Wisconsin River spring walleye fishing is in full swing. Vertical jigging, dragging, casting, 3-way trolling stick baits and other techniques all seem to be taking some fish.
Like most people, I couldn’t be happier to say good bye to winter and “Hello” to some open water spring walleye fishing.
So far this year, I’ve managed to sneak in a trip to the Miss River at Red Wing, (that was some cold fishing) some night fishing on the Wisconsin River near Sauk Prairie and some day time fishing at the mouth of Wisconsin River where it dumps into Lake Wisconsin and on the stretch of the Wisconsin River below the Wisconsin Dells dam. And although we haven’t caught limits of fish everywhere we’ve gone, we’ve certainly had a lot of fun fishing from a boat for a change.
As usual, my best fish have come night fishing in a pair of waders. Something about sneaking out in the night with nothing more that a pair of waders, a small tackle box and a camera really appeals to me. The bite casting stick baits in the dark of the night has been especially good so far with an average of 11 fish per night. (2-3 hrs/night) Catching a couple of good ones always makes for a memorable night. The fish in the picture to the left was 27 inches. The one above dang near swallowed a #11 rapala and after snapping a few photo’s, I had to do some delicate surgery to remove it. One of those times where I could have used a little company to help. After removing the rapala, I figured she had enough stress for one night and just released her without taking a measurement. Hope to see her again next year for another photo op though.
The day bite has been a bit tough at times but not all bad. We haven’t caught any big fish but certainly some decent ones over 20 inches along with some good eaters and as always some shorties.
The best day time bite for me has been either casting or dragging jigs & plastics with Moxi’s and Ringworms doing the brunt of the work.
When the bite really slows down, I’ve gone to pitching a plain jig & minnow which has managed to put and extra fish or two in the box.
The Dells is always a nice, scenic place to catch walleyes in the spring. A bit busy at times but still worth the trip.
The bite at the mouth of the river where it dumps into Lake Wisconsin has been pretty strong at times despite the late date for ice out. This is usually a sauger bite but we’ve also caught more walleyes here than other years which is a pleasant bonus.
Pretty much everywhere we have fished, we’ve found at least a few decent fish that were willing to take our baits.
That’s just the kind of start we needed after this past, brutal winter.
Right now is prime time around here. Two weeks from now, the spawn will be over with so get out there and get in on some good pre-spawn walleye fishing while you still can!