Willmer-Spicer Area Fishing Reports

[slurpie]

Made it out the last couple days trying different lakes and had success on all three got a mixed bag of sunnies and crappies. Let some 13 in craps go and caught many 10 to12 inchers. Good luck.

[slurpie]

Made it out again on different lakes and the pannies are still active. But can't seem to find any walleye in good numbers.

[silverbulletguy]

head a little farther north slurpie-horseshoe chain

[slurpie]

Thanks silver waiting to get laid off of work, that could be now hopefully. Then going to red lake for a few day. Never fished the horseshoe chain alot of water flow through there?

[silverbulletguy]

There is flowage areas that aren't safe. You should be able to figure out most of those from looking at a map. Stick to the trails and you should be fine. I've heard there's trucks driving out since this past weekend.

[Snowhunter13]

I am thinking of heading to Florida tomorrow morning. Anyone know how the ice is out there and if there is anything biting.

[pushbutton]

Heard some recent reports of activity and with the warm weather today headed down this late afternoon. Found an absolute buttload of gills up in the shallows and bays on Nest but almost all were small, skittish, and not really interested in plastics, minnows, or crawler chunks. They were top feeding on the tons of gnatlike bugs that were littering the surface, so switched up to the fly and was able to get a little more action...... but hardly any bigger than 5 inches. Hopefully the warm weather continues!!!

[erikwells]

Pushbutton, I used to fish Nest years ago with pretty good success. My grandma and grandpa had a place on the south shore and we used to fish from the dock a lot in the evenings with a sucker minnow and a bobber. Used to catch a nice mixed bag of pike and a few walleyes. There used to be a baitshop called Meadows off of hwy 23 where I believe there is a motel now. We used to fish the bay early for crappies and bluegills. There used to be a public access there as well. Time has changed all of that. Can you still park somewhere and fish down in the bay and under the bridge from shore or has time changed that too? I'm getting old, lots of "used to" in my life now. I'll be up from the cities this weekend to work on some long put off projects and I'm sure I'll get around to doing some fishing too. Weather looks like it will be tougher for fishing this weekend but I'll still wet a line. Cheers.

[pushbutton]

See people parking on the back street going to the new access to shore fish under the south side of the bridge. Don't often see people on the north end but cant imagine why you could not walk down from from the winery road or the one corresponding on the the other side. After 4 good years the gills dropped off size wise last year, suspect this will be a rebuilding year as well. 2 years ago there was a decent crappie bite with alright size, but last year was just awful and most years are a little less than ok. Walleyes are tough but if you do find one, it usually has good size. A lot of pike and bass in the lake right now. As skitish as the fish were yesterday, would think some clouds/rain might actually be a good thing this weekend. Hope you can find some....looks like I have to work now

[pushbutton]

Looks like this upcoming weekend should be a good one. Pannies with some size have moved up. They were still pretty spooky and in a neutral feeding mode though. You know its a tough bite when even the bass are blowing you off. Eventually found a black teardrop ice bug jig that got the hits. They wanted it on the fall. If it did make it all the way to the bottom, just flipped it back up 2 to 3 ft and let it fall again as I retrieved it.

Also found crappie beds that were just fanned out with a bunch of smaller males all standing around wondering where the ladies are. Same set up and technique as with the gills also got some hits.

The real reason for coming down was to break in the new bow. Actually stayed up past my bedtime on the opener to pick on some carp. Still a little early for their main run as well; did not see many, but after a few missed(practice) shots.... Green lake now has a few less. Already asked this , but if you know of hog farmer that wants some healthy free food ....let me know.

[erikwells]

The bait on the drop has been key for me so far this year. Mostly I have a red hook under a bobber with a crappie minnow. Move it, let it drop, move it, let it drop etc.. The big girls have not shown up where I have been fishing. We may have caught 5-6 crappies this year so far bigger than 10 inches. I guess me and my boys will have to try again this weekend. Nice post Pushbutton. I wish I had kept an old bow I had years ago, I would love to shoot carp again. If anyone knows of a left handed older less expensive bow out there that someone wants to unload let me know. Still to this day I do not understand why I chose to shoot bow left handed?? I do everything right handed but for some reason when I picked up a bow it felt right holding the bow with my right and draw with my left??

