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Fish moving into shallower waters

Geneva Lake, Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, 2011

Lake Geneva fishing has been improving. With the cooling water temperatures, the surface temperature is right around 75 degrees, it is moving the fish shallower and more accessible to the average fishermen. With Labor Day approaching, the boat traffic will reduce by about 10 fold.

Largemouth bass can be caught on the weedline in 15-18 ft of water, or in the early mornings, on top water lures around emergent weeds. For the weedline bass, Carolina rigging zoom lizards or dragging football head jigs have been producing most of the action. For topwater, the lures suggest are chrome/blue and chrome/black Chug bugs. The best locations have been by Trinkes or by Linn pier.

Walleye fishing has been above average at night. Look for the fish on the weed flats in 15 ft of water suspended about 2 ft above the weed tops. Trolling large Rapalas or Walleye Bandits are the best choice. The best location has been by Trinkes or in Geneva Bay.

Northern pike fishing remains consistent. The fish are still on the thermocline in 30 ft of water. The best location has been by Maytag Point or in Fontana Beach. Lindy rigging medium suckers is the presentation of choice.

Rock bass are the most consistent bite on the lake. They can be caught in 12-15 ft of water. The best location is by the old Military Academy or by Coleman's Point. Split shot rigged nightcrawlers are always a reliable choice.

Smallmouth bass are starting to school up off main lake points. They can be caught in 18-20 ft of water. The best approach is lindy rigging nightcrawlers or leeches right on bottom. When you find the right school, you should be able to catch 5 or 6 fish in short order. Look for the fish by the Military Academy or by the Holiday Camp.

Delavan Lake, Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, 2011

The fishing pressure continues to be a factor, you can see it early in the week when nothing has changed and the fishing slows down a bit. By the beginning of the weekend the fish are back to biting. The fish are in the transition period between summer and fall. For most species of fish, you can catch them both shallow and deep. Over the last week, the water temperature has remained pretty constant at 77-78 degrees. With dropping water temperatures, the bite will change from nightcrawlers to fathead minnows.

Largemouth bass can be caught in the 8-10 ft range, or suspended in the main lake basin around pods of bluegills. For the shallow fish, they can be caught on fire tiger crankbaits, wacky rigging Senkos or on split shot rigged nightcrawlers. I've been concentrating on the main lake points. For the deep fish, swim baits or jigging spoons will do the trick. The fish can be readily seen on a good graph. A good spot to try is off of Willow Point and off of the Village point.

Bluegill fishing has been spotty. You can find them, however, you need to look harder for the bigger fish. Once you get on a school, you can catch a limit pretty easily, but it may take a few hours to find the school. I've been fishing slip bobbers with leaf worms or small nightcrawlers. The best depth has been 8-10 ft of water. The better spots have been by Township Park or by Assembly Park.

Walleye fishing remains slow during the day, and above average at night. Night fishermen are catching most of their fish trolling crankbaits, the best color crank baits have been pearl or fire tiger, or casting main lake points. The best locations have been the deep water associated with weed flats.

Northern pike have started to improve. They are in 23-27 ft of water. The best approach is lindy rigging medium suckers. Look for them by the island, Browns Channel or the old Boy Scout camp. They are not as schooled up as earlier in the summer so drifting or trolling is the key to covering a lot 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

8/27/11 Delavan Lake, partly cloudy, 78 degrees, N wind at 5-10 mph. Water temp 78 degrees. Caught 12 largemouth - 2 were legal, and 1 walleye. Fishing was good first thing in the a.m., around 8 a.m. the fish just shut down. Fishing pressure was tremendous. Every spot had one to two boats on it. Our fish were caught on split shot rigged nightcrawlers.

8/26/11 Delavan Lake, partly cloudy, 75 degrees, light SW winds. Water temp 78 degrees. Caught 17 largemouth - 3 were legal. The best location was main lake points. Caught most of the fish on a split shot rigged nightcrawler.

8/24/11 Delavan Lake, sunny, 90 degrees, SW winds at 15-20 mph. Water temp 77 degrees. Caught 20 largemouth, 1 smallmouth and 1 northern pike. The bite was a combination of slip bobbered suckers and split shot rigged nightcrawlers. The best depth was 10-13 ft. Fished main lake points.

8/23/11 Delavan Lake, cloudy, 79 degrees, SW winds at 15-20 mph. Water temp 78 degrees. Caught 18 largemouth - 5 were legal and 1 smallmouth bass. Nothing really changed from the day before, however, the fish bit much better. The best presentation was a split shot rigged nightcrawler in 8-10 ft of water.

8/22/11 Delavan lake, sunny, 80 degrees, SW winds at 10 mph. Water temp 78 degrees. Caught 12 largemouth bass and a few bluegills. Overall fishing was rather tough. The best bite was on a slip bobber rig sucker in 15 ft of water. Concentrated on main lake points.

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.