Mid-September walleye fishing on Lake Wissota

Frost on the boat cover and some extra crispness in the air are two ways to tell that fall has arrived. Another tell-tale indicator that summer has ended is that Lake Wissota’s walleyes start to strap on the feedbag. Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of fishing with long-time IDA member Mark Steffes and his two girls Ashley and Christine as part of their first trip to Lake Wissota. Something tells me that this trip will not be their last.

Our trip began with a run up the Chippewa River to fish livebait through some areas that are consistent summer and fall producers. Rock and sand points are one type of area that I frequent, as well as deep holes in the middle of rocky flats. We were set up with an array of 1/16 oz jigs to be used to pitch or drag crawler halves or minnows. The level of fish activity was not all that impressive, but we were able to manage a few slot walleyes and a handful of jumping smallmouth bass. There were a number of boats around us, and nobody seemed to be lighting them up, so I started planning for an after-lunch change of tactics.

After a hot lunch at the Wissota View on the south end of the lake, I decided to pull some cranks on leadcore through some deeper-water main lake areas in the hope that we could start to scare up some better walleye numbers. As we set up in our first area, a 20-22′ deep wind-blown flat, my pace quickened as I noted LARGE numbers of bottom-oriented fish on the locator. The eyes are here…but would they bite? Well, Mark and I were working on getting the third and fouth lines in the water when the first line got whacked by a chunky slot eye. As soon as that fish went back into the drink, a second bait connected with another slotter. It didn’t take too long for us to put the jigging rods away, and spend the rest of our day pulling cranks on leadcore.

Over the four hours we spent fishing together after lunch, Mark, his girls and I conservatively put 25+ fish in the boat, including 4 double-headers. These were primarily fish in the 14-18" protected slot, although we did scrape up some eaters for Mark and the girls to take home as well. It was a TON of fun fishing with this group, with Mark and I setting baits in place and handing the rods off to the girls when we would hook up. After a long day of cranking in Wissota walleyes in the early fall sun sun and the cool breeze, I suspect that the girls were fast alseep before too long on their way home. Thanks for making the trip over here Mark, I look forward to fishing together again soon!

Our key depths were 18-22′, at the base of near-shore drops and scattered along deep-water flats, but we also caught some fish suspended that far down over 30+ feet of water. Our trolling speeds were right around 2 mph. Smaller profile baits like #5 shad raps and similar sized Salmo hornets produced better than #7 SRs or jointed SRs, although we did score one nice fish on a Minnow Rap.

Don’t miss out on the next 6 weeks of walleye and smallmouth action on Lake Wissota. Hope to see you out there soon!