[pushbutton]

Pretty much similar gig to last week. The bite was still finicky but was still able to land some nice fish. The bass were turned on though and started seeing a few bowfin and pike up sauntering around looking for an easy meal. A little weed growth has started but temps still in the mid low and mid 50's....for the early start we had weather wise, we still have a little ways to go. Good luck to all this weekend!!!

A purdy Green lake seed.....

A big little green on Green....

Great colors on this guy...the pic doesn't do it justice though.....

[erikwells]

My crew and I were out and about Saturday and Sunday. We got out in the boat in the a.m and ended up keeping 10 bluegills. We had to pick through them and my 5 year old caught a pike around 3 pounds. We tried a different spot around 3:30 p.m. saturday and we endd up with 8 crappies all between 10-11 inches. The bass were there too and several taxed our 4lb ultra lite gear pretty well. Belive it of not 2 bass hit a tape at 20 inches. I still haven't caught a bass that big. It was fun and the boys understood the value of getting these fish back into the water asap. I kind of felt guilty that we caught bass but I'm not sure whatelse we could have done other than fish a different spot. We had ultra lites with 1/64 oz flu flu tipped with a crappie minnow under a tiny bobber. We had a 7 species trip catching perch, dogfish, bullhead, pike, bass, bluegill and crappie. We fished a few differnt spots on Sunday with some success and we made Sunday be all catch and release. Gearing up for walleye cannot wait to get that first one. Good luck all.

[pushbutton]

Don't fret catching the green carp. Not much you can do about it this time of year except not fish; will be impossible to keep them off any presentation for a while. Too bad politics have set the seasons set up like this...should not have to feel criminal for (not trying to) catch and release fish. Looks like you and the crew had a good time this weekend! Yep, sure do like spring fishing....all that multi species action makes you seem a really good fisherman

[Rick G]

Nice fish PB! Is that crappie a male? looks like its just starting to color up from the pic.

[pushbutton]

Yeah, like I said the pic does not capture it well.....it was just smoky grey with that iridescent glow.....let it go..... maybe I will catch it again and get a better pic Also, that one is a "runt", no confusion when the big girls show up

[erikwells]

I haven't fished opening weekend in many years. I'm going to give it a run this year. I'm thinking of getting up Saurday morning 4:00 - 4:30 ish and heading out. I'm thinking some of the midnighters might be wrapping up about then and it's really early so maybe I'll miss some of the rush but that might be wishful thinking. I have a few spots I'll bobber up with a shiner minnow and if that doesn't produce I'm thinking of pulling some crank baits. Not sure what to expect as far as traffic and how the fishing will be. Good luck all.

[erikwells]

Went out last night around 6:30 - 9:00 and boated one walleye around 17 inches. We tried jigs tipped with shiners 5-15 feet and managed two sheephead. We switched to crankbaits and got one walleye in 6 feet. The weather was almost perfect and the scenary was nice however we would have liked to see more walleyes. My boys and I will be heading up there this weekend for another try, good luck.

[pushbutton]

With the rain on sunday just briefly got out and do not have much to report on. Hit a few proven spots and the fish were there hammering meat in their normal prespawn locals. Gills and crappies were in full swing......except still have not found the big girl crapps yet? 2 to 5 ft with a 1/32nd tipped with leech, crawler, minnow, or plastic should treat you just fine.

Certainly the highlight...just love those greenies.....man these things fight!

[tjoutdoors]

Just trolling SR5 Shad Raps in 6 to 7 feet of water on Saturday morning my old man and little man showed the other 4 of us how it is done! As my little guy said "Good thing you woke me up to go fishing dad or you wouldn't have any walleyes to eat!"

[erikwells]

My boys were loose this weekend and showed me how it is done. They net their own bait and do their own rigs. I expected them to love fishing but did not expect them to outfish me at the ages of 5, 7 and 9. Here is the proof. A 27 and a 21.

[slurpie]

The panfish were on a tear last night went out for two hours and caught many fish no big crappies but some 9.5 inch sunnies. Some craps have spawned out but most sunnies were full of eggs yet.

