WAUKESHA COUNTY LAKES
Waukesha County has several walleye fishing options to consider, and it’s a great day-trip destination for many Wisconsin anglers.

If you are looking for a fish fry, Pine Lake in the northwest part of the county is probably your best bet. Although walleyes of trophy proportions are rare here, you have a serious shot at a 25-inch fish as part of the five-fish 15-inch minimum bag limit.

Oconomowoc Lake offers a better shot at a wallhanger. There is a three-fish 18-inch minimum-size limit in place here. At about 600 acres, it is possible to target promising spots effectively in a full day on the water.

Lac La Belle is almost twice as big as Oconomowoc. It is managed as a trophy fishery, with a 20-inch minimum and one-walleye daily bag limit. Once walleyes reach legal size here, they are quickly removed from the system and released into hot grease. But there are boatloads of 12- to 19-inch walleyes swimming in Lac La Belle, thus offering almost sure-thing potential for hooking up many times on opening weekend.

Lac La Belle has a wealth of natural walleye cover. Rocky shorelines and points are veritable magnets for both fish and fishermen. Weed edges are slightly tougher to locate, but well worth the effort. The best way to find a good weedbed is by following the 8-foot contour at a leisurely pace with your boat’s primary outboard. Once a promising weed edge is located, try casting a No. 9 fire-tiger or crawdad-pattern Shad Rap or similar lure along the edge, or drop into slightly deeper water and pitch a 1/8-ounce jighead tipped with a fathead minnow. For best results, hook the fathead through the mouth and out through the back and ahead of the dorsal fin. Although this kills the minnow, Lac La Belle’s willing walleyes will inhale your offering before the tail quits twitching.

Herein is a great opportunity to afflict the next generation with walleye fever. Young anglers need to experience success to become passionate about fishing. Anybody who can keep a line in the water has a chance at hooking up here.

Contact: Dick Smith’s Live Bait, (262) 646-2218.

BIG YELLOW LAKE
It’s tough to choose the best walleye lake in Burnett County. But 2,287-acre Big Yellow Lake would certainly be on the short list of any serious ‘eye chaser in northwest Wisconsin.

A basic hook, split shot and shiner is hard to beat early in the season here when fished in a controlled drift along the lake’s 8-foot contour near the lake’s channel with Little Yellow Lake on the northwest side. Post-spawn walleyes stage here until about June 1 when they ghost away to inhabit more classic walleye water like the area around a submerged island located almost due south of Yellow Lake Lodge Road. This island tops out about 3 feet under the surface, drawing walleyes shallow during periods of low light once summer arrives.

If fish have already slid away from the 8-foot contour on the lake’s northwest corner, try probing the water north of the boat launch on Lake Avenue Road off County Road U.

Contact: Burnett County Tourism, 1-800-788-3164, or online at BurnettCounty.com.