Quality fishing on a recreational no wake lake? Is such a thing possible?
Every year my FFW (Favorite Future Wife) joins her friends and family at Blackhawk Lake Recreational Area to view the Perseid meteor shower and camp. I was invited this year and decided to pull my boat along.
Blackhawk Lake is a 220 acre reservoir with a no wake restriction. If this past weekend was any indication this body of water is more utilized for recreation than fishing, but it’s not a slouch of a fishing lake.
It’s probably best known for it’s bass and panfish, but it’s also stocked for walleye. I had the opportunity to take out some folks that don’t have a chance to spend a lot of time on the water. We decided to target the panfish.
I hit the water early on Saturday looking for some good shallow water vegetation to try the shallows first. There wasn’t much sign of life shallow so I decided to poke around in the depths. I marked a bunch of fish on the bottom end of an old road bed. It wasn’t long before we made contact. My fishing partner for the morning, Johnny, pulled in a plump 8" bluegill that put a smile of hope on our faces. I proceeded to pitch a small mini-mite in search of the crappies. I found a few crappies, but they were the modest 9" variety.
We took a break and I headed out in the afternoon with another group of eager anglers. We got set up in a bay with a good mix of vegetation, still targeting panfish, when Catherine struck walleye gold. The featured happenstance walleye came off a small crawler tipped jig under a float. It hit the tape at 24.25". I gave it a kiss on the cheek and returned to fight another day. The release was met with applause from on-looking anglers. Of course that fish got me thinking in terms of the walleye world, but I didn’t come prepared with my walleye gear. I will put the ‘eyes on official notice that I will be after them next year.
If you get a chance to introduce someone to fishing, please don’t pass up the chance. It’s a heck of a gift to share our passion with folks that don’t get out on the water often.
Sully
Great Report Sully!
And I agree with you 100% – introduce everyone you can to this awesome event we call fishing!
Thanks for the report Sully. How was the water clarity? Blackhawk has some bruiser gills in it but it’s nice to see the effort they are making on the walleyes. Glad to see you guys get into a few.
Jeff, I got just a sampling of those bruiser gills. I would love to go down there on hard water when there isn’t all the recreational traffic.
I found the water clarity to be very poor. The algae bloom was in full swing. Saturday afternoon the wind started to blow which helped push “the green” to shore.
It’s a neat little lake.
Sully
The Spring crappie bite is pretty good on Blackhawk and any plastic worm anywere will put a good eater bass in the net
Whiskerkev, how big do the crappies get out there?
I didn’t find anything close to the slab category.
Sully
Well done Sully. Nothing like an unexpected big walleye.
Most around 10-12 inches with a 14 once a blue moon. I had a pike hit one last year that wouldn’t let go of my crappie until I lifted it out of the water. Fun little lake. go 50 yards out from the boat landing and take a left and fish 12 feet of water half way down. the bait shop guy is very cool and will tell you where they are biting.
Nice report Sully…
hmmm… winter roadtrip??? Where is Blackhawk located?
closest town is Highland Wi. In Iowa county.
blackhawk lake gets hit pretty hard over the summer. lots of guys hit it during hard water mostly at night. the water during winter is gin clear. there are numerous cribs located through out the lake.if your looking for a road trip i would stick to the river. the guy to pm would be jeff jensen or me.