Sorry! It Has Been Awhile!

04/26/07 Sorry it has been awhile for the reports. I have been busy preparing for a successful open water season. Fishing has been slow to start on Delavan. The water temps are struggling to get above 50 degrees. The shallow bays, inlet and outlet were pushing 50-60 degrees last week with some action on bluegills and crappies. Not much for size yet, but as the water temps rise the fishing should get better. In the last few days we have regressed for warming the water up. Starting Saturday the temps are suppose to be in the 70's getting into the 80's possibly. I have had luck using small ice jigs or hair jigs under bobbers in 3-8 feet of water. Crappie minnows have also produced well. The largest crappies have been 10-12", but a lot of sorting has to be done to get fish in that size range.

I had a chance to take a trip to DePere, WI on April 7th. We fished the Fox River from 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 A.M. A friend and myself braved the 20-40 mph winds with a below zero windchill to get into some trophy walleye action. We caught most of our fish between 1-4 A.M. The best pattern of the trip was slow rolling stick baits in the slack water adjacent to current.

I ended up with this 31" walleye weighing in around 12 1/2 pounds. We caught many fish between 20-27" all night.

We did take trip up to DePere two weeks prior, but with the heavy rains the water clarity was terrible and the water levels were really high. This equalled to minimal success, although the day bite was excellent using a jig/minnow combination.

The Rock River has been producing many walleyes, unfortunately many of the fish are smaller males yet. It is a mystery were the stage of the run is at. With all of the high water in the first part of April it may have delayed the run a little. The best patterns I have had luck with has been using 1/16-1/4 ounce jigs with Gulp, Power Grubs or ring worms vertical jigging or a slow retrieve along bottom. Using wolf river rigs with fatheads or mud minnows has also been a very good producer.

Good Luck All!