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Cooler weather, fishing improving

Delavan Lake 10/22/12 through 10/30/12

Finally the lake has stabilized with the cooler weather. Fishing has been improving daily. If you can catch a good day with no wind, you should have great success. Due to the time of year, you need to take a lot of different baits and tactics for optimal success.

Northern pike are everywhere in the 10-14 feet depth range. They are aggressively hitting rattle baits on a slow retrieve. The best location is Browns Channel or in front of Lake Lawn Resort. Most of the fish are small; however, you can get some really big numbers. Once you find the fish, you want to anchor, you can catch them slip bobbering medium suckers or large golden shiners.

The walleye fishing has been great at dusk and dawn. The fish are in about 16-18 feet of water off of main lake points. Look for the fish by the yacht club, Willow Point or by Browns Channel. With the cooler water temperatures, the fish are almost exclusively hitting on extra large fat head minnows or a deep diving crank bait. The best color for the crank baits are pearl or chrome/blue or chrome/black. For the best success you want to fish 1 hour before sunrise and/or right at dusk.

Largemouth bass have moved into the shallow weed flats in 10-12 feet of water. They can be caught on crank baits. The best color is perch or chrome/blue. You want to find the greenest weeds in the lake, which are by the yacht club or in front of Lake Lawn Resort. Last week, I did catch a few largemouth bass in 3-4 feet of water while casting a split shot rigged night crawler by the Oriental boathouse.

With the cooler water temperatures, the smallmouth bass have become active. The best depth for them is 16-20 feet of water. The best location is by Three Flags or Belvidere Park. The smallmouth are positioned like the walleyes so the best approach are lindy rigs with a 24-inch leader and an extra large fat head minnow. On Delavan Lake, smallmouth bass don’t school up like on Geneva Lake, so you need to keep moving for optimum success. A good trip is between 5-6 fish. Fall is the best time to catch large fish so plan your day accordingly and fish when it’s nice.

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

Geneva Lake 10/22/12 through 10/30/12

Fishing has been very good. We are in the late fall pattern. I don’t believe the lake has turned over yet, that should happen if the weather remains cold within the next week or so.

Smallmouth bass have been very aggressive in the 20-25 ft depth range. There are large numbers of fish schooled up off the deep lake points. The best approach has been lindy rigging extra large fathead minnows. I’ve been using a ¼ oz walking sinker, 24-inch leader and a single hook. Look for the fish by the military academy, Gage Marine or by Holiday Camp. Most of the fish are in the 12-13 inch range but if you stay after it, there are quite a few big fish in the schools.

Perch fishing has been fantastic. The only problem is that you have to catch 125 fish to keep 20. It involves a lot of sorting. Make sure you stop by Geneva Bait and Tackle. They have the cheapest crappie minnows in Walworth County. Look for the fish by Knollwood, Rainbow point and Belvidere Park. You want to fish in 5-9 ft of water for best success.

Northern pike have been spotty. With the thermocline gone, the fish are in the weed flats in 12-15 feet of water. Look for the fish in Trinkes Bay or Williams Bay. The best approach is fishing Thill slip bobbers with large golden roaches. Anchoring is the only method that will produce a decent amount of fish.

Rock bass have been spotty. I’ve been fishing over 20 feet of water so I haven’t been catching that many. The best place to find them is in 12-13 feet of water. Look for the fish by the military academy or Elgin Club. With the cooler water temperatures use fat head minnows fished on a split shot rig.

Walleye pike have been biting after dark. The best approach is trolling large stick baits such as Rapala’s and Smithwick Rogues. Look for the fish by Abbey Springs or in front of Yerkes Observatory. You want to keep the boat in 15-16 feet of water

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

Daily Reports

10/21/12 Lake Geneva, sunny, 60 degrees, winds S at 15 mph. Water temp 52 degrees. Caught 29 smallmouth, 8-10 were legal. All the fish were caught lindy rigging extra large minnows. We fished by the yacht club, Holiday Camp and by the military academy.

<10/20/12> Delavan Lake, partly cloudy, 45 degrees, winds light out of the west. Water temp 53 degrees. Caught nine walleyes -two were legal; two smallmouth bass, 3 northerns, and 2 largemouth bass, both were legal. The walleyes were caught on lindy rigged fat head minnows off of main lake points in 20-22 ft of water. The bass and northern pike were caught off the weed flats in 12-13 ft of water. The bass and pike were caught on excalibur rattle baits.

10/18/12 Delavan Lake, cloudy, rainy, 42 degrees, winds W at 20-30 mph. Water temp 53 degrees. Caught one northern pike and had a few bass on. With the cold and rain, the lake was almost un-fishable. We fished about 2 1/2 hours. The best bite this day was by a friend of mine, who was fishing 12 feet of water with medium diving crank baits in front of Lake Lawn. Once the winds picked up, we couldn't fish that location.

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.