Wisconsin Crappie fishing in early fall

Early fall crappie fishing on Lake Wisconsin is in full swing and one of the best things about fishing this time of the year is the overall decrease in boat traffic.
With Labor Day weekend behind us, its now possible to fish right through the middle of the day without feeling like your the only one out there fishing while everyone else is either pulling the kids around on a tube or just racing up and down the lake. This is the time of the year when fishermen far out number non-fisherman, even in the middle of the day.

I spent Saturday fishing with Madeline and Andy Kopale from northern Illinois. This mother & son fishing team had endured a brutal day on the water with me earlier this year. Winds were a constant 30mph or greater and we never did get out of Sunset Bay that day.

Today however was much better. Winds were light from the west and the sun was shining in the early morning hours at least. It did get cloudier later in the morning but at least the sun didn’t completely go away. It was actually one of the nicest days, (temperature wise) that I’ve fished in this year.

The front and cold rain that passed on Thursday did have an effect on the crappies, especially in the early morning hours. But it didn’t kill the bite completely and by slowly working through high percentage areas, we were able to find consistent action for most of the day.

Our best rig today was a plain gold hook tipped with a lively fathead minnow. On days like this, it’s really important to keep you minnows lively. If your minnow dies on the hook, get rid of it and put on a new one! I cannot understate the importance of using a lively minnow when the fishing is slow. White bass and sheephead probably don’t give a hoot if you step on your minnow before you put it over the side of the boat but for sure, you will catch far more crappies if you take the time to check that your minnow is alive and well on the end of your line.

Best depth today was the same as it’s been for the past two or three weeks. (10-15′) The 1/16oz jig/plastic combo still put its fair share of fish in the boat today as well but overall, I would have to say that a plain minnow worked the best.

A nice bonus showed up on the end of Andy’s line when he was fishing a minnow rig. We knew pretty quickly that it wasn’t a crappie by how hard it was fighting so I was ready with the net when this nice looking 18-1/2″ walleye popped up to the surface. Later we landed another walleye that measured in at 15-1/2″ long. Its always great to have bonus fish like this when fishing for crappies!

By 3:00pm, Madeline was getting a little tired and the two of them decided to call it a day. They managed to put 25 keeper crappies between 10-1/2 to 12″ in the live well and released many smaller ones.

On Sunday morning, Tim Grossnickle, Mark Bergstrom & Dave Galor drove 115 miles from northern Illinois to Lake Wisconsin to experience some top notch crappie fishing. The closest good fishing they have to them is pool 13 on the Mississippi river. Apparently, the crappie fishing has slipped quite a bit over the past several years and these guys needed a good crappie fishing trip fix.

We headed out and got set up on our first spot by 7:00am but the crappies didn’t appear to be all that excited to see our baits first thing in the morning. Still, we kept at it and little by little, the bite kept getting better and better. It probably peaked around 10:00am or so and even after that, it never really did die down completely.
All it all, it was a much better day than Saturday with well over 50 crappies coming over the side of the boat.

Mark Bergstrom pretty much stuck with a plain minnow on a gold hook and I would have to say that his line was the most consistent one. Dave Galor on the other hand was game enough to try several different jig/plastic combo’s. Some tipped with waxworms but mostly tipped with a minnow. And even though he didn’t catch quite as many as Mark, he did catch some of the better ones of the day.

Tim Grossnickle was content to be out in a boat taking what he got while enjoying a great day on the lake. Tim did make a pretty good run at the other two in the afternoon using a plain minnow but I didn’t get the impression that he really cared if he caught more than anyone else or not.

With a two hour drive home ahead of them yet, the guys decided to call it a day at 4:00pm. The average size of the crappies today consistently ran between 10-1/2″ – 12″ long. Very few shorter than that showed up on the end of our lines and if they did, they landed right back in the water shortly after.

The difference in boat traffic between last weekend and this weekend was truly amazing! It was really nice to be able to sit in in a boat on the lake with out constantly bobbing up and down from the wake of big boats blowing by you. With the passing of Labor Day, the fall fishing season is officially upon us and the crappies are definitely out there waiting to tug on the end of your line.

Looks like it’s going to be a great fall this year on Lake Wisconsin!