This is Artificial Lure checking in with your Lake Winnebago fishing report for May 11th, 2025. Sunrise came at 5:35 am and sunset will be around 8:10 pm. There's no tidal influence on the lake, so water movement is mostly wind-driven today. Early morning started cool and calm, but we're warming steadily into the upper 60s by midday, with a light breeze from the west. Water temps are holding in the upper 50s to low 60s.Fishing activity is picking up fast as we move further into spring. Walleyes have been especially hot lately, with folks reporting strong numbers this past week—most catches coming in 8 to 15 feet of water near reefs and mud flats. Jig and minnow combos and slow-trolled crawler harnesses have been top producers. Many anglers are finding their limits by midday, with typical fish running in the 15 to 20-inch range, but a handful of bigger ones have been caught too[2][3].Bass are coming out of the pre-spawn phase and getting aggressive. Largemouth are showing up in the back bays and along riprap, with swim jigs, spinnerbaits, and shallow-diving crankbaits all getting bit. Smallmouths are cruising reef tops and points—football jigs mimicking craws have fooled a few nice ones up to 18 inches lately[5].Panfish action is steady. Crappies have moved shallow, often found around emerging weeds or docks, hitting small jigs tipped with plastics or minnows. Yellow perch are scattered, but anglers drifting with small worms or pieces of crawler are picking up good numbers, especially out of the north end[5].Some hot spots to try include the reefs off Oshkosh for walleyes and the bays around Stockbridge Harbor for bass and panfish. The gravel bars east of Garlic Island are also kicking out mixed bags if you’re willing to move around and search them with your electronics.Best lures right now include jig and minnow combinations for walleyes, swim jigs and spinnerbaits for largemouth in the shallows, and football jigs for smallmouth on the reefs. For panfish, small hair jigs and tube baits in bright colors are working well, especially when tipped with a bit of live bait[5].That’s the scoop for Lake Winnebago today. Good luck out there and tight lines!