Fallriverguy
Well-known member
Wickiup 5/22 (now with pic)
My fishing partner (Moknots) and I were there Friday at the crack of dawn. The first thing I noticed was the water temp in the Davis arm, and down towards the dam was 10 degrees warmer than a week ago. It was 57 in the morning and 60 F in the afternoon. There was a mini-bite a first light, then it sloooowed down. The other thing we noticed were the bugs. Never have I seen a midge hatch at Wickiup like that; it was of biblical proportions. For hours there must have been over a 1,000 bugs at any one time on my boat. I think the fish were a little preoccupied and checking the stomach contents of the fish confirmed this. Some fish were literally stuffed to the gills with large midge pupae. Others were full of small scuds while others were stuffed with large scuds. The fish were keying on a single food source.
We caught 14 fish in as many hours on the water. We left before finding out if there would be an evening bite. Most fish came on some type of chartreuse hoochies, one or two on spinners, and a couple just on bait. Again, and even thought the water was warmer and the skies clear, most of the fish were taken in less than 30 feet of water. Many were caught in 16-19 feet of water or taken at drop offs into deeper water.
The fish size was similar. We did see two boats catching fish at a fair rate. They were both using ball trolls and no lure, just bait on a hook long lined behind their boats. I switched to bait only behind a sling blade dodger and had three strikes, landing one, in short order right before leaving. That gave me something to chew on before my next trip.
My fishing partner (Moknots) and I were there Friday at the crack of dawn. The first thing I noticed was the water temp in the Davis arm, and down towards the dam was 10 degrees warmer than a week ago. It was 57 in the morning and 60 F in the afternoon. There was a mini-bite a first light, then it sloooowed down. The other thing we noticed were the bugs. Never have I seen a midge hatch at Wickiup like that; it was of biblical proportions. For hours there must have been over a 1,000 bugs at any one time on my boat. I think the fish were a little preoccupied and checking the stomach contents of the fish confirmed this. Some fish were literally stuffed to the gills with large midge pupae. Others were full of small scuds while others were stuffed with large scuds. The fish were keying on a single food source.
We caught 14 fish in as many hours on the water. We left before finding out if there would be an evening bite. Most fish came on some type of chartreuse hoochies, one or two on spinners, and a couple just on bait. Again, and even thought the water was warmer and the skies clear, most of the fish were taken in less than 30 feet of water. Many were caught in 16-19 feet of water or taken at drop offs into deeper water.
The fish size was similar. We did see two boats catching fish at a fair rate. They were both using ball trolls and no lure, just bait on a hook long lined behind their boats. I switched to bait only behind a sling blade dodger and had three strikes, landing one, in short order right before leaving. That gave me something to chew on before my next trip.
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