Wisconsin may be known for great Cheese and Beer, but we also have a State covered with amazing lakes.  Most of our great lakes are located in Northern Wisconsin, which features the Minocqua Lakes, Hayward Lakes, Bayfield County Lakes and Door County Lakes.  Wisconsin Lakes are prime for Walleye Fishing, Northern Pike Fishing and Bass Fishing.  With incredible fishing lakes like: Lake Geneva, Castle Rock Lake, Lake Winnebago, Green Lake and the Great Lake Michigan, you are sure to catch your limit on these and most Wisconsin Lakes.  If you enjoy your stay at one of our fine Wisconsin Resorts, you may be interested in searching for Wisconsin Lake Homes and Lake Property for sale on one of your favorite WI Lakes.  The Wisconsin Dells is also one of the most popular tourist and vacation destinations in the Midwest.  You can come to Wisconsin for the Cheese and Beer, but you will stay for the Beautiful Wisconsin Lakes!

Wisconsin Fishing Reports

Bass have finished spawning, with largemouth settling into their early summer pattern of cruising the weed beds and hitting on surface baits and soft plastics. Smallmouth have been hanging in deeper water following the rigors of spawning, but they should start moving to mid-depth woody cover. Bluegills have finished spawning on some lakes, but continue to be found in nesting colonies on other waters and some nice catches continue to be reported.

Musky action has been heating up on northern waters with many more fish moving into an active feeding mode, especially on the Flambeau and Chippewa rivers and their flowages. The mayfly hatches have subsided and walleye action has improving in the later evening hours near weed edges and break lines.

Lake Winnebago anglers braving the heat this week were rewarded with bags of walleye and white bass, and bass and bluegill have also been found in shallow water and bays. Catfish have been biting on the upper Rock and Crawfish rivers. With the warmer water, bluegills are beginning to suspend in deeper water in southern lakes.

Smallmouth bass fishing has remained good along the Door County peninsula. Walleye action has also picked up on Green Bay again. With the warmer weather, salmon fishing was also heating up on Lake Michigan, but many fish have moved deeper, with trollers fishing in 90 down to 250 feet of water. Pier and shore fishing was generally slow this week, except in Port Washington where anglers were catching brown trout and at Milwaukee were some nice perch were being caught.

Wisconsin Fishing Resorts

Lake Michigan Fishing

Trollers on the lake are having a fair time targeting chinook salmon, with some action for lake trout and steelhead mixed in. Chinook are also starting to show up off Door County for anglers trolling around the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. Walleye action continued to be good on Green Bay, but smallmouth bass fishing seems to have slowed down a bit.

Bayfield County Wisconsin Fishing

Those walleye being caught were on the small side, though several 24-26 inches walleye on Upper Eau Claire Lake were seen. Bag limits of both walleye and panfish were seen over Labor Day weekend on Lake Namekagon and the Eau Claire Chain, people using worms and slip bobbers for walleye were having the best success. Crappie were biting on minnows, even dead ones on both Lower Eau Claire and Namekagon lakes. Bluegills have moved into the shallows and are on their beds, with bluegills being taken on spikes/wax worms, remember that the bass season is not yet open, they too have moved into the shallows and are on their beds.

Wisconsin Hotels

Brown County Wisconsin Fishing

Anglers are having success in the Fox River for manly rough fish. Most anglers were using a bottom rig with a night crawler for bait. Anglers venturing out on to Green Bay out of the Fox River mouth were having decent success on walleye. Bayshore County Park has had the most activity over the past week, with most anglers targeting walleye. The bait of choice has been a crawler harness. Anglers have also been targeting perch with limited success. Anglers fishing the little Sturgeon Bay area have been doing well on smallmouth bass and walleye, if the weather allows them to get out. Also anglers fishing in Sturgeon Bay have been getting a few smallmouth bass.

