Opening Weekend Outlook

With an early spring it seems like forever that we have waited for the opener but finally it is less then 2 weeks away in Wisconsin. The price county area opening day fishing forecast looks pretty good, water temps have been staying in the low to mid 50's for the past few weeks. It really looks like the Crappie will be in the shallows for some easy catching if the gamefish don't bite for the opener. We have been getting reports of some crappie fishermen picking up some nice walleye in shallow water on crappie minnows, a pattern that should hold into the first week of season or longer. This type of pattern is great for casting stick baits in the shallow water. Wind blown shorelines with some wood or last years weed structures will hold active fish, and you can cover a ton of water running and gunning a rapala or other type of stick bait. When you do come into a school of fish holding in an area you can then work it over with live minnows or leeches. Northern Pike and Bass will also be in these areas this time of year, so there is a chance of a nice mixed bag coming out of the same spots.
Sunday while fishing for Crappie we caught Crappie, Bass, Walleye and Pike all in the same area in 2 feet of water. Pictured is a nice Smallmouth that hit a 1/16 oz Northland Thumper Jig on a 4'8" UL rod with 4lb test line.