Lake Geneva

[Justinm]

I think I am going here on opening day. By the way welcome to the official Lake Geneva thread!

[Eric Haataja]

Fished Geneva twice in the past week and caught some really nice smallies and largemouth on Jerk baits and on Chomper twin tail grubs, watermelom was the best color. The north shore was good, and area's around maytag were also good with a 3/8 ounce football jigs or 1/2 ounce jig. We caught several pigs this week all still prespawn. I'll post some pics soon!

Eric Haataja

[Eric Haataja]

Forgot to mention the best depths were 10-14 feet of water.

[Eric Haataja]

clients nice fish from lake Geneva this past week.

[Eric Haataja]

Client Michelle with her biggest bass to date caught on soft plastics.

[Eric Haataja]

Did another guide trip today and the fishing was o.k. lots of smallies on the beds and rock bass and gills as well. Drift just about anywhere from 10-15 feet of water and you'll catch lots of fish now, it seems to help if you sixe down to 4 or 6 lb test. The crappies are also on the weed edges biting well in 12-20 feet of water, they are pretty big mostly 13 inchers or bigger.

I also caught some smallies on 1/2 ounce football jigs with cho,per spider grubs.

A buddy of mine caught 3 nice eyes the other night trolling 18 rapala's in 10 feet of water and he also caught some big smallies.

Lots of smallies spawning near bigfoot beach park and Maytag Point in that 12-14 foot range

Eric Haataja

[duffbutter4u]

went out last night got 4 smallies 14-19 1/2 in range.drop shoting and crawler rigs. tried to troll the narrows but to much floating weeds. had fun anyways....

[duffbutter4u]

went out again last night we got 6 smallies and some rockies. i was ganna send a few pics but it wont let me.it says there to big....ill send some if i can figure them out..

[Eric Haataja]

Fished with my son and daughter (Sleeping in the back ground) and we caught a fair amount of nice lakers near the bottom. The best depths were 120-130 feet and best baits were glow spoons and gold small eveil eyes. But after opening up a few lakers and seeing 12 inch cisco's I will try some bigger baits next time. Lots of fun and maaaan do these guys fight well!


Being a finlander we love da lakers!:)

[Eric Haataja]

What an awesome day of fishing on Geneva. Clients who have hired me for the week had a lot of fun catching muskies on Ockachee and wanted some panfish for the fryer. We caught all the gills you coud want in 25-30 feet of water off maytag point all mostly 8-9 1/2 inchers. A chunk of crawler behind the split shot was all it took, mark the schools of gill on the graph then sit on top of them and catch them. They also caught some nice smallies and largies mixed in with the gills. Later in the day we fished for pike and also did well landing 7 pike with the biggest about 34 inches. Our last stop was on the flats where there was a ton of bait up high and the crappies were putting on a feeding clinic pushing the bait to the surface out in about 30 feet of water. Casting small plastics and counting them down a few seconds worked great!
Heading back out on the water right now.

Eric Haataja

www.wibigfish.com

[The TP]

I had the good fortune to fish Lake Geneva with 2 of Wisconsin's finest guides on Saturday. Steve Everetts of McHenry, IL and Eric Haataja of West Allis, WI.

While the day started off foggy, the sun made an appearance in the afternoon - Steve shared his delicious homehand chicken sandwiches and Rosita's pizza with us, and Eric shared a few songs. We all caught some fish along the way.

Best depths were 18-26fow - but fish were caught as deep as 45fow. Fished every type of lure and bait imaginable but Yum Dingers, jigging spoons and crawlers took the most fish.

[Eric Haataja]

Anyways we did catch smallies out deep a few largies on a few docks that were legal dead sticking senko's and some decent gills out in deep water, mark the gills and drop down and catch them! Overall it was a prety tough day.

[Finseeker]

I really don't get all of the excitement about Geneva. I am a Delavan man through and through but due to Eric's pushing and the fact that it is closer to my house than Delavan, I forced myself to get out.

I figure Eric is out of town and he is not here to defend his spots, I did what any good friend would do............ I kept his fish company while he was out of town. Sorry Eric, wished you could have been there. Get back soon!!!

Bass were released unharmed and all in all was a good night. Drop shotting in 24 feet produced the bigger fish. Caught some HUGE Pumkinseeds on crawlers and dozens of god awful Rockos.

Steve Everetts
Finseekers Guide Service
www.finseekers.com

[RJN]

Guys, I'm done with the muskies for a while.
Geneva is yielding some huge smallies on live bait.
Was out yesterday thinking fishing was going to be horrible with high pressure, somewhat blue skies, and 28deg. temp. when we launched at 6:30AM. I'm shocked that it's been held secret for so long. (well at least for me)
I would have to say it was one of the best days I've had in years.
We caught over 25 smallies, and missed just about as many at the boat. All which were legal
with 3 pushing 20".
I can't believe I haven't fished smallies on this lake , and the first time out we killed them. I've never downloaded pictures on this site, but will try to get them up soon.
Unbelievable!!!

[Eric Haataja]

Glad to here it! It's best in spring and fall for me for the big smallies. I wish I could get out there but booked up for salmon for a while, and heading to mendota this week. Great report.

Eric

[Eric Haataja]

The bite is still going good in the 25-35 foot breaks with inside turn and point rainbow point and east has been good along with striaght out in front of gordy's, water is warmer on the west end as always and the fish are a bit more aggressive. Fish are schooled up in small bunches as well.

Eric

[Cbangler]

Was out on Geneva for the Brown fish Sunday, and what a wonderful afternoon it turned out to be. The wind calmed and the Sun shined brightly as the bite picked up towards evening. Water was 50 degrees on the west side of the lake and the bass were taking live bait rigs in 20 - 35 FOW. Boated several fish, with 2 bruisers over 20"s

[Cbangler]

Was back on Geneva Saturday and Sunday chasing those Brown fish. The bite has slowed slighgtly, but they are definitely still on the feed. Had my brother in town from AZ, and we boated several fish over the 2 days (3 of which exceeded 20", and 2 others just over 19"). Pulling live bait rigs on the steep breaks between 25 - 35 was our strategy. 90% of our bites came when we could really dial into a deep ledge between 28' - 32'. Water was just over 48 degress Saturday, and just over 49 degrees Sunday.

Also had 2 fish come out of the depths to chase a jerkbait, but thought better of it as they saw the boat......

At any rate, all told it was a good bite both days, and a gorgeous day to be on the Water Sunday (won't be many more like that for a while!)

Here are a few pics of some of our nicer fish. Not fatty's by any stretch, but quality fish regardless. **Special note - take a look at the one with the black spot, and the freak with a chunk out of his back (without it, he would have been 5lb easy!

[RJN]

We've been out there twice over the last week, and the smallies have been nice to us too.
I agree that the bite is starting to decline, both schools and length of time feeding when they are active.
We kind of let the cat out of the bag on another website, and now everyone is out there. Next year I'm going to tone it down bit with the reports and pics. I never thought these sites could start such a crowd on the water.

[Cbangler]

I try and watch what info I post - I will say that I did see many other boats out there, but fortunately not a lot of them catching any fish. I will also tell you the all of the fish came off 2 very specific spots (that we pretty much had to ourselves both days).

