Lake Wissota Wisconsin Walleye Fishing Report

The red hot summer of walleye angling continues on Lake Wissota. Around the circuit of Wissota walleye devotees, the notion that this is the best early summer in recent memory, both for numbers and for size, seems quite pervasive. While our core patterns of pulling cranks and finesse jigging in current areas continue to produce, we are beginning to notice subtle changes in fish location and behavior that require some angler adjustment in order to optimize catch rates. If you are willing to fine tune your presentations as we appoach the Independence Day holiday, you’ll be able to keep whacking those golden Wissota walleyes too

Over the past month, the primary presentation in my boat has been to pull cranks on leadcore in relatively deep water, in the 15-25 foot range. This certainly remains the case, and as recently as today we spent ~ 90% of our time on the water pulling cranks on lead. What has been changing are the speeds and locations that are producing the most bites. Speeds have been climbing slowly but steadily as the water warms. Our best speeds in recent days have been in the 2.5 to 2.7 range with fish caught up to 3.2. Equally important has been a shift in fish locations. We are catching more than half of our fish well off structure or shorelines….this is the beginning of the Wissota open water bite! Another indication of the general movement towards deeper, open water is the number of crappies that are running down our cranks. We had 3 in the boat today, all in the 11-12" class. Crappies had been absent from my boat for at least the past several weeks, but now that they are schooling up in open water, we’ll be bumping into them with regularity.

The jig bite for current-related fish has been strong for fish above the slot. This has not been a decent numbers bite for me all season, and I haven’t put my finger on why that might be. However, the average size of these Chippewa River fish is just plain terrific. I am holding one example of these quality-sized fish in the third picture; this 21+" fish whacked a 1/8 oz jig/minnow combo in 12 feet of water over current swept rock just as the sun was hitting the treetops. Again, for sheer numbers and fish cranking action, it is VERY hard to beat the trolling bite now, but the jig bite is producing a much higher average size fish, at least for my boat.

Today was the inaugural Lake Wissota Open walleye tournament, and as tournament director, it offered me a chance to see how some of the best Wissota walleye guys approach the lake. Everyone in the event caught fish, and most guys caughts lots (AND LOTS!). In a slot tournament like ours, finding the "right" fish is key. The top teams all reported catching a number of "overs", but the chunky overs greater that 20" were relatively scarce for the tournament field. This last photo features the winners of the event, Team Klohs from Eau Claire, who weighed a 4-fish limit (two over 18", two under 14") for a total of 8.28 lbs. Their big fish at 3.68 lbs also claimed the big fish pot. Our teams brought a total of 7 overs to the scales today, and each of them was just as chunky as can be. Presentations in today’s tournament ranged from pulling cranks, to jigging in current, to slip-bobbering, to pitching bait to weeds. And you know what…it’s all working!

So, what should a guy be looking for in the next couple of weeks? Well, the transition to open water will continue. The crawler harness bite will turn on (I caught my first harness fish of the year today). And let’s not forget about the bass….the bass are going to pop! My reports into July will feature more and more of these chunky bronze bombers. I am now booking trips for after the 4th of July holiday, so if you’re interested in a multi-species adventure targeting Wissota walleyes and smallies, drop me a line!