Fremont, Wis. – Wisconsin’s Wolf River towns recently saw a second wave of anglers chasing spawning fish, but this time it was white bass fishing rather than the better-known walleye fishing.
Although zanders have always attracted anglers to petite towns the Wilk River Each spring, the following white bass run could bring the same number of anglers to these towns, maybe even more.
Brothers Patrick and Kevin Gannon traveled to Fremont from their homes in Fond du Lac and Green Bay, respectively, to spend a day on the water. But instead of heading out by boat, they fished for white bass from the shore next to a public dock filled with trucks and boat trailers.
Patrick Gannon often fishes for crappie and bluegill on Lake Winnebago each spring.
“There are white bass out there, but not like this,” he said. “I utilize a jig and minnow on a Wolf River rig and a bare hook with a float. If something doesn’t work, I change it. Once you put them on, they’re a pretty good size. We have some that are 12, 13 inches. They put up a pretty good fight and you know you’re going to catch them.
The Gannons were two of more than 100 anglers who fished the west bank of the river in Fremont.
White bass don’t have the same appeal as largemouth and smallmouth bass, but that doesn’t matter to Gannon.
“It’s fun to catch them, but you have to clean them well, remove the redness and protect them from the cold,” he said. “They eat as well as perch.”
While the Gannons were trying their luck at Wolf, Dan Dake and his wife, Marci, were busy at Ma’s Bait & Tackle, the Fremont sporting goods store they have operated for the past decade.
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According to Dan Dake, the white bass and walleye runs are a large deal for local businesses.
“It has been huge for our economy year after year and it goes back a long time,” he said. “You have campsites, bars, restaurants and bait shops. Everyone relies on white bass.”
Dake expected the white bass push to continue through May before the fish return to another fishing spot each fall.
“Their numbers, their education, their willingness to bite,” he said. “With a little finesse they can be caught on almost anything. The Wolf River rig is probably the #1 fishing spot and you can’t go wrong with a minnow. Tiles are a necessity, but not so much for crawlers. Crawlers are catching walleye, but for white bass it’s the exception, not the rule.
Dake said white bass started showing up in mid-April.
“It depends on the weather. The warmer it is, the sooner it will be over. It will continue throughout May and many times a week or two into June,” Dake said.
That’s almost two months of great fishing.
“There’s plenty of time before and after these peak weeks where you can go out there and do some fishing and have a good time,” Dake said.
Weekends usually attract more anglers to the city, he added.
“People come from a lot of different places: Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan,” he said. “Many of them spend their holidays just for this purpose. I think they came here for the white perch, but when they get tired of it, people can go walleye fishing. There are plenty of zanders in the river.
Dake said the Wolf River Channel and flathead catfish are often overlooked.
“It’s a great fight and good food,” he said. “You can catch them all year round and they get some pretty good ones.”