So the moral of the story is..........if nothing else, keep your honey holes hush hush

Thanks for the reply (at some point I will figure out how to post some of the pics)

[RJN]

I think I finally learned how to post a picture.
Here's some smallies from last week.

http://chicagolandfishing.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=3968

[Cbangler]

How did ya do it RJ?

I think we caught the same fish last week - or sister's anyway. I got one the same size, with that same black spot!

If I could figure out how to get the pics posted - I would show ya.

Maybe see you out there on Sunday - Take care,
CB

[RJN]

I want to get out there Sunday, but the weather looks nasty.
I think I might save it in my back pocket for next weekend.
Good luck if you go.
BTW, we caught two that day with that black spot. They must by hybrids of a peacock bass. :rolleyes:

[Cbangler]

Was back out on Sunday the 12th. Went 6 for 9 on the smallies with 2 over 19" and 1 over 20". Also got my line tugged by a 31" Northern. Fish were a little shallower, and more aggressive than in previous weeks. Water temperature seems to be holding so looking forward to smackin em good this weekend. May try and get a little deeper, perhaps out to 45'. Post soem pics when I figure out how to shrink them.

Good luck - CB

[Finseeker]

Got out with CB Angler on Saturday (also known as Cor Dog, Captain Smallmouth, and V.P). We boated 8 Smallies on Saturday and missed a few other ops. He even let me catch a few dumb ones..which was nice, cause we were in my boat.

If this was the "other site's" thread on Geneva, I would give you both of our biographies, show some shirtless pictures and talk about what we had for breakfast, but since this is Eric's site and it's all about the fish and the fishing, let's not go there.

Fished 28-32 foot breaks dragging some meat on the bottom. Very slow presentation but worth the wait. Most of our fish were 18" - 20" with a few smaller than that. We worked the south shores mostly and hit the humps that are East of the narrows. Dead calm and 60 degrees. You got a love it.

[Finseeker]

Just when I thought we knew what we were doing. Same conditions and struggled. Short trip on Sunday morning produced 1 for 2. Also another picture from Saturday.

[Fishin Dan]

Been on Geneva every weekend for 2+ months. Fishing has been awesome the past few weeks in particular. Roaches are good, perch are better. Find perch on the graph and you will fina smallies. Not sure what the snow did to the lake temps, were about 47, I would guess they dropped. Smaller fish are shallow, bigger fish seem to be deeper, but are really dependant on where the perch are. Here is one photo of a decent one my buddy Keith caught.....when we "forget" the camera, we seem to catch more fish, so we usually leave it in the car.


Steve
All of our fish seem really dark and yours look lighter, where are you fishing?

[Eric Haataja]

I've been out a few times in the past month in between all the brown trout and steelhead fishing going on. Fianlly had a great night recently with my friend and fellow lake Geneva guide Steve Everetts from Finnseekers guide service.

It's been hit and miss for me with some nights nothing but a few pike the other few times I've been out 1-2 eyes.

Best baits have been lucky crafts pulled on fire line or power pro with a 10 lb test florcarbon leader and also adding a big split shot to get the bait down deeper. Perch and gold and black have been the best colors, also caught a few fish on 18 rapala's in the perch and black and silver colors, be sure to add a snap swivel or loop knot for better action. The 2 most important things I saw were finding the big schools of bait when possible and staying in the 14-22 foot depths. lastly, the rods that have been getting bit the most are the rods we are pumping in our hands and the fish are mainly hitting on the pause while you pump the rod.

The area's I've done well in this year are East of Lynn Pier on the trinkes flats there are several long fingers with nice weed clumps that come out into the lake, the north shore directly across from lynn pier to the narrows, and cisco bay but closer to cedar point on the west side of the bay. This can be a very tough lake to fish and every time I go out I learn something new.

Best of Luck!

Eric Haataja

[Eric Haataja]

Last 2 times out I mainly fished Geneva Bay, Stone Manor and Trinkes Bay, the best area however was about a 1/2 mile north of the main pack up near bible camp. ATV travel is safe just about all over now from what I saw plenty of ice. We fished the north shore a bit for perch as well.
Fishing was has been pretty good for us, we had to move around a bit mid afternoon to find some active fish but they bit pretty good. Our best baits for panfish were chartruse tear drops with waxies, # 12 ratfinkes, chartruse, red and glow tipped with a wedgie or spikes. The best bite for us was the last 2 hours of the day and the 1st hour into the night. We fished for perch in the middle of the day for about 2 hours and managed to a few nice 12 perch in 6-9 feet of water on a few sand spot area's on the north show up in Cisco Bay, had to sort threw a bunch of small perch but there are some nice ones mixed in we were sight fishing the perch.

Trinkes has been hit and miss for the crappies and gills however a buddy of mine did get 2 decent eyes out on a couple of the finger that extend out on the flats in trinkes bay night fishing. I may try to get out there a few more times this week and try to catch s pig at night. The eyes bite can be hit and miss as well, he caught 1 fish on a small jigging rap and another on a tip up. Gotta put in a lot of time for a few eyes ice fishing out here.

Also a few nice lakers being taken in the 60 foot depths as well with big hair jigs and jigging spoons tipped with shiners.

Good Luck!

Eric Haataja

[Eric Haataja]

Geneva is going good now and will only continue to get better as it warms and the ice melts! My good friend did really well on Tues for big gills and the smallest crappie they had was 13 1/2 inches. 10 feet of water with weeds was the ticket. The big perch are up on some of the shallow sand flats in the 5-7 foot depths and it's basically a site fishing bite.

Get out there while the bite is good and get away from all the crowds!!!!

Eric

[walleyeshark]

We've been doing ok on Delavan for gills. If you're patient, you can "sort" out a limit. I'm thinking that the crappies should show up at Trinkes anytime now. Has anyone been out over there? Mark any fish? I'll post as soon as I find out anything!

[Eric Haataja]

The crappie bite is going good out on Geneva now with only a few days left of late ice get out there! Trinkes has been hot in 15-22 feet of water.

[Eric Haataja]

Got to take the day off and spend it with Mom and the family.
However this past week has been nuts, nothing short of fantastic fishing on Geneva and Delavan. I can't begin to tell you how many huge smallies we boated this week on Geneva! The worst trip in the past couple of days I think my clients and I landed approximately 40 bass with some nice largies and big smallies mixed in. The best trip was 80+ bass and that's just a guess... with 3-5 lbers not uncommon.

We've fished just about all over the enire lake from the east on in Genva Bay to the west end in Fontana and have caught fish everywhere however Crawfords Bar, Geneva Inn, Maytag point, Military academy were very good area's for us. Generally when you start catching one or two bass hang around that area because these fish are schooled up big time. The best depths for the largies seems to be the 6-12 foot depths and for smallies the 8-20 foot depths however there are many area's where you will catch both species right now. Some of our best bait have been swimming grubs, casting cranks, and fishing jigs on the bottom. Also try to fish the wind blow shoreline, and first and last light have been really good bites as well!!

The crappie fishing has also been very good with 4 lb test and small plastics and jigs.

The best part of one of my trips this weekend was a customer caught a beautiful lake trout while we were bass fishing which fought fantastic on small kalins grub and light tackle spinning rod.

