Wisconsin River Boat Landings and Access as of 3-29-08

This past Saturday, March 29^th, 2008, I took a 200 mile trip up the Wisconsin River to Nekoosa and traveled down Highway 13 and County Z checking the boat landings for access and to see if fishermen were fishing the river at Nekoosa, Petenwell, Castle Rock, Wisconsin Dells, Rivers Edge Resort, and Prairie due Sac. The boat landing at Tipperary Point on the upper section of Lake Wisconsin is now open and they’re fishing.

I found that all these locations had their boat landings open and many boats were out and fishing. There were also anglers wading the river in many locations. The fishermen are catching both walleyes and saugers in all areas, but most fish were still small males in the 13 to 16 inch range. Saugers were smaller, but more active. The water temperature is in the mid 30’s with an air temperature of 45 degrees.

Anglers were anchoring, slipping the current, and drifting with their electric motors to catch fish. The basic jig/minnow, jig/plastic, and plain hook and a split shot are working at all locations. A few fishermen were pulling leadcore line and crankbaits at both Nekoosa and Wisconsin Dells and catching a better and larger quality fish. This is what I’d try today if I wasn’t doing this road trip!

Keep checking for current fishing reports from up and down the Wisconsin River. I think the bite will be condensed into a few “hot’ days which should be the first week of April or a little later depending on the weather. Most anglers were fishing near the Dam at Prairie du Sa, but they were more spread out at the other places. Wisconsin Dells was the only dam that had water going through the gates.

The video from this trip will be on You Tube under Gary Engberg’s Fishing Reports and the Wisconsin River walleyes and saugers. It will soon be on this website too.