fishing reports Yellow Lake Fishing Reports near Webster, WI

[perch yerker]

Did well. Boated 9. Biggest was 67 inches, also a 64 incher and some 50s.

[Guest]

perch yerker- What kind of boat were fishing out of? Might've saw ya out there.

[perch yerker]

So much fun was had by many Sturgeon fisherman out there this weekend. Crazy how many people we saw hooked up. A testament to catch-and-release sturgeon fishing. I do everything I can to spread that message on the lake.

Also would like to see more guys using heavier setups. I've seen enough line snaps by guys using their walleye/small northern tackle out there. Nothing good can come from a 6'6" medium action rod with 20lb line when a 70 inch, 100lb fish decides to rumble. Get em in safely and fast, take a picture, and turn em loose.

[Guest]

I'll agree with you there...I did not see a single fish killed this weekend and saw at least 4 over 60". Gotta love CPR.

[mpester]

I keep saying I am going to give those things a try one year. How deep do you guys fish for them at this time of year on Yellow Lake?

[Guest]

It depends. This time of year I've caught 'em in 18FOW by the inlet and I've caught in the middle of absolute no where in 29'-32' FOW. You just have to fish a lot and put your dues in and hope to get lucky.

Good luck,

-Zander

[perch yerker]

The Sturgeon can be tough to pin down. I've been keeping logs for quite a few years now and its surprising how difficult they can be to locate. And sometimes when you do find them, they aren't on the bottom feeding.....they seem to be just cruising around slowly.

Stretches of stable weather help out, and they usually get more active as Sept progresses. Seems they are just as easily effected by cold-fronts as any other fish....at least in my experience.

[Guest]

It's almost like there's pods of them and they roam around the lake and there's a few stray ones. Because there's days where we go out and catch one and there's days we go out and catch 13. It's a matter of getting lucky. With side imaging or down imaging I know you can actually see the fish down there. Even on regular sonar I've seen 'em on the bottom. But marking them on the locator and actually catching them are two totally different things.

I'll be out "sturgeon hunting" this weekend.

Good luck,

-Zander

[Guest]

Buddy of mine takes the last week of September off every year to fish sturgeon. Yesterday and today, nothing. Not sure where he was fishing though. He didn't say but I'll keep you guys updated until I head up on Thursday evening.

Good luck,

-Zander

[Nathan6]

a couple questions for you sturgeon guys. what do you guys typically use as leader when you are fishing for sturgeon? also what size hook? and when you put the crawlers on do you ball them up or just hook several through the middle? looking to give it a try for the first time this weekend and need some pointers to get started.

[Nick Kuhn]

a couple questions for you sturgeon guys. what do you guys typically use as leader when you are fishing for sturgeon? also what size hook? and when you put the crawlers on do you ball them up or just hook several through the middle? looking to give it a try for the first time this weekend and need some pointers to get started.

I'm not an expert, but you really don't need a leader: it's just a swivel helps keep the weight in the right spot. You can use 50 lb braid as leader line with 12-18 inches of line between the swivel and hook. On a lake, you won't need as much weight to hold the bottom as you would on the St. Croix, so something as small as a 0.5 ounce will do. For a hook, you want a 4/0 to 6/0 circle hook. Ball up some crawlers reasonable well, and maybe tack on a few minnows while you are at it.

[Nathan6]

Ok thanks for the tips nick, I might be giving it a shot this weekend.

[perch yerker]

Yep, I typically just run something like 50lb powerpro (minimum) down to a good quality swivel with and inline egg sinker and bead above the swivel. Then just run a couple feet of line down to a good quality hook like a Gamakatsu 4/0. Then see how many crawlers you can fit on it.

You could do away with the swivel by putting a tiny splitshot below the egg sinker to avoid 2 more ties in your setup, but I've always used swivels.

Don't go too light on your setup. If you have the equipment you can land some big fish rather quickly.

Catch and Release!!!

[Nick Kuhn]

Well I came up for the muskie/sturgeon double header. Couldn't complete the muskie half (got a 36.5" pike though). Saw 2 other fish, one that I think would have hit but as near as I can tell lost track of the lure in the sun, because it missed by about 3 feet. Sturgeon was 54" and quite fat.

[perch yerker]

At night no less? what time was that Sturgeon at??

We always talk about fishing at night but always fish em during daylight hours.

I fished Sturgeon most of Saturday and caught 1 18" Walleye. My buddy caught a couple mid-40 inchers, but I never got a bite.

[DonBo]

Well, it's over for me. Fished walleye Friday evening, Saturday morning with just one bite. Lost about an 18 incher at the boat.

Closed down the camper and pulled the boat for maybe the last time this year. Bring on the hunting season!

[Guest]

65" that was around 100lbs, me and my grandpa with his 64", and me with a 60". Pretty good weekend.

[DonBo]

Glad you guys had a good weekend on the lake! Congrats on the big fish.

[Guest]

Our trailer park is staying open until the 2nd weekend of October so I'll be up fishing walleyes for these next two weekends. Then sooner than later, I'll be giving ice reports...where did this summer go...? Jeez time is flyin'. I don't like it either.

Good luck fellas,

-Zander

[DTro]

Nice fish! Each year I always say I want to head up there and try Yellow. FYI, that 65” fish is most likely around 70-75lbs. Even a massive abnormal girth of 30” it would still be about 85lbs. You need to hit 70” to hit that magic 100 number and even at 70 it has to be a fatter than average fish

[Sinker]

Wow, nice fish. I don't fish for sturgeon up there but I have had a few jump out of the water close to the boat. Have caught a few through the ice by mistake down on the St. Croix and also a few spooled me down there and never got a look at them. I fished Yellow late last week and picked up some nice panfish but I had to really move around to get them. Real scattered. For walleye, never caught a legal one but threw back a bunch of shorts.

[Nick Kuhn]

At night no less? what time was that Sturgeon at??

We always talk about fishing at night but always fish em during daylight hours.

I fished Sturgeon most of Saturday and caught 1 18" Walleye. My buddy caught a couple mid-40 inchers, but I never got a bite.

It was around 9:30 or so, not too late. They didn't start moving until about an hour after sunset (you can watch them pass through the side scan beam). We took off at 11 (still had a 1.5 hour drive back to the cabin), as nothing had really passed through the area for a half hour, other than a few perch sized targets.

[Guest]

DTro- I said around....meaning within 15lbs or so either way. No mean to be a smart alec.

[mrmanners]

Nice job with the mid 60's and the Fish on Yellow are a lot thicker then any fish on rainy or MN. In the Sturgeon Tournament we had a fish that was 59 to mid fork with a girth of 34" which is not even on MN's Sturgeon Graph. I was up for 4 days starting on Saturday and Normally we boat 5 or more each time out (I have had a few double digit days) but the end of this year was tough for me with nothing from Saturday through Tuesday and not much marked on the bottom.

[Guest]

mrmanners- that is a very good point. Although the fish from the Rainy can be a little on the heavy side, with a 60"+ Yellow Lake fish it's not uncommon to have a fish with a 30"+ girth. You'll definitely catch some that won't a girth like that but I caught a 67" that had a 36" girth a few years back. There's some pigs in that lake.