Get out there while it's good!

Eric Haataja

[PSpice07]

Lake Trout on a jig fishing for bass??!! Haha

[RJN]

Pspice,
You might want to rethink your response.
Here's one last fall jig fishing for bass.
The Lake Trout come up shallow in spring and fall.

http://chicagolandfishing.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=3907

[PSpice07]

That's a pretty fish. Nice catch. Learning more about Geneva as time goes on - family member in Wisc close to buying a vessel so might be around more often to catch n' release em.

By the way, my aforementioned comment was tongue in cheek - the customer referred to catching that laker was me.

But good luck and catch more fish and bigger fish.

PS - Anyone in/around Chicago's north side have any luck from Belmont Harbor to the north to Burnham Harbor on the south? Looking for those huge pre-spawn smallies down here!

Peace

[Cbangler]

Well - I certainly can't get em' like Eric, but did manage some quality fish on Geneva in 2 outings last week - Amazing Lake! I also want to Thank Captain Haataja for the tips and support. Smallies, Largies and Pike on Jigs and Jerkbaits. I didnt get the Pigs, but several nice fish. Here are a few.........

[Cbangler]

Still struggling to get a "hot" bite going on Geneva, especially when I read all of the other posts - looks like I am going to need some more help from Captain Haataja. Still jigs and jerkbaits - largies in 5-8', brown fish in 8-12'.

Getting my share, but can't get beyond 4-5 fish days. Anyone have any tips.....?

Here are a few good ones

[reddyguideservice]

I had the privelege to fish with the most polite 6th and 7th graders I have ever met, The boys had a great time fishing June 8th. We spent most of the time fishing for gills and rockies, but we switched up and caught a few bass and northern. Most of the gills were caught in 20-30 fow. The bass and pike were in 10-15 fow. Good luck all!

[reddyguideservice]

I had a chance to fish with good friends and clients Thursday. We had a great time catching bass and a mess of fish for a fish fry for the guys. Many of the smallies we caught were in 20-28 fow. The biggest gills were suspended in 20-25 fow.

[reddyguideservice]

Geneva has been very productive in the last few weeks. I have been doing some "graveyard trolling" ending up with smallies and a good share of rockies. We need some heat units to get the "July run" on a roll! Many of the smallies and pike are being caught on the second and third breaks following the thermocline very closely. The few past outings have been a lot of fun catching many Gills in the 12-20' range in the 8-10" class. Largemouth are still being caught up around the piers and docks along with the outer weedline using plastics, topwater and of course livebait has been a go to option. Good Luck All!

[Eric Haataja]

Took out a couple of Old timers today in search of big gills and we found some magnums. We ended up with 74 gills in about 2 1/2 hours in the 8-9 1/2 inch range. We fished the deep weeds in the 15-30 foot depths with red worms and plastics. Plastics caught some of our bigger fish. We pike fished for about 1 hour and went 2 for 4 with a caouple of 30 inchers. Good day for the gills!

Eric

[Cbangler]

Late report from Friday.....
Braved the crowds for a full day Friday on Geneva. Fished from 6:30am-6:30pm, and as usual for this lake - learned very little. Ended up with roughly 20 bass (19 SMB's, 1 LMB) - Largest 19", 9 Pike - Largest 29", and more Rock Bass than I could handle. Tried everything in the arsenal (both live and artificial), but never really dialed in what I would call the "lethal" pattern. Located an incredible concentration of fish feeding on top, but the birds became as, or more, interested in my top water baits than the fish.

All in all a good day, and only had to scream at 3 boats to keep from getting run over. (at least I never had to jump).

Shouldn't be long before the idiots are gone and those brown fish are gobbling everything in site!

[Eric Haataja]

With delavan being closed spent some time on Geneva with clients this past week and got into some nice bass fishing the 15-25 foot depths. The wind blown shorelines were the ticket, fish seemed to be much more active there with drop shotting working the best with 4 inch finese worms the Berkly gulp shaky worm was best in the pumpkin and cream colors. Caught some nice smallies and largies in the 18-20 inch range. The 2 pics I posted below almost look like the same fish?? Caught about 20 minutes apart and about 100 yards down the shoreline??? Not sure but they almost look like the same fish?

Eric

[Cbangler]

Braved Geneva on a Sunday, and only what I would call "moderate" weekend traffic for 9/9. Better yet, put a real good smack on em'. They were in packs of similar size, and feeding heavy! Points and turns from 26-32' on the South shore. Dragged meat to locate them, and then put the hurt on with the drop shot. Found some real good concentrations of big fish, and saw friends following everyone I hooked. Seemed like the bigger plastic kept the rocky's away, had the drop wieght about 16" down. Here are a couple of the bigger ones (20" & 19")

[RJN]

The smallies are back on the prowl.
We boated over 20 on Sat. drop shotting in 25FOW.
It should be good from now on out.
Good Luck.

[TEAM ICE HOLE]

fished last night, started in williams bay looking for crappies, found a school thanks to aquavu, we caught 14 crappies, and 8 huge gills, and atleast 10 smallies, and so many rambo's we lost count.we were using glow mini mights, and pink and white hair jigs tipped with minnows. 33 ft was the best depth, counting down 25 before retrieving. what a fishery!!!!

[NOBADDAYS]

fished here last mon. tues in wind and rain and found lotsa smallies and huge gills all over the place in 28-32fow williams bay. still trying to find some eyes here in this big pond of water. going again in the am will report back.

[NOBADDAYS]

some nice smallies here. take the trip it is worth it. will have to book a trip Eric for ice fishin here!!

[HotHead617]

Went out with NOBADDAYS today in search for some gills...but we found some good smallies instead...good day for fishing!!!Smallies are a blast got some funny video as well.

[Eric Haataja]

Had some good action for bass, pike and gills with crawlers, leeches, drop shotting gulp, and 6 inch suckers. West end was good along with williams bay. Don't forget to try a jigging spoon awesome bait! 20-30 foot was the best.

Eric

[Cbangler]

Spent the weekend on Geneva, and did pretty well both days. Early morning seemed to be a hotter bite, but hard work in the afternoon seemed to bring the bigger fish! Depths from 20-35'. 69 degrees on Surface, 68 degrees at 30'. Live Bait rigs, drop shotting, and even took a 19" er trolling a deep Tail dancer. Sunday was clearly the worse pleasure boat day, but that should subside soon. Here are a few of the pigs! See if you recognize these characters I had with me on Saturday.......

[Cbangler]

Here are a few more good ones

[RJN]

Nice job CBangler.
I was out ther Sat. and put the hurt on the smallies too.
We caught ours dragging meat, and had 4 over 18"
I should be able to post pictures tonight.

[FishinMatt]

Been out quite a bit this Fall and they are just finally starting to fatten up and get aggresive. I figure there is about a month window to have some really fantastic smallmouth fishing. Main lake points and inside and outside weed turns always seem to produce. Here are a few of the highlights so far for the Fall.

[RJN]

Thanks for posting me in the picture Matt.
My camera went kaput and I haven't purchased a new one yet.

[Eric Haataja]

Did well today for smallies with some nice fish in the 17-19 inch range no monsters but lots of fun on spinning tackle, perch and suckers did the trick in 25-35 feet of water.

