Any idea where the perch have gone?

This is the time of year when we get some pretty big swings in water temp and vis.

If we get a few days of East wind you'll see the warm surface water start to pile up on this side of the lake. It might be 70F at 100', but all of it will be slightly murky- which will still be 10 times better than th vis we had around here in the 70's and 80's.

Once we get a few days of west wind you''ll see all that warm water blow over tot he other side of the lake causing an upwelling. This will drop the temps down into the low 40's, but increase the vis to over 100' at times.

Fish move in and out with all of this. You can find rock bass int he shallows along the shoreline inside the breakwall- try off of Bayview or St. Francis. There are a few small shipwrecks in there as well as lots of weeds. In the fall this area is overcrowded with duck hunters. If you want to go out to some of the wrecks in 40' of water you can get a book from Pirate's Cove with a list of them and their GPS numbers (414-482-1430).

There's a nice rock reef that runs form the southern edge oft he rubble wall to the green can buoy on the edge of Milwaukee/ St. Francis. It tops off at about 10' and slopes down, to the south, into 45' of water. To the north it will be a more gradual drop to about 30'. This is the area where the university, and DNR, set the perch sample nets so be careful that you don't swim into any of them.

Sometimes you might have a bit of luck going off of Atwater beach and hitting the wrecks of the volunteer or the Appomattox. Those lie in 5'-25' of water and I have seen some fish in there. There's also a nice long rocky reef off of the north point of Milwaukee- by the water filtration plant. Since your in a small boat you shouldn't have any worries about grounding- and you'll be just around the corner from the only nude beach in Milwaukee!:friday

I wish I could join you, but were getting ready for another family trip up north so I won't get a chance to dive in Michigan for a few more weeks.

Jon