloudy days, I favor bright painted blades (oranges, yellows) over shiny metal blades (which I prefer on bright sunny days), and orange/chartreuse blades definitely set the pace over the past couple of days.

One pattern that will hold from now until October is pitching live bait on light jigs to rock and sand flats. We ended both days pitching to one of my favorite rockpiles, and while the action was not fast and furious, it was very consistent both days with eyes up to 17+" and numerous pike. One thing we noticed was that when pike were about, the eyes remained hunkered down; the eyes eventually returned when the pike all swam away with sore lips. Here are my guests from today, Brad and Brent, with a healthy 17" eye. This was one of 20+ eyes (in addition to a handful of gators) we landed this afternoon.

The Lake Wissota fishery is in great shape….put us on your list of close-to-home summer fishing destinations. I have one guide trip opening over the Memorial Day weekend….drop me a line if you’re interested in chasing some holiday Wissota walleyes!