Eric

[Fishin Dan]

Fished LG on Friday, October 5th. Started out searching for some perch to use as bait. Quickly found what we needed in grass beds anywhere from 3-12 ft. of water, they will hit on nearly anything. Then off to find some smallies - started out somewhat slow, but as the sun disappeared behing the clouds we started to smack them. The fish are schooling now and will be in a similar size class - move from smaller fish as needed. We fished one spot the entire day (about 6 hours) and pulled in over 30 smallies, all legal. Fished depths from 18-28 ft today. Deeper fish were caught when the sun was out and shallow fish were taken with good cloud cover. There is rarely a doubt when you get bit because the fish eats the bait and swims frantically to deeper water to get away from the school. If your partner hooks up, be ready to quickly drop your bait as we had up to five bass trying to steal the bait from a hooked fish. Caught a few doing this for entertainment. Also picked up two largies (they must have been lost) and my partner had a mid-thirties pike eat his perch right on the surface - cool to see. Here is one of many smallies (my fishing partner Keith). Good news is this lasts for a few weeks before the pattern will change for the late fall bass.
Dan

[RJN]

Late report.
Was out Sat. 10-6 and the smallie action was so-so. Caught most of our fish on points and weed edges in 20' of water. Drop shotting seemed to be the ticket.
The fish are starting to fatten up, but the numbers aren't where they need to be yet.
They should really start snappin with the cooler weather in the forecast.
Would like to post pics but the camera has had it.

[FishinMatt]

A little crazy out there Sunday with the pleasure boaters getting the last taste of this beautiful weather. Water temps started a 68 and were 70 when we pulled out in the afternoon. Had a newcomer on the boat but he is a good stick and caught on quickly. Most action came in about 22 feet and had steady action in 3 of the 4 spots we fished. We have patterned them consistently the last month or so, but this cooler weather should make the big girls come out and play a little more often.

[FishinMatt]

The wife and I stayed at Lakelawn this weekend and I was able to sneak out for a few hours fishing Geneva. Lots of pressure on the main lake points, so I moved over to a secondary point and did decent. Caught some nice fish around the 40' mark, which is about the deepest I have got them this Fall. The tightest concentrations I found were on the sharpest breaks.

[Fishin Dan]

My dad and I were supposed to hit LM with Haataja on Saturday, but he said the fishing was pretty slow, so we decided to take a pass and hit Geneva on our own. Saw my fishin partner out there while we were getting some perch and then we started looking for smallies. It didn't take long to find them - between the two boats we figured we were easily over 40 smallmouth, probably closer to 50 with at least another dozen missed fish. We caught all of our fish on live perch, many of the perch even produced multiple fish (re-use). Smallies have moved up a bit - still caught a few in 30-32, but many fish were a bit shallower, up to almost 20 feet of water. We also caught a few largies in that depth along with a few pike. Nothing to big, all around 20-24". Smallmouth seem to be in similar sized schools. Most of the fish we caught were in the three pound range with an occassional 2lb fish and the 4 lb'er here and there. We did best on underwater points near deep water and secondary points. Too many boats on all the main lake points. Attached are a few samples my dad caught - his first time fishing on LG. Nice to show the old man a thing or two as I am usually learning from him. Water temps were around 60.5 when we arrived at 8:30 and were up to almost 62 when we left at 3:00. Figured it would have been a tough day with the waether changes and blue skies, but we were pleasantly surprised. Seems like I say this every week, but this one was better than the last. I love LG this time of year. See you out there.
Dan

[Cbangler]

Out Sat/Sun, and as Fishing Dan said - Saturday was nothing short of outstanding for the fall smallie bite. Ended up 25 for 30 on a solo mission, with the 2 biggest at 19.5" & 20". Fish were at depths from 22" - 32", and feeding aggressively. Drop shot and Live bait were the tools.

Sunday on the other hand was really tough. The wind was aweful, and the bites very tough to come by. Ended up 6 for 10 with 2 of us, and the largest going just a hair under 19". Fish were there in the same depths, but very tight lipped. In 3 of our 4 misses, they simply dropped the bait shortly after eating it.

Lots of people fishing all weekend - my guess is with that HOT bite on Satruday, the fish really took a beating!

[Cbangler]

Out Friday and Sunday with a great friend from Michigan.

Friday the bite was hot, Sunday the bite was not!

Friday we boated 23 smallies, 2 Largies and a Pike. Only 5 bass were under 17", with a 20", 19.5" and several other 19"/18"s. Live bait and dropshots took fish from 20-35 FOW. Lost several fish - I think we will need to work a bit on my buddy's hook sets. Probably ended 26/40.

Sunday on the other hand was very tough. Water was 53 degrees upon arrival at 7:30am. (it had been as warm as 61 degrees on Friday afternoon).Very tough bite, and when they bit, they just werent eating it good. I think we ended 6/15. Hooksets were again an issue, but a few others that just came un-buttoned. Live bait, dropshots, and jig/craw from 5' - 35'. Saw fish on the camera out to 45 FOW.

Here a couple of the good ones......

[Cbangler]

Numbers down a bit, but size up......Ended up with 7, but missed more than that. Not a hot bite by any stretch, but managed to find a couple groups of fish. Didn't boat a fish under 18", with 2 right at 20". Big fish was a fat 19 1/2". Surface temp at 49 when we arrived, 52 by the time we left. (only 47 degrees 30' down). Draggin meat, and drop shotting. Here are a few of the good ones.

[Finseeker]

Was out Saturday with my own crew dragging meat and conspiring with CBangler.

We boated 7 or 8 smallies, not including several misses, 2 pike bite offs and 3 that spit baits on the jumps boatside. The bite really picked up as the wind increased in the early afternoon. We hooked up as shallow as 18 feet and as deep as 32.

[Cbangler]

Made it out today with the Everetts boys (Father and son style). They had the family luck going in the am as they boated 4 to my 1 - and all Big ones vs. my "dink". The solo afternoon run brought 5, but only 1 big one (couldn't get a quality photo as my photographers had cruised at noon). 4 were over 19" with a 20 3/4", 1 pike (33"), 5 bite off's, and several clever ones that came unglued. Going to have to beef up the Leader a little bit. Fish came from 22' - 32', with Live Bait and big jig/craw trailer. Water was 48 degrees first thing in the am, and 50 degrees when I left. Should have a couple more weeks to target that giant bronzy!

[Eric Haataja]

Very nice work guys great pictures looks like a blast!

[muskymod]

Caught some really nice gills here last September.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY1FygPRSOw

[Eric Haataja]

Thanks for sharing that! Awesome gills nice work!

Eric

[walleyeshark]

I heard that guys were picking the crappies lately. Anyone have any idea where abouts that might be? I know the usual spots but sometimes it's nice to atleast cut the lake in half when out searching, especially in the cold and wind!

[reddyguideservice]

Walleyeshark--

Have done well on crappies out from Library on the west side of the bay. Also out from Stone Manor has been productive. Most will be suspended over deeper weeds in the 10-15 foot range. At times deeper or shallower depending on wind, and time of day.

