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Fish early to avoid the crowds

Delavan Lake 7/2/12 through 7/9/12

Fishing remains excellent. You need to go early to avoid the crowds. Most days there are between 100-150 fishermen out on the lake. The fishing has been awesome for bluegills and largemouth bass.

Largemouth bass fishing has been great. You want to fish underneath the north shore piers or on the deep weed line points. I’ve been fishing mostly with night crawlers on a split shot rig. A lot of jig fishermen have been catching as much as I have. Due to the time of year, the largemouth bass have schooled up so if you catch one, wait for another three or four in the same spot--don’t move too fast. For the docks, I’ve been using 5-inch Yum dingers, Texas rigged, in green pumpkin or green pumpkin metal flake. The best time has been early a.m. or late afternoon.

Bluegill fishing has been outstanding. The bigger bluegills are in 12-15 feet of water. Look for the fish by the Yacht Club or by Willow Point. The best approach is split shot rigging a small leaf worm with a single hook and small split shot. A lot of bluegills we’ve been catching are in excess of 9 inches.

Perch fishing has also been excellent in 8-12 feet of water. The best location has been by Browns channel or by Township Park. They are biting on big green hellgrammites or small leaf worms. They can be caught with a small split shot and a single hook or a Thill slip bobber about 1 foot above the weeds.

Northern pike fishing has been average. The fish haven’t been biting as well as recent years. The best bite has been lindy rigged bluegills caught in Delavan Lake in 20 feet of water. The suckers haven’t been producing as well as the lake-caught bluegills. The best location has been just west of the Yacht Club and by Willow Point.

Walleye fishing has been average. The best presentation has been a lindy rigged nightcrawler or leech in 20 ft of water. Look for the fish by the concrete point or by the Yacht Club. The best time to fish has been early morning or at dusk.

Daily Reports

7/1/12 - Geneva Lake, sunny, 75 degrees, no wind, water temp 75 degrees. Caught three lake trout, all were legal. Had three others on that lost the hook. Fished between Conference Point and Cedar Point. The best depth was 70 ft down in 118 feet of water.

6/30/12 - Delavan Lake, sunny, 80 degrees, SW wind at 5 mph, water temp 75 degrees. Caught nine largemouth--five were legal, one smallmouth bass and one northern pike. The fish were on main lake point and caught on split shot rigged night crawlers. The pike was caught on lindy rigged small bluegills in 19 feet of water.

6/28/12 - Delavan Lake, sunny, 98 degrees, winds SW at 10 mph. Water temp 77 degrees. Caught 12 largemouth, three smallmouth and one walleye. All the bass were caught on split shot rigged night crawlers in 10-12 feet of water. The best location was by Browns Channel.

6/26/12 - Delavan Lake, sunny, 90 degrees, winds S at 5 mph. Water temp 78 degrees. Caught eight largemouth--three were legal, three walleyes and one northern pike. The bass were caught on main lake points on split shot rigged night crawlers. The northern was caught on a lindy rigged sucker.

Geneva Lake 7/2/12 through 7/9/12

Fishing on Geneva Lake continues to be very good. The boat traffic has been very intense. Due to vacation season, you need to go early in the a.m.

Smallmouth bass are on the weed line in 15-20 feet of water. The best location is by Abbey Springs or by the Yacht Club. The best presentation is a 1/8 oz lindy sinker with a 2 ft leader and a small hook tipped with a night crawler. Most of the fish are biting within a foot of bottom.

Lake Trout are biting in the main lake basin in 115-120 feet of water. They are biting on nickel/blue or nickel/green spoons. I’ve been trolling between Conference Point and Cedar Point. The best time to go has been between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. The fish have been suspended until the sun gets too high, then they stick to the bottom.

Rock bass are biting in 12-15 feet of water. The best approach is a split shot rigged night crawler or a small hair jig. They can be caught when the wind is blowing well or electric motor trolling. The best location has been by the Military Academy or by Abbey springs.

Walleye fishing has been phenomenal. You want to fish at night in Trinkes or west of Abbey springs. The best depth has been 12-15 ft of water. Try large crank baits in chrome/black or perch color for the most action. Most of the fish are coming right off the weeds about 2 feet off bottom. The fish are very aggressive this time of year and remember you want to fish when its windy.

Bluegill fishing has been good in Geneva Bay. The bluegills are in 6-8 feet of water in and around the boat docks. You want to fish with leaf worms or small red worms underneath Thill slip bobbers. The key has been scattered weeds. The thick matted weeds haven’t been producing as many fish so you want the weeds with scattered sandy spots.

Northern pike fishing has been all right; the fish are in 30 feet of water. They can be caught by using medium suckers fished on a lindy rig. The fish are being caught by Fontana Beach or in the narrows. The fish have been aggressive. It seems as though they haven’t seen a sucker in about a year. The best presentation has been slowly back trolling with the electric motor. You should be able to see the fish on your fish finder. If you don’t see any, move on until you see them.

Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at 608-883-2050

Dave Duwe has been a fishing guide on Delavan and Geneva lakes for nearly 20 years. Dave is a community blogger and is not a part of Walworth County Today staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of Walworth County Today staff or management.