Door County Wisconsin Fishing

The salmon action out on Lake Michigan appears too be warming up a little. The bank reef north of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal continued to be producing kings and lake trout. Up north a nice king that was caught off Ellison Bay. Smallmouth bass fishing continues to be fair to good throughout the county. Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay, Sand Bay and the Sturgeon Bay flats, along with the shoreline off Potawatomi State Park continue to produce smallmouth. Tube jigs, stick baits, grubs, and Katelands remain the baits of choice. Up north, Anderson’s dock in Ephraim, as well as Baileys Harbor, Rowley’s Bay, Egg Harbor and Sister Bay are produced a smallmouth. The daytime action for walleye continued to be good with some nice fish being taken from the area North of Chaudoir’s dock, by anglers trolling crawler harnesses in 8 to 30 feet of water. Crawler harnesses and stick baits seemed to be the baits of choice for daytime walleyes. At night the walleye action remained good with anglers trolling stick baits and jerks in 8 to 25 feet of water. Henderson Point, Sherwood Point, the Sturgeon Bay flats and Dunlap Reef, as well as the area around Fish Creek and Peninsula State park were all reportedly producing some fish. Two nice walleyes were caught from shore at the Old Stone Quarry county park on Tuesday evening. Northern pike are continuing to be taken along the channel in the area between the bridges in the Bay of Sturgeon Bay, as well as Little Sturgeon, Riley’s Bay, Sand Bay and Sawyer Harbor.

Jefferson County Wisconsin Fishing

Anglers are catching some white bass on the upper Crawfish River. The fish are biting the best on twister tails or flies. Some catfish are being caught on both the Rock and Crawfish rivers in northern Jefferson and southern Dodge counties. Stink bait has been the best bait lately and some of the catfish are in the 3- to 4-pound range. Some bluegill were being caught on Rock Lake off the bars. Most are in the 6 to 6.5-inch range. They were biting on a variety of baits. The boat landing at Mud Lake just south of Lake Mills is unusable due to a rusted out culvert under the road leading into the parking lot. It is slated to be repaired in the near future. The water levels on the upper Rock and Crawfish rivers have dropped significantly in the last week. The rivers are now within their banks but are still higher than average for this time of year.

Kenosha County Wisconsin Fishing

Trollers have been catching coho, along with occasional chinooks. Most fish have been caught in 65 to 100 feet of water, and coho have been hitting flashers and flies while chinooks have been hitting spoons.

Wisconsin Campgrounds

Kewaunee County Wisconsin Fishing

Anglers have been reporting some success in the morning casting spoons for trout and salmon off of the piers in Algoma and Kewaunee. Anglers that have been going out on the lake have also been finding some success. Fish are being found out in the deeper waters off of Algoma and Kewaunee. Most fish are being found in depths between 100 feet and 150 feet. Some fish are being found in depths even deeper. Kings and steelhead have been the primary catches with a few cohos mixed in. Most anglers have been using a dipsies and flashers.

Manitowoc County Wisconsin Fishing

In Manitowoc, boat anglers were landing some nice mixed catches consisting of chinook salmon, rainbow trout and coho salmon. Successful anglers were trolling in 90 to 170 feet of water running baits at various depths. Pier anglers were casting spoons from the north and south pier heads this past week with poor to fair success. A few chinook salmon and a couple brown trout were landed. In Two Rivers, catches from boat anglers trolling on Lake Michigan were comprised mostly of chinook salmon, but some anglers also landed a few rainbow trout, coho salmon and lake trout. Anglers were trolling in 80 to 150 feet of water. Anglers after rainbow trout were trolling in deeper water using high-lines with spoons.

Marinette County Wisconsin Fishing

Anglers in the Peshtigo Harbor area are catching catfish on worms and casting big spinner baits for smallmouth and pike. Trolling with crawler/harness was still producing some nice walleye. The Menominee River has givien up lots of walleye although the size is running small, trolling stick baits in 5 to 10 feet of water is where most of the action is at. Musky anglers have been having luck around the Boom Island area as well as the docking facilities around Nest Egg Marina. Evening fishing on both the Lighthouse Pier and the Government Pier has been good for walleye and bass casting twister tails and slow walking stick baits.