John

[walleyeshark]

Thanx, Reddy! I have'nt been out for awhile...my backs been out since the day before X-mas. I doubt that we'll do any fishing from the boat for the foreseeble future...time to sit on a bucket! Pa's been getting some decent crappies on Delavan the last couple of days.

[romepond]

fished sunday 12:00-5:00 slow day 8 nice gills.

[romepond]

fished sunday 9:00-5:00. Had to do some sorting, but went home with my limit of nice gills and seeds. All fish caught on my homemade plastics.

[romepond]

Fished 10:00a-2:00p. Slow day. 3 pig gills in the bucket, lost one nice one.

[Eric Haataja]

I bet those slab crappies will start showing up in good numbers off of trinkes any day here next week as it starts to warm up! I wish I could make it out there but I'm stuck chasing trout. Try the 12-24 foot depths around some weed clumps. Big perch should be up shallow soon too getting ready to spawn.

Eric

[Finese Fisherman]

Fished geneva Saturday and walked off the ice with 14 nice gills off of the lybrary. fishing has been hard but hopefully late ice will bring better fishing with water running down the holes

[Finese Fisherman]

how do you get to trinkes?

[walleyeshark]

Follow the lake going West from The downtown Geneva launch. You'll go past Bigfoot beach, then you'll go past a bar called Skinny's (might have changed hands) on your R. About a 1/4 past that there's a smallish sign on your R for Trinkes...there ya go. I'm not great at giving direction's so it anyone wants to improve on mine...please do. Speaking of Trinkes, my Pa did a "drive by" on Sat. or Sun. and said that there wasn't a soul out there...I find that very strange!!! Has anyone been over there lately? Those Crappies should start hittin' this week, provided they're still there, which they surely should be! I'm going somewhere in the morning but I won't be making my mind up until I hopefully get some info...good luck out there!!

[Finese Fisherman]

Thx i really apreciate the directions ill take your word for that. but heading out on saturday try trinkies if i can find it then if the crappies not there head to stone manor or the lybrary

David

[fishing pox]

The Abbey lagoon is open and fishing has been great. I've been out a few times this past week and done well on gills and crappies. Ice jigs tipped with spikes have been best. The main lake is covered with black ice and it's going fast. It should be wide open in 5-7 days.

[fishing pox]

Fished the Abbey lagoon yesterday and diid well. My girlfriend and I caught about 80 gills and crappies. Found some big bluegills but couldn't get a crappie over 10 inches. Ice jigs with spikes, minnows, tubes and hair jigs all worked. Should be able to get the boat out this week and try some better areas.

[fishing pox]

Lake Geneva is wide open! Made it out for a few hours today. Fishing was slow but I ended up with about 20 nice gills. Green ice jigs tipped with spikes worked best.

[Finese Fisherman]

I fish geneva probably at least once a week during ice fishing but never summer fished it, do you usually just fish by stone manor or the lybrary?
Any tips appreciate.,

don't catch them all:)

[Adrift Alone]

Fished Geneva yesterday for smallies during the morning hours. I worked really hard (like you have to on this water) for 8 fish ranging from 14 - 17 1/2 inches. Most active fish were in 10-12 feet on jerk baits. Caught two on a jig as well. Couple of nice northern too. Water temps were 46 in the AM warming to 50/51 by Noon. Based upon the "cruisers" I was seeing, this lake should really "go" in about 7 days. See you on the water.

PS>> For you northern fisherman, two words...Williams Bay. They are thick in there!

AA

[Eric Haataja]

Thanks for the great report mark! We appreciate it!

[Cbangler]

Who says 2 1/2 hours isnt enough time to fish this lake. Made it out with Eric for a quick evening run on Saturday, and we found some fabulous pre-spawn fishing. Water temps were 49-50 on the South shore, and 50-51 on the north shore. Wind blown points were the key - more wind, more bites. Jigs and plastics, and some jerkbait fish as well. We landed 15 bass, 3 over 20" and a bonus pike (about 33"). Here are some of the highlights, but wait until you see Eric's pics........

[Eric Haataja]

Yea we had one of those hard to believe days!! As if we did not get spoiled on lake Delavan I had to push my luck and make a quick run to Geneva. I told my good friend Corey "hey we had a great day already lets just check it out" Corey agreed and said yea there was no way we could top delavan. Maybe we did not top it but we surely cam close with some gian bass pre-spawn and the lake to ourselves on a Saturday??? Crazy! day!!

One other big tip is if your not fishing with Gamakatsu hooks your missing out on the best hooks in the world!

As Corey mention jigs, and jerk baits were key and I looked for areas where the wind was blowing in. 8-16 feet seemed to be key area's. probably heading back out there again tomorrow.

The one pic where we are holding up 4 fish, the smallest one on the left bumped 16 inches.

Eric

[MBE]

First I'd like to say those are some nice smallies!! I really enjoy reading the quality reports here Eric and others contribute. I will be out chasing muskie on Wednesday evening out in the Oconomowoc area so I will report back then.

Mike

[Eric Haataja]

Thanks Mike that's a hog eye! We look foward to your reports!

[Adrift Alone]

Fish Geneva last night night with cold results. Was there from 3 till 8pm and had a lonely 4 bites. Three fish landed, 17 1/2 inch largemouth on a white jerk bait, 17 1/2 smallmouth on a green jig and a 20 1/4 inch smallmouth (4.7lbs) on a jig too. No pattern apparent other than "it was effing cold out there." Water temps dipped back into the 48-49 degree range. We could really use some warmer stable weather. Back out on Friday for expected better results.

AA

[Adrift Alone]

On the way to the lake thid morning, my thoughts wandered and wondered when my turn would come on big G. Fished 6 am to 11 am and boated a respectable 6 smallies, 1 largie and two northern (one at 30). Bass went to 19 1/4 and felt okay about the morning, but still was a bit disappointed with the overall numbers. On way back to boat landing, stopped at one last spot and got into an incredible school. Had great action for two hours and by 1pm I had tripled my total. All fish were beauties too, no dinks.

All fish but one came on jerk baits in 10 1/2 to 12 1/2 feet of water. Once water hit 51 degrees, thing really turned up. Expect many more smallies to move up and get active in the next few days after the next cold front this Sunday. Good luck to all my CPR brothers. Get out there and jerk 'em up!!!

AA

[Eric Haataja]

Where the heck are all the boats pulled into the lot at 7AM only to see 1 one other trailer??? Fishing was good today our best presentation was 1/2 ounce pumpkin rock stalker jig tipped with a kalins double tail grub, fished on the wind blow shoreline (south) mainly and most of our fish came out deeper today with 14-19 being best. Caught some on jerk baits as well but if you have not tried the Rock stalker hang on! I love this jig!

[Adrift Alone]

All alone out there tonight from 3 till 8. Smallmouth were pretty active considering an eastern wind blowing at 15-20 mph. Rough conditions made jig fishing hard. Did manage 3 on a jig, but more bites on the jerk baits again, about 9-10 more. Some smaller bass starting to show up for the first time. Males moving in for prespawn. Warm weekend should get the spawn going strong. Get out there before those big females drop!

AA

[Eric Haataja]

Did 2 trips on Geneva today and the bite was a bit tougher we landed about 12-15 legal bass mainly largies up 5 lbs the best bait was the rock stalker jig if you have not tried this jig pig combo your missing out! 1/2 ounce pumpkin was the ticket in 12-18 feet of water and as deep as 22 feet. Got our fish on weed flats and sand flats. water temps in the mid 50's.

