North Lake Access

From Jsonline.com:

North Lake public access project starts next summer
By Don Behm of the Journal Sentinel

Nov. 6, 2009 4:23 p.m. | Construction of the first public access to North Lake in Waukesha County is scheduled for summer 2010, a state Department of Natural Resources official said Friday.

The 437-acre lake is the largest water body in the county without public access, said Jim Ritchie, DNR public waterways access coordinator.

The DNR purchased the former Whitey Krause property on Reddelien Road in the Town of Merton for $1.125 million in 2005. The 6.5-acre parcel includes 233 feet of frontage on the northwest shore of the lake, Ritchie said.

Construction of the access site, with boat ramp, dock and parking lot for 16 vehicles and trailers will cost $475,000.

"Development of this property will ensure that anglers and recreational boaters have permanent year-round public access for open water and ice fishing on North Lake," Ritchie said. "There's been a strong demand for access to this lake for many years."

Great weekend ahead.

There's a great weather outlook for the next couple days, and you should consider hitting the water. The warmer temps will bring a variety of fish into the shallow areas, especially those with rock or sand bottoms, in the early afternoon.

Live bait is always a good option this time of year, especially suckers and shiners, but don't over look crankbaits. A thinner profile bait that wiggles instead of wobbles, always seems to catch some decent fish when the conditions are like this this late in the year.

Look for rocky areas adjacent to deep water. The fish will be laying on the rocks, on patrolling the bottom transition just next to them.

Good Luck
CT

Musky Mikes has been sold.

Musky Mike's Baitshop in Okauchee has been sold to new ownership. The store will remain open in its current location through November 30th. Live bait will continue to be available at the current location through November 30th, and all tackle is on sale for 40% off.

The store will continue to operate under the new owners, but will be moving to a nearby location during the week of December 1st.

It has been our pleasure to serve you, and we look forward to seeing the store continue under the new owners.

Thanks
Chris, Eric and Ray

Still time to get out....

The weather outside is just right for musky fishing on the inland lakes, and the walleye run will be biting on the Rock River.

Still plenty of time to get out in the boat. Give me a call if you'd like a last chance to hit the water this season.

CT

Now contributing to walleye central.

Hey gang,

Walleyecentral.com has asked me to provide reports for Lac Labelle. I'll be contributing to them on a regular basis.

Stay tuned for more information.
CT

Fishing Report: October 4, 2009

Well its fall, and I have some good news.

Water temps are peaking out below 60 degrees in the afternoons. Okauchee, Oconomowoc and Lac Labelle all clocked in the high 50's late today, which means now is the time to hit the water for some musky fishing. The bite has been a bit slow, but certainly steady. Two large fish were caught on Okauchee in the last week, and we've had numerous reports of high 30's and low 40's fish coming to the boat.

Some advice: The lack of rain this season allowed the weeds to grow deeper than is typical for our area. Likewise, a fair number of fish are being caught in deeper water than is typical for this time of year. Trolling has been producing, especially in areas with baitfish in 18-25 feet of water. Good use of your electronics is essential right now.

Look for the bite to move shallower and into the available green weeds, but don't over look rock bars adjacent to mid depth weeds, especially on warmer sunny afternoons, as fish will move up to warm up and digest food.

Fishing with suckers is never a bad idea this time of year. We have suckers and custom quick strike rigs in stock right now.

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Other happenings:

Smallmouth fishing will pick up on the area lakes, and now is the time to chase down a trophy sized fish with live bait. Slip-sinker rigs with walleye suckers or large shiners drifted or trolled very slowly around the deep edges of structure can surprise you. If you find fish, you'll very likely be over a good school of them. fish that area hard, and pay attention to your electronics. Subtle bottom changes will concentrate fish.

Walleye fishing has been slow, but is starting to pick up in the Dells and along the Jefferson Dam to Blackhawk Island stretch of the Rock River. Water is seasonably low this time of year, so watch your prop, but look for fish in the current, in the shallow water near deeper holes. They will likely be actively feeding, rather than holding in the deep water. Jig and Minnow, Lindy rigs or jig and twister are good producers.

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Fishing Report 9-22-09

The water is in the mid to upper 60's on most lakes in our area. Weeds are still green, but showing some signs of thinning out and the algae blooms are starting to clear up. There are schools of bait in both deep and shallow water, both of which are drawing attention from the gamefish right now.

Largemouth are holding along clumps of weeds on the shallow weed flats. Others are still hanging along the deeper weed edges. Smallmouth are relating to weed clumps near or adjacent to rocky and sandy areas with a drop off. The deeper fish will bite best when they make a move into the nearby shallow water, typically something they will start to do a couple times a day. When the water and air temperatures begin to cool down some more, fish will use rocky areas in the early afternoons.

Your best lure options right now are wacky worms, large jigworms, skirted grubs, jig/chunk, texas rigged plastics or lipless crankbaits. Smaller, wide wobbling crankbaits can also produce. Wacky worms and skirted grubs are great around the rocks. Jigworms, texas rigs and jig/trailers are great around the scattered weeds. Lipless crankbaits are great in both areas. Browns, greens, orange or black are usally the best colors for plastics (pretty much as they are all year) but white, shad, bluegill or silver colored crankbaits can really produce.

Walleye: Stick with live bait unless fishing over submerged weeds in the evening when you should consider throwing minnow-baits like rapalas and rouges. Look for walleyes to be in the sandgrass or in breaks in the weeds in 10-15 feet. Some fish will be deeper or shallower on our local lakes, but the best approach to locating fish is to slowly troll with a slip-sinker or lindy rig with a big minnow.

Northern: Most northern caught this time of year are caught while targeting other species, especially bass and musky. But they can still be caught and in good numbers. For bigger fish, try Deep diving crankbaits in bluegill, perch or white/shad color patterns. Hot N Tots, wiggle warts and the rapala deep divers are my favorites for trolling, while Norman D-22's or lipless crankbaits are better options for casting.

Musky: The fish are starting to make fall transitions, but the action is still a little slow. I'd expect that to make a rapid change after this week. Most fish are being reported from 10-15 feet of water. Casting bucktails, gliders, swimbaits or jerkbaits all will draw some attention, but don't forget to keep a sucker or two out on a quick-strike rig. Many fish that follow a bait to the boat will turn on for the sucker hanging nearby.

Good Luck
CT

Musky Trips

The fall season for musky fishing is right around the corner.

CT