Milwaukee County Wisconsin Fishing

Boaters have also been catching perch at the boils, and both minnows and jigs have been productive. Trollers out of Milwaukee have been catching some coho. Most fish have been 20 to 40 feet down in water anywhere from 50 to 120 feet deep.

Oconto County Wisconsin Fishing

The Stiles Dam has been producing some bluegill on worms and night crawlers using slip bobbers. The Iron Bridge still hold browns and rainbows and are being fished with spinners, fly's, and worms. Pensaukee, Oconto Breakwater Harbor, and Oconto Park II are reporting some nice catches of catfish, walleye, and smallmouth. These fish are being targeted in the 9 to 12 foot range using crawler/harness, stick baits, and crank baits. Fishing at the Oconto Breakwater Harbor in the evening from shore is still producing walleye.

Ozaukee County Wisconsin Fishing

Shore fishing has picked up somewhat in Port Washington, with browns taken near the power plant and a few perch caught off the pier on jigs. Trollers out of Port have reported chinooks, rainbows, lake trout, and coho taken in 240 to 350 feet of water. Most fish have been taken from the surface to 60 feet down, and both spoons and flasher & fly combinations have been productive.

Racine County Wisconsin Fishing

Trollers out of Racine have been catching mostly coho along with a few chinooks in 50 to 100 feet of water. Coho have come in the top 20 feet of water on orange dodgers or flashers with flies in aqua, green & gold, or blue & silver. Chinooks have been taken closer to the bottom on spoons in green, blue, or white.

Sawyer County Wisconsin Fishing

Wisconsin Walleye Fishing Tips

1. Back trolling with a slip-sinker rig is the best means of locating Walleye. Begin your fishing trip by using bait-fish, but always carry a few night crawlers or leeches. Sometimes when the fish are using heavy cover such as weeds, stumps, or boulders, it may be necessary to use a slip-bobber rig, which is most effective when fished with natural bait in snag-infested locations. Specialized jig heads which stand at a 45 degree angle when on the bottom and tipped with a large minnow, can produce fish when others fail.

2. When walleye are associated with aquatic vegetation, one of the best techniques for night-time fishing is long-lining with a minnow shaped floater-diver plug or a night crawler-leech on a harness. Let out 120 to 150 feet of line and troll the bait just above the weed line so it occasionally touches the plants. After dark cast crank-baits over shallow bars, land points and rock reefs for walleye.

3. When you get into mid-summer, one of the best places to focus on is the deepest part of the lake and the adjacent deep weedlines. This is by far the premium part of the lake where the food chain is most active this time of year. Walleyes use these areas to push bait into the bank and feed on them at the base of the weeds.

4. The deeper you are fishing, the longer a fishing rod you want for a good hookset. A longer rod is more flexible and provides better leverage. Walleyes are finicky in mid-summer, so use a 7-footer for bobber-fishing and deep rigging. If you are long-line trolling, running boards or lead-core fishing, you want a longer rod in the 8-foot range.

5. When the summer heat warms the water to its peak temperatures, usually in the high 70s, baitfish move from their preferred weedy locations into the cooler waters of the lake, making them easier to target. One of the best techniques is to troll the outside of these weeds, which is usually 15 to 20 feet deep.

If you love fishing in Wisconsin and know you'll want to return year after year, you may want to consider purchasing a timeshare in your favorite region of the state. Timeshares are a budget-friendly and convenient alternative to renting a hotel room because they offer pre-paid, weeklong accommodation at the resort of your choice. You can save even more money on your Wisconsin timeshare if you buy resale.  When you buy timeshare from a previous owner you can often save thousands off the resort price. Finally, if you're not yet ready to purchase property, but would still like to spend a relaxing week fishing the many lakes of Wisconsin, you may want to rent timeshare. There are dozens of timeshare rentals on the resale market, and, with so many choices, you can find the perfect one for you.