Eric

[Fishin Dan]

LG has been a tough bite so far for most this year, including me. Here is a nice largie. Not sure on a size, but she was a fatty. Finding the warmer water was key - jigs caught all fish. We landed a lot, but this was the biggest by far, most were only 2-2.5 lbs. I think the bite on LG could get good soon if the weather stays stable.
Dan

[Eric Haataja]

Fished geneva today and the bite was abit tougher, we caught some smallies, some largies, a couple of pike as well along with 10,000,000, rocko's! Overall it was not great..... Jerk bait bait caught us the most fish up near docks on the wind blown shore. we probably boated 15 legal bass.

[Augie]

Has anyone been there recently and have any new news?? I've been on Delavan lately, just found the site. I'm willing to trade, any help would be appreciated.

Augie

[Cbangler]

Late report from Geneva. Out for an afternoon evening run with the boys from Zona. All fish came shallow 4-7 fow. Assorted plastics on drop shots. Wind blown points were the key.

[kjk]

Fished lake geneva fri am. Went for big gills. Caught about 20 gills and kept 15 nice ones. Also some rock bass, a smallmouth, and a few largemouth, but the bass were small.

[Hunter5]

Fished Tuesday morning from 5AM till1200. Only managed 7 smallies, but 2 of them were 20 and 2 were 18, Not many but good size fish. All fish caught in at least 30 feet of water. Lot of pike around also. Caught one pike and and had one bite me off.

[Eric Haataja]

Nice work Greg, I'll take a few less fish if it means I'll catch a few bigger fish!

[Cbangler]

Late report from Saturday....Out from 6:30-11:30am Saturday and the bite was very tough for us. Fished 25-35fow, and just didnt get a good pattern going. Everything was small and we only ended up with 5 smallies and 4 Pike. 2 Fish came on meat, with others coming on Jigs, dropshots and tubes.

Hunter, were spending time North, South, East or West (just curious as we could not find any quality fish)?

[Cbangler]

Out for another beating on Friday afternoon. Scenery on the boat was great, fishing not so much. Ended up 3 for 5, with only 1 good one. This lake breaks my heart sometimes - leavin it be until this time next month. Water temps were 77 degrees from the surface to 27fow. plastics on the dropshot got all but one of the bites....

[blkhwkbob]

How the heck could you concentrate on fishing? :)

[deadeternity]

You should've told them girls to let you tie your fishing line to the back of one of their rafts, get some treble hooks on them rafts, make them splash around alot, and then BANG!!!!!!!! 40+ inch Pike.........................Topwater works like a charm. :):):) Unlike shark bites that may be pretty severe and deadly pike bites are not as harmful. So this Raft Girl Topwater bait can stand up to numerous fish before you have to throw them out. Like Berkley GULP. It catches them like Livebait, but it lasts longer :eek::eek::eek:

OH I KID, I KID.......They need to be scaled down to a 6-12 inch size. New lure concept possibly?????:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Cbangler]

Tried to give it a month - but could not......
Back out on Geneva Friday. No live baits floating on a raft, but some decent action regardless. Even some the right color - but with 1 exception, none the right size. We dragged meat all over the lake from 35-15 FOW, just couldn't find them piled up yet. Still seems to be good numbers of Largemouth in the weeds and tight to docks. Senko's, drop shots and Jigs. I think we ended up with about 15 Bass and this bonus Pike (and Dan's limit of Trophy Rockbass). Outdside of the 1 big smallie, nothing over 16". Water temps were 76 degrees

[Hunter5]

Went out this morning and caught 13 SM before the rain. All on live bait. fishing drop offs

[Eric Haataja]

Nice work Greg! Any size to the fish?

[Hunter5]

The biggest was 17. Today we caught 15 this morning.
19 1/2 was the biggest. Still fishing the drop offs.

[Hunter5]

Late report. Fished 9/10/08 in the morning. Not many fish that day, but my friend Ted caught his biggest SM ever. It was 20 and1/4 long. Still fishing the drop offs with live bait

[Eric Haataja]

Was out on genava yesterday and we caught some nice fish, mixed bag as well. Fish were both deep and shallow which made things a bit trickey but we had our share of action!

Water is still warm and the fish are cruising the 12-25 foot depths where there forage base is now, gills and perch. As it cools the majority of the big smallies will follow the perch down out to the deeper point and rock bars.

Big gills were deep, as deep as 42 feet of water but most were suspended down 30 feet. Pay attention to your graph!

[Eric Haataja]

Was out Friday and fishing was so so we found a half dozen legal smallies and some pike but nothing huge. Most of the fish were caught on jigging spoons, darter heads with Gulp and live bait. Personally I do not like fishing Geneva when it's flat calm and sunny. Fish were there but they did not want to bite too well on Friday for us.

[windstopper]

fished the lake friday 9am till 4pm gills were suspended a few biters.Smallies were active and we had one fish near 20inches picture to follow things slowed .We decided to head for Geneva bay near the launch and found some real decent sunnies in about 25 ft of water ended the day with 25-30 nice panfish.

[RJN]

Been out to Geneva the last 2 weekends and I must say the smallie fishing hasn't been that great. Last year at this time we had a 100 fish day. this year we're lucky to catch 12 a day. The size is suffering too.
Hope this cooler weather gets them snappin.

[Cbangler]

Late report from last Satruday.....
Did a trip joint trip with Finseekers and I would have to 2nd all of the previous comments from RJN.

Water temp, water temp, water temp. Although we did find some 55 degree water at 35', surface temps were just over 61 upon an our early am arrival, and almost 63 when we left. Clear skies, flat calm and warm water are not helping these fish put the feed bag on. I never thought I would actually pray for wind out on the big G. Hopefully these cold nights will get us below 60 for this weekend.

Big fish are going to come late in the season this year. We did scratch out a few and had had some happy guests. Jig and Gulp, Senko's and live bait took our fish. Largies around Docks, Smallies from 20-30'.

CB

[Eric Haataja]

Made it on friday afternoon on Geneva for a trip with some clients and almost immediately we had solid action. Found a nice pod of smallies that was feeding very aggressively but unfortunately we missed more than we landed the first couple of hours. That's just the way it goes somedays :confused:

Clients hung in there and as the day got nicer (Sun and less wind) the bite slowed up for us. Over all not a bad day most of the fish we caught were over 17 inches with the biggest at 20 inches. All our fish came on live bait in the 20-30 foot depths on inside turns on points or on rock.

Eric

[Cbangler]

Made it out with Dan the Man, and I'm giving him a b- for effort at best. Regardless we managed to slap up some real nice fish. Live bait and drop shots in 25'-35'. Seemed like the farther we could get our baits away from the boat, the more bites you got. Few fish scattered, and then found a real decent pile of quality fish. Finally seeing some of the looking like they are eating a bit. 4 fish 20" or better with a 21 1/4. Water temps were from 54 to 53 on the surface, and 50 to 52 at 30'.

[Eric Haataja]

Awesome!