[tjoutdoors]

A report from Norway on Saturday morning 9am until 1pm. Sheepshead were snapping during the Norway/Games Lake Association tourney. My boat of 3 landed 40 sheepshead weighing just short of 60 pounds. 6 to 8 feet of water with a jig and crawler or leech right on the bottom. Got a couple bonus crappies and a sunfish as well. Always a good time targeting sheepshead for the 4 hours a year that I do so! Sorry, no photos as I had to spend every minute I could with my jig in the water.

[erikwells]

Just thought I might refresh the topic with my limited report. Last weekend was busy and early morning and evening, night fishing was marginal for me. I have the boys this weekend and we are going to be up this evening. I think we may make the shift from targeting walleye to spending some more time on pike. I'll likly start pulling x-raps in 15-20 and see what we can find. Maybe I shouldn't but usually I start looking for the pike this time of year and spend less time on walleyes. Does anyone else make the switch or am I missing out on a bite? Typically this time of year I start to struggle to find the walleyes. I probably do nottarget deep enough water. Good luck.

[erikwells]

A few nice ones the boys have managed this season. They fish like little men. I ven landed a nice one this year.

[pushbutton]

Nice that they would let you catch one too Great job on getting the little rascals out, and thanks for the report! Apparently I am paying for many past sins this summer as I have been relegated to gardener, landscaper, as well as taxi driver to soccer, tennis, swimming, and t-ball Will get ahold of you this fall when the fish come back in the lagoon......

[slurpie]

Made it Out on green this morning and did good on crappies and sunnies. Released them all crappies were 9 to 13" sunnies from little to 9". Was really calm out just nice out there. Tried for some northerns but got skimmed on them. Good luck if you get out remember the sun block.

[erikwells]

Thanks Pushbutton yup I even got a nice walleye this year. So much more fun to watch my kids catch fish. I am sometimes amazed watching them fish and realize they watch me and imitate and will do the same in life so I had better be careful. We fished this weekend and found some crappies, bluegills and a few pike. If we were not in the water we were on the water. The weekend was better suited for swimming and tubing but we still hit some spots with some success. We hit the Calhoun dam one morning and caught bluegills, bass, sheephead, dogfish, bullheads and a small pike. The action was pretty good and the size was small but it is a fun place to explore and fish for an hour or 2. The water coming through the dam was surprisingly clear. I'll get out this 4th and this weekend but fishing this time of year but boat traffic and the heat will likly limit me a bit. P.S. Pushbutton if we can match schedules I would love to take you up on bringing the boys to the old mill in the fall. It would be great to have them fish what was my favorite all time fishing spot as a kid and catch and release of course. Thanks all good luck and have a great 4th of July. Thank God we celebrate Independance Day!

[Musky hunter 82]

Went fishing this past weekend around the area and had some of the best fishing in a while. My brother and I were out fishing Friday night, we caught 56 bass most of them on the smaller side but did have a few in the 16-17" range. We went back out most of the day saturday and did awesome, we hit the same lake we fished Friday night on Saturday morning. We ended up keeping 13 nice sunfish and caught 35 more bass, after lunch we went out again to a different lake and caught 42 bass biggest was 17". We also caught 43 crappies in a half hour it was nuts out as soon as the lure hit the water they were on it, they would actially hit before the sunnies could get to the lure. we also caught a hand full of northerns.

Total fish caught in 14 hours of fishing;

Bass - 133

Crappies - 43

Sunnies - lots

Northerns - 8-10

Awesome weekend

[erikwells]

I will be out and about this weekend. Found fish last weekend surprisingly shallow yet. This is typically the time of year I begin to fish less walleye and more pike and panfish. I found fish suspended about 10-12 feet down over 22-25 feet. I was hoping for a big pike. I'm sure they were able to see the x-rap but there were no takers. Fished a lot of 10-15 and found a few fish that were willing to eat. I even had a nice walleye bite one morning from 9:30 - 10:00. I caught 3 and lost 2 others during this time. However it completely shutoff after about 30 minutes. I'll be up this weekend with the boys. Good luck all.