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Great time to fish

Geneva Lake 9/10/12 through 9/17/12

School is back in session for both kids and the bass. The bass bite has improved dramatically with the cooler water temperature and the decreased fishing pressure. It’s a great time to be able to fish.

Smallmouth bass fishing has been phenomenal. It’s probably the best it’s been in two years for this time of year. The fish are positioned on main lake weed points in 20-25 ft of water. They are aggressively hitting lindy rigged night crawlers and small perch caught in Geneva Lake. The biggest fish I caught last week was almost 21 inches. The fish are very schooled up now, so if you catch one, you’ll catch a bunch. The best locations have been by Black Point, the Military Academy or by Belvidere Park.

The bluegill action has also been fantastic. The bluegills are suspended in 25-30 feet of water. The best location has been by the Yacht Club or by the Military Academy. I’ve been using a split shot rig with half of a night crawler right beneath the boat. Some of the bluegills have been in excess of 10 inches, with the average size being about 7 inches.

Perch fishing has been good; however, the size has been very small. Most of the fish I’ve been catching have an average size of 6 inches. They make nice bait but not a great fish fry. The best location has been by Knollwood or by Rainbow Point. The best presentation is a slip bobber rig with a small minnow. Work a depth of 10-12 feet of water. The perch fishing will improve as fall wears on.

Northern pike action still remains kind of slow. The fish are still deep and still scattered. I think we will see a major improvement as the water cools and the fish move up into the weeds. Look for the fish by Fontana Beach or the North shore of the narrows. The best approach continues to be lindy rigging suckers.

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

Delavan Lake 9/10/12 through 9/17/12 With the cooler weather, fishing has improved over the last week. The largemouth bass and walleyes have become more active. The fish are still relating to main lake weed points with rock.

The walleye are starting to become more active. They can be caught in 18-22 feet of water. The best bait is either leeches or small chubs fished on a lindy rig. The lindy rig I use is a #2 Octopus hook with an 18-inch leader and a ½- oz sinker. Once the water cools more, approximately another five degrees, I will switch over to fat head minnows for live bait and start casting crank baits again. The best location has been by Assembly Park or the old Marina half way down the lake.

Bass fishing has improved. The fish are starting to scatter throughout the weed line. You want to focus on the main lake points with some rock. The best depth has been 12-15 feet of water. Look for the fish by Belvidere condos, Assembly Park or by Willow Point. The best approach is either split shot rigged night crawlers or a Texas rigged green pumpkin Senko. Another pattern that has been producing some bigger fish for me is a Thill slip bobber fishing a medium sucker. I like to position the sucker about a foot and a half above the weeds.

Bluegill fishing has been good. The bluegills are in the 12-16 feet depth range. You want to fish a split shot rigged leaf worm about 6 inches off bottom. The best location has been by Assembly Park or the Oriental Boathouse. There are some fish suspending in 40 feet of water out in the main lake so a secondary pattern to try is using leaf worms straight beneath the boat about 10-20 feet down.

Northern Pike action has been some of the best of the year. The fish are starting to become catchable again, since they’ve been gone most of the summer. They really didn’t care for the hot weather and scattered and stayed deeper than the average anglers capability. Now they are biting on medium suckers in 20-25 ft of water. Fish the sucker on lindy rigs or Thill slip bobbers. The best location has been by the Yacht Club or Assembly Park point. Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave Duwe at (608) 883-2050

Daily Reports

9/9/12 Delavan Lake, sunny, N winds at 15-20 mph, air temp 65, water temp 74 degrees. Caught 12 largemouth bass, two walleyes and one smallmouth bass. The strong winds made fishing tough. The fish were still positioned on main lake weed points in 15-18 feet of water. The presentation was lindy rigs and split shot rigged night crawlers.

9/8/12 Lake Geneva, sunny, winds N at 15 mph, air temp 65, water temp 73 degrees. Caught five smallmouth, all were legal, one largemouth bass and a bunch of rock bass and bluegills. Started off early fishing lindy rigs in 20-25 feet of water. Move shallower and caught a lot more pan fish and rock bass. The wind made fishing my normal spots difficult. Fished mostly by Ulines Creek.

9/4/12 Lake Geneva, sunny, calm, 90 degrees, water temp 75 degrees. Caught one northern pike, one 3-1/2 lb largemouth and 23 smallmouth bass; about eight were legal. All fish were caught on lindy rigs. The best depth was 22-25 feet of water. I was fishing near the Military Academy. The boat traffic was almost non-existent.

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.