[Cbangler]

At it again with Dan the Man today, and with much better effort I would add. Got into some really nice Smallies and Pike on Live bait and jerkbaits. Fish were everywhere from 15'-35' FOW. Stayed on the south side of the Lake most of the day but did pick up a few fish in Williams Bay as well. Surface temps were 45 in the am to 47.2 pm. (same exact temp at 30 FOW) Here are some of the pics......
CB

[Cbangler]

More pics.....

[Eric Haataja]

Chatted with my buddy who did very well ths past week on the eyes and pike at night long lineing and trolling boards over weeds on Geneva on the Trinkes flats, Williams bay and South shore by the academy.

Should last for a few more weeks out there! Plus there's a great night bite casting from shore in Fontana for the big eyes!

[Finese Fisherman]

has anybody been out on geneva since last warmup any info appreciated
tight lines
David

[Finese Fisherman]

has anbody been fishing the trinkies flat. been doin good in G bay but has really slow any info Appreciated
Tight lines
David

[Eric Haataja]

Some gills and crappies going in both the Abbey Lagoon and trinkes! A great spot for big pan fish from shore in spring!

[slob sticker]

Some very nice panfish mostly crappies have been caught in the last couple days. We had 2 that were over 13 inches and plenty that were 10-11. From now until end of April is my absolute favorite time to fish panfish, some giants to be had, think off the main lake (small bays, fingers etc) and think up close to whatever cover you can find (sticks, rocks etc). Last year caught several crappies that were 15-17 inches, only found those on one specific lake, but most lakes have crappies in the 10-12 inch range atleast, perfect eating size.

[Adrift Alone]

Didn't join the mad fray on Saturday, but couldn't stay away any longer so I headed out on Sunday. First fish of the year was a beauty,,,, a 20 1/2 inch smallie on my fourth cast. Fishing was pretty good overall even though water temps had just touched 48 degrees. Fished jigs in the calm and jerks in the wind. Depths were pretty typical, 11 to 14 feet. Some nice fish up already and the cool Spring means a good long month of top notched action.

Going to try again later on this week and will report back. Good luck!

AA

[Eric Haataja]

Fantastic fish out on Geneva this past week made it out with friend and fishing hall of fmae angler Spence Petros. What a great guy and we had a blast fishing!!!!! Smallies and largies all on cranks and plastics in 4-18 feet of water. Jerk baits also were very good along with the best being 3/8 ounce rock stalker jigs.

Eric

[Adrift Alone]

Fished this morning from 5 to 11 and rattled them really good! Fish were agressive until sun broke thru at 11am. Up until then caught more than 20 smallies and largies. Many good fish from 18 to 21 inches. Biggest was well over five. What a blast. Can't wait to get back.

Jigs caught big fish. Jerk baits were numbers. Depths, 8 to 12 feet.

AA

[Cbangler]

Out with Dano and Stevie on Saturday. Action was steady, but the "Big" bite really alluded us. Caught almost 40 Bass with a couple of 18"'s, but not the pre-spawn Pigs we were searching for. Perhaps the cold front put down those giants for a couple days. Fish were in 6-12' on Jerkbaits and Jigs. We stayed on the east side of the Lake, and water temps ranged from 51-54 degress.

[Adrift Alone]

Caught a dozen or so bass this morning fishing jigs and jerks between 5:30am and 10:30am. My fish were in 9-12 feet. Fished mostly east end but did get a couple in Williams. Biggest fish was smallie at 20 inches. Nice fat female.

Once sun gets up, things slow considerably, but you can still find a few willing to hit reaction baits. Good luck!

AA

[Cbangler]

Late report from Geneva - out last week in the extreme heat, and man did it feel good to jump in that cold clean water when needed. Bass bite was OK, with no real big fish taken. We ended up with 9 bass, biggest at 18" (and of course plenty of rockos). Smallies were in 8-12 FOW, and Largies super shallow by docks. Water temps were 71-74 degrees. Fish were caught on leaches, jigs, and drop shots. Boat traffic an issue even on this early summer tuesday afternoon.

[Eric Haataja]

Fishing was decent today took some clients who had not drop shotted so that was the plan, ended up with 20 bass or so with half legals no giants but several really nice 3+ LB FISH over all not a bad day, also found some big gills that we could have cleaned up on if we wanted to!

[bigfishfred]

Was out on LG last week, water temp 73, Largies were shallow on topwater late. found schooling smallies on top over 50'. Wow, kinda cool catching them on zara spooks way way out from shore.

[Cbangler]

Out with Fishing Dan on Sunday, bite wasn't hot, but we managed 18 game fish, and plenty of rocko's. No giants, but did get this one burly 18.5"er.

Drop shots with plastics, and live bait. Lariges 15 - 20, and smallies from 20 - 30 FOW. Boat traffic was extremely light, and winds were pretty calm. Fish seemed to bite early and late. Surface temps were 71, and 69 degrees at 30'.

While the pigs eluded us, it was a great day to be out!
CB

[reddyguideservice]

Have fished Geneva in the past two weeks ramming my head against the wall. With the lack of the two distinct thermoclines we normally experience it has been a challenge this year. I trolled lakers about 12 times ending up with Ciscoes, northern pike and smallmouth. One smallie was caught using a dodger/fly combo in 102 FOW. In the past week we have been nailing nice perch in 8-12 FOW using plastics, minnows and crawlers. Most of the "keeper" fish have been in the 9-11" range, with a few over 12". We have been catching some nice smallmouth in 10-15 FOW using cranks, plastics and live-bait. A few fish have been caught lindy-rigging perch or suckers in 25-35 FOW with 30-31 FOW being the most productive. Seems the shallow bite has been much better with the fish being more agressive. The pike bite has been almost non existent with a few fish caught incidentally fishing for bass. People have been catching pike off of the municipal piers all summer. Largies are still catchable off of the deep piers in 6-12 FOW fishing cranks and plastics.

[Walleyes 4 2morrow]

she finally locked up seen some guys working the narrows,time to finally put the lund away

[collinfishes]

heading out tomorrow, goin out of williams bay er fontana area. was just wondering is there any danger spots i should avoid? will be on foot unless we can drive out in the bay, no trucks out there yesterday and the "use extreme caution open water holes" sign at one of the ramps made up our minds real quick on driving out. fished it yesterday for the first time ever(first time driving out on a lake too, boy thats convenient!) over by the library area looking for pannies and the wholeeee time i was there i kept thinking "theres trout in here, why in the worllld are we lookin for perch..." didnt find much but a few dinky perch and some small norts. in 18fow. realllllly great looking pike out here and chunky too. my hopes are high but im not expecting to pound feesh, i just want one! the thought of a trout sizeable to the big pond on an inland lake is reallllllllllllllly intriguing to me and a lifelong dream of sorts. :D

[collinfishes]

well went out there yesterday out of williams went out to about 15-20fow right next to the all the shacks :( before everyone but me was like ok i dont wanna go any further even though we drove out that far an hadnt walked a step yet. the fish responded about the same. a few small perch and a dink nort. was all we were reward with for our(everybody elses) laziness haha. went to twin lakes after 3 hours on geneva and didnt do much better a few okk gills and some small bass an pikes. i wish everyone else was as determined as i was to catch a fish out there. im willing to walk the entireee lake till i find what im lookin for but i think im the only one willing to do that...... :rolleyes:

[JMBrunner08]

Collin, lrt me know and ill be ready!!!!

