Delavan Lake Fishing Report

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Delavan Lake 5/1/10 - 5/9/10

Opening Day has arrived! The week and weekend coming into opening day was met with quite a bit of stable weather, however we’ve had non-stop west to southwest winds at 15-20 mph which made fishing a bit difficult. At least it wasn’t raining! The lake appears to be 2-3 weeks ahead of last year, if you recall, last year we had an extremely wet spring.

Largemouth bass are beginning to spawn in 2-3 ft of water. On Sunday, I saw quite a few on beds. I think they saw my ugly face and would not bite. I caught several small 12- 14 inch ones on either a Texas rigged All Terrain Stik or a split shot rigged nightcrawler. In talking to people at the boat ramp, it appears that we had more success than most others. The best location was down in Viewcrest Bay or by Lake Lawn Lodge golf course.

Bluegills are in 3-4 ft of water, preparing to spawn. They are very aggressive and can be caught easily on leaf worms or red worms. The best location is in Viewcrest Bay or Lake Lawn harbor. Use Lindy Fat Boys about 1 ft beneath a Thill bobber. The biggest problem has been the size, they’ve been relatively small. I noticed a lot of anglers keeping the 6-7 inch fish.

Northern Pike are in the shallows and can be caught on golden shiners fished beneath a Thill slip float. Fish your slip bobber rig with a 1/0 hook and a split shot. I try to keep the golden shiners 1 ft above the weeds. The best location is by Ravenswood or Viewcrest bay. Other productive methods are casting small spinner baits. I prefer ¼ to ½ oz white with tandem willow leaf or the new Lindy Shadling in perch color size #5.

Crappies are really biting well in the 5-6 ft depth range. They can be caught on small plastics or on a slip bobber rig with a small fat head minnow. The best location is by the Oriental Boat house, the Yacht Club or in Lake Lawn Harbor. I’ve noticed this year that the average size of the crappies is about 1-2 inches larger than last years average.

Remember to only keep what you are going to eat. I noticed on the first outing on the lake, that everyone seemed to be keeping everything they caught. As always, don’t be too busy to take your kids fishing.

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

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