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Cold water makes fishing tough

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Geneva Lake, May 7-12, 2011

Lake Geneva is very cold. The water temp at the surface is about 47 degrees. This water temp makes fishing very tough. The best fishing has been in Abbey Harbor or in Trinkes harbor. These two locations offer the warmest water on the lake.

Largemouth bass are being caught on nightcrawlers fished on a small split shot in 3-4 ft of water in the Abbey. There are also some being caught in Geneva Bay near the library. With warmer weather predicted, this bite should be improving over the next week.

Bluegills are also being caught in Abbey harbor on wax worms and leaf worms. Small ice jigs fished under a bobber is producing most of the action. Another good spot has been Trinkes harbor fishing 2-3 ft of water with the same approach.

Smallmouth bass have been on the outside of the weedlines in 15-20 ft of water suspended. They can be caught on a small hair jig or on a small chrome/blue jerk bait. The best location is by Elgin Club or by the old Military Academy.

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

Delavan Lake, May 7, 12, 2011

Delavan Lake's water temp is very cold for this time of year due to our cool April. The lake is probably 2-3 weeks behind. The water clarity is exceptional. The best bite on the lake is bluegills and crappies. Due to the water temperature, game fishing has been slow.

Bluegills are being caught in 2-3 ft of water. The best locations are in the channels. I've been using ice jigs tipped with leaf worms fished on a bobber. The biggest problem has been catching large enough fish to keep. Some days the bigger fish are in the channels and other times, the larger fish move out and smaller fish replace them.

Crappies are being caught in 6-7 ft of water. They are in the shallow weed flats. The two spots that have been producing most of the fish have been by Lake Lawn and Browns Channel weed flat. Occasionally, depending on cloud cover, the crappies can be found in the channels also. The crappies like low light and cloudy days. The best presentation is slip bobbers and small minnows.

Northern Pike are on the weed flats by Viewcrest Bay and the Highlands Bay. I've been fishing them on slip bobbers with large golden shiners. I've been anchoring the boat in 8-9 ft of water and setting the bobbers down wind. The bobbers are set about 1 ft above the weed growth.

Largemouth bass are cruising the shallows in 2-4 ft of water. The best spot that I saw was in the channel by the boat launch. The water is quite dirty there so most of the success has been coming on white or chartreuse spinner blades. Most of my normal shallow spots are still too cold.

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

Daily Reports

5/8/11 - Whitewater Lake, 65 degrees and sunny, very light winds, water temp 51 degrees. Caught 8 largemouth bass. Fished using green pumkin All Terrain stiks in 4-5 ft of water. The best location was by the bogs.

5/7/11 - Delavan Lake, 45 degrees and cloudy, winds E at 5 mph increasing to about 20 mph. Water temp 49 degrees. Caught 3 largemouth, 1 Northern Pike and had 3 other pike on, and 17 crappies and bluegills. The bass were caught in Lake Lawn Harbor on nightcrawlers. The pike was caught by Browns Channel on golden shiners on a slip bobber in 9 ft of water. The crappies were also caught on slip bobbers in Browns Channel with fat head minnows. The best depth was 7 ft of water. The bluegills were caught shallow, 3-4 ft of water in Browns Channel. They were caught on a Genz bug and a leaf worm.

5/6/11 - Delavan Lake, 40 degrees and sunny, winds E at 15 mph. Water temp 49 degrees. Caught 30 bluegills, only kept about 10. The average size was small. Fished by the dam and Browns Channel. Used leaf worms and small bobbers.

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.