[Eric Haataja]

Decent numbers of crappies and nice panfish are showing up in the Abby and Trinkes this is a good shore spot for spring crappies!

[Adrift Alone]

Opened the season today on Geneva. Fished till the wind wiped me from the great sea. The morning was pretty good though. Boated 6 legals, biggest was 19 inches. Both large and smallmouths. First three fish on jigs, last three on jerks. Fish came out of 10 to 14 feet.

Back in a couple days....

Did I mention, holy crap was it windy!

AA

[Eric Haataja]

Thanks for the report Mark I'm going to try and get out this week and fish a bit on Geneva.

[Adrift Alone]

Eric, too bad you didn't make Geneva Thursday morning....

Spent 4 hours whacking both largemouth and smallmouth on jigs and jerks. Two of the largemouth hit 20" on the bump, fat females. Numbers were very good too (for fishing alone). Wish I would have had another line in the boat (hint, hint). Fish were really "on" for about three hours till the sun got up high. As usual, when its clear out, the bite dies at 10:30am. One of these days it will be cloudy and you will be able to catch them all day long...

I caught fish in evey one of my spots. Depths varied from as shallow as 9 feet to as deep as 14 feet. They are moving a little more now though, at least they were prior to last nights front:eek:. I'm sure they will be back on the move in a few days though.

Next week should be very good...

AA

[Eric Haataja]

Sounds Great Mark nice job! We did well fishing in Madison on Thursday too.

[Adrift Alone]

Hit Geneva this morning for a few hours. As I suspected, the wind and cold nights dropped surface temps back to 49 at first light. Temp up to 52 when I left at 10am. Caught some good fish (large (4) and smallmouth (3)) up to 18 inches, but had to really slow down to tempt the bites. Most of my fish today were up fairly shallow, less than 11 feet. Can't wait for the temps to rise again into the 58/59 range. Jigs were only thing going.... Good luck!

AA

[Eric Haataja]

started at noon yesterday and we fished for 4 hours had a lot of fun catching a bunch of bass, landed a total of 28 bass 1 32 inch pike and a fat crappie. 4-17 feet of water all on the north shore where the wind was ripping into was our best area's!! Got to love and hate the wind..........I love it on this lake!

Caught most of my fish on rock stalker jigs in the 3/8 ounce and cranks up shallow.

Great bite out there now!

[mcorsettimjc]

Those are some big bass in the last picture!:D

[Ben Kueng]

Nice fish, Eric! That smallie is CRAZY fat!!

[Adrift Alone]

Fished for a few hours this morning with pretty good success on numbers, quality could have been better though. Big fish was 18" large. Plenty of action but was looking for a couple big bites that never came. Caught most of my fish on jigs, a few on jerks. Again, clock struck 10am and things shut down for me. All fish taken in 9 to 13 feet of water. Temps still very low for mid May, 51.8 when I left.

Good luck out there,,,,

AA

[pmjasper]

Just a quick question guys,

So I've gotten the Geneva Lake bug lately but am currently boatless. I see there are numerous guides and pontoon or speedboat rentals, but is there any place that I can rent a small outboard boat for fishing?

I see Lake Delavan has fishing boat rentals but I'd really like to try for Geneva's smallmouths. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

[guttersnake]

Jasper, I do not think they rent boats here maybe in fontana but I doubt it.If you would like a guide to take you out there theres always Old Timer here or the next best would be John Trossen out of "The Pier" baitshop in Linn Township where I launch out of when I go here.I know he will put you on fish all you do is have to catch them this is his backyard and the only place he guides that I know of,I also know Eric has a great deal of respect for him too.The price might be high but for 2 guys its only a few dollars more.Otherwise you may want to hit Delavan, little smaller and a bit easier to fish in my opinion.Geneva can be a daunting task to learn on your own I know been doing hard the last 3 years.As for shore fishing you could try in the fontana area and possibly do well.I have never really shore fished here though so this is just a guess I know it has the best access for shore fishing and Williams Bay after that.Good Luck with whatever you choose I will be out here for the first time this year on Friday.Looking for gills and crappie with a few bass thrown in.

[1775ProV]

Fished Friday from 5-3pm. Not much going on for me. Tried a lot of spots and a lot of presentations. Got a 21.5 LM on a senko and 15" SM. Both fish came in 20fow. LM was spawed out and SM had a belly full of eggs. The rest of the day was really slow for me. I did a lot of exploring for new areas to fish. Left the lake when all the pleasure boaters started coming out in numbers.

[bighorn]

Hi Guys,
I just read about the great fishing at Lake Geneva in a fishing magazine and on this web site. This might soung like a dumb question but I haven't been to lake Geneva in a few years. I have a 13" canoe with a trolling motor that I fish from in the smaller lakes in northern Illinois. Would it be safe to fish this lake with this canoe. I thought if I got there early, fished 2 or 3 hours and left before the heavy boat traffic got to bad it would be ok. What do you think.

[Eric Haataja]

I think you'd be fine if you picked a day where the winds were light, and like you mentioned got there early...very early like 5 AM best of luck and be safe!

[Adam]

Like Eric said, as long as the winds were light, yeah not to big of an issue. Also make sure its a WEEKDAY, or you will be having some issues with boat wake. In a 19fter I get frustrated by it on the weekends early and late in the season!

[bighorn]

Thanks guys,
looks like I have to take a day off of work to go fishing.

[Adrift Alone]

Fished yesterday morning in the rain and caught a mixed bag of largemouth and smallmouths. Caught fish on jigs (in the rocks), jerk baits (in the sand), crank baits (in Geneva Bay weeds) and some on drop shot (4" straight tail).

All in all, okay morning, but nothing over 18 inches. Water temps were mid in the 60's. Fish were in all depths, but bigger fish were of course deeper (16ft or so).

My bilge got a good workout too! Good luck.

AA

[PLAYIN HOOKY]

Hii everyone,
just wanted to say that you have got a great fourm here and a wanna be like me appretiates all the good info. Iv learned alot already. So thanks. I had a couple of questions. How do you normaly rig the live pearch. and when fishing the drop offs do you sit in deep water and cast in or sit shallow of the drop and cast out. I have been trying to apply the info in the two trips i have made out on this beautiful lake with mixed results, but you have to start some where right. i got this one on a jig and grub at 11:00 pm in williams bay in 12 FOT but i want the smallies all CFR for me.

[PLAYIN HOOKY]

Still learning

[Eric Haataja]

Fished Geneva this week for a day and the bite was alright most of the deep spots we fished were not going yet and all the bass we caught were in the 5-10 foot ranges with some nice largies up shallow, big gills are spawning out there now. Best baits were senko's texas and wacky rigged senko's in punpkin.

Eric

[Jetlag320]

Hello all - new member here so be patient with me if I'm doing this wrong. Made a video of several of the fish we see while snorkeling at Geneva Lake - thought some of you might enjoy ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3cnn4H01oU

Kevin

[Needtofishmore]

Thanks, Kevin. That is cool!

[Jetlag320]

this guy was following my wife around for crayfish - got quite close.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZvc2afkYs