Fishing on Delavan remains very consistent. The only problem has been the
excessive fishing pressure. It isn’t too hard to get on the water, but getting off has been a
constant battle.
Largemouth bass can be caught on the deep weed line. They can be caught on
either deep diving crank baits or drop shotting along the weed line edge. Some of the
best catches are coming off small finesse worms or sassy shads. For the crank baits, use
fire tiger, that color seems to produce the most action. Work the weed edge in 16-19 ft of
water. Most of the fish are in excess of 1 ½ lbs, with some reaching over 5 lbs. Live bait
fishermen can still catch them, however there are so many pesky bluegills, you will go
through dozens of crawlers.
Northern Pike fishing has been very good. Like the largemouth bass, they are off
the weed edge in 17-19 ft of water. You can either catch them on a live bait rig with a
sucker or chub or by casting large swim baits off the weed line. The best location has
been on the west side of the lake by the island or by Browns channel.
Bluegill fishing has been outstanding. You can’t really fish anywhere without
catching a mess of 8-10 inch fish. Most of the fish are being caught on small red worms
or leaf worms. The fish I’ve been catching are off the weed line in 20-22 ft of water. I
have not fished a place on the lake where I was unable to catch any.
Crappie fishing has been average. The fish are right on the weed line break in 12-
15 ft of water. Most of the success the past few days have come off small fathead
minnows fished on a slip bobber. Plastics will still work, however live bait is out-fishing
them 2:1.
Walleye fishing remains almost non-existent. I haven’t heard of anyone having
any success. You can occasionally pick up 1 or 2 but there still has been no pattern.
Hopefully once the water starts to cool this will improve.
Good luck and I hope to see you on the water. For guide parties, please call Dave
Duwe 608-883-2050