Current West Central Wisconsin-Baldwin-La Crosse-Crawford County-Eau Claire-Wisconsin Rapids Fishing Reports- Click Here

Fishing Reports - Baldwin-La Crosse-Crawford County-Eau Claire-Wisconsin Rapids
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November 19, 2009

La Crosse
Water levels on the Mississippi River in the La Crosse Area are low. Boaters are cautioned to use special caution when operating outside of the main navigation channel as many submerged obstructions pose significant hazards. Sport fishing action in the La Crosse Area has been relatively light with a recent mayfly hatch slowing action substantially. Panfishing and bass fishing action should improve in coming days. Some fishers have had decent action trolling for walleyes in backwater sloughs and wing dams. Northern pike action continues to be good with fishers having success using various lures and baits.

Crawford County
The Mississippi River continued to slowly drop this week. The current river stage is at 7.2 feet. The forecast for the Mississippi River is for it to remain fairly steady or slightly drop. Boaters on the Mississippi River should use caution now that the river is closing in on the 7 foot mark as wing dams, closing dams, and sunken logs are now dangerously close to lower units. Boaters unfamiliar with the area should stay in the navigation channel or slow down and trim up their motors. The Wisconsin and Kickapoo Rivers are at normal summer time flows. The sand bars on the Wisconsin River are in great shape for camping. All trout streams in the area are in good shape with normal flow and water clarity is good. A new slow no wake zone in now in effect on the Mississippi River’s main channel. The slow no wake zone is approximately half a mile long and is located adjacent to the City of McGregor Iowa. The area is marked with slow no wake buoys that line both sides of the navigation channel. For reference the area affected is in the area of river mile 633.5 Therefore boaters must maintain a slow no wake speed through the entire length, shore to shore. Bluegill, crappie and perch fishing continues to be very slow. Many anglers are reporting that the larger bluegill are extremely hard to find. In the Prairie du Chien area anglers have been fishing Horseshoe (aka Sturgeon, aka McGregor), the Lower Bottoms, Garnet Lake and wing dams with some success, but again smaller size fish. The Ambro Slough complex north of Prairie du Chien has seen a fair amount of fishing pressure however success has been spotty. The most popular bait has been a chunk of night crawler or garden worms. Panfishing at the dam has been spotty with reports of some bluegill and perch being taken primarily on night crawlers. Fishing at Cold Spring continues to be slow. Most of the bluegill are running on the small side. Boaters should also be aware that Cold Spring is a designated slow no wake area. Walleye and sauger action was generally good. Trolling and casting crank baits or drifting with live bait is the primary method of taking walleyes. Some of the hot spots have been on the Roseau Slough, Harpers Ferry Slough, and on the wing dams up and down the river. Night crawlers and leeches have been the best live bait so far. Walleye activity seems to be the best early and late in the day. Smallmouth bass have been very active on closing dams and wing dams. Live bait and artificial baits have worked well. Largemouth bass action has been good also. Largemouth bass can be found in a variety of habitats. Plastics, spinner baits, and crank baits have worked well. Catfish, both flathead and channel, activity was pretty good. A variety of live baits have produced cats. Move around until active fish are located. Channel cats have been a bit more active than the flatheads. Sheepshead have become very active. A piece of night crawler fished off the bottom has been the best tactic. There was some pretty decent white bass action at the dam last week. Angler are casting small crank baits or using One-Eyes. Trout fishing has been very good even though vegetation and insects are staring to make fishing a bit more difficult. Many local streams produced some very nice brown and brook trout. Insects like mosquitoes and deer flies are out in large numbers. Mosquitoes are really a problem in the river bottoms while the deer flies are in the wooded areas. Parsnip, stinging nettle and poison ivy are out so outdoor users should take appropriate precautions.

Perrot State Park
Trails are in good condition. All campsites and facilities are open. Water levels are close to normal. Fishing is slow. White wild indigo, spiderwort, harebell, prairie larkspur, butterfly weed, coneflowers, common yarrow, bouncing bet, tickseed trefoil, hoary alyssum, sweet clovers, Queen Anne's lace, fleabanes, elderberry, and common milkweed are currently blooming in the park. On July 11 at 7 p.m. there will be a “Bald is Beautiful!” naturalist program where visitors can meet a live Bald Eagle.

Great River State Trail
The trail is open and in dry condition. Prairie wildflowers are really shining! White wild indigo, coneflowers and butterfly weed are the current standouts!

Black River Falls
Black RIver State Forest
All ATV trails were groomed within the past week. A section of trail from Campground Road to the Clay School Parking Lot continues to remain closed due to several areas with excessive water covering the trail and damage due to heavy ridership on Memorial Day Weekend. We are waiting for this area to dry up before we re-open this section. A temporary bypass route has been authorized with the Town of Komensky. Riders can travel north on Campground Road up to Clay School Road where they will turn west and meet up with the current ATV route. Please use the utmost respect while driving on this temporary route. Stay on the road at all times and be mindful of speed. The 2.2-mile portion of the trail from Highway 54 to Bartos road undergoing rehabilitation this spring has been completed. This project will protect the long term sustainability of the trail system and lessen the frequency of trail closings due to large rainfalls.

Wausau
Rib Mountain State Park - Trails are in good condition. Plenty of deer can be seen while in the woods along with other wildlife such as turkeys, fox, woodchucks, etc. The Friends of Rib Mountain State Park and Park Staff completed the development of a new hiking/snowshoe trail this past year. This new "Quarry Trail" leads to the old 3M property purchased by the state several years ago, while the trail is accessible and useable from the red trail we are in the process of putting in trail markers. A new trail map showing these trails is available at the park office. Please note that Mountain Bikes are not allowed on the trails at Rib Mountain. Mountain Bike trails are available at the nearby Nine-Mile County Forest Recreation Area, this facility is managed by Marathon County Parks, Recreation and Forestry.

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