The Winnebago Bite

Summer Time ‘Bago Fishin’

Lake Winnebago is a walleye factory. Many boats are trolling the flats and working the reef areas. I for one am not a big fan of trolling. I just don’t feel like watching giant bobbers with the hope of winding in a few fish. I’m a fan of feeling the bite.

Right now we are dragging jigs with crawlers over the reefs, vertical jigging the reefs and casting jigs in the shallows. The walleyes seem to like crawlers right now. The above picture is my wife with a nice Winnebago walleye. I took her out 90 minutes Monday evening. I was dragging crawlers on 1/8 ounce jigs while my wife was vertical jigging a 1/4 ounce jig with half a crawler when she got the nice walleye above. The walleyes on Bago sure have a nice build to them. That’s an 18 inch fish with a sagging belly.

There are many reefs along the western shoreline. If you’re not catching anything on one, move to another one. Wind is big factor in the walleye bite. When the wind goes down to nothing the bite gets very difficult. It can still happen. It’s just more difficult.

If you really like the rod bending and don’t care what species you catch. Now is a great time to catch sheephead. You seem to have to weed through the sheephead before getting a nice walleye anyway. Be patient and stick with it. You can also speed up your presentation to avoid catching as many sheeps. I do enjoy the rod bending and I count on sheephead to provide some action. Plus you’ll get practice setting the hook and feeling the bite. 90% of the time when jigging, walleye hit on the drop. 90% of the time when jigging, sheephead pin the bait to the bottom. Sheephead often double tap the bait as well. You often feel a good “thunk” when a walleye hits. With some practice you’ll be able to tell right away if you have a walleye on the line or a sheephead.

So get out there and get some practice! If you need someone with all the stuff and some lake knowledge, I’d love to hook up with you.