Joel Ballweg

This past weekend, we caught some on plain jig/minnow comob's, hair jigs tipped with minnows, blade baits and crank baits. The hard part has been figuring out which one they want and when they want it.

The feeding windows are pretty short right now and because of that, it's critical to be in one of the right spots at the right time. I know I missed a few opportunities this past weekend because we were not where we needed to be when we needed to be there. It's pretty easy to see that now after the fact but it still bugs me when that happens to my boat. I feel like I should know better but it still seems to happen from time to time.

The biggest reason why my boat ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time is because at this time of the year, I'm often looking in a few uncoventional places for a hawg walleye. We found one on Sunday morning but unfortunately, it shook the blade about five feet below the boat and we never did get to see her. That was disheartening to say the least but it happens. Just gotta get back on the horse and keep after it when something like that happens.

18-21 feet of water was by far our best depth this past weekend but we did pop a couple from 15' early in the morning and again at last light.

We are still catching quite a few small walleyes & saugers as well. They're pretty good at stealing minnows off the jigs without getting hooked.

Blades probably took the most fish for us overall with jig/minnow combo's coming in second and crankbaits third. Crankbaits did take the biggest fish for us though and the crankbait bite should continue to be good for the next two or three weeks.

If you don't much care for trolling, hair jigs & blade baits should both be really good over the next two weeks as well.

Fish Species: Walleyes & Saugers
Bait Used: jigs, blades & crank baits
Tackle Used:
Method Used: jigging & trolling
Water Depth: 18-21'
Water Temperature: 48 degrees
Wind Direction:
Wind Speed:
Ed Junkeris with a 27
Ed Junkeris with a 27

Boog Ballweg caught this fatty on a blade bait
Boog Ballweg caught this fatty on a blade bait


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Joel Ballweg

About The Author: Joel Ballweg

Company: Ballweg's Guide Service

Area Reporting: Lake Wisconsin, near Madison, Wisconsin

Bio: Hi, my name is Joel "Boog" Ballweg and I run professionally guided fishing trips primarily on Lake Wisconsin. I am a life long resident of this area and grew up fishing Lake Wisconsin and the Wisconsin river. Ballweg's Guide Service was started in 2003 and has grown every year since. Lake Wisconsin offers excellent fishing for walleye, sauger, crappie, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegills and white bass. We target walleye, crappie, bluegill and white bass. On average, I will spend between 75-100 days fishing on Lake Wisconsin and the Wisconsin river each year. Lake Wisconsin covers approximately 9000 surface acres and it is the furthest down stream reservoir on the Wisconsin River system. It is located about 30 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin. A strong network of local anglers and several other local fishing guides is an added benefit of growing up in this area. These guys know whats going on out on the water and sharing information helps all of us stay on top of the latest action. In addition, if you have a large group of anglers, we can arrange with the other local guides to accomadate you.

608-643-7956
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Fishing Guide Joel Ballweg