Lake Winnebago

Perch have started to bite, catching 9 to 11 inch perch in 8 to 11 FOW.  Red worms and crawlers on a plain hook seem to do the job.  Look for sand transitions with limited weeds.  

Looking to take a couple of kids out this weekend. Haven't fished Winnebago in a few years. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. TIA.Tight lines.

River lunker, I just cut the line as close to the hook without spending too much time so as to get the fish released and back in the water quickly.  I doubt the line is any harder on the fish than the hook is.

Over the years, I have caught several healthy fish passing a hook.  They also pass the line the same way.  Hooks rust and disintegrate quickly in the digestive tract.  They also rust quickly just in lake water.  I have gone back 1-2 weeks later to find a lure i lost to a rock or tree and am always surprised how quickly the hooks start to disintegrate and rust. Multiply that even faster in a fishes digestive tract.

Limit time out of water and bleeding as much as possible and they stand a decent chance of making it.  A better chance than lake crisco anyway.  Hooks are cheap.  Adult fish are valuable.

I use the through the gill method. works great with bass. I try to slightly pull on the line to expose as much hook as possible. With toothy fish you will probably need a jaw spreader. You can also slightly pinch the barb down. Google ....removing fish hook from a gut hooked fish. ?

Question for everyone. What does everyone think about the correct way to deal with a throat hooked fish? I heard from the DNR the best thing is to get all the line off the hook and leave it in. They say it will rust away over time. When in 2 years? I wonder what the survival rate is though. Obviously it's a case by case basis but I doubt any throat hooked fish can feed again normally.  What do you guys think? Caught 5 walleyes this year that I didn't want to keep that swallowed the leech and hook. All I could see was the eyelet of the hook. Got all the line off each one though. Ripping it out will make the fishes chances slim. Sucks when that happens.

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7-8-23
Fished 6:30am- 2:30pm
Targeted gravel transition areas with weeds mixed in. Slip bobbers with 1/16oz jig and crawler was good when we had wind. When the lake laid down movement was key so casting a drop shot with a crawler chunk was our go to. 
Enjoy the video!!

PUT IN AT BLACKWOLF WITH A FRIEND YESTERDAY.  JIGGED FOR A BIT AND PUT ONE NICE EYE IN THE BOAT.  THREW BACK SOME SMALLER ONES.  SO MUCH FOR ME PUTTING MY FIRST NICE EYE BACK FOR THE FISH GODS!!  TROLLED A BIT AND ONLY A FEW GOATS.  WENT BACK TO REEFS AND MORE GOATS IT WAS.  WEATHER WAS NICE.  WATER WAS THICK WITH ALGAE.  DID NOT SEE A LOT OF OTHER BOATS GETTING MANY WALLEYES.  WE ADJUSTED THE BAITS WHILE TROLLING AND THEY JUST DIDNT LIKE US. 

Trolled for about 2 1/2 hours today out from Pipe and got a limit of quality eyes. All on 1/4 oz Hot-n-Tots 40 foot back. Only 2 sheep. Only one color was working and it was the only one I had in my boat. Kept putting out other colors but no dice. These are the old original Storm ones. Got home and check my basement I found I had  more. I had bought a lot of them when the local store put them on clearance for $3.50 when they discontinued them.  No bugs at all.  Weeds was the main issue today keeping me busy.

Wife and I launched from Neenah around 9AM on 7/6. VERY pleasant day, light breeze, little or no BUGS....Yeah!
Jigged a couple of reefs with crawlers. (Stevens) Pretty slow, one small walleye, a 6 inch bass and a sheepshead.

Saw the earlier reports about the bugs being so bad, just wondering if the lake flys have gone away? 

Outta stockbridge in mud.,salmo Viking 65 back …

I was out yesterday as well and even with a bug suit it was bad. Its kind of difficult to eat or drink with it on.

Out yesterday at 6am trolling the northwest corner of the lake with flicker shads in the mud. Caught 3 walleye and countless goats during the 3hrs we were able to tolerate being out there. Bugs were beyond bad and algae bloom is firing up. Won't be back anytime soon as conditions (algae/bugs) were completely intolerable. 

Brother and I caught one walley and bout ten goats trollin yesterday before we succumbed to the unbelieveable bug attack.  What’s the keys to tolerating them besides long pants and long sleeves.  They were all over us…….5:00am to 8:30, then it was either motor to blow them off or leave.  We chose the latter.