Lake Wissota Wisconsin Walleye Report 6-11-08

We all have ways of describing abnormally good fishing; "Hot Bite" and "Suicide Bite" are two phrases that I kick around a bit. The best way that I can describe the current walleye bite on Chippewa County’s Lake Wissota is "Suicidally Hot Bite". For the past two weeks, we have been absolutely CRUSHING walleyes on our 6000 acre backyard gem. And not just little shakers…NICE slot fish. QUALITY fish in the 18-23" class, like the one shown in this first picture. Absolutely outstanding numbers. I’ve touched on this bite in a recent IDO fishing report, but the Wissota walleyes are going so well right now that I am happy to share an update with you.

This report will cover patterns I have been using during the past couple of days. I had a chance to guide two different parties on Wissota, and all four of my guests left with big smiles on their faces after experiencing one of the best Wissota walleye bites in recent memory.

First, a bit about what’s working: trolling cranks and jigging are both putting quality and quantity in the boat. I have been having the most success pulling cranks on leadcore, focusing on water that is 15-25 feet deep in the main lake. There is certainly a shallow bite happening here as well (more on that later) but my best crankbait results have been on lead in this slightly deeper water.

My speeds when pulling lead have been varying between 2.2 and 2.7 mph. Varying your trolling speeds to find the best speed of the day (or hour) is critical. Today, we didn’t start whacking fish until our speed crept over 2.5, and we kept catching them until we started flirting with 3 mph. We have been running enough lead to just occasionally touch bottom, which means constantly adjusting the amount of line out to keep the bait in the zone as speeds and depths change. We have been running 6 lines over the past couple of days, and all of these constant adjustments mean that the boat is a busy place, especially when you start doubling (or tripling!) up on fish. Yesterday evening, my Wissota Fishing League partner and fellow IDO staffer Jason Sullivan and I had fish on 4 rods at the same time. Sully and I are pictured here with two of the five Wissota overs that we measured and released last night.

What types of cranks are getting attention? Well, what do you have in your collection? They will probably work! We have scored fish on a variety of SR5 and SR7 patterns, JSR5s, some #5 Flicker Shads, and some #5 Salmo hornets . Unlike my last report, we have been catching fish on a WIDE variety of baits, so pick out an assortment and let the fish tell you what they want.

Trolling is a great way to find areas that are holding good numbers of fish. Over the past couple of days, we have identified a handful of spots that are concentrating fish in the slot or above, and these fish, once found by pulling lead, can be taken on other, less mobile techniques. On each of the past two trips, my guests and I have put the trolling gear down after lunch and pulled out the jig sticks. Our best presentation for slots or above has been to pitch or vertically jig 3/16 oz jigs tipped with minnows in 14-16 feet in the lake, or 8-12 feet in the Chip. With the big winds we have been experiencing over the past two days (gusting over 30 today!), boat control has been critical to stay on top of these relatively shallow, active fish. Average size fish on the jig presentation has been very good, with numbers of fish in the 15-17" class with some crepping over the slot, like this pre-storm 19-incher from this afternoon. I do love to troll, and it can be hard to put the long rods aside when the troll is whacking and stacking some nice eyes, but that "thunk" of a chunky Wissota walleye inhaling a jig makes it all worthwhile!

With no serious warm-up in the long term forecast, I suspect that we will see this "suicidally hot" Wissota pattern hold up for the next couple of weeks, at least! The timing is perfect for the 2008 Lake Wissota Open, which will be held on June 21. For more information on the tournament, check out the Wissota Open page on my website, www.jasonhalfenoutdoors.com . Our event is on the small side right now, so if you want to get your feet wet in a smaller event, this is the one for you. The bigger fish needed to place well in the event are available! In last night’s league event, two fish over 25" were scored, and my guests have landed 10 chunky fish over the slot (like the 20-incher shown in this last photo) in the past 48 hours. If you’re interested in joining the event, please shoot me an e-mail or a PM in the next couple of days. Whether you are a tournament angler or not, I hope that some of you guys will make the short drive to Lake Wissota to experience this hot bite while it lasts!