Excellent Multi-Species Action!
Joel DeBoer
May 27, 2009
Wausau - Freshwater Fishing Report
The recent weather has been quite enjoyable in North-Central Wisconsin lately, with the exception of rain the past 2 days, and the fihsing has been very good! At present, a wide variety of species are providing excellent action in the greater Wausau area including panfish, bass, walleyes, and muskies just to name a few.
Panfish anglers are having abundant opportunities to score on good catches of bluegills, as large numbers of spawning fish are currently accessible shallow; a few bonus crappies have been mixed in as well. Begin by checking shallow weeds or wood cover in area bays and backwaters to locate numbers of fish. Tiny jigs suspended under a slip bobber and baited with Berkley Gulp! Worms have been deadly, as has the classic piece of worm or night crawler impaled on a small hook. The same presentations, albeit tipped with minnows, are working well for the nomadic schools of crappies which can be found suspended off deep weeds or channel breaks, once located using your electronics. The crappies have been schooled up enough that trolling presentations have been working for them as well, using small crankbaits.
Terrific smallmouth bass action is available now, with anglers doing well fishing rip-rap and wood. Texas-rigged tubes have been highly productive, as have shallow running crankbaits. Pitching a weedless jig tipped with a leech or night crawler into the various woody snags is also producing some big fish of both smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Anglers fishing the low-light periods of morning and evening can expect good action using surface lures like the PT Pro Popper and Frantic Fred as the topwater bit has really picked up over the past weekend.
In addition to excellent smallmouth fishing, the walleye fishing has been terrific. The same blow-downs and snags holding smallmouth are holding good catches of nice walleyes as well. Again, weedless jigs tipped with live bait will produce fish. You'll want to make sure you're spooled up with a premium fishing line such as Berkley Trilene XT to help avoid break-offs in the heavier cover. Vertical jigging deeper holes during the daytime hours is also accounting for plenty of walleyes.
If you are an Esox angler, the action has been solid for both northern pike and musky. Numerous northern pike in the 30" range including a stout 45" speciman have been caught and released as of late. Lures made of rubber or rubber plastic combinations such as DeLONG Killer Eels, Curly Sues, and Suzy Suckers have been tough to beat. Smaller bucktails such as the Mepps Musky Killer and Esox Edge Lucky 7 have also been consistently producing fish. Work the shallow weeds or wood as the bulk of the fish remain quite shallow. Make sure to execute a proper figure-eight after each and every cast.
Catch and release continues to be an important aspect to maintaining the top notch fishery, especially for trophy northern pike, walleyes, smallmouth bass, and muskies in the Wausau area. A successful release begins by not playing a fish out to the point of exhaustion. Use a quality net such as those by Frabill to contain your quarry while removing the hooks. If you must take a picture, do so quickly and get the fish back in the water. Support your catch upright until it is able to power itself away. Remember, CPR – catch, photo, proper release!
Tight lines,
Joel DeBoer
http://www.wisconsinanglingadventures.com
715-297-7573
Target Species:
Musky, walleye, smallmouth bass, crappie
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