Pewaukee Lake, Lake Okauchee, Green Bay, Milwaukee Harbor, Madison Chain Fishing Guide, Wisconsin Musky Fishing Guide, Wisconsin Muskie Guide, Wisconsin

Wisconsin fishing guide fishing all of the lakes and rivers of Southern and southeast WI including Green Bay and The Port of Milwaukee.

Spring
Starting March 1^st I am running charters from my boat for trophy lake trout. Unlike your typical Lake Michigan fishing, we pursue these fish with light spinning tackle instead of trolling. If done correctly, this type of fishing is considerably more productive than trolling. From March 1^st-the second week in April, it is not uncommon to hook into 20-40 lake trout with an average size of 8-10lbs. 20+lb fish are not uncommon and fish in the mid-high teens are caught almost daily. Typically the last 2 weeks of April there is a much better trolling bite.

The Southern WI game fish season opens the first Saturday in May and that’s when I turn my attention towards the inland lakes for big musky, pike and bass. All the fish are generally shallow and this can be one of the best times to catch numbers of big fish that are stacked up in small areas. I generally focus on casting and live bait fishing at this time, but trolling is also an option. I have developed proven seasonal patterns that consistently put big fish in my boat year in and year out, and spring has always been an especially good time for us. It is not uncommon to boat 10-20 pike/bass or 5-10 muskies in a full day trip. As the spring progresses and the fish spread out, trolling is generally the best option for contacting the most fish. However, casting and live bait fishing is still an option at this time. Pewaukee, Okauchee, Delavan, Pine and Oconomowoc are a few of the lakes I focus on in the spring.

In the first 9 days of the 2009 season my clients boated over 40 muskies and we ended the season with 258. I spend a majority of my time on Pewaukee, Okauchee and Oconomowoc, but I also fish the Madison Chain and Green Bay for muskies as well. Spring is a great time to be fishing for muskies and I have some very particular techniques and baits that I guarantee will make you a more successful angler year round.

Summer
Summer bite generally starts around mid June and that’s when Ill typically switch to trolling for muskies, or fishing live bait for pike and bass along the deep weed lines. In addition to trolling I will also be running night trips for trophy musky. This is the best time to pursue the biggest fish that swim in any lake. Summer is when the fish are feeding the heaviest and it is not uncommon to catch 10-30+ pike or bass in a full day trip. The techniques I use for bass and pike at this time are very easy for just about anyone to replicate. This is a great time to bring the kids out fishing.

The musky fishing is also very good at this time and 5-10 fish days are not uncommon. Due to heavy recreational traffic on the weekends around southern WI I will also typically fish a few select lakes in central WI that get far less boating and fishing pressure.

Fall
Fall bite typically starts in mid Sept when the jig fishing for big King Salmon heats up on Lake Michigan. Most of the King fishing I do is with jigs and light spinning gear. This type of fishing is an absolute blast and just about as much fun as you can have in a boat. Big kings put up a fight like no other fish that swims in the great lakes. These fish are also excellent to eat at this time.

This is also my favorite time to be on the water chasing big muskies. In the fall I generally switch back to casting in addition to pulling big suckers rigged on quick strike rigs behind the boat. This is the best time of the year to catch that trophy of a lifetime. I will also be running trips at this time for trophy musky on The Bay Green Bay. This is by far the place you have your best chances of landing a 50”+ musky. The best technique for contacting these fish is by trolling, but there can also be a good casting bite at this time as well. With the extended musky season south of Hwy 10, I will typically be running trips for musky until ice-up around mid-late December on Pewaukee, Okauchee and Oconomowoc. This can also be one of the best times of the year to catch big pike. Lake Mendota has a great late season trolling bite and the live bait bite on the Waukesha area lakes can also be very good. This is the time when the biggest pike in the lake follow schools of migrating ciscos into the shallows. At this time the pike become very accessible and we will also catch a handful of 6-12lb walleyes each fall while fishing for pike.

Winter
As soon as the lakes and marinas are safe enough to walk on I will start running trips through the ice for trophy brown and rainbow trout on Lake Michigan in addition to inland fishing for pike, walleye and pan fish.

The port of Milwaukee is blessed with the best brown trout fishery in the world and the action doesn’t stop when the marinas ice up. This is when I will pull out the automatic fisherman (automaticfisherman.com) and chase these monster trout through the ice. Every fish we hook up is fought on a 33” rod and reel so you can only imagine how hard a 20lb brown trout fights on this set-up. At this time we will also catch steelhead and rainbow trout mixed in with the browns. These fish fight just as hard under the ice as they do in open water.

I do most of my inland fishing on the lakes around Waukesha County for pike, walleye and pan fish. I have lakes that we can pursue trophy pike and I have different lakes where it’s not uncommon to get 15-30 flags in a full day trip, with the fish running smaller. Early ice walleye fishing can be some of the best ice fishing of the year. I mainly target these fish at night and it’s not uncommon to get your limit of fish during early ice.