Battle on Bago 2021 Recap

February 21, 2021
Whitebass and a perch to register in the Battle on Bago

 

  • Put over 80 miles on the snowmobile from Thursday through Saturday. 
  • Went through 5 fully charged Milwaukee 18v batteries with my 6″ Lite flite
  • Moved a ton of times
  • I fished most spots 10-15 min max, then made a move. Only stayed put when fish were found or to warm up a bit in my shack or to eat.
  • Found fish on Thursday several miles out from Columbia Park (Calumet harbor) while scouting. Landed a 10″ perch and 15″ walleye in 14+” water. Mud flats
  • School was moved by Friday
    • Realized we were the only fishing shacks as far as we could see. Ton of sturgeon ones around us. We started moving looking for other fishing shacks
    • Found other fisherman, Fished outside of that group and this resulted in us finding another (maybe same) school about 2 miles to the NW later in the day
    • I pulled up 2 10″+ perch & a fat 14″ perch, Kevin pulled up a 13″ WB and 15″ walleye in 14+” water. Mud flats
    • Marked fish every few minutes. Lots of lookers, few fish
  • Went to a different spot on Saturday (big mistake) on west side of lake south of oshkosh, where we talked to some friends who caught several walleye on Thursday. 
  • Oshkosh area get POUNDED. so much pressure from ice fisherman and sturgeon spearers
  • We moved around a ton again on Saturday and I marked 4 fish in total
  • Never got one bite all weekend on minnows.   Had tip ups and tip downs out for them
  • Best bait was clown jigging rap tipped with waxies. All fish caught on that Friday.  On Thursday, fish all bit on tungston tipped with waxies

Over 15,000 tickets purchased, Only about 4300 tickets cashed. Lots of people struggled. Lots of reports of people either didn’t find fish or marked them, had lookers but no bites

Water is very clear… and the minnow population is HUGE.  Every fish is fat with minnows, so fish can be very selective and are not very hungry.

Perch population is amazing. Those 8″ers last year are fat 10″+ this year and there seems to be a lot of them. Should all be 12″ next year.

For next year…. avoid Oshkosh, don’t leave fish to find fish. We should have went back to the same area to start on Saturday.  Should have stayed out later for a night bite…maybe camp overnight

 

Vincent Wondra

Obsessed with fishing since a child. Vince loves to share his knowledge of the sport, while helping encourage selective harvest and protection of the resource. He shares fishing reports, tips, tricks, and more during his never ending quest to be a better fisherman. PRACTICE CPR: Catch. Picture. Release.
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