Fishing around Appleton - moving to area

Hey everyone, 

I’ll be moving to Appleton, hopefully at the end of this year from central Minnesota. I do A LOT of fishing. Mississippi & other rivers, ponds, big water, you name it. I have a boat (16 1/2 foot), fishing kayak and ice gear. I mainly fish for panfish and walleye but really love to just catch anything. Looking at Appleton, obviously there is Winnebago, the Fox River, Poygan, etc. It seems like those lakes can get real choppy which could limit fishing for a mid sized boat like mine or for days when you just wanna throw the kayak in after work. I guess my questions are: how good is the fishing around Appleton, are there a lot of fishing options in the area, and how far do you have to drive to get away from crowds? I enjoy fishing the rivers and it sounds like the Waupaca and smaller rivers/bayous in the area are good, but are they only good during the walleye run? And my gosh, I’ve never seen so many boats on a river before, even around the Twin Cities. 

Thank you everyone!

little butte morts is okay also, kayak or boat

PikePro pretty much nailed it. Winnebago is your best bet for staying local, and even then, you'll usually do better along west/east shores than the north end (with some exceptions), which then involves a drive. Your boat will be fine for a lot of days, but you just need to pay close attention to the weather.  Unfortunately, aside from Winnebago, other places are a bit of a hike. 

I've lived in the fox valley area my whole life.   It is convenient  for getting to work and going shopping but in my mind its not the most convenient for hunting or fishing.   

Lake winnebago is close, poygan is close, waupaca is close, shawano is close, green bay is close but its all around an hour drive.   Any public land near appleton is pounded from the start to the end of hunting season.   

Thats my two cents.   You are in the center of the hub and its easy to get places to be outdoors but it always seems like your a decent drive to anything put of town.