Home Waters

of Wisconsin’s rivers are notorious for their yearly spring walleye spawning runs. The Rock, Wisconsin, Fox, Wolf, and Mississippi Rivers are famous for these runs. What many anglers miss out on post-run, is white bass runs.

White bass (pictured above), run just after walleye usually stop running. A good old wives trick to knowing when the white bass are running is simple.

When lilac trees and bushes start blooming, it’s always a good bet that the white bass will be running.

White bass are fairly aggressive feeders. Anything from small minnows to jig and grubs and little spoons can catch white bass. There has been staunch debate about the table quality of white bass. Some love it and some hate it. If you are in it for a fish fry,  try white bass, if you are in it for fun, try white bass.

tight lines!

Rigging for catfish is not very tricky. There are two concepts that need to be had in mind.

A. Catfish are bottom feeders, presentations should focus on the bottom of the water column.

B. Catfish can get really big, your rod, line, and terminal tackle should be sturdy and well maintained.

With that in mind, opt for rods rated for big fish. Medium heavy to extra heavy is appropriate. Using heavy line is also good. Braided line starting around 30 lb test is a good choice. Choose sinkers in the 3/4 ounce to 2 ounce range. Circle hooks are highly recommended as well.

Circle hooks

For rigging, a river rig that I discussed in regards to walleye a little while back is a good choice. Just switch out the smaller gear for bigger gear. You should be catching kitty’s in no time!

Catfish are eaters. That is why they get so big which is why they are so fun to catch. Both channels and flatheads love to chew, but they both have different palates. Let’s break it down.

Channel Catfish- Channels will eat anything, literally anything. They will eat worms, minnows, crayfish, hot dogs, shrimp, stinkbait, cheese, and any kind of rotten food. Stinkbait is widely available, and is usually applied to a dip worm (shown below)

Flathead Catfish- While channels will eat a variety of things, flatheads are different. Flatheads like baitfish, either whole or cut. Examples of good flathead bait includes bluegills, sunfish, sheepshead, shiners, gizzard shad, suckers, bullheads, and sculpins.

Not too long ago, the Alabama rig was a big hit  in the fishing world. The set-up that mimicked schools of baitfish was celebrated and persecuted for it’s success. A lot of people were using “schoolie rigs” with great success, but the fad died out after the Alabama rig was banned in most large fishing tournaments. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of anglers using tandem rigs for walleye and white bass.

This is the aforementioned tandem rig. For the most part, it’s a rig with two hooks and two identical swimbaits. Generally they are spread out by a couple inches, and they imitate two fish swimming together. As for my opinion of the lure, I’m critical. One of the knocks on the Alabama rig by BASS and other governing bodies was potential snagging concerns. With all of those hooks, snagging was a problem. While tandem rigs don’t have nearly as many hooks as Alabama rigs, Instill have concerns about this rig ending up in fishes bellies more than their mouthes. In the river systems, there are times when it is easy to snag fish with a single hook. Right now, with spawning migrations happening, I feel like this rig is not completely ethical.

As an aside, while I’ve said that I’lol be condensing fish reports during the spawn to protect my spots, I will still make safety reports if necessary. My follow up to this will address that.

Hello Folks,

Sorry the dry up in posts. It’s been a very busy time lately. I have also decided to do my fishing reports in blocks, and not on the day of. I do this because giving a lot of information in real time in the fishing world is dangerous. Give too much, and you tend to find a bunch of people in your spot. Doing reports in blocks allows me to still tell you how I do things, while also protecting my fishing.

3-15-17

Rock River-Jefferson Dam

Fish caught-2 short sauger

Rig- 3 way river rig w/fly and minnow

Daytime

It was tough fishing in Jefferson. The water was really churning up under the dam, creating really dirty water. Classic spring conditions

3-20-17

Rock River

Downtown Fort Atkinson

Fish caught: none

Rig: 3 way rig, Moxie jig, Jig and Gulp

Early evening

Fishing was tough yet again. The stretch of river in Fort has a lot of timber on the bottom. Lot of tackle donated tonight. Need to try other methods to avoid snags.

3-24-17

Grand River-Allendale, MI

Fish caught: none

Rig: Rapala crankbaits

Daytime

This was a shot in the dark. I was visiting a friend in Michigan and had a rod in the car. Was told that there was a lot of trout/salmon and smallmouth in the river but did not catch anything. Always fish in unsure situations, you never know.

April 2

Rock River

Rig: River rig with minnow

Fish: 1 keeper walleye, 3 shorts

Early evening

Pretty good day, hopefully a sign of things to come.