Black Hawk Lake Fishing Reports

[Joe]

Walleye fishing has slowed down, but a lot of sub-legal fish are still being caught. Walleye must be 15 inches or longer to keep and anglers are allowed 3 walleye per day. Channel catfish are biting and many anglers are catching their limits. Channel Catfish - Good: When the wind is blowing hard look for areas where there is a strong current near shore and cast your bait into the current and let it sit on the bottom. Many channel catfish are being caught on dead minnows and cut bait. Large crawdad tails make excellent bait as well. Crappie - Fair: Some crappie are being caught in Town Bay, near Ice House Point. Walleye - Fair: A lot of shorts and a fair number of keepers are being caught. From shore, fish Ice House Point with a leech under a slip bobber set just off the bottom. From a boat, fish just off of Lakewood Point, Crescent Park, and Shotgun Hill and use minnows under a slip bobber or drag a jig with a leech across the bottom. Anglers tend to catch very few bullheads when fishing for walleye with live minnows. Also, try targeting the rock piles. Yellow Bass - Good: Yellow bass fishing has been good, but the fish are around 5 to 6 inches long. Try casting bright colored jigs along shorelines where the wind is blowing in.

[Joe]

Walleye must be 15 inches or longer to keep and anglers are allowed three walleye per day. The Ice House Point picnic area and handicapped accessible pier will be closed for the next 30 days or until further notice. The road is still open to the boat ramp, but the remainder of the area will be closed due to the construction of a paved bike trail.

[Joe]

Walleye must be 15 inches or longer to keep and anglers are allowed three walleye per day. The Ice House Point picnic area and handicapped accessible pier will be closed for the next 30 days or until further notice. The road is still open to the boat ramp, but the remainder of the area will be closed due to the construction of a paved bike trail. Channel Catfish - Good: Fish the windward shore with cut bait or stink bait. Whole crawdads make excellent catfish bait. Hook the crawdad through the tail and crack the shell so the juices can put out scent in the water. Anglers from boats have been catching fair numbers of catfish averaging 2 pounds. Walleye - Slow: Try fishing rock piles in deeper water to target walleye this time of year. Yellow Bass - Fair: Small yellow bass are abundant. Try casting bright colored jigs along shorelines where the wind is blowing in.

The Black Hawk District received heavy rains this week and the rivers are high with extremely high flows. Avoid fishing or canoeing until rivers drop down to lower, safer levels.

[Joe]

Walleye must be 15 inches or longer to keep and anglers are allowed three walleye per day. The Ice House Point picnic area and handicapped accessible pier will be closed for the next 30 days or until further notice. The road is still open to the boat ramp, but the remainder of the area will be closed due to the construction of a paved bike trail. Channel Catfish - Good: Fish the windward shore with cut bait or stink bait. Whole crawdads make excellent catfish bait. Hook the crawdad through the tail and crack the shell so the juices can put out scent in the water. Anglers from boats have been catching fair numbers of catfish averaging 2 pounds. Walleye - Slow: Try fishing rock piles in deeper water to target walleye this time of year.

[Joe]

Walleye must be 15 inches or longer to keep and anglers are allowed three walleye per day. The Ice House Point picnic area and handicapped accessible pier will be closed for the next 30 days or until further notice. The road is still open to the boat ramp there, but the remainder of the area will be closed due to the construction of a paved bike trail. Channel Catfish - Good: Fish the windward shore with cut bait or stink bait. Whole crawdads make excellent catfish bait. Hook the crawdad through the tail and crack the shell so the juices can put out scent in the water. Anglers from boats have been catching fair numbers of catfish averaging two pounds.

[Joe]

Walleye must be 15 inches or longer to keep and anglers are allowed three walleye per day. The Ice House Point picnic area and handicapped accessible pier will be closed until further notice. The road is still open to the boat ramp there, but the remainder of the area will be closed due to the construction of a paved bike trail. Channel Catfish - Fair: Fish the windward shore with cut bait or stink bait. Whole crawdads make excellent catfish bait. Hook the crawdad through the tail and crack the shell so the juices can put out scent in the water. Anglers from boats have been catching fair numbers of catfish averaging two pounds. Yellow Bass - No Report: Recent surveys have indicated an abundance of yellow bass in the 8.5 to 9.5-inch size range.

Water temperature is in the high 60s at most of the lakes in the Black Hawk District.

[Joe]

Bluegill - Good: Anglers are catching nice size bluegill from the stone piers in Town Bay. Use small jigs tipped with bait. The Ice House Point area has been reopened for public use. There is a newly constructed bike path that runs along the edge of the shoreline at Ice House Point. On Black Hawk Lake walleye must be at least 15 inches in length to keep and only three per day may be kept.

[Joe]

Ice is 3 to 4 inches thick. Use caution as waterfowl are keeping some holes open on the lake. The winter aeration system will begin operation this week creating pockets of open water and thin ice in the town bay area. On Black Hawk Lake walleye must be at least 15 inches in length to keep and only three per day may be kept.

[Joe]

There is about 9 inches of good, clear ice on Black Hawk Lake. The winter aeration system will begin operation soon creating pockets of open water and thin ice in the Town Bay area. Yellow Perch - Slow: An occasional perch is caught while walleye fishing. The perch are about 8 inches long. Walleye - Slow: Anglers are catching short walleye with a few keepers mixed in. A super duper with a minnow head has worked well. Target the old dredge cuts, rock piles off of Shotgun Hill and Crescent Park, and the deep hole near Ice House Point. On Black Hawk Lake walleye must be at least 15 inches in length to keep and only three per day may be kept.

[Joe]

There is about 10 inches of good, clear ice on Black Hawk Lake. The winter aeration system will begin operation soon creating pockets of open water and thin ice in the Town Bay area. Yellow Perch - Slow: An occasional perch is caught while walleye fishing. The perch are about 8 inches long. Walleye - Fair: At times during the evening the action can be real fast, with the majority of fish being sub-legal. A super duper with a minnow head has worked well. Target the old dredge cuts, rock piles off of Shotgun Hill and Crescent Park, and the deep hole near Ice House Point. On Black Hawk Lake walleye must be at least 15 inches in length to keep and only three per day may be kept.